Chapter 1
The Sociological Perspective
and Research Methods
Have you ever wondered…

How we can understand suicide as not only an
individual act, but an act with structural and
social origins?
Sociology Students…


Explore these questions everyday in an attempt
to understand “why people do the things they do”
within the structure of a particular society from a
sociological perspective.
Welcome to an elite group of scholars.
The “So What and Who Cares” Factor


Sociologists study what has happened, what
patterns can be observed and what social factors
may have contributed to the existing social
condition.
The discipline of Sociology also studies who cares
and who is affected by the social condition right
now.
Chapter Outline
Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives
 The Sociological Research Process
 Research Methods
 Ethical Issues in Sociological Research

Putting Sociological Life into Perspective


Sociology is the systematic study of human
society and social interaction.
Sociologists study societies and social
interactions to develop theories about:
How behavior is shaped by group life
 How group life is affected by individuals

Why Study Sociology?



Helps us gain a better understanding of ourselves
and our social world.
Helps us see how behavior is shaped by the
groups to which we belong and our society.
Promotes understanding and tolerance by
helping us look beyond personal experiences and
gain insight into the larger world order.
Fields That Use Social Science Research
In many careers, the ability to analyze social
science research is an important need.
The Sociological Imagination
The ability to see the relationship between
individual experiences and larger society
 Helps us place seemingly personal troubles, such
as losing a job or feeling like committing suicide,
into a larger social context

Society


A large social grouping that shares the same
geographical territory, and is subject to the same
political authority and dominant cultural
expectations.
We are all affected by global interdependence, a
relationship in which the lives of all people are
intertwined and any nation’s problems are part of
a larger global problem.
Suicide

How can we understand suicide as not just an
individualistic act but one with social and
structural origins?
How Much Do You Know About Suicide?

True or False?

In the United States, suicide occurs on the average of
one every 17 minutes.
How Much Do You Know About Suicide?

True.



A suicide occurs on the average of every 17 minutes in
the United States.
This differs with respect to the sex, race/ethnicity,
and age of the individual.
Men are four times more likely to kill themselves
than are women.
How Much Do You Know About Suicide?
True or False?


More teenagers and young adults die from suicide
than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects,
stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung
disease combined.
How Much Do You Know About Suicide?

True.


Suicide is a leading cause of death among teenagers and
young adults.
It is the third leading cause of death among young
people between 15 and 24 years of age, following
unintentional injuries and homicide.
Suicide

As a Personal Trouble:


Many people consider suicide to be the
result of personal problems.
As a Public Issue:

Sociologist Emile Durkheim related suicide to the issue
of cohesiveness in society instead of viewing it as an
isolated act that could be understood by studying
individual personalities or inherited tendencies.
WHY SUICIDE FOR DURKHEIM
Scientific1. According to Durkheim, suicide can occur for personal reasons, but
it cannot account for the suicide rate
2. Availability of suicide statistics from Europe (to be seen as
rigorous as other sciences)
Goal• Action is shaped by society
• Sociology must be more than speculation (it must support its
claims with evidence e.g. statistics)
• Sociological theories must go beneath the surface of phenomena
and find hidden underlying causes of behavior
Hand out worksheet
EMILE DURKHEIM
E
U
R
O
P
E
U.S.
DURKHEIM’S ARGUMENT
Suicide rates are dependent upon the degree to
which individuals were integrated into society
and the degree to which society regulates
individual behavior.
 Types
1. Altruistic - Excess/integration
 2. Anomic - Insufficient regulation
 3. Egoistic – insufficient integration
 4. Fatalistic – excess regulation

EGOISTIC SUICIDE
Egoistic Suicide
• Individual being insufficiently integrated into the
social groups and society
• E.g. explains difference in suicide rates of
Protestants and Roman Catholics (Catholics
more strongly integrated)
• Unmarried and childless less integrated,
therefore higher suicide rate

ANOMIC SUICIDE
Anomic Suicide
• Took place when society did not regulate
individuals sufficiently
• Where norms and values are disrupted by rapid
social change leading to uncertainty /guidelines
for behavior increasingly unclear
• Anomic suicide increases during times of
economic depression/boom/bust

ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE
• Individual so well integrated into society that
they sacrifice their own life out of a sense of
duty to others
• E.g. Hindus kill themselves at their husband’s
funerals
FATALISTIC (PRE-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY)
When society restricts the individual too much
- Durkheim thought this type was less important
in modern society
- But historically interesting, e.g. high suicide rates
among slaves.

