THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Sociology
Mr. Findley
WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY
 Formally
defined, sociology is the
scientific study of human social
behavior
 Sociology
seeks to document and
explain the basic regularities of
social life
 Sociology
assumes these
regularities are the product of
social forces rather than biological
or psychological ones
 Groups
 Organizations
 Societies
THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

C. Wright Mills
 “The sociological imagination enables its
possessor to understand the larger historical
scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life
and the external career of a variety of
individuals” (The Sociological Imagination,
1959:5)

It enables its user to grasp the connection
between larger social factors and personal
lives, to distinguish personal troubles from
social issues
 Personal
Trouble
If 1 person is unemployed
in a town of 5,000, how
should we seek to
understand this?
 It is a personal matter
best understood by
examining the life of the
individual

 Social
Issue
If 900 people are unemployed
in a town of 5,000, how
should we seek to understand
this?
 It is a social issue whose
explanation is best
understood by examining the
influence of local social
factors

AN EXAMPLE:
PERSONAL TROUBLES AND SOCIAL ISSUES
 As
a science, sociology carefully and systematically
collects and analyzes empirical evidence

Data derived directly from observation and experience (pg. 5)
 The
scientific goal of sociology is to uncover the
causes of regular behavioral patterns. To develop
theory

An explanation of the relationship between specific facts
THE SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE
AN EXAMPLE:
RESEARCH AND THEORY




Emile Durkheim, Suicide (1897)
Uses scientific methods to develop a sociological explanation for the variations
in suicide rates across groups and regions
Collected statistics for many European nations
Findings
 Non-church goers more than church goers

Protestants more than Catholics
Unemployed more than employed
 Unmarried more than married
 Urban residents more the rural residents


Concludes
 Many suicides result from a lack of social integration caused by larger social
forces ( Lack of Social Solidarity – social bonds developed by individuals to
their society.)
AN EXAMPLE:
RESEARCH AND THEORY
DEBUNKING THEME
Sociology
 Looks
beyond surface level
explanations
 Questions established truths
 Assumes official explanations
are incomplete
 Is a somewhat cynical
discipline
AN EXAMPLE:
THE DEATH PENALTY AND DETERRENCE



Commonsense leads us to believe that the more severe the
punishment the less likely one is to commit the crime
Using this logic many propose that use of the death penalty as a
criminal sanction should deter the crime of murder
What does the empirical evidence suggests?
Murder Rates per 100,000 population
10
4.24
1999
5.71
4.6
1998
5.87
4.62
1997
6.51
4.99
1996
7.09
5.36
1995
7.73
6.79
0
8.59
5
Death Penalty States
Non-Death Penalty States
2000
Source: Deterrence: States Without the Death Penalty Fared Better Over Past Decade (n.d.).
Retrieved May 25, 2003, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=12&did=168
MAJOR TOPICS OF SOCIOLOGICAL
INTEREST
 Socialization

The social processes behind learning
 Structured

The cause and outcome of differential
advantage
 Social

Institutions
The provision of society’s basic needs
 Social

Social Inequality
Change
The sources and consequences of social
transformation
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY (OR
Inspired
by
The ideas produced during
the Enlightenment
 The progress made in the
physical and natural
sciences
 The onset of the Industrial
Revolution
 The expansion of
colonialism

HISTORY)
THE EUROPEAN ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY
 Auguste
Comte (1798-1857)
Believed to have coined the
term “Sociology”
 Aim to create a science of
society (positivistic)
 Society should be studied in
the same scientific manner as
nature

THE EUROPEAN ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY
 Emile
Durkheim (1858-1917)
Considered the father of sociology
 Demonstrated the strength and
merit of applying empirical research
to the study of social life
 Suicide Studies

THE EUROPEAN ORIGINS OF
SOCIOLOGY

Karl Marx
(1818-1883)
 A major figure in political
philosophy
 Believed the chief problem
facing modern society is the
struggle of individuals to
reproduce themselves
materially
 Emphasized the formative
influence of economics on
social life
THE EUROPEAN ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY


Max Weber (1864-1920)
Concerned with the increasing
rationalization of modern
Western society

Interested in how behavior had
come to be increasingly goaloriented (purposeful) rather than
value-oriented (emotional)
THE EUROPEAN ORIGINS
OF SOCIOLOGY
 Harriet
Martineau (1802-1876)
An early Feminist
 Engaged in some of the earliest
recorded sociological research
 Addressed issues related to sociological
methodology

SOCIOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES

The University of Chicago
1st Sociology Department in
the United States (Founded
in 1892)
 Early focus on the process
of urban development
 Committed to large scale
empirical research
 Reformist in orientation

STOP