Introduction to Sociology
Professor Munshi
Fall 2014
Schedule for Today, 9/3/14
 Introductions, mine and yours
 Syllabus Overview
 Overview: Course Blog & Blackboard
 Sociological Case Study: Ferguson
Sociological Case Study: Ferguson
What is happening in Ferguson, Missouri?
What do we already know?
What questions do we have?
[in small groups]
Sociological Case Study: Ferguson
August 9 Michael Brown is killed by a police
officer (Darren Wilson). He was
unarmed.
August 10 Candlelight Vigil, and Protests in
Ferguson are met by police in riot
gear; tear gas** and other tactics
used against protestors
August 10 Media begins to report on “looting.”
Sociological Case Study: Ferguson
August 11 FBI opens a Civil Rights investigation
August 12 Protests grow after police chief in
Ferguson refuses to release PO name
August 13 Two journalists (Washington Post and
Huffington Post) are taken in for
suspicion of trespassing at
McDonalds; local politician also
arrested
Sociological Case Study: Ferguson
August 14 National Moment of Silence/Obama
expresses concern about excessive
force
August 15 Police report links Mike Brown to a
“robbery” at a convenience store–
owners of store did not call police
August 16 Governor Nixon declares curfew/
state of emergency
Sociological Case Study: Ferguson
August 17 Private autopsy results released:
Mike Brown was shot at least 6
times, 2x in head
August 18 Nixon brings in National Guard;
reports of violence and arrests
continue
August 21 National Guard troops withdraw
Sociological Case Study: Ferguson
August 25 Michael Brown’s funeral; same day,
NY Times releases an article that
refers to him as “no angel,” prompting
public critique and debate. Touré writes:
“The real question is not: Was Brown a good
kid? The real question is: How are police
officers supposed to treat citizens?”
Why does Ferguson Matter to Sociology?
 Sociology is the study of society, including the
study of how power and resources are
distributed.
 Sociology makes connections between the
individual and the social context: how is our
everyday life shaped by the conditions in
which we live?
 Sociology is concerned with social change and
social action.
(Why) Does Ferguson Matter to You?
Free Write [10 minutes]
Does the situation in Ferguson– from the
shooting and killing of Mike Brown, to the
police violence, to the protests– matter to you
here in New York City? Why or why not?
Schedule for Today, 9/8/14
 Communication: Email, Blackboard
 What is Sociology? & discussion of
reading
 Sociological Case Study continued:
Ferguson
What is Sociology?
in small groups,
go through the reading questions
for the Johnson article
Individualism
What is individualism?
What is sociology?
What is an individualistic model and
why doesn’t it work?
Individualism
What is individualism?
• A way of thinking that explains society by
what goes on inside individuals
• Roots in the Enlightenment but has grown
through the 20th century
• Emphasis on individual action/behavior,
emotions/feelings/thoughts
What is Sociology?
Sociology is the study of “the trees” and “the
forest” and the relationship between them.
What are the trees, and what is the forest?
We are always participating in something bigger
than ourselves: social systems
What are some examples?
Limits of Individualistic Thinking
What is an individualistic model and
why doesn’t it work?
Assumes that social problems are due to
individual variables, including individual
failures  solutions focus on the individual
Limits of Individualistic Thinking
What does the example of suicide show us
about the limits of an individualistic model?
An individualistic model can show us
a sum of individual suicides but
it does not explain the patterns we see
Sociological Thinking
Sociology allows us to understand why a
pattern exists by asking:
How do people feel and behave in relation to
social systems?
How do social systems work?
How do people participate in something bigger
than themselves AND how does this affect
what choices they make?
Why does Ferguson Matter to Sociology?
 Sociology is the study of society, including the
study of how power and resources are
distributed.
 Sociology makes connections between the
individual and the social context: how is our
everyday life shaped by the conditions in
which we live?
 Sociology is concerned with social change and
social action.
Case Study: Ferguson
What is the difference between understanding
Ferguson through an individualistic model
vs. a sociological model?
What are the different questions we may ask in
each model?
