An Introduction to Sociology
Chapter 1
Sociology: “The systematic study of society and social interaction”
Society: “A group of people whose members interact, reside in a definable area, and share a
culture.”
Culture: “The group’s shared practices, values and beliefs.”
*Different sociologists might study different aspects of a society and/or culture in different
ways to get at what is really going on
The way sociologists look at society is what C. Wright Mills call the “Sociological Imagination”.
To do this you need to rid yourself of your biases and pre-conceived ideas
Studying Patterns:
How Sociologists View Society
Sociologists believe that the decisions that you make do not exist in a
vacuum. They are influenced by:
• Social Patterns- economy, environment, aging, social class etc
• Societal Pressures- marriage, working, education
• Cultural Patterns- Race relations, Religion, Gender
*Many off these could be a part of other categories depending on the
circumstances and perspective.
*When sociologists look into individual decision-making they take into
account these factors and others such as race, economy gender etc.
The Food Stamp Issue
The chart is confusing- not a great representation of the point that they
are trying to make.
What they are trying to show: receiving food stamps has a strong stigma
and the strength of the stigma can keep people who qualify from
participating. The strength of this stigma is influenced by the overall
economic climate and the social group involved.
The pattern of all kinds of contemporary social issues can be studied:
• Don’t ask, don’t tell
• Tea Party
• Twitter/Snapshot etc on communications
Figuration?
Phrase coined by Norbert Elias (German) that means:
The process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the
society that shapes that behavior figuration.
Another way to think about this is that there can be no dance without dancers
(individuals) but there can be no dancers without a dance (society).
Religion is another practical example in the real world. Individuals have different
religious views and these views are often expressed and influenced by the
institutions- (churches, society, government, families) from where they live.
Individual-Society Connections
See Page 12 and 13
Sociologist Nathan Kierns was interested in the treatment that a lesbian couple
that lived in an urban center and moved to a small Midwestern town received.
What do you think?
When they moved they experienced direct prejudice and discrimination- open
comments, job discrimination, housing discrimination
When you get lemons… They formed a gay-straight alliance to educate and
protect the rights of the LBGT individuals
Kierns observed that this is an excellent example of how negative social forces can
result in a positive response from individuals to bring about social change (Kierns
2011)
Sociology has its roots in ancient philosophy from all over the
world- Greek philosophers, Chinese historians, Confucius etc.
Two major historical events really forged it as a separate field:
1. The Age of Enlightenment Philosophers in the 18th Centurythinkers such as John Locke, Voltaire, Hobbes etc- developed
general principles that they thought could help lead to social
reform.
2. The Industrial Revolution (19th Century) This time period saw
huge changes in the economy, work roles and social
structure. The quick and powerful changes led to much
introspection and analysis of society and structure.
*The use of science and reason was a challenge to many age old
relationships including racial issues and religion
The Father of Sociology
Auguste Comte
He originally studied to be an engineer and is generally called
the father of sociology because he:
• Wrote a series of books called “The Course of Positive
Philosophy” and “A General View of Positivism”
• Believed that using scientific methods could have a positive
(positivism) effect on society- this is the modern goal of
sociology
Karl Marx
Hugely important figure in history and has a major influence on
sociology and politics. He was a German philosopher and economist.
He along with Friedrich Engels coauthored the “Communist
Manifesto”.
Marx rejected Comte’s positivism and instead predicted that the
inevitable inequalities of capitalism would eventually cause a workers
revolt and eventually a state of communism where there is no private
ownership of property. He believed that this would be a much fairer
system.
Others following his belief almost cause the end of the world:
Cuba, Vietnam, Korean War, Arms Race, Berlin Wall etc
Creating a Discipline
Since the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s several scholars have
refined the role, scope, methodology and purpose of
sociology. They often disagreed with each other or saw reality
from different perspectives. The overall effect was to enhance
and clarify an understanding of society and the human
condition.
Key Players in
Creating a Discipline
• Herbert Spencer (1873)- Published the 1st book with sociology in the
title- “The Study of Sociology”. Rejected most of Comte and Marx- felt
that gov’t should allow market forces to control capitalism
• Emile Durkheim -In 1895 established the 1st department of sociology
at the University of Bordeaux in 1895. Two important works that he
published are “Rules of the Sociological Method” and “Division of
Labour in Society”. Most famous finding was that suicide rates had a
socio-religious factor- Protestants committed suicide more than
Catholics
Key Players Continued
Max Weber- Established the sociology department at Ludwig
Maximilians University of Munich in 1919. A huge influence in sociology
in many different aspects;
• Social factors that affect factory workers
• The controversial relationship of capitalism and Protestantism
• Researchers have to be aware of biases- Verstehen
• Antipositivism- Don’t try to generalize and predict but to gain an indepth understanding of social worlds-subjectivity
• Positivism and Antipositivism are the foundation of the major
research fields of Quantitative Sociology- Statistical study of large
numbers of participants (surveys, census) for patterns and Qualitative
Sociology- through in-depth interviews, focus groups, books,
magazines, journals and popular media
Impact of Working Moms
*The “typical” family doesn’t really exist anymore
Today about 60% of women work- over 50% of women with children
under 1 work.
