Unit 1: Sociological Perspectives

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Unit 1 Sociological Perspectives

• Ch 1 An Invitation to Sociology
• Ch 2 Sociologists Doing Research

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Ch 1 An Invitation to Sociology

• The nature of sociology

• Sociology is the scientific study of _______
  _______. Social structure is the patterned
  interaction of people in _______________.
• A perspective is a particular ___________. The
  sociological perspective looks at the behavior of
  groups NOT _____________.
• So sociologists look at the _________ __________
  shared by members of a group or society.
• They attempt to explain events w/o relying on
  personal factors they look for ______________.
• They dont speak of an individual, but of
  ______.

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• Group behavior vs. individual behavior

• Sociologists assume that social relationships
  arent determined by the particular
  _________________________ involved.
• The mixing of the individuals creates a new whole
  w/ new _____________.
• Peoples behavior w/in a group setting cant be
  ____________ from their personal characteristics.
• Groups range in size from a family to an entire
  society. No matter its size, all groups
  encourage _____________.
• It occurs partly b/c members are taught to ______
  their groups ways. Members may truly value
  their groups ways or just be giving in to
  ________ ____________.

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• Sociological imagination

• The ability of individuals to see the
  relationship b/w events in their ________ _____
  the events of their ________.
• It helps us to understand the effects of events,
  such as ______________, on our daily lives
  challenges conventional social wisdom (ideas that
  people _____ are true).
• This enables us to better make our _____________
  rather than merely ________.

End Section 1
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• Sociologys origins in Europe

• Began during the ________________ in late 19th
  century Europe. There was a great social
  upheaval large s of people were moving from
  _______ to _______.
• Some intellectuals were concerned by the sudden
  changes. They looked for ways to ____________.
  These ideas led to the rise of sociology.
• Auguste Comte (France)
• The __________ of Sociology.
• Explained his theories in Positive Philosophy.
• Concerned w/ the ___________________. Believed
  that for society to advance, social behavior had
  to be studied _________. He attempted to create
  a science to do this which he called sociology.
• Positivism is the belief that knowledge should be
  derived from ____________ ____________.
• He distinguished b/w social statics which is the
  study of social ______ social dynamics which is
  the study of social _________.

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• Harriet Martineau (England)
• Translated Comtes book into ________.
• Contributed to research methods ___________
  theory.
• Saw a link b/w ______ the oppression of women.
  Believed that womens lack of economic power
  helped keep them _____________________.
• Herbert Spencer (England)
• Introduced the idea of Social Darwinism which
  claims that in order for society to ______, the
  strongest, most fit members of society should be
  allowed to flourish the ______, least fit
  should be allowed to die based on the ideas of
  Charles Darwin.
• So he opposed ________________.
• Viewed positively by _____________ b/c he
  justified their exploitation of the poor.

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• Karl Marx (Germany)
• Believed that social scientists should try to
  __________________, not just study it.
• Stated that throughout history, societies have
  always been divided into _________ _________
• __________ vs. __________
• (haves, middle-class) (have-nots, poor)
• The Bourgeoisie is the class that _____ the means
  of production. An individual w/in that class is
  a capitalist. The Proletariat was the
  __________________.
• The Industrial Revolution _____________ b/w the
  classes. He believed the Proletariat would rise
  up overthrow the Bourgeoisie work for
  ________________ for all. This would lead to the
  gov.t dissolving a classless society -
  _________. He thought it would take numerous
  revolutions for this to happen.

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• Emile Durkheim (France)
• Claimed that society exists b/c of a broad
  consensus (agreement).
• Believed in _____________ times, societies were
  based on mechanical solidarity (social dependency
  based on widespread consensus of values
  beliefs, _________________, dependence on
  tradition family).
• Believed ____________ societies are based on
  organic solidarity (social interdependency based
  on a high degree of ____________ in roles).
• Max Weber (Germany)
• Claimed humans act based on their understanding
  of a _________. He believed an understanding of
  the _______________ of people in groups can be
  best accomplished through the method of verstehen
  (understanding social behavior of others by
  putting yourself in the _____________________).
• Thought the key influence in industrialization
  was rationalization (the mind-set emphasizing
  _______, reason ________) instead of tradition,
  emotion, superstition prevalent in
  preindustrialized societies.

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• Sociology develops in the US

• The greatest development of sociology has taken
  place in the ____ most sociologists are from
  the ______.
• Jane Addams
• Focused on the problems caused by the
  ________________ among the social classes.
  Co-founded the ____ _____ in Chicago, a place for
  people (the ill, aged, poor, immigrants, etc) who
  needed assistance.
• Also active in ________________ peace
  movements.
• Won the _______________ (1931).
• W.E.B. DuBois
• Black educator ____________ for the rights of
  blacks in America abroad.
• Helped found the __________.