Case Study: Ferguson
“The real question is not: Was Brown a good
kid? The real question is: How are police
officers supposed to treat citizens?”
--Touré, August 25
Case Study: Ferguson
Free Write:
(How) Does Ferguson Matter to You?
Schedule for Today, 9/10/14
• What is sociology?
• What is the sociological imagination?
• Applying the sociological
imagination: real-life examples
What is sociology?
Review:
What is the difference between an
individualistic model and a sociological
model?
Self and Society
society  self
self  society
Agency: the choices that an individual makes
Structure: social institutions, norms, and other
conditions within which we live
What is the relationship between agency and
structure?
What is the sociological imagination?
• “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. It enables him to take into account
how individuals, in the welter of their daily
experience, often become falsely conscious of
their social positions.” – C. Wright Mills (1959)
What is the sociological imagination?
 Relationship between history and biography:
 Our lives are “ordinary,” of our time
 We are not alone; share circumstances and time
period with others
How does the sociological imagination keep us from
being “falsely conscious” of our lives?
Applying the sociological imagination:
real-life examples
Think of experiences that you are familiar with, in your own life
and the people around you. Write about one example that
illustrates a "personal trouble" that someone you know has
experienced.
Then, apply the sociological imagination to this example. Can
you connect the personal trouble to a public issue?
How does this exercise help us to understand the relationship
between personal biography and social history?
**Please protect privacy by not mentioning any real names.
Applying the sociological imagination:
real-life examples
(How) Does group membership (like race,
gender, ethnicity, culture, age, sexual
orientation, religion) affect the situations?
What other factors can affect personal
problems/public issues?
Sociological Imagination: Discussion
What does the sociological imagination
allow us to see?
(How) Does it disrupt ways that we have been
taught to understand the world around us?
Sociological Imagination: Discussion
What does the sociological imagination do to
the “American Dream?”
(What *is* the American Dream?)
Sociological Imagination: Discussion
“…the individual can understand his own experience &
gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his
period, that he can know his own chances in life by
becoming aware of those of all individuals in his
circumstances. In many ways it is a terrible lesson; in
many ways a magnificent one.” (Mills 1959)
What does Mills mean by this, and do you agree?
Schedule for Today, 9/17/14
• Sociological Imagination continued.
• Theory and Methods: What do
sociologists do, and how do we do it?
Sociological Imagination: Discussion
What is the “American Dream?”
What does the sociological imagination do to
the “American Dream?”
Sociological Imagination: Discussion
“…the individual can understand his own experience &
gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his
period, that he can know his own chances in life by
becoming aware of those of all individuals in his
circumstances. In many ways it is a terrible lesson; in
many ways a magnificent one.” (Mills 1959)
What does Mills mean by this?
Sociological Imagination: Free Write
In many ways [the sociological imagination] is a
terrible lesson; in many ways a magnificent
one.” –Mills, 1959
What do you think?
How is it terrible? How is it magnificent?
What questions does this discussion bring up for
you?
What does sociology DO?
What kinds of questions does sociology ask and
how does it find its answers?
• Sociology asks questions about the world and
looks for evidence to support claims
• Sociology describes the world and also tries to
explain it
History of Sociology
• Sociology emerged in a specific place and
time: Europe in the mid/late 1800s
– Industrialization  people moving into cities
– Science became a challenge to religion as a way of
explaining the world
History of Sociology:
the “founding fathers”
1. Karl Marx
• Critic of capitalism (e.g. 1848, with Engels, wrote
“The Manifesto of the Communist Party”; 1865,
wrote Capital)
• The economy is the central change agent in
society.
History of Sociology:
the “founding fathers”
Marx, continued:
• Society is organized through conflict of the
two classes, the bourgeoisie (owners) and the
proletariat (workers)
• Class conflict  social change to a utopian
classless society, achieved through revolution
History of Sociology:
the “founding fathers”
Today: conflict theory
• Assumes that social change and conflict are
normal
• Social order is attained through domination
and/or coercion
• Attention to unequal power relations
History of Sociology:
the “founding fathers”
2. Emile Durkheim
• Concerned with how social order and
cohesion is maintained
• Human nature is to be insatiable and society
regulates our desire
• Afraid of chaos
• What would replace religion as a way to
create connection and stability for society?
