 What is the main difference between psychology and sociology?
Unit I Chapter 1
 http://youtu.be/LK5J0-cM-HE
 Sociology is the scientific study of human behavior and the social context in which
it occurs
 Social institutions
 Organized system of social behavior with a recognized. Investigates multiple
social institutions
 The boundaries between the social sciences are not rigid and interdisciplinary
research is often conducted
 Teaching, conducting research,mediating public policy issues in the media,
presenting expert testimony in courts and at government hearings, and providing
information and assistance to community groups working toward social change.
 The ability to identify the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.
 C. Wright Mills explored this concept and argued that it is necessary to understand
the social and historical context to understand people's experiences.
 Mills distinguished personal troubles from social issues to clarify the process of
developing a sociological imagination.
 Troubles are personal problems that are based in events or emotions in an
individual's life
 Issues affect large numbers of people and are based in the history and
institutional arrangements of society.
 Social structure defined as the organized pattern of social relationships and social
institutions that constitute society.
 Rigorous methods of research are used to investigate everyday life, and
conclusions must be based on careful, systematic observations, rather than
previous assumptions or "common sense"
 Debunking to refer to the role that sociology plays in looking beyond what is
typically seen in everyday life.
 Example: sociology helps reveal situations present in schools in addition to the
lessons presented in classroom, including the effects of gender and social class on
equity and the quality of public education.
 A certain detachment from the unquestioned engagement in everyday life.
 Some people can become detached from daily interactions more easily than
others, particularly marginal people, because they share the dominant culture to
come extent, but are blocked from full participation within it because of their status.
 Georg Simmel: explored the role of the stranger within a group, who may provide
unique insights because he/she is not limited by the groups assumptions and
perspectives.
 Sociologists can develop critical distance by questioning the social forces that
shape social behavior.
 What is C. Wright Mills definition of troubles?
 What is C. Wright Mills definition of issues?
 Does sociology look into one or multiple social institutions?
 Discuss the theory of debunking in sociology?