End Section 2
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• Perspective

• Your perspective is the way you _______ the
  meaning of an image or event. Its influenced by
  your ______________. It draws your attention to
  some things ________ it to others.
• A theoretical perspective is a set of assumptions
  ______________. It helps its supporters ________
  their research.
• ________ theoretical perspectives usually exist
  at the same time.
• Sociology has 3 major theoretical perspectives
• ____________
• ________________
• ____________________

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• Functionalism

• An approach that emphasizes the __________ made
  by each part of society.
• Parts of society include ________, economy,
  _________, etc
• Functionalists see the parts of a society as an
  ______________ a change in one part leads to
  changes in other parts. For example, a major
  change in the economy leads to changes in the
  ________.
• Assumes that societies tend to return to a state
  of _______ after some upheaval has occurred.
• Believes that there is a consensus on ____ (Ex.
  Most Americans agree on the desirability of
  democracy equal opportunity) which promotes a
  high degree of _______________.
• Believes that most aspects of a society exist to
  promote a societys __________ ________ (Ex.
  gov.ts, families, religions, etc).

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• A function is a ___________ made by some part of
  a society.
• Manifest functions are __________ _________
  contributions of an aspect of society.
• Ex. Schools educate students.
• Latent functions are ___________ _________
  contributions of an aspect of society.
• Ex. Schools help develop ____________.
• Not all elements of society make _________
  contributions. Dysfunction refers to the
  __________ consequences of an aspect of society.
• Ex. Gov.ts can be very ___________.

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• Conflict perspective

• An approach that emphasizes the role of _______,
  competition, _______, constraint w/in a
  society.
• Basically the ______ beliefs of functionalism.
• Focuses on the ____________ among various groups
  in a society or b/w societies.
• Believe that groups societies compete in an
  attempt to preserve promote their own special
  ________________.
• Its all a contest w/ the main ? being, _____
  ______________?
• Those w/ the most power (ability to
  ________________ of others) get the largest share
  of whatever a society considers to be __________.
• Believe that social change occurs as the
  _______________ among conflicting groups shifts.

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• Symbolic interactionism

• An approach that focuses on the __________ among
  people based on mutually understood __________.
• Believe that groups exist only b/c their members
  _______ each others __________.
• A symbol is something chosen to __________
  something else. It can be an object, ______,
  gesture, facial expression, sound, etc
• Often it is something _________ used to represent
  something that is ______ ____________.
• Believe that we learn the meaning of a symbol
  from the way we see others ________ to it that
  once we learn the meanings of symbols, we base
  our ______ (or interaction) on them. We then use
  the meanings of symbols to imagine how others
  will _________ to our behavior.

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End Section 3
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Ch 2 Sociologists Doing Research

• How do sociologists conduct research?

• Like other scientists, sociologists gain
  knowledge by doing ____________.
• Unlike most other scientists, sociologists are
  very ________ in their ability to set up
  ___________________ to replicate real-life
  conditions.
• Sometimes its impossible to __________ the
  necessary conditions sometimes even if they
  could, there are __________ preventing them from
  doing so.
• There are 2 methods of research sociologists use
• ____________ data based on s. Makes up
  about ______ of research published in major
  sociological journals.
• _________ data based on narratives
  descriptions.

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• Quantitative research

• A survey is a research method in which
  information is obtained by asking many
  individuals a ___________ of ?s.
• Most ____________ research method in sociology.
• Ideal for studying ________ s of people.
• B/c they cant study an entire population (a
  group of people w/ certain ____________________),
  they must select a sample (a relatively ________
  out of the total population under study).
• A sample must be representative of the
  ________________. A representative sample is one
  that accurately reflects the ______________ of
  the population as a whole. There are 2 ways to
  ensure the sample is representative of the
  population
• 1. Take a purely __________________.
• 2. ______________ pick individuals who
  represent all of the various
  ________
  in the population being studied.
• May be a questionnaire or an __________.
  Closed-ended questions are those w/ a limited,
  fixed set of ______ open-ended questions are
  answered in the participants own words. See p.
  40 for examples.

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Closed-ended Survey Research
Advantages Disadvantages
Closed-ended answers can be more precisely __________. Responses can be easily __________. Statistical techniques can be used to ______ _______ of the data. A ______ of responses can be collected. Surveys are ________ to produce distribute. Responses are ______ to preset answers. Many people dont respond to surveys, resulting in low cost _______________. The way a question is stated may _________ the answer given.
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• Secondary analysis is using ______________
  _____________ for data collection research
  purposes.
• Types of precollected data include ______ ______
  (ex. Census information), company records, voting
  lists, other scientists research reports, etc.
• _____________ rarely used in sociology.

