Sociology 134

1
Welcome

• Sociology 134
• Sections 1- 18
• Professor Terry Besser
• http//www.soc.iastate.edu/Soc134Sec1-18/
• TAs Nick Recker Laura Rhoton
• Ryan Orr Monica Whitham

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Society is the great adaptive tool

• Transmission of knowledge
• Accumulation of knowledge
• Cooperative labor
• Cooperation in general

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Sociology is the scientific study of society

• Units of analysis are
• Groups
• Social structure
• Social processes

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Sociology and Other Social Sciences

• Concerned with answering the question
• What makes people act the way they do?

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Social Institutions Economics Politic
al Science   Anthropology Human
Behavior Sociology       Biology Personal
Biography Psychology
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Social Fact (E. Durkheim)

• Measurable phenomena
• Characteristic of groups

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Society is an entity distinct from and quasi
independent of individuals
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• What can you learn about icebergs, water erosion,
  and waterfalls by studying individual water
  molecules?

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• The properties of water cannot be fully
  appreciated by studying individual water
  molecules

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• So too, you cannot fully understand the behavior
  of people without understanding social structure
  and social processes.

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Personal IssuesvsPublic Issues (Social Facts)
C.Wright Mills
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An Example

• Personal issue.personal biography
• Public issuesocial fact Boomerang kids

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Economic Explanation
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Psychological Explanation
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Sociological Explanation

• Later age at marriage

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Next Steps

• Explanations become hypotheses
• Tested against reality

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Brief History of Sociology

• Traditional basis of truth and knowledge
• Renaissance
• Industrial Revolution brought social upheaval

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Science Applied to Understanding Social Reality

• Henri de St. Simon
• August Comte
• Harriet Martineau

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Differences between Science in the Physical
World and Science in the Social World

• General knowledge
• Complexity of variables
• Value judgments

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In this course

• Demystify social world