Ch.1 The Sociological Perspective
Key Terms (44)
common sense
symbolic interactionism
validity
experiment
sociological perspective
functional analysis
reliability
experimental group
society
conflict theory
survey
control group
social location
macro-level analysis
population
independent variable
science
micro-level analysis
sample
dependent variable
positivism
social interaction
random sample
unobtrusive measures
sociology
nonverbal interaction
respondents
value free
class conflict
hypothesis
closed-ended questions
values
social integration
variable
open-ended questions
replication
applied sociology
operational definition
participant observation
globalization
theory
research method
secondary analysis
globalization of capitalism
Key People
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Auguste Compte (p.5-6)
Herbert Spencer (p.6)
Karl Marx (p.6-7)
Emile Durkheim (p.7)
Max Weber (p.7-8)
Harriet Martineau (p.8)
Albion Small (p.9)
Jane Addams (p.9)
W.E.B. DuBois (p.9-10)
Talcott Parsons (p.11)
C. Wright Mills (p.11)
George Herbert Meade (p.13-15)
Robert Merton (p.15-17)
Mario Brajuha (p.29-30)
Laud Humphreys (p.30)
Research Methods
(aka Research Design)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Surveys
Participant observation
Secondary analysis
Documents
experiments
Unobtrusive measures
What is Sociology?
• Think about the different rules & procedures
each teacher presented to you. What was
different? What was similar? Do those rules
alter your behavior in each setting?
• Now broaden the scope – What are unique
behaviors here at Hempfield?
What do sociologists do?
• They examine how groups influence people, especially how
people are influenced by their society (vocab. sheet)
• Sociologists look at social location (vocab. sheet)
• Sociologists look at how jobs, income, education, gender, age,
and race-ethnicity affect people’s ideas and behavior.
Conclusions:
C. Wright Mills – The society in which we grow up and our particular location in
that society lie at the center of what we do and what we think.
The way you look at the world is the result of your exposure to specific human
groups.
THEREFORE:
SOCIOLOGY IS…THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF SOCIETY AND HUMAN
BEHAVIOR
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/sociologists.htm
What Sociologist Do
• Application Activity:
Think & list reasons why people commit suicide.
What assumptions do you have about gender and suicide?
Which age group do you suspect as having the highest rates
of suicide?
Where do you believe suicide rates are more
prevalent in the country?
U.S.A. Suicide: 2011 Official Final Data
• Look at the data in front of you.
– What conclusions could you draw about gender and suicide?
– What conclusions could you draw about age and suicide?
– Why do you think more people commit suicide in the western part
of U.S. Compared to eastern?
– Why is the rate of suicide (compared to population) so high in
states like Alaska, Wyoming, or Montana?
COMPARING OVER TIME…
INTERNAL FACTORS vs. EXTERNAL FACTORS
People commit suicide because they are unhappy…
– This is NOT a sociological theory.
– Feelings (unhappiness) are internal factors that relate solely to
individual / Non-sociological…psychological
Sociological:
– EXTERNAL factors (e.g. state/location, gender, age, income, race,
or education) that affect behavior are sociologic
Suicides Rise In Middle-Aged Men, And Older Men Remain At Risk
by ALISON BRUZEK
September 10, 2014
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/09/10/347386843/suicides-rise-in-middle-agedmen-and-older-men-remain-at-risk
• Remember :
 Sociologists look at how jobs, income, education, gender, age,
and race-ethnicity affect people’s ideas and behavior.
Could we analyze data on crimes in the same way as we did the
suicide data?
 Pregnancy?
 Unemployment rates?
 Homelessness?
 Outreach programs?
Sociological Perspective:
understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social
context
Thinking Sociologically:
Is who you are a result of where you are?
The Solomon Asch Social Conformity Experiment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA
Stanford Prison
Experiment
Read “Tipping Point”
'Lucifer Effect' Asks Why Good People Go Bad
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9940824
http://www.zimbardo.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jdOoxnr7AI (6:54)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0jYx8nwjFQ (6:48)
What Really Happened to Kitty Genovese:
http://www.npr.org/2014/03/03/284002294/what-really-happened-the-night-kittygenovese-was-murdered (8:09)
Investigate the Key Sociologists
• Some of you were given a card with a number
and name/names of sociologists and a page
number. You are to select your team (no more
