Transcript Slide 1

Units of Analysis
Micro-level
Dyad
Individual
Macro-level
Talking
People have different conversational styles, influenced by the
part of the country they grew up in, their ethnic backgrounds,
their age, class, and gender.
NOT referring to differences in the use of language,
phrases and the definition of words
idiosyncratic usage argot/slang where the same word
has very different meanings for different people in
different contexts—my three girls, aged 20, 22 & 25
“bad” meaning “incredibly good;”
“the bomb;” “the shiznet”
“fixin’;” “y’all,” “scoot over”
Talking
People have different conversational styles, influenced by the part of the
country they grew up in, their ethnic backgrounds, their age, class, and
gender.
I’m from New York City: loud, obnoxious, aggressive?
Or
straight-forward, direct, honest?
NY: “call it like you see it”
South: “Billy is so dumb . . . Bless his little heart!”
Argumentative?
NY: To argue is a sign of respect.
“Good for you!”
South: “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say
anything . . . to their face.”
Talking
People have different conversational styles, influenced by the
part of the country they grew up in, their ethnic backgrounds,
their age, class, and gender.
But conversational style is rarely recognized by participants
in interactions. Unaware that these and other aspects of our
backgrounds influence our ways of talking, we think that
we are simply saying what we mean and often experience
frustration when we feel misinterpreted
[of course, others accuse us of the same thing]
Deborah Tannen
Professor of Linguistics
Georgetown University
Gender-Differences in Communication Style
General Tendencies; Patterns are a matter of degree, not of
absolute differences
Rapport vs. Report
Women
Conversations are negotiations for closeness in which people try to seek
and give confirmation and support, and to reach consensus.
Their world is one of connection; intimacy; rapport. Talk is the “glue”
that holds relationships together. Conflict is often perceived as a threat
to connection and to be avoided at all costs. Disputes are preferably settled
without direct confrontation. Consensus building and maintenance.
Eye-contact; constant feed-back loop; finishing each
other’s sentences; tag questions
Talk for long periods of time on the phone - about everything.
Gender-Differences in Communication Style
Rapport vs. Report
Women
Children tend to play in sex-separate groups in which very different
styles are learned, practiced and reinforced.
Girls play in small groups or in pairs;
typically have one best friend where everything is shared;
not hierarchical;
favorite games are jump-rope and hopscotch  everyone gets a turn;
no winners or losers;
girls compromise to preserve harmony cooperative
Gender-Differences in Communication Style
Rapport vs. Report
Boys play outside, in large groups that are hierarchically structured;
there is a leader who gives orders;
there are winners and losers;
boys use verbal and physical threats competitive
Conversations are negotiations in which people try to achieve and
maintain the upper-hand if they can, and protect themselves from others’
attempts to put them down and push them around.
Their world is one of contestation, of mutual jockeying around for
position; for status; independence.
Name-calling; jokes. Boys’ relationships are held together by activities.
Conflict is the necessary means by which status is negotiated.
Men often use opposition to establish connections
Gender-Differences in Communication Style
Rapport vs. Report
Put the two together: [Remember: General Tendencies; Patterns are a
matter of degree, not of absolute differences]
“How was your day?”
“You’re not listening!”
“Would you like to stop off at x on the way home?”
Deborah Tannen
Professor of Linguistics
Georgetown University
Gender-Differences in Communication Style
Implications: Talking at Work
Systematic differences in women’s and men’s characteristic styles often
put women in a subordinate position in interactions with men.
Giving orders: Getting a subordinate to re-write a report:
Indirect approach: “Maybe you should . . .”
Ritual beginnings and endings: “I’m sorry”/ “Thank you”
Asking questions [directions. emergency room]
Pitching ideas [confidence/assertiveness vs. doubt/uncertainty] women
are more likely to downplay their certainty, men are more likely to
downplay their doubts
Allocation of credit: Who gets the credit? Who gets the raise?
The latest study on girls says they may be as
likely to use aggression as boys. Rather than
fists, girls express it through manipulation,
exclusion and gossip-mongering.
Simmons, who visited 30 schools and talked to 300 girls, catalogues acts of
aggression, including the silent treatment, note-passing, glaring, gossiping,
ganging up, fashion police, and being nice in private/mean in public.
Units of Analysis
Macro-level
Micro-level
Dyad
Individual
Group
Triad
Units of Analysis
Macro-level
Micro-level
Dyad
Individual
Group
Triad
Social
Institutions
Formal Org
Bureaucracy
Social Institutions
Family
Education
Polity
Religion
Economy
Science
Units of Analysis
Macro-level
Micro-level
Dyad
Individual
Group
Triad
Social
Institutions
Formal Org
Bureaucracy
Society
The Social System
Politics
Economy
Science
Family
Education
Religion
Institutional
Autonomy &
Interdependence
Units of Analysis
Macro-level
Micro-level
Structural-Functional
Symbolic Interaction
Dyad
Individual
Group
Triad
Conflict
Social
World
Institutions
Formal Org
Bureaucracy
Society
Symbolic Interaction
Symbolic Interactionist Approach
George Herbert Mead
Mead – and others who followed his footsteps – believed
that previous approaches ignored the fundamental fact
that individuals “think” – they actively perceive, define,
and interpret the world around them.
Rather than see the actor as a passive puppet blindly
responding to stimuli – as did Watson (in Mead’s view) –
Mead wanted to understand what goes on between
stimulus and response. Do all individuals interpret and
define the stimulus in the same manner?