RESPONSE TO THE FOUR TYPES
The balance of these 4 types of suicide create
a suicide rate
• In modern society there are 2 major forms of
suicide
1. Increasing detachment from others (leading to
egoistical suicide)
2. Dissatisfaction in relation to expectations
(leading to anomic suicide)

IN CONCLUSION
Durkheim accepted that there may be an
occasional suicide which could not be placed in
any category
• Generally suicide has some relationship with
social rules or values and the individual
• The causes of suicide are not individual
• Suicide is structural in origin

Suicide Rates by Race and Sex
Theoretical Perspectives


Theoretical perspectives are based on ideas about
how social life is organized.
The major perspectives in U.S. sociology are:




Functionalist
Conflict
Symbolic Interactionist
Postmodernist
Major Theoretical Perspectives
Polling Question

Which sociological perspective do you think
explains the concept of inequality in our
society the most accurately?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Structural-functionalist
Conflict
Symbolic interactionist
Feminist
Importance of a Global Sociological
Imagination


The future of our nation is intertwined with the
future of other nations on economic, political,
environmental, and humanitarian levels.
Understanding diversity and developing
tolerance for people who are different from us is
important for our personal, social, and economic
well-being.
The World’s Economies in the Early
Twenty-First Century
High-Income Countries
 These
are nations with highly
industrialized economies; technologically
advanced industrial, administrative, and
service occupations; and high levels of
national and personal income.


Examples: United States, Canada
They generally have a have a high standard of
living and a lower death rate due to advances in
nutrition and medical technology.
Middle-Income Countries

Sometimes referred to as developing countries,
these are nations with industrializing economies,
particularly in urban areas, and moderate levels
of national and personal income.

Examples: Nations of Eastern Europe and many Latin
American countries, where nations such as Brazil and Mexico
are industrializing rapidly.
Low-Income Countries

Low-income countries are primarily agrarian
nations with little industrialization and low
levels of national and personal income.

Examples: Many of the nations of Africa and Asia, particularly
India and even still some parts of China fall into this.
Industrialization

The process by which societies are transformed
from dependence on agriculture and handmade
products to dependence on manufacturing
industries.

First occurred during the Industrial Revolution
in Britain between 1760 and 1850.

Resulted in massive economic, technological, and
social changes.

People were forced to leave rural communities to
seek employment in the emerging cities.
Urbanization




The process by which an increasing proportion of
a population lives in cities rather than rural
areas.
The factory system led to a rapid increase in the
number of cities and the size of populations.
People from diverse backgrounds began working
in the same factory and living in the same
neighborhoods.
This led to the development of new social
problems: inadequate housing, crowding,
unsanitary conditions, poverty, pollution, and
crime.
August Comte



Considered the
“founder of sociology.”
Comte’s philosophy
became known as
positivism— a belief
that the world can best
be understood through
scientific inquiry.
Comte believed
objective, bias-free
knowledge was
attainable only through
the use of science
rather than religion.
Two Dimensions of Comte’s Positivism
1.
Methodological

2.
The application of scientific knowledge to physical and
social phenomena.
Social and political

The use of such knowledge to predict the likely results of
different policies so the best one could be chosen.
Harriet Martineau

Believed society would
improve when:



women and men were
treated equally
enlightened reform
occurred
cooperation existed among
all social classes
 Translated Comte’s works for
English speakers.
 Love Laissez Faire Capitalism
Herbert Spencer


Contributed an
evolutionary
perspective on social
order and social change.
Social Darwinism

The belief that the human
beings best adapted to their
environment survive and
prosper, whereas those
poorly adapted die out.
HERBERT SPENCER CONTINUED
He developed a theory of two types of society, the
militant and the industrial, which corresponded
to this evolutionary progression.
 Militant society, structured around relationships
of hierarchy and obedience, was simple and
undifferentiated
 Industrial society, based on voluntary,
contractually assumed social obligations, was
complex and differentiated.

Emile Durkheim


Believed the limits of
human potential are
socially based.
One of his most important
contributions was the
concept of social facts.

Social facts are patterned ways
of acting, thinking, and feeling
that exist outside any one
individual but exert social
control over each person.
Karl Marx



Viewed history as a clash
between conflicting ideas
and forces.
Believed class conflict
produced social change
and a better society.
Combined ideas from
philosophy, history, and
social science into a new
theory.
Max Weber


Believed sociological
research should exclude
personal values and
economic interests.
Provided insights on
rationalization,
bureaucracy and religion.
Georg Simmel



Theorized about society as a
web of patterned interactions
among people.
Analyzed how social
interactions vary depending
on the size of the social group.
Developed formal sociology,
an approach that focuses
attention on the universal
recurring social forms that
underlie the varying content
of social interaction.
Jane Addams