History of Sociology:
the “founding fathers”
Durkheim continued
• Social fact: something that exists externally &
independently from any individual & can not
be seen & has a real force on how we behave
• Shared values keep society together
History of Sociology:
the “founding fathers”
Durkheim continued
Functionalism: society is a functional whole
where every part has a role (like a human body);
negative effects = dysfunction, which yields
change
– Manifest function: the explicit use
– Latent function: consequences that are not
explicit
Conflict Theory vs. Functionalism
How does each theory explain inequality?
History of Sociology:
the “founding fathers”
3. Max Weber (pronounced “veber”)
• Society is organized through rationalization
(efficiency, predictability, calculation)-bureaucracy
• Links Protestant ideology to the economic
practices of saving and reinvestment (1905)
• Human action is trapped within an “iron cage”
History of Sociology:
the “founding fathers”
3. Max Weber (pronounced “veber”)
• Inequality or social stratification is not limited
to class (different from Marx)
– Includes status and party– looks at how power
operates in politics and culture
Is Sociology Objective?
What does it mean to be
“objective?”
Is Sociology Objective?
According to Weber:
the goal of social science is to examine what is, not
what ought to be (values)
Society determines values and social science
observes and explains actions
According to Marx:
Studying the world is not enough; the point is to
change it (values and actions)
Is Sociology Objective?
• Sociological research is a process of gathering
and interpreting data, to describe and/or
explain the social world
• Most sociologists gather evidence that is
based in empirical observation (something we
can see, or hear, or smell or experience in
some way).
Is Sociology Objective?
Are the following statements based on values or
based on empirical evidence?
If it is a value statement, how can you make it an
empirical statement instead?
Example
Michael Jackson died in 2009.
Fact
Michael Jackson is the best singer of all time.
Value
Most sociologists at BMCC name Michael Jackson
as their favorite singer.
Fact (about a value)
Schedule for Today, 9/15/14
• Review of History of Sociology
• Marx, Durkheim, Weber
• Sociological Methods
• Is Sociology Objective?
History of Sociology
“Founding fathers” of sociology
Marx
Weber
Durkheim
Any questions?
Sociological Theory and Method
• Social theory is a logical explanation about a
causal relationship between two or more aspects
of social life
• Sociological research is a process of gathering
and interpreting data, to describe and/or explain
the social world
• Most sociologists gather evidence that is based in
empirical observation (something we can see, or
hear, or smell or experience in some way).
Sociology’s Goals?
Scientific or positivist view:
Goal is to prove a hypothesis (starting point)
Social constructionist &/or postmodern view:
Goal is to understand social meanings; accepts that
there can be multiple truths/viewpoints
Sociology’s Goals?
“to identify order and regularity in the
complexity of social life”
1. Understand unique phenomena
2. Understand causal relationships
3. Uncover broad patterns/trends
Sociological Method
Systematic process to make observations and
gather data in order to test theory
How do we gather empirical evidence?
Sociological Method
To understand unique phenomena:
• Inductive process (“bottom up”)
• Qualitative methods: participant observation,
interview, ethnography
• Small number of in-depth cases (N)
• Non-probability sampling (purposive or
snowball)
• Replication not a goal
Sociological Method
To understand causal phenomena:
• Generates new theory
• Triangulation: Comparative methods;
interviews; content analysis; historical analysis
• Medium number of diverse cases
• Sampling method varies; goal is to have varied
cases
Sociological Method
To uncover trends and patterns:
• Deductive process (“top down”)
• Quantitative methods: survey research,
content analysis of existing data
• Large numbers of cases to understand
relationships between variables
• Probability sampling: random sample is
important because generalizability is a goal
Is Sociology Objective?
What does it mean to be
“objective?”
Is Sociology Objective?
According to Weber:
the goal of social science is to examine what is, not
what ought to be (values)
Society determines values and social science
observes and explains actions
According to Marx:
Studying the world is not enough; the point is to
change it (values and actions)
Is Sociology Objective?
