Stark Chapter 3

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Stark Chapter 3
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Micro Sociology Testing Interaction Theories

• Emile Durkheim 1895
• Social Facts consist of ways of acting, thinking,
  and feeling, exterior to the individual that
  possess a power of coercion by virtue of which
  they impost themselves upon the individual...
• the essential characteristic of social facts
  consist of the power they possess of exercising
  from the outside a pressure on individual minds,
  it must be that they do not derive from
  individual minds.
• Therefore we must use sociology not psychology to
  explain human behavior

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Symbolic Interaction

• Interaction among human beings is the fundamental
  social process
• People are influencing others and being
  influenced by others around them
• We act and our actions affect other
• We continually adjust and readjust our activities
  according to feedback from others

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The Rational choice gives the maximum benefit

• Within the limits of their information and
  available choices, guided by their preferences
  and tastes, humans will tend to maximize-select
  the option that will give the maximum benefit.
• Altruism- is it selflessness-helping of others
  or finding rewards in dreams, hopes, love and
  ideals

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Interaction Theories Symbolic Interaction and
Exchange Theory

• Symbolic Interaction expands the concepts of
  rewards and costs to include altruism, affection
  and self esteem, We will go to great lengths to
  be liked, respected and admired.
• Sociologists stress that much of what we want
  can only be obtained from other people how the
  individual learns to interpret and relate "self.
• Exchange Theorists see humans engaging in
  social interaction in exchange for rewards
  Exchange theorists are more concerned with social
  solidarity -how we learn to like one another and
  get along. Places more stress on structures than
  on culture.

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Social Construction of Meaning

• Fundamental social process
• Communication through language, gestures and
  actions through symbols
• Use of symbols makes and keeps people human

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Social Structure of Meaning

• Herman Blumer, 1937 1958 first chair of Sociology
  Dept University of California at Berkley.
• Human beings act towards things on the basis of
  the meanings that the things have for them.
• The meaning of things is derived from. . . social
  interaction.
• The meanings of things are handled in, and
  modified through, an interpretative process used
  by persons in dealing with things they encounter.

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Symbolic Interaction

• Charles Horton Cooley 1864-1929 Argued that
  society really exists only in the mind. Looking
  glass self during interaction humans serve as
  mirrors for one another,Good or poor opinions of
  self depend on the reflection others communicate
  to us.
• George Herbert Mead 1863-1931 developed Cooley's
  ideas of self Two aspects of human identity the
  mind our understanding of symbols through a
  learning process. The self- our learned
  understanding of the responses of others to our
  conduct.. Through interpersonal experience we
  learn who we are and can put ourselves in
  another's place" taking the role of others.
• To understand why people act a certain way it is
  necessary to understand how they define their
  situation.
• We act toward objects based on the societal
  prescribed behavior assigned to each objects.

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Exchange Theory

• Adam Smith 1776-If an exchange between two is
  voluntary, then it will not take place unless
  both partners believe they will benefit from it.
• Risk- In the absence of any restraints, cheating
  is the expected behavior of exchange partners
  since, if successful cheaters maximize Restraints
  keep us honest

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Solidarity

• George Homans 1974 Social Behavior Its
  Elementary Forms Law of liking Participation in
  common activities (exchanges) causes people to
  like one another. Peter Blau 1964 Exchange and
  Power in Social Life-stable exchange
  relationships generate trust, admiration,
  affection-even love.
• Attachment-bonds of liking or affection between
  two people. A stable and persistent pattern of
  exchange between two people when positive
  sentiments are among the commodities exchanged
• Social Solidarity-degree to which members of a
  group or network rare attached to one another

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Agreement and Conformity

• Homans-the Law of Agreement The more the members
  of a group like one another, the more apt they
  are to agree with each other.
• Law of Conformity The more intense the group
  solidarity, the more intense the demand for
  conformity
• Law of Liking Participation in common activities
  causes people to like one another.
• group pressure for agreement explains the origin
  of norms
• attachments provide the force behind norms

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Theory testing Measurement and research

• Constant- something that never changes/varies
• Variable-anything that varies
• Independent variable-the theorized cause - the
  one manipulated by the experimenter
• Dependent variable, the consequence, depends on
  the manipulation of the independent variable
• The variables being caused can only vary as a
  function or change in the causal variable,
  while the causal variables are not related to a
  change in another variable.

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Criteria of Causation

• Time Order-a cause must occur before the effect
• Correlation-the cause must vary in unison,
  changes in the cause must produce changes in the
  proposed effect, be correlated Either negatively
  or positively
• Spurious relationships- appear related but only
  because each is correlated with some third or
  unobserved/unnoticed variable

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Solomon Asch Solidarity and Conformity

• Solidarity was the independent variable, two
  values unanimous and partial The higher portion
  of people will yield ...to the extent that the
  group is unanimous.
• Asch manipulated the independent variable
  randomly assigned persons/subjects to groups
  exposed to different levels of the independent
  variable

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Randomization

• Use of chance procedures to determine who will be
  exposed to which value of the independent
  variable.
• Book of random numbers, throw a dice, high
  card,flip a coin
• Asch flipped a coin to see which group, partial
  or unanimous
• Figure 3-2 (p. 84) Aschs Comparisons When
  everyone else said the line on card 1 matched
  line A on card 2, subjects would agree.

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Studying Recruitment-field research

• Field research involves observing people as they
  engage in the activities being studied. In the
  natural setting
• Can be overt-- let members know that they are
  being observed.
• Or covert-observe as if you are a member of the
  group/participant, individuals do not know that
  they are being observed to minimize the observer
  effects.

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Conversion as Conformity

• Lofland and Starks found that the persons who
  joined the Unificationists were those whose
  interpersonal ties to members overbalanced their
  ties to nonmembers.
• Conversion is about bringing ones religious
  behavior into alignment with that of ones
  friends and family members.

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Principles of Recruitment

• The only persons who joined were old friends or
  relatives of members
• Interpersonal ties to members overbalanced their
  ties to nonmembers
• Conversion/non-conversion is an act of
  conformity/network ties
• New religious movements mainly draw from non
  members/discontent/ member of the most
  accommodated. Open minded principle
• Network recruitment principle recruitment is
  primarily a person-to-person phenomenon

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Cosmopolitan growth

• Principle non-redundant ties/strength of weak
  ties
• Principle of dense origins-social movements tend
  to originate within dense local networks