Putting%20Social%20Life%20into%20Perspective

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Chapter 1

• Putting Social Life into Perspective
• The Social Imagination

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Putting Social Life into Perspective

• Sociology the systematic study of human
  society and social interaction
• Sociologists use theoretical perspectives and
  research methods to examine social behaviour
• Sociology provides important insight on pressing
  social issues in contemporary society (eg.
  Suicide, homelessness, etc.)

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The Sociological Imagination

• The sociological imagination gives us the
  ability to see the relationship between the
  individual experience and the larger society. It
  allows us to distinguish between personal and
  public issues.

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The Sociological Imagination

• Public Issues (eg. Widespread unemployment,
  suicide, homelessness, etc.)
• Often seen as personal issues, BUT there is no
  private solution
• Developing a global sociological imagination
  requires that we take into account perspectives
  and studies other than those developed in North
  America, and would include accounts from peoples
  from diverse backgrounds.

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The Sociological Imagination

• People in Canada differ by race and ethnicity
• Race refers to specific groups of people
  distinguished by physical characteristics such as
  skin colour
• Ethnicity refers to the cultural heritage of a
  group based upon factors such as language or
  country of origin

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The Sociological Imagination

• People are also different based on class and
  gender
• Class refers to the relative position of a person
  or group within a larger society based upon
  wealth, power, prestige or other valued resources
• Gender refers to the meanings, beliefs and
  practices associated with sex differences

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The Sociological Imagination

• The sociological imagination can help us to
  understand the links between individual acts of
  violence (eg. rape) and collective acts of
  violence (eg. war)

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Why study sociology?

• Sociology helps us to see the complex
  connections between our own lives and the larger
  recurring patterns of society and the world in
  which we live

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Why study sociology?

• Society a large social grouping that shares
  the same geographical territory and is subject to
  the same political authority and dominant
  cultural expectations

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Why study sociology?

• Global interdependence a relationship in
  which the lives of all people are intertwined
  closely and any one nations problems are part of
  a larger global problem

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Why study sociology?

• Sociologists strive to use scientific standards
  (not myth or hearsay) in studying society and
  social interaction
• Some sociologists argue that sociology must be
  objective, while others do not believe that to be
  so
• Objective free from distorted bias, either
  personal or emotional

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Why study sociology?

• Sociologists attempt to discover patterns of
  commonalities in human behaviour
• Eg. In studying suicide, sociologists look for
  recurring patterns of behaviour, even though
  individual people usually commit the acts, and
  other individuals suffer because of these actions