Chapter 1: Sociology and the Real World

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• Chapter 1 Sociology and the Real World

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What Is Sociology?

• Sociology is one of the social sciencesdiscipline
  s that examine the human or social world.

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What Is Sociology? (contd.)

• Sociology can help you develop a sociological
  perspectivea way of taking a sociological
  approach or thinking sociologically about the
  world.

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What Is Sociology? (contd.)

• Sociologythe study of society
• According to Howard Becker, sociology is the
  study of people doing things together because
  neither the individual nor society exist
  independently of one another.

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What Is Sociology? (contd.)

• Sociology looks at a broad range of institutions
  (structures in our society, like education,
  economics, and politics) to better understand
  social relationships.

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What Is Sociology? (contd.)

• Sociologists are interested in all aspects of
  society.
• Societya group of people who shape their lives
  in patterned ways that distinguish their group
  from other groups

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Culture Shock

• Culture shock happens when you experience a sense
  of disorientation upon entering a new
  environment.
• Behaviors that seem typical in one society or
  culture may seem very strange in another context.

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Sociological Imagination

• Sociological imagination is a term coined by C.
  Wright Mills.
• Mills says, To understand social life, we must
  understand the intersection between biography and
  history.

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Sociological Imagination

• Sociological imagination a quality of the mind
  that allows us to understand the relationship
  between our particular situation in life and what
  is happening at a social level

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The Beginners Mind

• Like it sounds, the beginners mind is the
  opposite of an experts mind. Bernard McGrane
  says that to explore the social world, it is
  important that we clear our minds of stereotypes,
  expectations, and opinions so that we are more
  receptive to our experiences.

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Levels of Analysis

• Sociologists can use different levels of analysis
  to explore social relationships
• Microsociology examines small-group interactions
  to see how they impact larger institutions in
  society
• Macrosociology examines large-scale social
  structures to determine how they impact groups
  and individuals

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Sociological Theories

• Theories in sociology are propositions that
  explain the social world and help to make
  predictions about future events.
• Theories are also sometimes referred to as
  approaches, schools of thought, paradigms, or
  perspectives.

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Sociologys Roots

• Auguste Comte
• Stated that sociology needed to be treated like
  any other scientific discipline
• Laid the groundwork for future sociologists and
  helped build the discipline

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Sociologys Roots (contd.)

• Harriet Martineau
• A social activist who traveled the United States
  and wrote about social changes that were radical
  for this time period
• Martineau translated Comtes work into English,
  making his ideas accessible to England and
  America.

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Sociologys Roots (contd.)

• Herbert Spencer was the first great
  English-speaking sociologist.
• Spencer believed in evolution and coined the
  phrase survival of the fittest.
• He believed that societies evolve through time by
  adapting to their changing environment. His
  philosophy is often referred to as social
  Darwinism.

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Sociologys Roots (contd.)

• Émile Durkheim worked to establish sociology as
  an important academic discipline.
• Interested in the social factors that bond and
  hold people together
• Studied the correlation between social isolation
  and suicide

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Sociologys Roots (contd.)

• Karl Marx was a German philosopher and political
  activist.
• Marx contributed significantly to sociologys
  conflict theory.

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Sociologys Roots (contd.)

• Marx believed that capitalism was creating social
  inequality between the bourgeoisie, who owned the
  means of production (money, factories, natural
  resources, and land), and the proletariat, who
  were the workers.
• According to Marx, this inequality leads to class
  conflict.

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Sociologys Roots (contd.)

• Max Weber was also interested in how society was
  becoming industrialized.
• He was concerned with the process of
  rationalization, applying economic logic to all
  human activity.
• He believed that contemporary life was filled
  with disenchantment, the result of the
  dehumanizing features of modern societies.

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Sociologys Roots (contd.)

• George Herbert Mead was interested in the
  connection between thought and actionbetween the
  individual and society.
• Mead suggested that the meanings that we give to
  objects in our society are social
  processespeople interact, and meanings come from
  these interactions.

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Sociologys Roots (contd.)

• Erving Goffman was interested in how the self
  is developed through interactions with others in
  society.
• Goffman used the term dramaturgy to describe the
  way people strategically present themselves to
  others.

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Schools of Thought

• Your book refers to paradigms, or schools of
  thought. Paradigms are ways of thinking or
  theoretical umbrellas, meant to provide a broad
  explanation for the way things work.

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Modern Schools of Thought

• Structural functionalism
• Society is viewed as an ordered system of
  interrelated parts, or structures, which are the
  social institutions that make up society (family,
  education, politics, the economy).
• Each of these different structures meets the
  needs of society by performing specific functions
  for the whole system (society).

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Modern Schools of Thought (contd.)

• Conflict theory
• Sees social conflict as the basis of society and
  social change

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Modern Schools of Thought (contd.)

• Symbolic interactionism
• Sees interaction and meaning as central to
  society and assumes that meanings are not
  inherent but rather are created through
  interaction

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New Theoretical Approaches

• Feminist theory
• Looks at both gender inequalities in society and
  the way that gender structures the social world
  and considers remedies to these inequalities

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New Theoretical Approaches (contd.)

• Queer theory
• Proposes that categories of sexual identity are
  social constructs and that no sexual category is
  fundamentally either deviant or normal

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New Theoretical Approaches (contd.)

• Postmodernist theory
• Suggests that social reality is diverse,
  pluralistic, and constantly changing

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Sociology and the Real World Concept Quiz
The social sciences could include all of the
following except a. sociology. b.
psychology. c. anthropology. d. economics. e.
biology.
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Sociology and the Real World Concept Quiz
If you are a researcher interested in knowing how
many people in your city live below the poverty
line, you might get census data to find that
information. Then, you could count the number of
people that meet your criteria. What kind of
research are you doing? a. quantitative b.
qualitative
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Sociology and the Real World Concept Quiz
The sociological imagination gives us a way to
look at the world beyond our own personal
experience. a. true b. false
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Sociology and the Real World Concept Quiz

• Abstract propositions that both explain the
  social world and make predictions about future
  events are known as
• a. theories.
• b. social inequalities.
• c. ideas.
• d. social assumptions.
• e. means of production.

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Sociology and the Real World Concept Quiz
What are paradigms? a. broad theoretical
perspectives b. specific research methods c.
dominant sociological applications d. all of
the above e. none of the above
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Sociology and the Real World Concept Quiz
Marx believed that there was a class struggle
between a. groups of people who worked
alongside one another. b. groups of people who
practiced different religions. c. people who
owned the means of production and people who
worked for a wage. d. people who were born rich
versus people who earned their wealth. e.
people who were born poor versus people who fell
into poverty due to a poor work ethic.
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Sociology and the Real World Concept Quiz
Which of these sociological paradigms has proved
to be the most influential of the twentieth
century? a. structural functionalism b.
conflict theory c. symbolic interactionism d.
world-systems theory e. critical race theory
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