This trend can be sociologically analyzed many ways:
• The effect on a child’s development
• Economic values of the parents- status
• Socialization differences in a daycare vs at home
• Type of daycare and later academic success
• Has having more working mom shifted more responsibilities to
schools
• ETC
Theoretical Perspectives
Sociologists study:
• Social events
• Interactions
• Patterns
They then develop theories to explain 1. why these occur and 2. what
can result from them
Theory- a way to explain different aspects of social interactions and
to create testable propositions about society
Durkheim’ Theories
• Social Solidarity- Social ties that bind a group together- kinship,
shared location, religion. Related to the suicide study
• Grand Theories (AKA) Macro-Level Theories- These are to answer
large-scale (fundamental) questions like why societies form. These
are more philosophical than practical- very hard to study.
• Micro-Level Theories- Deal with very specific relationships. Ex- Why
do middle-class girls text instead of making phone calls. Then a
hypothesis is developed such as texting is silent.
• If enough supportive data is found a hypothesis might become a
theory
Paradigms: The Broad, Prominent Theories
Paradigms- Philosophical and theoretical frameworks to come up
with theories, generalizations and the experiments performed in
support of them.
The Big Three:
1. Structural Functionalism
2. Conflict Theory
3. Symbolic Interactionism
Functionalism
Functionalism- (AKA) Structural Functional Theory. Sees society as an
interrelated structure to meet the needs of the individuals that make
up the society.
Herbert Spencer (1898) founded it and compared it to the human
body. All the different parts work together to keep the entire body
(society) functioning.
Durkheim- Like Spencer, felt functionalism evolved over time as
societies became more complex. Durkheim felt that societies were
now interrelated but separate parts that supported each other, He
said that in a healthy society this is called Dynamic Equilibrium.
Social Facts and Functions
Social Facts- Durkheim felt that sociologists needed to look beyond
the individual to laws, morals, values, religious etc that govern social
life. He felt that these served one or more “function” in society. Laws
are a good example- punishment, protection, rehabilitation.
Function- a recurrent activity that has a role in maintaining social
continuity
Manifest Function- The intended consequences of a social process.
College is meant to be a place where you learn.
Latent Function- Unsought consequences of a social process. Meeting
someone you want to marry at college.
Dysfunction- Social processes that have undesirable consequences for
society. Dropping out of school, not finding a job etc.
Criticisms of Social Functionalism
• Doesn’t explain rapid social change like the 60’s
• Not a good Macro-Level Theory
*Now considered more useful in Mid-Range analysis
Global Culture
The interesting possibility that the world via the internet etc is
becoming more of a global culture.
The world is much smaller with communication and travel creating a
“common culture” and bring people and ideas closer together.
Government finds it harder to isolate what’s happening inside a
country from thee outside world.
A lot of research on the effects of outsourcing impacts or creates
social inequalities
Conflict Theory
Conflict Theory- A Macro-Level theory that looks at society as a
competition for scarce resources.
Areas of Competition
• Social, Political, Money, Entertainment, Religious, Leisure time,
Housing and entertainment- about anything of importance
*Some individuals and organizations are “winners” and strive to
maintain their power, resources and influence over competitors*
Karl Marx and Others
Karl Marx believed that the economic conflict of the different classes would
eventually lead to revolution. He saw world history in terms of the struggle
between social classes and capitalism was the last and worst example.
Others put their own spin on his theories:
• Max Weber- Agreed with Marx on the inequities of capitalism BUT didn’t
have to lead to revolution. He felt that if the people felt the leader was
legitimately in power, they would accept their lot.
• Georg Simmel- Had a lot of complex thoughts but felt that conflict could
help a society and release tension and pave the way for the future.
• Janet Saltzman Chafetz- Saw the conflict in terms of gender. She felt that 2
factors played a role. 1 was the coercive power by men and two was the
was the voluntary choices people made by gender roles and tradition.
• She felt that by improving women’s education and job opportunities
women could improve their position in society
Symbolic Interactionism
This theory is a micro-level theory based on how individuals or small
groups interpret the world. George Herbert Mead and Herbert
Blumer Identified three basic premises:
1. Humans act toward things on the basis of the meanings they
ascribe to those things.
2. The meanings of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the
social interaction that one has with others and the society.
3. These meanings are handled in, and modified through an
interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the
things he/she encounters.
Symbolic Interactionism
Kind of Explained
Food can be a symbol in how it is used- holidays, religious celebration
(the body of Christ) or what you choose to eat. We have many diets
going on in our society and people in social situations will quickly
interact with people who share their diet. If your diet also has a moral
component- Vegan- what you eat is a powerful symbol about what you
stand for and how you might act.- “scripts”
Dramaturgical Analysis (Theatre) is a analogy (Erving Goffman) for SI.
He felt that we often play our cultural “scripts” and we have to
improvise our role as we gather meaning from our interactions
Sociology in the Workplace- Skills
• an understanding of social systems and large bureaucracies,
• the ability to devise and carry out research projects to assess whether a
program or policy is working,
• the ability to collect, read, and analyze statistical information from polls or
surveys,
• the ability to recognize important differences in people’s social, cultural,
and economic backgrounds,
• skills in preparing reports and communicating complex ideas,
• the capacity for critical thinking about social issues and problems that
confront modern society. (Department of Sociology, University of Alabama)
Sociology in the Workplace- Jobs
Sociology prepares people for a wide variety of careers. People who
graduate from college with a degree in sociology are hired by
government agencies and corporations in fields such as social services,
counseling (e.g., family planning, career, substance abuse), community
planning, health services, marketing, market research, and human
resources. Even a small amount of training in sociology can be an asset
in careers like sales, public relations, journalism, teaching, law, and
criminal justice. Or like my brother in-law, he is a production VP of an
aeronautics company