Sociology Notes Chp 1 PDF

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Henslin, James M. 2015. Essentials of Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach, 11th Edition. Upper Saddles River: New Jersey. Pearson. Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective Sociological perspective: -social contexts in which people live -Examines how these contexts influence people’s lives. -How do groups influence people? The sociological perspective emphasizes how the social context influences people’s lives, particularly how people are influenced by society. -Society: group of people who share a culture and a territory Social location: corners in life that people occupy because of their place in a society. Ex: Jobs, income, education, gender, race, age. Gender… your gestures and the way you laugh come from you identifying with one of these groups. C. Wright Mills… History… each society is located in a broad stream of events. Biography: peoples experiences within a specific historical setting, which gives them their orientations to life. -You don’t do what you do because you inherited some internal mechanism, such as instincts (like speaking English). -Rather, external influences – your experiences – become part of your thinking and motivation. The Global Context – and the Local Back in the day, lived on isolated farms, grew their own food, and made their own clothing. Now, internet, cell phones. At the same time that we are engulfed in instantaneous global communications, we also continue to occupy our own little corners of life. Origins of Sociology p. 4 Tradition versus science. Ancient people trying to figure out how social life works… based their answers on superstition, myth, or the positions of the stars. They did not test their assumptions. Science requires theories that can be tested by research. Sociology emerged about the middle of the 1800s, when observers began to use scientific methods to test their ideas. The scientific method: the use of objective and systematic observation to test theories, one that is often employed by sociologists Industrial revolution. Moving from rural areas to cities to find work. Broke their ties to the land. Many traditional western monarchies gave way to more democratic forms of government. Auguste Comte and Positivism Sociology: the study of society Positivism: applying the scientific method to the social world. The purpose of sociology would be to discover social principles and to apply them to social reform. Sociologists would reform society, making it a better place to live. 1

Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism He said sociologists should not guide social reform... if they did, it would interfere with a natural process that improves societies. -Societies are evolving from a lower barbarian form to a higher civilized form. The most capable and intelligent members survived, while the less capable die out. -The survival of the fittest. Social Darwinism: The notion that only the fittest members of society deserve to survive and that social programs to help the poor will ultimately weaken the social order Karl Marx and Class Conflict He thought that people should try to change society by a revolution. The engine of human history is class conflict. Karl Marx suggested that the force that drives human history and is at the core of human society is class conflict. Society is made of two social classes: 1. Bourgeoisie: the capitalists, those who own the means of production (money, land, factories, and machines) 2. Proletariat: exploited workers that did not own the means of production. The workers’ revolution will be bloody, but it will usher in a classless society, one free of exploitation. People will work according to their abilities and receive goods and services according to their needs. He did not develop communism Emile Durkheim and Social Integration He was awarded the world’s first academic appointment in sociology. Social forces affect people’s behavior. Suicide… He found consistencies in suicide rates within each country. Different groups within a country have different suicide rates and that these too remain stable from year to year. -Males are more likely than females -Protestants more likely than Catholics or Jews -unmarried more likely than the married. -Suicide was not simply a matter of individuals here and there deciding to take their lives for personal reasons. Instead, social factors underlie suicide, which is why a group’s rate remains fairly constant year after year. Social integration: the degree to which people are tied to their social groups. People who have weaker social ties are more likely to commit suicide. -Protestantism encourages greater freedom of thought and action -males are more independent than females -the unmarried lack the ties and responsibilities that come with marriage They have fewer of the social bonds that keep people from committing suicide. Less social integration. Human behavior cannot be understood only in terms of the individual; we must always examine the social forces that affect people’s lives.

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Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic Weber disagreed with Marx’s claim that economics is the central force in social change. That role belongs to religion. The birth of capitalism via religion… Roman Catholic belief system encouraged followers to hold on to their traditions. -Protestant encouraged its members to embrace change. Roman Catholics were taught that because they were church members they were on the road to heaven. -Protestants were told they wouldn’t know if they were saved until judgment day. So they began to look for a “sign” that they were in god’s will. They found this sign in financial success, which they took as a blessing that indicated that god was on their side. They began to live frugal lives, saving their money and investing it in order to make even more. Birth of capitalism. The protestant ethic: self-denying approach to life characterized by people living frugal lives and saving their money The spirit of capitalism: the desire to invest capital in order to make more money In sum… Marx… the central force for social change is economics. Weber… the force most responsible for social change is religion Sociology in North America In the 1800s, sex roles were rigid with women assigned the roles of wife and mother. Church, cooking, children, and clothes. Few people, male or female, attained any education beyond basic reading and writing. Higher education was for the rare few… and males. Most early female sociologists viewed sociology as a path to social reform. Focusing on ways to improve society Ex: stop lynching, integrate immigrants into society, and improve conditions of workers. p. 8 Should sociology be to reform society or to do objective research on society (change it for the better or leave it as is and just talk about it)? Those that held the university positions won the debate. They feared that advocating for social causes would jeopardize the reputation of sociology and their own university positions. It was these men who wrote the history of sociology. Distancing themselves from the social reformers, they ignored early female sociologists. … Now women are being acknowledged today. Harriet Martineau She would hide her writing beneath her sewing when visitors arrived. Writing was masculine and sewing was feminine. Racism at the Time: W.E.B. Du Bois First African American to earn a doctorate at Harvard. As he passed a butcher shop in Georgia one day, he saw the fingers of a lynching victim displayed in the window. One of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. NAACP Jane Addams: Sociologist and Social Reformer 3

