Introduction to Sociology and the Sociological View

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Chapter 1

• Introduction to Sociology and the Sociological
  View

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What Is Sociology

• Sociology is the systematic study of social
  behavior and human groups.
• Broad scope of study encompassing many other
  fields
• Criminal Justice
• Environment
• Economy
• History
• Social relationships between human behavior and
  changes in social structure

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Charles Wright Mills1916-1962

• Definition of sociology
• Intersection of biology and history
• When individual difficulties become social
  difficulties
• When these two things happen you have a need for
  sociology

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Sociological Imagination

• Sociological Imagination
• Focused on the interaction of social structures
  and individual behavior
• The relationship between the individual and the
  wider society
• Ability to see the world as an outsider
• The ability to link outside events and individual
  behavior

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Women in the 1940s
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Sociology as a science?

• Is Sociology a science?
• Sociology utilizes research and systemic study of
  human behavior to understand patterns.
• Sociological Theories are derived from research
  and observation.
• Natural vs. Social sciences.

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Sociology as a Science Cont.

• What are the Differences?
• Social Sciences
• Sociology, Psychology, History, Economics
• Natural sciences
• Biology, Chemistry, Astronomy, Anatomy

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Sociology and Common Sense

• Sociologists do not rely on what we know
• The difference between what we think is correct
  and what we can measure and observe.
• Our lives a limited in scope and small in
  comparison to the overall society
• What are some of the things we assume to be true
  by what we see

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Sociological Theory

• Theories are statements that attempt to provide
  explanations to human behavior, problems or
  actions.
• Very specific in their intents and meanings.
• Can cover a wide range of events
• Suicide, Capitalism, Social Change

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Modern and Post-Modern Theory

• Modern theories contain all of history
• Durkheim, Weber, Marx, Parsons
• Life is like a box of chocolates
• Post-Modern theories reject grand narratives of
  the modern world.
• Baudrillard, Jameson
• Life is the chocolates

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Most influential Modern Theorists

• Auguste Comte -- French
• Emile Durkheim French
• Max Weber German
• Karl Marx German
• Talcott Parsons - American

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Auguste Comte 1798-1857

• Grandfather of Sociology
• Social Physics
• Coined the term sociology in 1838 to refer to the
  scientific study of society.
• Treat sociology as a true science - Positivism
• Altruism
• Obligation to the whole, not ourselves

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Auguste Comte

• 3 stages of society
• Theological
• Lives governed by religion
• Metaphysical
• Combination of Religion and Science
• Positivist
• Society ruled by Science and technology

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Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

• Focused on understanding social organization, but
  not changing it
• Utilized Darwinism to explain social change
• Society should evolve naturally, no state
  intervention
• Favorable to the dominant class to maintain
  status quo

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Emile Durkheim1858-1917

• Fathered sociology as an academic science
• Studied the large scale changes in society
• Societies are organized around various types of
  Solidarity and Integration

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Emile Durkheim

• Mechanical Solidarity
• Low division of Labor
• Roles were specific
• Tight knit groups
• Large primary groups
• Occupations were determined by skills
• Solidarity is very high

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Emile Durkheim

• Organic Solidarity
• High Division of Labor
• Roles are very differentiated
• Large secondary groups
• Science is used to determine place in society
• Solidarity is very high
• Anomie
• Social Facts

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Anomie and Social Facts

• Anomie is the feeling of being lost within
  society
• Can not differentiate between right and wrong
• Social Facts are things that are external to and
  coercive of the individual
• Norms of any given society
• Normative behavior

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Max Weber1864-1920

• Focused on Human rationality as the driving force
  behind the development of society
• Concentrated on types of rationality within
  various societies
• Rationalization was the key idea to society
• How do we rationalize our behavior

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Max Weber

• Substantive Rationality
• Characteristic of Eastern Cultures
• Based on family, honor, tradition
• Knowledge and substance
• What is good for the masses
• High levels of stability

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Max Weber

• Formal/Instrumental Rationality
• Characteristic of Western Cultures
• Based on Rewards, Wealth, Prestige
• What is best for the individual
• Means to an end
• Low levels of stability
• Iron Cage of Rationality
• The epitome of formal rationality

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Karl Marx1818-1883

• History is the History of Class struggle
• Societies grow through conflict
• Marx was a scholar, used his works to try and
  create change through critical thinking
• The Communist Manifesto
• Source of change throughout the world in the
  1900s Vietnam, Cuba, China, Russia, and Korea,
  etc.

