Chapter 1: Sociology Theory and Method

sociology - scientific study of human social life, groups societies

• behaviors seen as individualized reflect larger social issues

• micro and macro

sociological perspective/imagination - seeking general patterns within behavior of particular people/groups

• beyond individual as cause of success/failure

• manufactured social constructs hinder change

  • group expectations, traditions, identities

• organizations are imperfect

• change happens through collective action

• individuals are not passive

  • active agents who shape social life by adapting, negotiating, changing social structures

social determinism- children shaped by adults they are closest to

• gain religious views, politics, cultural norms, attitudes, “right and wrong”

• reinforced through reward/punishment

• however, there are deviants/nonconformists that shape society

  • we make choices ab friends, family, groups, work, education, issues within our control

  • ex. college students can make choices to increase success, however everyone given different opportunities

social change - transformation of culture, behavior, social institutions, social structure over time

• ex. Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, Modernity

• we shape world around us in individual actions and choices, in turn shaped by society

structuration - two-way process, how we shape social world through individual actions, how we are reshaped by society

• human societies are reconstructed by human actions because they are built up by human action

postmodern theory - where we live shapes lives we lead

• objectivity not fully achievable

• power must be understood in hidden aspects of everyday life

• studying individual identities in context of resistance

• societies becoming increasingly interconnected

  • problems of individual countries become global problems

• media domination

• no “grand narratives”

  • no overall conceptions of history or society that make sense, no such thing as history

Michel Foucault - key postmodern theorist

• demonstrate how states moved from public demonstrations of power to oppressing individuals in private spheres

  • ex. public executions vs home, prisons

• all aspects of social life are political

panopticon - fear of punishment makes us think we are constantly monitored and monitor others

• (Foucault)

globalization - growth of world interdependence

• social, economic, individual systems

Auguste Comte - French philosopher

• invented word of sociology (social physics)

• believed could produce knowledge of society (understand, predict, control human behavior) based on scientific evidence

• should contribute to welfare of humanity

social facts - aspects of social life that shape actions as individuals

• sociology should study social facts w objectivity of natural science

• (Emile Durkheim)

organic solidarity - specialized institutions (political, religion, family, education) must work in harmony with each other and function as integrated whole for society to function over time

social constraint - influence on behavior by groups and society

• society not sum of individual acts, characteristics of solidity comparable to physical world

• (Durkheim)

anomie - feeling of aimlessness/despair

• provoked by modern social life influences suicide

• changes in modern world so rapid/intense leading to major social difficulties

• (Durkheim)

Karl Marx - German philosopher, developed Marxism

• relationship between economic classes

• why workers feel distant from themselves, their work, each other

• relationship between class interests and governmental economic

Historical Materialism - social change prompted by economic influences

• rich v poor provide motivation for historical development

• (Karl Marx)

Bourgeoisie - own means of production, raw products, capital, land

• Marx says class should be destroyed

Proletariat - must sell labor as commodity to survive

• Marx says they should own the market as well to find happiness

alienation - Proletariats don’t feel connected to the products they create

• causes feelings of depression about work

• no intrinsic reward

• ex. factory workers

commodity fetishism - tying happiness to being able to buy goods, owning brands

• stand-in for identity

capitalism - system of production, production of goods/services sold to wide range of consumers

• ruling class = own capital (factories, machines, large sums of money)

• contrasts previous economic systems

• capitalism = class system, conflict between classes common occurrence (Marx)

Max Weber - German sociologist

• cultural ideas (religious beliefs) can be influential and motivate action

• human life pursuit of meaning, explanation for suffering

  • religion offers explanations

• modern western society experiencing rationalization

  • shift towards bureaucracy, experts making decisions

Protestant work ethic - one should work hard to please God

• Calvinist Principle

  • believed God already chosen who was being saved

  • could not be changed

  • based on how humbly they lived and how hard they worked

  • material rewards sign of divine favor

• Spirit of Capitalism

  • capitalists needed hard working people who weren’t interested in gaining material wealth

  • led to large surplus of goods

  • capitalists convince people spending wealth was holy

WEB Du Bois - American sociologist

• race political and social construct rather than biological fact

• political engagement, agitation, activism must be paired with scientific inquiry to instigate change

• Chattel slavery was caste system that influenced US development

• divisions of race physically and psychologically from understanding and reaching each other across “the veil”

caste - system of dividing society into hereditary classes

• exclusive privileges are passed down

symbolic interactionism - focus on how individual interactions between people influence them, then how interaction impacts society

• study of language important in studying social world

• language allows us become self-conscious

• symbols important

  • ex. words, gestures, body language

• (George Herbert Mead)

structural-functionalism - study function of social activity to analyze contribution to continuation of society as a whole

• emphasizes larger-scale structures/processes

  • ex. family, workplace, classroom, communities, government

• society is system of interrelated parts, work together to promote solidarity and stability

• importance of moral consensus in maintaining order/stability

• (Comte, Spencer)

manifest functions - known/intended by participants in specific type of activity

• ex. Hopi believe ceremony bring rain needed for crops, therefore organize and participate

latent functions - consequences of activity which participants unaware

• ex. Hopi ceremony promotes cohesion of Hopi society

Social Conflict Theory - society in constant struggle over scarce resources

• role of coercion and power in producing social order, unequal system

• social order maintained by domination of people with greatest political, economic, social resources (white men with economic/political resources)

Marxism - combination of sociological analysis and political reform, generate program of radical political change

• emphasis on conflict, class divisions, power, ideology

Feminist Theory - gender differences not natural, socially constructed

Middle-range theory - specific enough to be tested directly by empirical research but general enough to cover range of different phenomena (Robert K. Merton)

• ex. relative depression theory

relative depression theory - how people evaluate circumstances depends on with whom they compare themselves

microsociology - study of everyday behavior in situations of small-scale face-to-face interaction

macrosociology - analysis of large-scale social systems and long-term processes of change

• needed to understand institutional background of daily life

• ex. political system, economy, industrialization

comparative questions - relate one social context within a society to another

• contrast examples from different societies

• ex. compare criminal behavior in USA vs Canada

developmental questions - if patterns in society shifted over time

• how is past different from present

theoretical questions - explain particular range of observed events

• ex. what underlies this phenomenon?

ethnography - firsthand studies of people using observations/in-depth interviews

• investigators socialize, work, live w members in group

• must explain and justify presence to group members

• gain cooperation of community and sustain or observe at distance and not directly participate in activities

• limitations:

  • only small groups can be studied

  • depends on skill of researcher in gaining confidence of individuals

  • may lose perspective of objective observer in identifying closely with group

  • may reach conclusions about their own effects on situation

  • interpreting ethnographies may generalize results

participant observation - researchers participate directly in activities studying

survey - ask subjects to provide answers in structured questionnaires

• results from random samples can be generalized

• provides less in-depth information

pilot study - trial run with less people complete questionnaire to identify problematic questions

comparative research - allows documentation whether social behavior varies across time and place according to social group membership

• quantitative

measures of central tendency - ways of calculating average

correlation coefficients - measures of the degree to which one variable relates consistently to another

degree of dispersal - range of a set of figures