Sociology in Our Times The Essentials, 3/e

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Sociology in Our TimesThe Essentials, 3/e

• Diana Kendall

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Chapter 1 The Sociological Perspective and
Research Process

• Putting Social Life into Perspective
• The Development of Sociological Thinking
• Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives
• Sociological Research Process
• Research Methods

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Why Study Sociology?

• Gain understanding of ourselves and our social
  world.
• Understand how behavior is largely shaped by the
  groups to which we belong.
• See the connections between our lives and the
  patterns of the society and world in which we
  live.

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Early Social Thinkers

• Emphasized the idea of social order, social
• functions and stability
• Auguste Comte
• Harriet Martineau
• Herbert Spencer
• Emile Durkheim

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Early Social Thinkers

• Emphasized conflict and social change
• Karl Marx
• Max Weber
• Georg Simmel

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Sociology in the U.S.

• Early American social thinkers
• Robert Park
• George Herbert Mead
• Jane Adams
• W.E.B. Du Bois

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Theoretical Perspectives

• Functionalist - views society is a stable,
  orderly system.
• Conflict - views groups in society as engaged in
  a continuous power struggle.

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Theoretical Perspectives

• Symbolic interactionist - views society as the
  sum of the interactions of individuals and
  groups.
• Postmodernism - rejects earlier theoretical
  perspectives as unsuccessful in explaining social
  life in contemporary societies.

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Conventional Research Model

• Select and define the research problem.
• Review previous research.
• Formulate the hypothesis.
• Develop the research design.
• Collect and analyze the data.
• Draw conclusions and report the findings.

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Research Methods

• Survey Research
• Secondary Analysis of Existing Data
• Field Research
• Experiments

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ASA Code of Ethics

• Basic ethical standards for sociologists
• including
• Disclose research findings in full and include
  all possible interpretations of the data.
• Safeguard participants right to privacy and
  dignity while protecting them from harm.

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ASA Code of Ethics

• Basic ethical standards for sociologists
• including
• Protect confidential information provided by
  participants.
• Acknowledge research collaboration and assistance
  and disclose all sources of financial support.