than 3 to a team), read about, and report out to
the rest of the class their contributions to
sociology.
• Comte pg.5
• Martineau pg.8
• Spencer pg.6
• Addams pg.9
• Marx pgs.6-7
• DuBois pgs.9-10
• Durkheim pg.7
• Parsons & Mills pg.11
• Weber pgs.7-8
Auguste Comte
and positivism (p.5)
• Positivism – the application of the scientific
approach to the social world
• What creates social order? What causes
society to change? (French Revolution)
• Sociology – “the study of society “
– logos – “study of”
– socius – “companion” or “being with
others”
• The founder of sociology
Herbert Spencer
and Social Darwinism (pg.6)
• From “barbarian” to
“civilized”
• The “fittest” survive while
the less capable die out –
“The survival of the fittest”
• Social Darwinism
Karl Marx
and Class Conflict (p.6-7)
• Believed the demise of society
was “class conflict” bourgeoisie (capitalists) vs.
proletariat (the mass of workers)
• Classless society – people work
according to their abilities &
receive goods and services
according to their needs
• NOT the same as communism!
Emile Durkheim
and Social Integration (p.7)
• Wanted to show how social
forces affect people’s
behavior.
• Compared rates of suicide in
differing European countries
– Unmarried, Protestant, males
– Concluded that social factors
underlie suicide
• social integration – the degree
to which people are tied to
their social group
– People who are less socially
integrated have higher rates of
suicide
Max Weber
and the Protestant Ethic (p.7-8)
• Religion, not economics
(Marx) is the central force
in social change.
• Roman Catholic = tradition
Protestant = change
• Accumulated wealth & the
frugal life lead to salvation
• The spirit of capitalism
Harriet Martineau
and Early Social Research (p.8)
• “Hidden writings”
• Preceded Durkheim &
Weber
• Society in America –
customs, family, race,
gender, politics, &
religion
• Was mostly ignored
because she was, well, a
woman
Jane Addams
and Social Reform (p.9)
• Social reformer
• Hull House in Chicago founded in
1889
– Helped immigrants, the sick,
elderly, & poor
• Recognized the gap between
powerful and powerless
• Working conditions
– 8hr day
– Child labor
• Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 (only
sociologist to win the award)
W.E.B. DuBois
and Race Relations (p.9-10)
• First A.A. to earn a
doctorate @ Harvard
• Wrote extensively on
racial relations
• Founded the NAACP
• Disillusioned, he left the
country for Ghana at age
93
Talcott Parsons & C.Wright Mills
Theory Versus Reform (p.11)
• Parsons examined
how the parts of
society work
together
• Mills warned of the
power elite’s threat
to freedom
Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology
(pgs.13-18)
1. Symbolic Interactionism (vocab. #12) – society is
viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop
their views of the world, & communicate with one another
2. Functional Analysis (vocab. #13) – society is viewed
as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled,
contributes to society’s equilibrium
3. Conflict Theory (vocab. #14) – society is viewed as
composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources
Examine Table 1.1 Major Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology
Model of Research
(p.19-22)
Your task:
Get as many of your group
members to remember the 8
basic steps in sociological
research in order! Two people will
judge for correctness.
8. Share
7. Analyze
6. Collect
5.Choose
4. Formulate
3. Review
2. Define
1. Select
Reading: Doing Social Research
HANDOUT: 8 Steps of the Research Model & related, application questions
• Reading – Doing Social Research
Durkheim & suicide
• Suicides Rise In Middle-Aged Men, And Older Men
Remain At Risk http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/09/10/3473868
43/suicides-rise-in-middle-aged-men-and-older-menremain-at-risk
Humphreys
Latane & Darley – Unresponsive Bystander
6 Research Methods
(p.22-29)
1. Surveys

population, sample, random sample, respondents,
closed-ended & open-ended questions,
2. Participant Observation

fieldwork
3. Secondary Analysis
4. Documents
5. Experiments

experimental & control group, independent &
dependent variables
6. Unobtrusive Measures
Ray Rice Video Sets Off a Barrage of Conversations:
http://www.npr.org/2014/09/10/347305854/ray-ricevideo-sets-off-barrage-of-twitter-conversations
Ethics in Sociological Research
(p.29-31)
ARTICLE: Historical cases of Unethical Research by Marsden & Melander
• Brajuha
 FIRE!!!! – You thought your notebook was important?
• Humphreys
 “Tea for two”
Max Weber stresses value free, but….!
…which is why replication is important.
A FINAL NOTE-THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO, HMMMMMM!!:
Please read the paragraph REVIEWING THE TENSION IN SOCIOLOGY (p.31).