Founded Hull House, one of
the most famous settlement
houses, in Chicago.
One of the authors of a
methodology text used by
sociologists for the next
forty years.
Awarded Nobel Prize for
assistance to the
underprivileged.
W.E.B. Du Bois



One of the first to note the
identity conflict of being
both Black and American.
Pointed out that people in
the U.S. espouse values of
democracy, freedom, and
equality while they accept
racism and group
discrimination.
Mr. B wrote a 48 page
paper on him.
The Sociological Research Process


Research is the process of systematically
collecting information for the purpose of testing
an existing theory or generating a new one.
The relationship between theory and research
has been described as a continuous cycle.
Theory and Research Cycle
Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Quantitative research focuses on data that can be
measured numerically.


Example: comparing rates of suicide
Qualitative research focuses on interpretive
description rather than statistics to analyze
underlying meanings and patterns of social
relationships.

Example: analyzing contents of suicide notes to look
for recurring themes
Conventional Research Model
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Select and define the research problem.
Review previous research.
Formulate the hypothesis.
Develop the research design.
Collect and analyze the data.
Draw conclusions and report the findings.
Steps in Sociological Research
Hypothesized Relationships Between
Variables: Causal
Hypothesized Relationships Between
Variables: Inverse Causal
Hypothesized Relationships Between
Variables: Multiple Causes
Qualitative Research Model
1.
2.
3.
4.
Problem formulation: to clarify the research
question and to formulate questions of concern
and interest
Reviewing literature and developing research
design occur simultaneously
Collecting data in natural settings and analysis
of data occurs concurrently, using language of
persons studied
Draws conclusions and reports findings to
others
Research Methods: Survey Research

Poll in which researcher gathers facts or
attempts to determine the relationships among
facts


Example: U.S. Census
Types:
Questionnaires, printed research instrument that is
self-administered
 Interviews, and interviewer asks the respondent
questions and records answers


Allows for multivariate analysis
Research Methods:
Analysis of Existing Data

Materials studied may include:
public records, official reports, and raw data collected
by other researchers
 books, diaries, poems, and graffiti
 movies, television shows, advertisements, greeting
cards
 music, art, and even garbage


Content analysis

the systematic examination of cultural artifacts or
various forms of communication to extract thematic
data and draw conclusions about social life
Research Methods: Field Research

Study of social life in its natural setting.

Participant observation


Collecting observations while part of the activities of
the group being studied.
Ethnography

Detailed study of the life and activities of a group of
people over a period of years.
Research Methods: Experiments


Carefully designed situation in which researcher
studies the impact of certain variables of subject’s
attitudes or behavior
Experimental group


The subjects who are exposed to the independent
variable to study its effect on them
Control group

Subjects who are not exposed to the independent
variable
ASA Code of Ethics
1.
Disclose research findings in full and include all
possible interpretations of the data.
2.
Safeguard the participants’ right to privacy and
dignity, while protecting them from harm.
3.
Protect confidential information provided by
participants.
4.
Acknowledge research collaboration and disclose
all financial support.
Quick Quiz
1. Sociology helps us get a better understanding of
ourselves and our world by:
A.
B.
C.
D.
enabling us to see how behavior is shaped by the groups to
which we belong and the society in which we live.
enabling us to see how behavior is shaped by the large
social structures that comprise society.
enabling us to see how behavior is shaped by the social
institutions and close knit friendships in which we belong.
enabling us to see how behavior is shaped by a combination
of pathological and social forces.
Answer: A

Sociology helps us get a better understanding
of ourselves and our world by enabling us to
see how behavior is shaped by the groups
to which we belong and the society in
which we live.
2. Using the Sociological Imagination allows us to:
A.
B.
C.
D.
bridge knowledge between Psychology and Sociology.
make personal troubles public issues.
make in-roads into finding absolute truth.
bridge the gap between micro and macro processes.
Answer: B

Using the Sociological Imagination allows us to
make personal troubles public issues.
3. The approach that begins with a theory and
uses research to test the theory is called:
A.
B.
C.
D.
qualitative
deductive
quantitative
inductive
Answer: B

The approach that begins with a theory and uses
research to test the theory is called deductive.
4. Durkheim identified four types of suicide. They
are:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Altruistic, Egoistic, Anomic, Fatalistic
Altruistic, Egocentric, Anomic, Fatalistic
Altruistic, Anthroscopic, Egocentric, Fatalistic
Altruistic, Egoistic, Anthroscopic, Egocentric
Answer: A

Durkheim identified four types of suicide. They
are: Altruistic, Egoistic, Anomic, Fatalistic.