school basics
TRANSCRIPT
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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?