The Sociological Perspective
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How did Sociology get started?
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From France, Germany & England
August Comte (France)
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“Father of Sociology”
Coined the tern “Sociology”
Behavior more complex than natural phenomena
Becomes an academic discipline in U.S. around
1900
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What is the Sociological
Perspective?
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Sociology looks at the power of society to
shape your individual life.
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Why are you going to college?
Who will you fall in love with?
How many children will you have?
Will you commit suicide?
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What is the Sociological
Perspective?
Peter Berger
Seeing the general in the particular
Durkheim’s Study of suicide
Lack of social integration
Eg. Wealthy, unmarried Protestant male
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What is the Sociological
Perspective?
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C. Wright Mills “The Sociological Imagination”
Personal problems become public issues
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Abortion
Home foreclosure
Number of children (e.g. China)
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Do you remember?
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Who is the father of Sociology?
Who wanted you to see
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“The general in the particular”?
Who wanted you to see how personal
problems become public issues?
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What are social theories?
How do they help us?
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Theory
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How & why specific facts are related
Integrates data and information
Help decide what kinds of research questions to ask.
Confirmed, modified, or rejected through research
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What types of theories are there?
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Structural Functionalism
Conflict
Symbolic interaction
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What is Structural
Functionalism?
How does it see the world?
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Macro focused
Sees society as a complex system promoting solidarity
and stability
Manifest functions
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Latent functions
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Recognized or intended consequences
Unrecognized and unintended consequences
Social dysfunction
Examples
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Family
P.M. Sex
 Prohibition
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What is Conflict Theory?
How does it see the world?
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Macro focused
Inequality = conflict
Karl Marx
Social patterns benefit some people while
depriving others
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Example
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Workers VS owners
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What is Symbolic Interaction?
How does it see the world?
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Micro focuses
Society operates on the subjective meanings of
symbols
Examples:
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Stubborn VS. steadfast
Bus
Police lights & bar fight
Slides & Clothes
Cloning VS “Somatic nuclear cell transfer”
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Do you remember?
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What are the three main Sociological
theories?
Which two theories are macro focused?
Which one looks at society as an integrated
system?
Which one looks at how we interpret the
meanings of words and symbols?
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