Co-founded Hull House, Chicago, for people who needed refuge (immigrants, the sick, the aged, the poor) She was into the exploitation of workers and how rural immigrants adjusted to city life, she strove to bridge the gap between the powerful and the powerless. Worked for the 8 hour work day and for laws against child labor. Co-winner of a Nobel Prize for Peace Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills: Theory versus Reform 1940s, emphasis shifted to social theory. The Continuing Tension: Basic, Applied, and Public Sociology Basic (pure) sociology: analyzing some aspect of society with no goal other than to gain knowledge. Their audience is fellow sociologist and anyone interested. The product is knowledge. Constructing theory and testing hypotheses. Research on basic social life, on how groups affect people. Public sociology: applying sociology for the public good; especially the use of the sociological perspective (how things are related to one another) to guide politicians and policy makers Getting politicians and policy makers to apply the sociological understanding of how society works as they develop social policy. Their audience: policy makers The product is recommendations The middle ground… criticisms of society and social policy Analyzing problems, evaluating programs, and suggesting solutions Applied sociology: using sociology to solve problems Their audience is clients. The product is change. Implementing solutions (clinical sociology) -Ex: sociologists creating the NAACP Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology Common sense debate. Theory: -general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work. -An explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another. -Is like a lens through which we can view social life. Symbolic Interactionism Symbols: things to which we attach meaning -the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with one another. Charles Horton Cooley George Herbert Mead Sociologists who analyze how social life depends on the ways that people define themselves and others are most likely symbolic interactionist. Symbols in Everyday Life 4

Symbols define our relationships. Without symbols our social life would be no more sophisticated than that of animals. Each symbol requires rather different behavior. Not only do relationships depend on symbols, but so does society itself. Without symbols, we could not coordinate our actions with those of others. We could not make plans for a future day, time, and place. Symbolic interactionist analyze how social life depends on the ways we define ourselves and others. They study face-to-face interaction, examining how people make sense out of life and their place in it. Applying Symbolic Interactionism Example is marriages and divorces The Meaning of Marriage 1930s… more emphasis on personality (instead of survival and procreate) Expecting more affection, understanding, and compatibility from marriage. Feelings became more important. Duty and obligation less important. So when feelings change, so can the relationship, end in divorce. The Meaning of Divorce Used to be a symbol of failure. Now… freedom and new beginnings? The Meaning of Parenthood Used to be providing food, clothing, shelter, and moral guidance. Ex: in Columbia, children of the poor support themselves by the age of 8 or 10 Now… extending aid to kids in their 20s and 30s The Meaning of Love We expect true love to deliver constant emotional highs. This expectation sets people up for crushed hopes, as dissatisfactions in marriage are inevitable. Functional Analysis Society is a whole unit, made up of interrelated parts that work together. Living organism / society analogy. Just as a person or animal has organs that function together, so does society. If it is to function smoothly, its parts must work together in harmony. -Pathological state is when society’s functions are not fulfilled. We need to look at both: - Structure: how the parts of a society fit together to make the whole -function: what each part does, how it contributes to society. Functionalists refer to how parts of a society fit together to form a whole as a structure. Robert Merton and Functionalism Functions: the beneficial consequences of peoples actions… functions help keep a group (society, social system) in balance. Dysfunctions: harmful consequences of people’s actions. Undermine a systems equilibrium 5

Functions: Manifest: an action is intended to help some part of a system Latent: unintended consequences that help a system adjust. An incentive is given to women to give birth. The birth rate jumps. Manifest function. The sale of diapers and baby furniture is a latent function. Applying Functional Analysis Functionalist stress that industrialization and urbanization undermined the traditional functions of the family. On the farm, division of labor… the husband and wife formed and economic unit in which each depended on the other for survival . With today’s individual paychecks… etc. Functionalist would view society as a system of interrelated parts Conflict theorist would view society as composed of groups competing for scarce resources Conflict Theory p. 17 Society is composed of groups that compete with one another for scarce resources. Karl Marx and Conflict Theory Industrial revolution. Europe. Average age of death for worker: 30 The key to human history is class conflict. Each society, some small group controls the means of production and exploits those who are not in control. The bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The capitalists control the legal and political system to keep the workers from rebelling. Conflict Theory Today Lewis Coser Close relationships… worked out ways to distribute power and privilege, responsibilities and rewards. Any change in this arrangement can lead to hurt feelings, resentment, and conflict. Even in intimate relationships, then, people are in a constant balancing act Feminists and Conflict Theory Historical, contemporary, and global inequalities of men and women. Applying Conflict Theory (p. 19) Industrialization… women the ability to meet their basic survival needs without depending on a man. macro level of analysis: Examine large scale patterns of society. -Structural Functionalist -conflict theorists micro level of analysis: social interaction… what people do when they are in one another’s presence. - Symbolic interactionist

