Ms. Dahl
Social Change
 Social change can be defined as transformations in the
beliefs, social interactions, practices, organization, and
structure of society.
 We will be using the three social sciences of
Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology to
understand what causes social change, and the impact
that it has on individuals and societies.
 Hmk: Read P. 10 – 19 in Challenge and Change and
complete the organizer The Social Sciences and
Social Change.
The Social Science Inquiry Model
 Used to explore an issue or change in a disciplined way.
1. Develop a Research Question
2. Explore Alternative Perspectives
3. Formulate a Hypothesis
4. Collect Data
5. Assess the Hypothesis
6. Arrive at a Conclusion
7. Evaluate the Research
*See page 4 in The Challenge of Change
Flash Mobs and Robs
 Read pages 6 – 7 in The Challenge of Change
 Using the S.S.I.M., develop a strategy for learning
more about the phenomenon of Flash Mobs and/or
Flash Robs.
 In your table groups, write your research steps on chart
paper. Be prepared to share your work with the class.
Anthropology
Psychology
Sociology
Anthropology
(p.11 – 13)
 Definition/Areas of interest:
 The scientific study of humans, including their
origins; behaviour; and physical, social and cultural
development.
 Assumes that to understand human behaviour and
social organization, we must look at our origins as a
species.
 Broken into two broad categories: Physical
Anthropology and Cultural Anthropology
Research Methods
 Ethnology (the detailed, long term study of a culture)
 Field Research
 Participant Observation
 Statistical Analysis
 Analysis of ancient bones/artifacts
Key Terms
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Culture
Ethnology
Participant observation
Qualitative and Quantitative data
Acculturation
Diffusion
Marvin Harris
Bronislaw Malinowski
Question: What are some examples of social change in
Canada that has been influenced by acculturation?
Diffusion?
Schools of Thought - Anthro
 Cultural Materialism
 Infrastructure: the technological, economic, and
demographic factors of a culture.
 Structure: how the culture is organized, such as political
systems, laws and families.
 Superstructure: the ideology of a culture, its beliefs and
values, such as religion or gender roles.
 Question: How can we describe the impact of the car
on Canadian society using C.M.? (Hint: describe the car at
each of the three levels)
Schools of Thought - Anthro
 Functionalism
 The function of beliefs and institutions in a society is to
meet the needs of the majority of its members
 Each part of society has a specific role that helps meet
needs and maintain equilibrium (eg. Family brings in
new members, Legal system makes and enforces rules,
School prepares you for the workplace, etc.)
 Shared values and norms are passed on through
generations maintaining some continuity in society
 Question: What is the role of poverty to a
Functionalist?
 Read pages #12 -13 on Rites of Passage, Tattoos and
Culture.
 Answer questions #1 – 3 in your notes.
 Discuss your answers with a partner.
Psychology
(p. 14)
 Definition/Areas of Interest:
 The study of the human mind, behaviours, emotions,
cognitive processes and personality.
 Understands behaviour as both learned and innate. To
understand why humans behave the way we do, we
must understand the impacts of both the environment
we grow up in (nurture), as well as our instincts,
personality and mental processes (nature).
 Broken into two broad categories: Clinical and
Experimental
Methods of Research
 Interviews
 Case Studies
 Experiments
 Secondary Research
Key terms
 Nature vs. Nurture
 Personality
 Behaviour
 Cognition
 Learning
 John Watson
 BF Skinner
 Sigmund Freud
Schools of Thought: Psych
 Learning Theory
 Learning can alter the way an individual interprets the
world around them and can lead to behavioural
changes.
 Important to understand childhood as this is the time
when most behaviour is learned
 If you understand what motivates behaviour, you can
predict and control it
 Question: How has modern technology like the TV or
internet impacted learning and behaviour?
Bandura’s BoBo Doll Experiment
 The Bobo doll experiment was the collective name
of the experiments conducted by Albert Bandura in
1961 and 1963. The goal was to study children's
behaviour after watching an adult model act
aggressively towards a Bobo doll. There are different
variations of the experiment. The most notable
experiment measured the children's behaviour after
seeing the model get rewarded, punished or
experience no consequence for beating up the bobo
doll.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerCK0lRjp8
 This experiment is the empirical demonstration of
Bandura's social learning theory . It shows that people
not only learn by being rewarded or punished itself
(behaviourism) they can learn from watching
somebody being rewarded or punished, too
(observational learning).
 These experiments are important because they
sparked many more studies on the effects of
observational learning and they have practical
implication, e.g. how children can be influenced
watching violent media.
Schools of Thought - Psych
 Psychoanalysis
 Believes that there are 2 parts of the mind – the
conscious and unconscious.
 The unconscious mind has a large impact on our
behaviour, motivations and mental state.
