school basics

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Chapter 1

Sociology

Perspective, Theory, and

Method

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The Sociological Perspective:

Seeing the General in the Particular

Seeing general patterns in the behavior of

particular individuals.

The general categories which we fall into

shape our particular life experiences.

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The Sociological Perspective:

Seeing the Strange in the Familiar

Brainstorm about three familiar practices

in the United States.

Now find something strange about each of

the practices.

Discuss why they seem strange, now that you

are using the sociological perspective.

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Rate of Death by Suicide, by Race and Sex, for the United States

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Seeing Sociologically: Marginality

The greater a persons marginality:

The better able they are to use the

sociological perspective

To become better at using the sociological

perspective:

Step back from familiar routines

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The Importance of a Global

Perspective

Global Perspective

The study of the larger world and our societys

place in it.

What is the importance of a global

perspective for sociology?

Sociology shows that our place in society

profoundly affects our life experiences

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Sociology and Public Policy

Sociologists have helped shape public

policy

The laws and regulations that guide how

people in communities live and work

Question:

Think of a public policy topic in our society that is

currently under review and/or discussion.

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Sociology and Personal Growth

Helps us assess the truth ofcommon

sense

Helps us see the opportunities in our

everyday lives

Empowers us to be active participants in

our society

Helps us live in a diverse world

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Careers: The Sociology

Advantage

A sociology background is excellent in

preparing for the working world

Agencies and companies want to be sure

that:

Products, programs, and policies they create

get the job done at the lowest cost

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Social Change and Sociology

What striking transformations took place in

18th and 19th century Europe that:

Drove the development of sociology?

Rise of a factory-based economy

Explosive growth of cities

New ideas about democracy and political rights

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Science and Sociology

Auguste Comte (17981857)

French social thinker who coined the term

sociology in 1838 to:

Describe a new way of looking at the world

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Suicide Rates across the United States

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Sociological Theory

Theory

A statement of how and why specific facts are

related

Two basic questions in building theory

What issues should we study?

How should we connect the facts?

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The Structural-Functional Approach

A framework for building theory that sees

society as a complex system whose:

Parts work together to promote solidarity and

stability

Social Structure

Social Functions

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The Social-Conflict Approach

A framework for building theory that sees

society as an arena of inequality that:

Generates conflict and change

Highlights how the following factors are

linked to inequality

Class, race, ethnicity, gender, age

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Feminism and the Gender-Conflict

Approach

A point of view that focuses on inequality

and conflict between women and men

Closely linked to feminism, the advocacy

of social equality for women and men

Harriet Martineau & Jane Addams: women

important to sociology development

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The Race-Conflict Approach

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Point of view; focuses on inequality &

conflict between people

Of different racial and ethnic categories

People of color important to the

development of sociology:

Ida Wells Barnett and W.E.B. Du Bois

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Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm

The basics

A micro-level orientation, a close-up focus on

social interactions in specific situations

Views society as the product of everyday

interactions of individuals

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Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm

Key elements

Society is a shared reality that people

construct as they interact with one another

Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic

of subjective meanings

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Stacking in Professional Baseball: Does race play a part in professional sports?Looking at the various positions in professional baseball, we see that white players

are more likely to play the central positions in the infield, while people of color are more likely

to play in the outfield. What do you make of this pattern?Source: Lapchick (2011).

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Three Ways to do Sociology

All sociologists want to learn about the

social world

Three ways to do sociological research

Positivist Sociology

Interpretive Sociology

Critical Sociology

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Concepts, Variables, and

Measurement

Concept: A mental construct; represents

some part of the world in a simplified form

Variable: A concept that changes from

case to case

Measurement: Procedure for determining

the value of a variable in a specific case

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Statistics

Descriptive statistics

To state what is average for a large

population

Most commonly used descriptive statisticsare:

Mean; Median; Mode

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Reliability and Validity

Reliability

Consistency in measurement

For measurement to be reliable, the process must

yield the same results when repeated

Validity

Actually measuring exactly what you intend to

measure

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Correlation and Cause

Correlation

A relationship in which two (or more) variables

change together

Cause and Effect

A relationship in which change in one variable

causes change in another

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The Ideal of Objectivity

Objectivity (personal neutrality)

Value-relevant research

Topics the researcher cares about

Value-free research

Dedication to finding truth as it is rather than

as we think it should be

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Interpretive Sociology

Humans engage in meaningful action

Interpretive sociology differs from scientific

or empirical sociology in three ways:

Scientific sociology focuses on action

Interpretive sociology focuses on meaning

Scientific sociology sees an objective reality

Interpretive sociology sees reality

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Interpretive Sociology

Scientific sociology favors quantitative data

Interpretive sociology favors qualitative data

Scientific orientation is well-suited for

research in a laboratory

Interpretive orientation is better suited in a

natural setting

Investigators interact with people

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Webers Concept of Verstehen

German word forunderstanding

Interpretive sociologists job

Observe what people do

Share in their world of meaning

Appreciate why they act as they do

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Critical Sociology

The study of society that focuses on the

need for social change

Critical sociologists ask moral and political

questions

Critical sociologists reject Webers goal that

Sociology be value-free

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Sociology as Politics

Scientific sociologists

Object to taking sides in this way

Claims critical sociology

Critical sociologists

All research is political in that it either calls for

change or does not

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Gender and Research

Gender

Personal traits & social positions members of

a society attach to being female or male

Gender can affect sociological research in

five ways

Androcentricity, over-generalizing, gender

blindness, double standards, and interference

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Research Ethics

Awareness that research can harm as well

as help subjects and communities

American Sociological Association

Established formal guidelines for conducting

research

Sociologists must be skillful and fair-minded in

their work

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Research Methods

A systematic plan for doing research

Four methods of sociological investigation

Experiments

Surveys

Participant observation

Existing sources

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Testing a Hypothesis: The

Experiment

Test a specific hypothesis

A statement of how two or more variables are

related

An educated guess about how variables arelinked usually an if-then statement

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Asking Questions: Survey Research

Survey

Survey targets some population

Researchers usually study a sampleA much smaller number of subjects selectedto represent the entire population

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In the Field: Participant Observation

Participant observation

Cultural anthropologists

Uses fieldwork to study societies

Fieldwork makes most participant observationexploratory and descriptive

Participant observation has few hard-and-fast rules

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Using Available Data: Existing

Sources

Sociologists make use of existing sources

Data collected by others

Most widely used data are gathered by

government agencies

Using available information

Criticism

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Putting It All Together: Ten Steps in

Sociological Research

1. What is your topic?

2. What have others already learned?

3. What, exactly, are your questions? 4. What will you need to carry out

research?

5. Might the research cause harm? 6. What method will you use?

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Putting It All Together: Ten Steps in

Sociological Research

7. How will you record the data?

8. What do the data tell you?

9. What are your conclusions? 10. How can you share what you have

learned?