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• Qualitative research

• Uses ________________________ data rather than
  numerical data.
• Most of these methods are types of field research
  (research that takes place in a natural,
  ___________, setting).
• Case studies are a research method that involves
  an ____________ of a single group, incident, or
  community.
• B/c only a few people are studied, a single case
  study doesnt ___________. However, they can
  generate new hypotheses that researchers can
  test.
• Most ___________ used field research method.
• Naturalistic observation research method in
  which the sociologist observes the subject in a
  ________________ w/o ____________.
• Researcher must avoid disturbing the people under
  study b/c they may change their ________ if they
  are aware of the researcher.
• In the participant observation research method, a
  researcher becomes a __________________ being
  studied. The group may or may not be _________
  they are being studied.
• Know the chart on p.45!

End Section 1
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• Causation

• The belief that events occur in _________ ways
  that 1 event leads to another.
• Social scientists look for the factors that cause
  social events to happen.
• Social events are usually ______________ to be
  explained by a single factor. Multiple causation
  is the belief that an event occurs as a result of
  several factors working in ______________.
• Ex. What causes crime?
• _______________
• _______________
• _______________
• _______________
• _______________
• Etc
• Each factor involved in multiple causation is a
  __________.

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• Variable

• A characteristic that is __________________.
• Different types of variables
• A variable is either quantitative or qualitative.
• Quantitative variable a characteristic that can
  be _____________________.
• Qualitative variable a characteristic that is
  defined by its ______________ _________________
  (ex male/female, single/married/divorced/widowed,
  etc)
• A variable is also either independent, dependent,
  or intervening.
• Independent variables a characteristic that
  ______________ to occur. These are the variables
  a researcher can change so they can observe its
  ______.
• Dependent variables a characteristic that
  _________________. These are variables that
  change b/c of a change in the independent
  variable.
• Intervening variables a characteristic that
  _____________________ b/w an independent
  dependent variable.

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Types of variables Ex You dont spend much
time studying get a bad grade on your sociology
quiz. But Ms. Griggs decides to curve the grades
(Dream on!). What are the following
variables 1. Independent variable 2. Is the
independent variable quantitative or
qualitative? 3. Dependent variable 4. Is
the dependent variable quantitative or
qualitative? 5. Intervening variable
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• Correlations

• Sometimes, instead of looking for cause effect,
  researchers look for correlations (measures of a
  ____________ b/w 2 variables or sets of data).
  ___________ ______________________________.
• A positive correlation would occur if both
  variables or .
• Ex Grades IQ
• A negative correlation would be if one variable
  the other .
• Ex Grades absences.
• Its easier to show a ___________ than a
  ____________.

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• Standards for showing causation

• Standard 1 2 variables must be ____________.
• Standard 2 All other _________ _______ must be
  taken into account.
• A spurious correlation is an apparent
  relationship b/w 2 variables that is actually
  caused by a __________ that affects both of the
  other variables.
• Standard 3 A change in the _____________
  variable must occur before a change in the
  _________ variable can occur.
• Sometimes its difficult to determine which
  occurs _____.

End Section 2
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• Steps for doing research

• Sociologists use the scientific method which
  involves the recognition formulation of a
  problem, the collection of data through
  observation experiment, the formulation
  testing of hypotheses.
• The steps are
• 1. __________ the problem.
• 2. __________ the literature.
• 3. __________ hypotheses.
• - A hypothesis is a testable statement of
  relationships among variables.
• 4. __________ a research design.
• 5. __________ data.
• - Most sociological data is collected by
  asking people ?s, observing behavior,
  analyzing _____________________.
• 6. __________ data.
• - Sometimes it can be ____________ in
  different ways.
• 7. ________ findings conclusions.

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• Ethics in social research

• Although there are principles for conducting
  research, scientists sometimes fail to live up to
  these principles whether ________________ them
  (Ex. Nazi doctors experiments on concentration
  camp prisoners) or ___________ (Ex. The Stanford
  Prison Experiment).
• Usually, sociologists routinely protect the
  rights of research subjects avoid ___________
  or harming them.
• Conducting ethical research means showing
  _________ using superior research standards
  reporting findings methods ___________
  protecting the rights, privacy, integrity,
  dignity, freedom of ____________________.
• The ___________________________ has published
  guidelines for conducting research (Its in the
  appendix of your textbook).
• The researcher must balance the interests of
  those being _________ against the need for
  accurate, timely ________.

End Section 3