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Sue is an expert in interpreting gestures, silence, the use of space, and expressions people make in their daily interactions. In view of this, how would Sue's expertise be defined? Sue is an expert in nonverbal interaction (p. 19) Homeless example: Symbolic interactionist would look at their communications, what they do on the streets Verbal and non-verbal interaction (gestures, use of space, etc) Functionalist and conflict theorists would look at how changes in some parts of society increase homelessness. Jobs have dried up, changes in the family, higher divorce rate Every theory must be tested, which requires research. They go hand in hand. Doing Sociological Research Common sense … versus sociology Ideal research model 1.Selecting a topic. 2.Defining the Problem 3.Reviewing the literature -Read what has already been published 4. formulating a hypothesis Hypothesis: statement of what you expect to find according to predictions from a theory. A statement that describes how variables are expected to be related to one another, often according to predictions from a theory, is a hypothesis. -Predicts a relationship between or among variables -variables: factors that change from one person or situation to another. In the statement, "Poverty causes crime," the words "poverty" and "crime" are best described as variables because they are subject to change. Operational definitions: precise ways to measure the variables. 5.choosing a research method How are u going to collect your data? 6. collecting data Validity: your operational definitions must measure what they are intended to measure. Reliability: if other researchers use your operational definitions, their findings will be consistent with yours. The term "reliability" refers to the extent to which different studies come up with similar results 7. analyzing the results Test the hypothesis (if you have one) 8. share the results Research Methods (Designs) Surveys Ask individuals a series of questions. Issues: 1. selecting a sample -population: target group that you are going to study -sample: individuals from among your target population. 7

How to get a representative sample? random sample: everyone in your population (the target group) has the same chance of being included in the study. In research, to generalize one's findings to a total population, what is the most important quality that the sample must possess? It must be representative of the total population (p. 24) How to get one? Need a list of all the married women enrolled in your college. Then you assign a number to each name on the list. Using a table of random numbers, you then determine which of these women will become part of your sample. -If this is done correctly, you will be able to generalize your findings to all the married women students on your campus, even if they were not included in your sample. -stratified random sample. Need a list of the freshmen married women. Follow steps above. Will allow you to generalize to all the freshmen married women at you college, but you would not be able to draw any conclusions about the sophomore’s, etc. 2. Asking neutral questions Respondents: people who answer your questions, to express their own opinions. 3.types of questions Closed-ended questions: followed by a list of possible answers Open-ended questions: allow people to answer in their own words. 4.Establishing rapport. A feeling of trust with their respondents especially when it comes to sensitive topics. Participant Observation The researcher participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that setting. How involved should u get in the lives of the people you are observing? Jarod is conducting research on the homeless. For six weeks, he has lived among the homeless "24/7," sleeping on the street or at a shelter, and engaging in the same activities as the population he is studying. By doing so, Jarod has been able to gather a broad understanding of the homeless, their needs, and characteristics. In view of this, Jarod is using Participant Observation as a method of gathering data. Case Studies Researcher focuses on a single event, situation, or individual. The purpose is to understand the dynamics of relationships and power or even the thinking that motivates people. Reveals a lot of detail about some particular situation. But how much of this detail applies to other situations? Problem is generalizability Secondary Analysis Analyzing data that someone else has already collected. Analysis of Documents

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The study of documents, recorded sources. Books, newspapers, diaries, bank records, police reports, immigration files, ad records kept by organizations… video and audio recordings. Experiments Allows us to determine cause and effect. Ex: Arrange individuals into the experimental group to receive some form of therapy that the individuals in the control group would not get. -The therapy would be your independent variables, something that causes a change in another variable. -Your dependent variable, the variable that might change, would be the men’s behaviors, whether they abuse women after they get out of jail. Dr. Zimbardo is examining the effect that pornographic movies have on the ways in which single men respond to the needs of women. He has one group of men watch pornographic films and another watch Three Stooges episodes. He then tests their reactions to women in need by showing them short film clips and following up with a series of questions. What research method is Dr. Zimbardo using? The experiment Unobtrusive Measures Ways to observe people who are not aware that they are being studied. Ethics in Sociological Research Require honesty, truth, and openness (sharing findings with the scientific community). -Ethics clearly forbid the falsification of results. -Rules also condemn plagiarism. -People should be informed that they are being studied -They never should be harmed by the research. -Require to protect the anonymity of those who provide information. p. 34 Trends Shaping the Future of Sociology First phase: up until the 1920s. -Primary purpose of soc research was to improve society Second phase: 1920s – WWII. -Concern switched to developing abstract knowledge. Third phase: now. -Seek ways to apply their research findings. Globalization Globalizati...