Are the following statements based on values or
based on empirical evidence?
If it is a value statement, how can you make it an
empirical statement instead?
What are good sociological questions?
Sociological questions are questions that
examine the social meaning or patterns of a
phenomenon.
What are some examples of good questions?
Schedule for Today, 9/29/14
• Is Sociology Objective? (review)
• Culture and Socialization
• Peer Review of Essay Draft
Is Sociology Objective?
What does it mean to be
“objective?”
Is Sociology Objective?
According to Weber:
the goal of social science is to examine what is, not
what ought to be (values)
Society determines values and social science
observes and explains actions
According to Marx:
Studying the world is not enough; the point is to
change it (values and actions)
What are sociological questions?
Sociological questions are questions that
examine the social meaning or patterns of a
phenomenon.
What are sociological questions?
What are some examples of good questions?
Culture, Socialization and the Self
Who are you?
I am ____________
[write down 3-5 responses to this prompt]
Culture, Socialization and the Self
What is culture?
Everything we make as human beings:
material objects and ideas
Culture is made up of shared understandings and meanings
Culture
Culture can be a tool of domination:
some groups have more power to shape and
impose culture than others
Hegemony: (GRAMSCI)
domination through consent not force
[see Kanye West example of counterhegemony]
Culture, Socialization and the Self
What is socialization?
Process of taking on the values and practices of a culture
Through socialization we create a self,
in which we have agency and are constrained by social structure
The self is a process that changes based on cultural influences
and social relationships;
our identities are constantly being shaped
Theories of the Self
Sociological understanding of the self:
patterns that shift over time
Example:
research shows that self-concepts have been more
stable and linked to membership in a group or
institution 
self-concepts that are individualistic & in the moment
Theories of the Self
Symbolic interactionism: looks at how we shape each other
through symbolic communication (body language, facial
expressions, silences, etc.)
Social interaction and communication is required for us to
develop an understanding of our selves
Theories of the Self
Charles Horton Cooley
Looking-glass self:
we look into our social context to get feedback on who we are–
both direct and electronic relationships
Social mirror is powerful even if/when it is not accurate
Theories of the Self
George Herbert Mead
The self develops only through interactions with others;
it is not inside you or me but between us
1) Developmental phases
2) Two parts of the self (the “I” and the “me”)
Theories of the Self
George Herbert Mead
Two parts of the self (the “I” and the “me”)
I: impulsive, spontaneous behavior
Me: the rules or voice of society
The inner dialogue between the two: the self
Schedule for Today, 10/1/14
• Culture and Socialization
–What is culture?, continued
–What is the self?
Theories of the Self
George Herbert Mead
Two parts of the self (the “I” and the “me”)
I: impulsive, spontaneous behavior
Me: the rules or voice of society
The self: The inner dialogue between the two; this lets
us see ourselves through the eyes of others
Theories of the Self
George Herbert Mead
the “me” (what we internalize from society)
gives the “I” (our impulsive self, stuck in the
present) feedback about past and future
Theories of the Self
George Herbert Mead
When does the self develop?
Three developmental phases:
1. Preparatory phase
2. Play phase
3. Game phase
Theories of the Self
George Herbert Mead
1. Preparatory: imitations of social interaction
– Social interactions teach us about social realities;
move beyond the “I want”
2. Play: Acting out roles, gives us feedback about how
we appear to others
3. Game: Playing roles that are connected to others
Theories of the Self
Erving Goffman (1959)
dramaturgy
theory that uses theater metaphors to explain
the roles we play in society
Theories of the Self
Erving Goffman (1959)
• impression management for our audience is
an everyday ongoing experience
• props (objects, body language, expressions)
can be repellants or invitations
• front-stage vs. back-stage
• social scripts
Theories of the Self
Question/critique:
What if there are many “me”s? What if you live
in multiple cultures, or in settings with different
social rules?
Theories of the Self
W. E. B. Dubois (1903)
“It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always
looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by
the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels
his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two
unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged
strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”
–from the Souls of Black Folk