Part I

1
Part I The Study of SociologyChapter 1 What
is Sociology?

• Lecture 2

2
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• What is theory?
• Theories involve constructing abstract
  interpretations that can be used to explain a
  wide variety of empirical situations. (P.10)

3
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• What is theory?
• How does a thing happen?
• ?
• Why does a thing happen?

4
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• What can theories do for us?
• They help us make sense of facts. (P.10)
• They guide (P.10) us so that we are able to
  understand and explain the complexity of
  societies.

5
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• Theories are not
• End-products (but, open-ended)
• Panaceas (but, limited)

6
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• How must theories be?
• We can only develop valid theoretical approaches
  if we are able to test them out by means of
  factual research.(P.10)

7
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• How must theories be?
• (2) Diverse
• Diversity in theoretical thinking provides a
  rich source of ideas that can be drawn upon in
  research, and stimulates the imaginative
  capacities so essential to progress in
  sociological work. (P.22)

8
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• Why can we find much more African-Americans in
  sports, for example NBA and NFL, than any other
  ethnic group populations ?

9
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• Why do men commit criminal acts much more than
  women do?

10
The Development of Sociological Thinking

• Biological
• Socio-cultural
• Economical
• Political etc.

11
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Functionalism
• Marxism/Conflict theory
• Symbolic interactionism (Constructionist
  approach)

12
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Functionalism
• How is society possible?
• Society Human body
• Biological (organic) analogy
• - functions
• needs
• purposes

13
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Functionalism
• How does society change?
• Adjustment
• Differentiation

14
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Functionalism
• Society creates us? Or Society is created by
  us?
• - Society creates us. Because we are born in
  society.

15
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Emile Durkheim
• 1858 1917
• Social order
• organic solidarity
• anomie
• - Social institutions

16
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Marxism/Conflict theory
• How is society possible?
• Power
• Domination

17
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Marxism/Conflict theory
• How does society change?
• Conflict
• Competition

18
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Marxism/Conflict theory
• Society creates us? Or Society is created by
  us?
• Society creates us. Because the way of thinking
  and acting of human beings are determined by
  his/her position in society.

19
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Karl Marx
• 1818 1883
• - Historical materialism
• History is created by men, but not in the way
  they are pleased.
• - Class struggle

20
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Symbolic Interactionism
• Society creates us? or Society is created by
  us?
• Society is no more than a product of human
  actions (interactions).
• Individuals are not just passive learners of
  cultures, customs, languageetc

21
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Symbolic Interactionism
• How is society possible?
• - Society is a fabric of meanings and
  definitions provided by its members in the
  process of interaction.

22
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Symbolic Interactionism
• How does society change?
• - Society emerges from interactions between
  individuals and groups. Thus, society is all the
  time the subject of change depending on actions
  by them.

23
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• G. H. Mead
• 1863 1931
• Capacity of thoughts
• Symbols and language
• Interactions

24
The Development of Sociological ThinkingModern
theoretical approaches

• Max Weber
• 1864 1920
• Mutual influence between individuals and society
• Interactions between different institutions