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Karl Marx

• Evolution of modern society from the Feudal
  system to Communism
• Some form of exploitation in every form of
  society
• The Modern factory system is the most extreme
  form of exploitation
• Two parties always in competition for scarce
  resources
• Bourgeoisie owners/upper class
• Proletariat workers/lower class

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Karl Marx

• Feudal System
• Individual worked on land and sustained self
• Only worked as much as they needed to sustain
  themselves
• Individuals determined their own work
• Period before Industrial Revolution

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Karl Marx

• Capitalism
• Owners now exploit workers for profit
• Private ownership of property is the key
  component
• Work for the self has disappeared
• False consciousness is dominant
• Alienation
• Destruction of social relationships
• Self, Product, Peers, Process

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Karl Marx

• Socialism and Communism
• Private property is eradicated
• Utilizes tools developed under capitalism to
  successfully transition to socialism/communism
• Individuals work to fulfill need
• Class consciousness is achieved
• Alienation has been removed
• Reconstruction of social bonds and relationships

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Talcott Parsons1902-1979

• American Sociologist
• Advocate of large scale theory and organization
• Society is best understood through structures and
  functions
• Western world was the epitome of civilization

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Talcott Parsons

• Father of Structural Functionalism
• Defense of the American culture
• Contrasted to modern Communism
• Popular during Cold War with Russia
• Based on Rewards and punishment

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Modern Sociological Theories

• Game analogy
• Life is a game..

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Life is a game

• Structural Functionalism
• Life is a game, the game is fair because the
  rules are known and applied equally to everyone
• Conflict theory
• Life is a game, the game is not fair because the
  rules are not known and applied equally to
  everyone
• Symbolic Interactionism
• Life is a game and we make up the rules as we go
  along

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DevelopmentOfSociology

• Origins of Sociology and Early Thinkers

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The Great Transformation

• Feudal World
• The Enlightenment
• Development of Science
• Early Commerce
• Primitive capitalism emerges
• Industrial Revolution
• Machinery begins to develop
• Capitalism Expands
• Modern Era

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Feudal World

• Royalty and the Church were all powerful
• Pre-modern science
• Monarchies ruled the world
• Caste system was in place
• Priests were the key to salvation
• Social Movement unlikely
• Corrupt governing systems

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Feudal World Continued

• People work for their own fulfillment
• Families work their own land for their own
  sustenance
• Individuals and skills were detailed one person
  created entire product
• Bartering was the dominant economic system
• Tightly knit communities

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The Enlightenment

• Science begins to emerge
• Natural laws were being discovered
• New era of tests and theorizing
• Scientists began to challenge the ruling class
• No evidence of differences between royalty and
  serfs
• Individuals were no longer destined to be tied to
  royalty
• New areas of the world began to be discovered, no
  ties to local area

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Early Commerce

• Individuals ventured out into the world
• Cultured began to bump into each other
• Various things were being introduced from the new
  worlds
• Products began to move from around the world
• Trade began to grow between cultures
• Royalty wanted to begin exporting

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Early Commerce cont

• Tradesmen begin to emerge between cities
• Trade and manufacturing grew quickly
• Workers were now needed to fill demand
• First time ever that people were forced to become
  workers
• Social structure began to shift from agriculture
  to industrial
• Inclosure Acts began to be enacted to reduce
  common lands

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Industrial Revolution

• Primitive factories began to emerge
• Continuation of Inclosure acts forced people into
  cities
• Cities began to swell with increased population
• New machines begin to emerge and replace human
  labor
• Increased efficiency increased growth

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Industrial Revolution continued..

• Factories grow quickly to supply new demand for
  goods.
• Cites grow around factory systems
• Lands are emptied to increase labor supply
• Inclosure Acts continue to consolidate land and
  remove people from their lively-hood
• Owners become the new leaders
• Modern class system begins to develop
• Largest and longest period of drastic social
  change on human population

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Capitalism expands

• Factory system outgrows agriculture
• People no longer had control over the product
  they produced
• No laws governing workplaces or workers
• Cities continued to swell with increased
  immigration.
• Social forces begin to change society

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Modern society

• Factory system is the norm
• Few people work for themselves
• Labor and wage system is common place
• Science and technology become supreme
• Taylorism increases efficiency in the workplace
• Increase in efficiency becomes supreme
• Efficiency of production becomes everywhere

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Major Sociological Perspectives

• Structural Functionalism
• Conflict Theory
• Feminist Perspective
• Symbolic Interactionism

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Structural Functionalism

• Combination of Rationalization (Weber) and
  Solidarity (Durkheim)
• Every part (structure) of society plays a
  significant role to support the whole
• Society is best understood through structures and
  functions
• Can not explain conflict within society
• Latent (hidden) and Manifest (open) functions

