What is Sociology

What is Sociology? • Sociology is the ―systematic and scientific study of human behavior, social groups, and society‖ • Basic insights – Who we are is affected by the groups we belong to – Interaction takes place in patterned ways Two questions • Why do people behave the way they do? • Why are their social situations the way they are? (Coser et al. 1991:4) Sociology as a science • ―systematic methods to study the social and natural worlds and the knowledge obtained by those methods‖ (Henslin 2007b:3) • Built on the logic of correlation (cause and effect) explanations • Social Sciences: Anthropology; Economics; Political Science; Psychology Sociological Perspective • Seeing the general in the particular • Seeing the strange in the familiar • A collective view beyond the individual view • Peter Berger (1963:23) – ―the first wisdom of sociology is this— things are not what they seem…Social reality turns out to have many layers of meaning.‖ Sociological Imagination: (Mills 1959 [2000]) • Sociological Imagination: ―...the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.‖ • The sociological imagination helps us to grasp the relationship between history and biography – links between history and biography – links between public issues and personal troubles Origins of Sociology • • • • • The Enlightenment A New Industrial Economy The Growth of Cities Political Change A New Awareness of Society European Beginnings • Two goals of early European social philosophers and sociologists – understand and explain how and why societies endured—to understand the aspect of order and stability – what caused societies to change and what shaped the nature of that change Early Sociologists • Auguste Comte – Positivism; Father of Sociology • Emile Durkheim – Sociology as a discipline – Study Social Facts – Suicide: group integration • Herbert Spencer – Social Darwinism • Karl Marx – Bourgeoisie & proletariat – Society driven by economic forces • Georg Simmel – Importance of interaction and role of social types • Max Weber – Verstehen – Importance of values • Harriet Martineau – Work was ignored but published before Weber and Durkheim – Translated Comte Seeing the General in the Particular RATE OF DEATH BY SUICIDE 20 20 18 16 18 16 14 14 12 10 8 12 10 8 6 4 2 20.2 10.9 6.2 1.9 African Americans Whites 12.4 4.9 6 4 2 0 0 By Race and Sex PER 100,000 PERSONS Males Both Sexes Females U.S. Bureau of the Census Sociology in North America Jane Addams (1860-1935) and Social Reform W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) and Race Relations Sociology in North America • 1940s - Talcott Parsons and social theory emphasis • 1950s – C. Wright Mills return to social reform The Sociological Imagination • • • • took issue with American sociological practice in the fifties ‗nowadays men often feel that their private lives are a series of traps‘ ‗their visions and their powers are limited to the close-up scenes of job, family [and] neighborhood‘ "neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both, we need to develop a way of understanding the interaction between individual lives and society.‖ Sociological Theory • Macro-sociology – study of society as a whole • society shapes individuals • positivism • perspectives – consensus (Functionalism) – conflict (Marxism) • Micro-sociology – study of individuals within society Major Theoretical Perspectives: Functionalism • How is social order maintained? • Subsystems/institutions have functions; mutually interdependent • Concern for social order, stability, and integration • What function does this play? • Manifest and Latent functions • Dysfunctions • Social change occurs through evolution Major Theoretical Perspective: Conflict/Marxism • How is society organized and who benefits from this? • Social life is characterized by conflict over power and resources • Social change comes from conflict • Marxism focuses on how people organize themselves to satisfy their material needs Sociological Theory • Macro-sociology – study of society as a whole • society shapes individuals • positivism • perspectives – consensus (Functionalism) – conflict (Marxism) • Micro-sociology – study of individuals within society • individuals create society • social construction of reality • perspective – Symbolic Interactionism Major Theoretical Perspective Symbolic Interactionism • How, and in what way, do people interpret and negotiate their surroundings? • Key assumptions: – People act toward things based on meanings – People give meanings to things based on interactions with others – Meanings change as relationships change Schools of Symbolic Interactionism Chicago School • individual is subjective & unpredictable • constructing & reconstructing our social roles • changing & negotiating statuses & roles • participant observation & ethnographic methods • explanatory & investigative theorizing Iowa School • generalizable & predictable • adherence to roles; create meaning but not the roles themselves • stable, predictable, & controllable networks of statuses and roles • empirical methods • deductive theorizing with prediction & controls of social phenomena Major Theoretical Perspectives Theory View of Society Functionalism Composed of interrelated parts that work together to maintain stability. Society is characterized by social inequality; social life is a struggle for scarce resources. Conflict Symbolic Interactionism Behavior is learned in interaction with other people. •Which one is best? •Why did SI begin in US? Max Weber and social action • subjective meaning that humans attach to their actions • believed more and more of our behavior was being guided by zweckrational • modern society shift in motivation • based on structural and historical forces. Ways of knowing – Kinds of “Truth” • Belief or faith – Knowing without empirical evidence • Expert testimony • Simple agreement • Science – Logical system based on direct, systematic observation Major Types of Research • Quantitative research focuses on data that can be measured numerically (comparing rates of suicide, for example). • Qualitative research focuses on interpretive description rather than statistics to analyze underlying meanings and patterns of social relationships. Sociological Research • Research Model: 4 broad steps – formulating a research question – collecting data – analyzing the data – share results with peers Deductive and Inductive Logical Thought Variables • Types of variables – Independent: the variable that causes the change – Dependent: the variable that changes (it’s value depends upon the independent variable) • Correlation – A relationship by which two or more variables change together • Cause and effect – A relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another • Spurious correlation – An apparent, though false, relationship between two or more variables caused by some other variable Correlation Does Not Mean Causation • Conditions for cause and effect to be considered – Correlation – Time – Correlation is not spurious • • • • Storks and babies Ice cream consumption and crime Music lessons and high SAT scores Web usage and tolerance (2000 GSS) Who we study – Population • The entire group of people who are the focus of the research – Sample • The part of the population that represents the whole – Random Sample • Drawing a sample from a population so that every element of the population has an equal chance of being selected Research Methods: Survey Research • Describes a population without interviewing each individual. • Able to gather data on large numbers of people at a lower cost • Standardized questions force respondents into categories. • Relies on self-reported information, and some people may not be truthful. Research Methods: Analysis of Existing Data • Also known as secondary analysis • Less cost in collection of data • You have to rely on validity and ethics of someone else • Sometimes data does not ―fit‖ well with research question • Examples: NCVS, UCR/NIBRS, Census, GSS & NORC Research Methods: Experiments • Study the impact of certain variables on subjects‘ attitudes or behavior. • Designed to create ―real-life‖ situations. • Used to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between variables. • Some behavior is not testable in this way • Artificial environment Research Methods: Field Research/Ethnographic • Study of social life in its natural setting. • Observing and interviewing people where they live, work, and play. • Generates observations that are best described verbally rather than numerically. • Subject to interpretation • Danger of going ―native‖ Ethical Guidelines for Research • Must strive to be technically competent & fair-minded • Must disclose findings in full without omitting significant data & be willing to share their data • Must protect the safety, rights and privacy of subjects • Must obtain informed consent-- subjects are aware of risks and responsibilities and agree • Must disclose all sources of funding & avoid conflicts of interest • Must demonstrate cultural and gender sensitivity – Humphrey Tearoom Trade – Brajuha research project Limitations of Scientific Sociology • Human behavior is too complex to predict precisely any individual’s actions • The mere presence of the researcher may affect the behavior being studied – Hawthorne Effect • Social patterns change • Sociologists are part of the world they study making value-free research difficult