1863 - 1931
Symbolic Interactionist Approach
George Herbert Mead
Rather than see individuals as impelled by either
mentalistic – Freud – or biological – Davenport – impulses
over which they had no control, Mead wanted to focus on
how actors, when confronted with situations,
(1) define the objects and situation they encounter,
(2) creatively think about possible modes of conduct,
(3) imagine the consequences of alternative courses of
action,
1863 - 1931
(4) eliminate unlikely possibilities, and finally
(5) select what they believe to be the best course of action.
Symbolic Interactionist Approach
George Herbert Mead
Rather than focus attention on the larger structure of
society – the inequalities inherent in a capitalist economy
that were stressed by Marx – Mead wanted to focus on
the practical face-to-face, day-to-day activities of people
in their more immediate social setting. How do they
communicate? How are “symbols” created, defined, and
shared by interacting individuals? How is “reality”
socially constructed from the ground up?
1863 - 1931
Since action is created by the actor out of what he
perceives, interprets, and judges, to fully understand it
the analyst would have to see the situation as
the actor sees it, perceive objects as the actor perceives
them, ascertain the meanings they have for the actor,
and follow the actor’s line of conduct as the actor
organizes it and modifies it during its course.
The “Subjective Element” in Social Action
The Thomas Theorem
“The Definition of the Situation”
“If men define situations as real, they are
real in their consequences.”
Interpretative flexibility
W. I. Thomas
1863-1947
Symbolic Interaction
Herbert Blumer
1900-1987
How do people go about creating, defining, sharing and
using “symbols” to facilitate interaction?
“Interpretative flexibility”
What is a “Symbol?”
Anything that stands for something other than itself.
Anything that carries a particular meaning that is recognized
and shared by people.
A word
A hairstyle
A cross
A whistle
A flashing light
A piece of jewelry on a finger
A raised fist
A flag
A manner of dressing
A gesture
Structural – Functional
Analysis
Social Systems
Structural – Functional Analysis
Harvard University
Talcott Parsons
1902 - 1979
Robert K. Merton
1910 - 2003
Biological
System
Walter B. Cannon
1871 - 1945
System
A system is made up of different parts.
Parts can be independently isolated and analyzed.
How does each contribute to the smooth operation of
the total system? What functions do they serve?
Parts are interdependent. Whatever happens in one part
reverberates throughout the entire system.
How does each part affect all of the others?
The normal state of the system is equilibrium and stability.
How is it maintained?
The Social System
1.
Identify the parts of the system
Biological System
Social System
Individual Cells
Social Roles
Tissues (clusters of
specialized cells)
Groups
Organs
Institutions
Body
Society
Social Institutions
Family
Father
Mother
Son
Daughter
Brother
Sister
Aunt
Uncle
Cousin
Grandmother
Polity
President
Senator
Congressman
Governor
Mayor
Assemblyman
Judge
Lawyer
Education Economy Religion Science
Teacher
“X” Occupation
Student
Consumer
Dean
entrepreneur
Principal
Superintendent
Priest
Researcher
Minister Lab tech
Rabbi
Deacon
Congregant
Social Functions
FAMILY
RELIGION
Socialization; regulation
of sexual activity
Social cohesion;
Social control
POLITY
Setting goals & laws
Social control;
Defense
EDUCATION
Transmitting requisite
skills & knowledge;
Socialization;
ECONOMY
SCIENCE
Production & distribution
of goods & services
Technology; medicine
The Social System
Politics
Economy
Science
Family
Education
Religion
Institutional
Autonomy &
Interdependence
Systemic Interdependence
Poverty
&
Divorce
Church
&
State
Evolution
&
Special Design
Social Institutions
Family
Beliefs
Values
Attitudes
Norms
Customs
Traditions
Polity Economy Education Religion Science
Unintended Consequences
Adam Smith
Thomas Malthus
Karl Marx
It’s not mere happenstance - there are specifiable and
predictable reasons why these occur.
We don’t know precisely what and when - just why.
Most of the consequences of purposive social action
are unintended.
Structural-Functional Analysis
All social actions and behaviors have multiple consequences,
some of which are intended (manifest), the vast majority of
which are unintended and unanticipated (latent).
Consequences that contribute to the stability of a social system
are called functions.
Consequences that disrupt the social system are called
dysfunctions.
Manifest
Functions
Dysfunctions
Latent
The Ubiquity/Inevitability of Conflict
Conflict is built-in to the very fabric of society. It is as
normal - and healthy - as the air we breathe and most
often occurs in socially patterned ways.
People who occupy different social positions - by virtue
of occupying different positions - will have different sets
of LEGITIMATE interests, values and attitudes.
These differences may be exacerbated by political differences and
an all too familiar pattern appears:
(1) Circling the wagons and polarizing the issues
(2) Drawing and responding to caricatures of opponents
(3) Selective perception
(4) Talking past one another - looking to “score” off the other person
Early Structural - Functional Analysis
Major emphasis on “functions” - those consequences that
contribute to the stability of the social system.
Analogy with biological system:
bacteria and viruses - which are “outside” of the
body - “attack” and threaten the health of the body
conflict and social disruptions are like diseases that
threaten the health of society
The Social System
Politics
Economy
Science
Family
Education
Religion
Institutional
Autonomy &
Interdependence
Social Institutions
Family
Beliefs
Values
Attitudes
Norms
Customs
Traditions
Polity Economy Education Religion Science
Systemic Interdependence
Church
&
State
“The Christian people of America will not
sit idly by . . . .
They are going to vote as a bloc for the
man with the strongest moral and spiritual
platform, regardless of his views on other
matters. I believe we can hold the balance
of power.”
Billy Graham, 1951
Systemic Interdependence
Church
&
State
Textbook
Controversies
Sex
Education
Evolution
&
Special Design