Warm Up

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Warm Up

• What are some things that might be considered
  part of a definition of sociology?
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?ve5pp_fZDU8I
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vLK5J0-cM-HE

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What is Sociology

• Sociology is the social science that studies
  groups of people and the society they inhabit.
  Whereas Psychology studies the individual and how
  they are impacted by society, Sociology focuses
  on how groups create and even define a society.
  Sociologists generate theories about social
  issues such as the role of gender roles, crime,
  age, racism, and culture through three
  theoretical perspectives Functionalist, Conflict
  and Symbolic Interactionist. Over the course of
  the semester you will learn to view various
  themes in sociology through those theoretical
  perspectives. This course serves as a good
  introduction to the study of Sociology and will
  give you a solid foundation if you choose to take
  a Sociology course at the college level.

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What is Sociology?
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What is Sociology?

• Developing A Sociological Perspective
• Development of Sociological Thinking
• Is Sociology A Science
• How Can Sociology Help Us in Our Lives

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What Is Sociology?

• Sociology
• -The systematic study of human societies, with
  special emphasis on social groups in modern
  industrialized systems.

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Chapter 1 What Is Sociology- Social Structure

• Patterns of social behavior
• E.g., divorce, substance abuse, aging,
  immigration, unemployment, underemployment,
  overwork, lower pay etc. However, they are public
  issues at the societal level.
• Social structure is an active constantly
  changing social force.
• It varies across space time.
• Counseled

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Chapter 1 What Is Sociology
Slide 8

• Culture
• Socialization
• Social interaction
• Social organizations institutions
• Social inequality
• Environment

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• Human behavior thinking

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Scope of Sociology
The scope of sociology studying all human
relationships, groups, institutions, and
societies. E.g., romantic love marriage, gay
family marriage.(continued)
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Scope of sociology?

• Health illness, racial ethnic conflicts,
  poverty, education, immigration, sexuality,
  gender, class, and crime punishment,
  environment economic development all come under
  the scope of sociology.

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The Development of Sociological Thinking
Slide 11

• Mertons Micro and Macro Approaches to the Study
  of Society
• Macro-sociology large-scale phenomena
• Micro-sociology individual characteristics
  social interactions

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• Macrosociology Micro-sociology

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Sociological Imagination
Slide 13

• C. Wright Mills (1959)
• -think ourselves away from the familiar
  routines of our daily lives
• -look at them anew
• -from anothers perspective

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Developing Sociological Perspective
Slide 14

• Social reproduction
• -the way societies keep going over time.
• Social transformation
• -processes of changes derived from conscious
  intentions to change
• -processes of unintended outcomes via social
  reproduction
• Sociology studies the resulting balance between
  these two processes.

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Level of AnalysisMacro-Sociology
Micro-Sociology

• Microsociology - the study of everyday behavior
  in situations of face-to-face interaction.
• Macrosociology - the analysis of large-scale
  social systems.
• The two are closely connected.

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The Development of Sociological Thinking

• Sociology encompasses a diversity of theoretical
  approaches.
• Theories - constructing abstract interpretations
  that can be used to explain a wide variety of
  empirical situations.

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Early Sociologists

• Auguste Comte
• He invented the word sociology.
• Scientific evidence
• Seeing sociology as a means to predict control
  human behavior, which in turn contributes to
  human welfare.

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Early Sociologists

• Emile Durkheim
• Social changes division of labor
• Sociology must study social facts
• Harmony among specialized institutions
• Society is an integrated whole (organic
  solidarity).

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Durkheim

• Suicide- as a social problem
• Egoistic- unattached to society
• Altruistic- overly attached to societies goals
• Anomie- the absence of moral regulation
• Rock stars/ dot.com

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Early Sociologists

• Karl Marx
• All human history thus far is the history of
  class struggles.
• Emphasizing economic inequality its influences
  on social changes
• The ruling class exploited the working class and
  the working class struggled to overcome that
  exploitation.
• A classless system.

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Early Sociologists

• Max Weber
• Emphasizing Durkheim's notions of social values
  and ideas.
• Values and ideas, such as those of religion and
  science, can shape a society.
• Rationalization of social and economic life
• Bureaucracy-efficiency and red tape
• Sociology of religion

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Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Symbolic Interactionism
• Symbols
• The exchange of symbols between individuals in
  social interaction
• Small-scale interactions of individuals, not
  society as a whole.

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Symbolic Interaction
Tree
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Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Functionalism
• Seeing society as a whole
• Robert Merton has been particularly influential
• Manifest, latent functions and dysfunction
• Study of deviance

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Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Marxism
• Power
• Ideology
• Class division-Proletariat bourgeoisie
• Social conflict
• The power class uses ideology to retain their
  dominance

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Fig. 1.1
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Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Feminism
• Linking sociological theory and political reform
• womens lives and experiences
• Gendered patterns and inequalities are socially
  constructed.

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Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Postmodernism
• Society is no longer governed by history or
  progress.
• Postmodern society is highly pluralistic and
  diverse, with no "grand narrative" guiding its
  development.

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Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Rational choice theory
• Self-interest
• Cost-benefit calculation
• Goal oriented
• Game Theory
• Economics

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Is Sociology a Science?

• Science
• Systematic methods of empirical investigation
• Data analysis
• Theoretical thinking
• Logical assessments of arguments
• A body of knowledge about a particular subject
  matter
• Value-free, objective observable
• Empirical evidence facts

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How Can Sociology Help Us in Our Lives?

• Understanding social circumstances provides us a
  better chance of controlling them.
• Sociology provides the means of increasing our
  cultural sensitivities.
• We can investigate the consequences of adopting
  particular policy programs.
• Sociology provides self-enlightenment, offering
  groups individuals an increased opportunity to
  alter the conditions of their own lives.