Henslin Notes Chapter 1 PDF

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Notes from Chapter 1 of FA18: PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY: 15525 (First weeks lecture)...

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Sociology Chapter 1: Important Sociologists: 1. Auguste Comte - Creates as the founder of sociology, and began to analyze the bases of social order - Although he stressed that the scientific method should be applied to the study of society, HE DID NOT apply it himself 2. Herbert Spencer - English philosopher who was the FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT proponent of Social Darwinism theory - He argued that society benefited from the elimination of the unfit and the survival of the strong and talented 3. Karl Marx - German sociologist who saw history as a class struggle between groups out of power and those controlling the means of production; preached the inevitability of social revolution and the creation of proletarian dictatorship 4. Emile Durkheim - Contributed many important concepts to sociology - His comparison of the suicide rates of several countries revealed an underlying social factor; people are more likely to commit suicide if their ties to others in their communities are weak - His identification of the key role of social integration in social life remains central to sociology today 5. Max Weber - Individual who explained the rise of capitalism in art by what he called the Protestant ethic

Sociological Perspective: understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context Society: people who interact in a defined territory and share a culture Science: organized way of using evidence to learn about the natural world Scientific Method: a series of steps that scientists use to answer questions and solve problems Sociology: the study of human society

Positivism: the application of the scientific approach to the social world Social Darwinism: The belief that only the fittest survive in human political and economic struggle Class Conflict: Marx’s term for the struggle between capitalists and workers Conflict Theory: the idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general Social Integration: The degree to which people are tied to their social group Protestant Ethic: sociological term used to define the Calvinist belief in hard work to illustrate selection in an elite group Calvinism: believed in predestination, that God was all knowing and became the dominant theological credo of the Puritans Bourgeoisie: The middle class, Marx’s term for capitalists, those who own the means of production Proletariat: The industrial working class Basic Sociology: analyzing some aspect of society, with no goal other than gaining knowledge Applied Sociology: using sociology to solve problems Public Sociology: a middle ground between research and reform, it refers to harnessing the sociological perspective for the benefit of the public Theory: A set of assumptions about why something is the way it is and happens the way it does

Symbolic Interactionism: sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction Functional Analysis: society is a whole unit, made up of interrelated parts that work together Macrosociology: sociological investigation that concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations Microsociology: The study of human behavior in contexts of face-to-face interaction Social Interaction: what people do when they are in one another's presence Research Model: 1. Selecting a topic 2. Defining the problem 3. Reviewing the literature 4. Formulating a hypothesis 5. Choose a research method 6. Collecting the data 7. Analyzing the results 8. Sharing the results Surveys: Research method in which information is obtained by asking many individuals a fixed set of questions Population: all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study Sample: items selected at random from a population and used to test hypotheses about the population Random Sample: A sample in which every element in the population has an equal

chance of being selected Stratified Random Sample: A sampling design in which the population is divided into several subpopulations, or stata, and random samples are then drawn from each stratum Respondents: people who respond to a survey Closed-ended questions: questions that are followed by a list of possible answers to be selected by the respondent Open-ended question: questions that respondents answer in their own words How not to do research: 1. Choose a biased sample 2. Ask biased questions 3. List biased choices 4. Discard undesirable results 5. Misunderstand the subject’s world 6. Analyze data incorrectly Research Ethics: 1. Maintain the objectivity and integrity 2. Respect the subject’s right to privacy and dignity 3. Protect subjects from personal harm 4. Acknowledge research collaboration and assistance 5. Disclose all sources of financial support Participant Observation: A research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities Case Study: intensive study of a single group, incident, or community

Secondary Analysis: the analysis of data that have been collected by other researchers Experiments: the use of control and experimental groups and dependant and independent variables to test causation Experimental Group: in a study, the participants who receive the treatment Control Group: the group that does not receive the experimental treatment Independent Variable: a variable that is changed in an experiment Dependent Variable: the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable Unobtrusive Measures: ways of observing people so they do not know they are being studied Value Free: the view that a sociologist’s personal values or biases should not influence social research Objectivity: treating facts without influence from personal feelings or prejudices Replication: the repetition of an experiment in order to test the validity of its conclusion...