 Human behaviour is determined by events in early
childhood
 Question: Give an example of things (motivations,
drives, experiences) that may reside in someone’s
unconscious mind. How could it impact their
behaviour?
Sociology
(p. 15 – 19)
 The study of society and social behaviour.
 Studies the interactions and conflicts within groups to
determine how society functions.
 Norms, Values, Rules and Sanctions helps to organize
society and maintain stability.
 Assumes that the group(s) that a person belongs to
will determine the roles and expectations that they
will value and emulate in their private lives.
 Question: How has social media changed the way that
we relate in groups, and altered our roles, norms and
values?
Methods of Research
 Surveys
 Questionnaires
 Interviews
 Participant Observation
 Secondary Research
Key Terms
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Roles
Norms
Values
Sanctions
Institutions
Social organization
Cognitive
consistency/dissonance
 Microsociology
 Macrosociology
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Paradigm Shifts
Confirmation Bias
Dorothy Smith
Karl Marx
Emile Durkheim
Talcott Parsons
Max Weber
Cognitive Dissonance
 Most people strive for cognitive consistency
(avoiding attitudes that conflict with each other)
 When two attitudes conflict, we feel discomfort, which
makes us want to change our attitudes to regain
cognitive consistency
 This theory is called cognitive dissonance theory
Example of C.D.
Ex. Person X smokes, but also believes smoking causes cancer –
these attitudes conflict and may lead them to avoid reading
articles that discuss smoking and health.
Person X has friends and relatives that nag them about quitting
smoking all the time. After all the pestering, X feels guilty that
they smoke and wants to fit in with their non-smoking
friends. They start to thing about it, but haven’t decided
whether or not to give quitting a try. There is some conflict
and dissonance, but not enough to change.
X has a relative that dies from cancer caused by smoking, this
leads to increased conflict and dissonance, which may lead
them to quit – a change in behaviour!
Paradigm Shifts
 When a new set of ideals, beliefs and values become
strong enough to affect and change the way individuals
see and perceive reality.
 Question: What paradigm shifts have occurred in your
lifetime? What caused them?
Schools of Thought
 Structural Functionalism
 According to structural-functionalism, each society
should provide its members with the fundamental
requirements for functioning
 A system must have a way of fulfilling material needs, a
system for socializing and educating the young, a way of
regulating human reproduction (usually marriage)
 Structural-Functionalists believe their role is to try to
explain the role of society’s systems in enabling human
society to function
 Structural-Functionalists do not concern themselves
with change but instead with how society works to meet
their needs
Schools of Thought
 Marxism
 Marx believed that economic power led to political
power. This is the key to understanding societies
 The struggle for economic power means that society is
not static but ever-changing – social change is the result
of a change made to the economic system
 Therefore, if we want to understand society, we must
understand the economic system in place and which
groups have access to power
 Marxists believe the economic system creates a rich class
of owners and a poor class of workers
 They also believe that social institutions (churches,
schools, prisons etc.) have been created to perpetuate
the division between the powerful and the powerless
Schools of Thought
 Feminism
 Patterns of social inequality are based on gender.
 Feminist Theorists focus on sex and gender issues,
believing that women have traditionally been
disadvantaged in society because men have
discriminated against them
 They believe that men have made the decisions in
society and that they tend to favour men.
 Closely related to Marxism
Schools of Thought
 Symbolic Interactionism
 Believe humans have complex brains and little
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instinctive behaviour
This means they can interpret for themselves the stimuli
they receive in their daily life and attach their own
meanings to them
Eg. One person might pursue fame and fortune while a
sibling might dedicate his or her life to charitable work
in a developing country
It is essentially how we as individuals process and
interpret what we observe in society, not society’s
institutions, that form the core of our value system
For this reason, Symbolic Interactionists focus their
research on the human mind rather than on structures
in society
Activity
 Re-read the article on Flash Mobs and Flash Robs on page
6-7.
 How would each of the social sciences explain flash mobs
and flash robs?
 Use the following headings to help you organize your
notes:
 Key Assumptions (if an anthropologist/psychologist/
sociologist were to look at this situation, they would
assume…)
 Possible Research Methods (if they wanted to find out more
about the issue they would…)
 Explanation (they would likely say that flash mobs/robs are a
result of…)
Understanding Social Change
 Read the section about Malcolm Gladwell’s “The
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Tipping Point” on pages 8 – 9.
In your notes, answer questions 2 – 3 from page 9.
Share your answers with a partner/the class.
Read p. 22 “Change in Action: Arab Spring” and watch
the following video about the Egyptian Revolution.
http://www.ted.com/talks/wael_ghonim_inside_the_e
gyptian_revolution.html
Use Gladwell’s theory to explain how the revolution in
Egypt took place. Use the graphic organizer provided.