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Conflict Theory

• Developed out of Marxs ideas of struggle and
  exploitation
• Goes beyond class addresses all aspects of life
• Society is best understood through conflict and
  tension
• Challenges status quo
• Can not explain stability and equality

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Feminist Perspective

• Connected to Conflict theory
• Understanding the differences between the sexes
  within institutions
• Focuses on the inequalities between sexes within
  society
• Brings a female perspective, sociology is no
  longer a WASP discipline
• Utilizes parts of all theories

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Symbolic Interaction

• Herbert Blumer
• Developed out of the work of George Herbert Mead
• Analyzes the behavior of individuals to discover
  trends and patterns within society
• Society utilizes symbols to understand the world
• Society is best understood through our changing
  patterns
• Social meanings are always up for interpretation
• We create our world

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Perceptions and Reality
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Review

• Auguste Comte
• Grandfather of sociology, social physics, social
  sciences
• Emile Durkheim
• Society is organized around solidarity and
  integration
• Max Weber
• Society is based on the rationalization of
  behavior
• Karl Marx
• Society evolves through struggle and conflict
  history is the history of class struggle
• Talcott Parsons
• American Sociology, structural functionalism

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Assignment 1

• Pick a Theory Short description
• Structural Functionalism
• Conflict Theory
• Symbolic Interactionism
• Pick a Theorist Short biography
• Emile Durkheim
• Max Weber
• Karl Marx
• Talcott Parsons

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The Scientific Method

• How do we get our information

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What is the Scientific Method

• Systematic and organized series of steps that
  ensures reliability, objectivity, and consistency
  to reach a solution to a problem.
• Broken into several steps to allow for
  preparation and follow through.

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The Five Steps of the Scientific Method

• Defining the Problem
• Reviewing literature
• Formulate a hypothesis
• Select research design and collect data
• Develop Conclusion

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Defining the Problem

• Formulate a problem
• Narrow down the problem
• Does it add anything to the literature?
• Operational Definition
• Specify the concept, define precisely what you
  are looking for

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Reviewing the Literature

• Researching previous works
• Utilizing previous methods of research
• Does it fit with what is out there
• Open up new ideas and interests

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Formulating a Hypothesis

• Develop a relationship between two variables
• There must be a correlation, a relationship
• Independent variable that has an effect on
  another
• Dependent variable that is effected by
  independent variable
• Does it make sense

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Research Design and Collecting Data

• What will you study and how?
• Population groups
• The entire group you plan to study
• Random Samples
• Each subject is randomly selected from the
  population
• Probability and Non-probability samples
• Knowing the chances of being selected
• Everyone is included in study, but may not be
  selected

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Types of Research

• Qualitative
• Personal interaction
• Natural settings
• quality of research
• Quantitative
• Numerical findings
• Majority of sociological research
• Easy to manipulate

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Major Research Designs

• Surveys
• Observation
• Experiments
• Secondary analysis

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Surveys

• Questionnaires
• Quicker
• Easier to distribute
• High response rate
• Interviews
• More personable
• Gather information
• Person to person

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Observation

• Direct/Participant
• Joining groups or becoming a member of the group
  you are studying
• Attending Meetings
• Outside Observation
• Watching groups and analyzing behavior
• People watching at the mall or bar

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Experiments

• Artificial situation to study
• Control group those that are being controlled
• Experimental group those that are the subject
  of the study
• Not very common in sociological research
• Maintain high levels of ethics and morals

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Secondary analysis

• The use of previously written materials and
  information.
• Professional Journals, Articles, Websites, and
  federal databases.
• Content Analysis analyzing work with coding and
  recording of data.
• Magazines, popular media, etc.
• Are we obsessed with the stars

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Content Analysis
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Reliability and Validity

• Validity -- the idea that your tool actually
  measures what you are studying
• Reliability -- can your test produce consistent
  results each and every time
• Both of these must exist for the research design
  to work

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Developing a conclusion

• Does your evidence support your hypothesis?
• Is there a relationship between the independent
  and dependent variables.
• Are all factors considered?

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Errors in the Method

• Researcher is biased and guides his information
  in a way that will support his ideas
• Pressure to get results
• Ignoring outside variables that effect your
  outcome
• Hawthorne Effect
• Samples know they are being studied change their
  behavior to fit with study

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Research Methods

• Defining your problem
• Reviewing the literature
• Developing Hypothesis
• Data collection
• Develop a conclusion