Transcript What is Sociology?

Chapter One: Discovering
Sociology
Chapter Two: Doing Sociology
Chapter
Overview
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What is Sociology?
The Origins of
Sociology
First Sociologists
Sexism in Early
Sociology
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Theoretical
Perspectives in
Sociology
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The Sociological Perspective
What is Sociology?
• The scientific study of human behavior,
groups, and society
• Great tool for analyzing and understanding
social life or the world
• Attempt to understand without judgment
• Examine how social contexts influence
people’s lives
• Examines the link between what people do and
the social setting that shapes behavior.
– Small group social settings
– Large group social settings
The Sociological Perspective
What is Sociology?
• Sociologists study ones social location to
understand human behavior
• Jobs, Social Class, Race, Occupation, Sex,
Religion and other demographics
• Social Location can shape our ideas of who we
are and what we should attain in life
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The Sociological Perspective
The Sociological
Perspective
• Stresses the social contexts in which people
live
• Looks at how people are influenced by their
society and how social forces affect human
behavior
• “The Sociological Imagination”
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The Sociological Perspective
Development of Sociology
Major social change in the
19th century (1800’s)
• The Industrial Revolution
challenged traditional ideas
about social life
• Intellectual climate
– American and French
Revolution
– The scientific method, which
was used in the physical
sciences, led to the birth of
Sociology
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The Sociological Perspective
Auguste Comte:
Founder of Sociology
• Lived in France
• 1st Sociologist to advocate
using positivism to studying
social life
– Sociology a new science
• Coined the term “Sociology”
(the study of society)
• Advocate of social reform
1798-1857
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The Sociological Perspective
Herbert Spencer:
Social Darwinism
• Lived in England
• Disagreed with Comte that Sociology should
guide reform
• Coined the term “Survival of the Fittest”
• Societies are evolutionary
– Evolve from lower to higher forms
• Civilians (higher forms)
• Barbarians (lower forms)
– Over time societies improve and become advanced
1820-1903
• Social Reform interferes with natural process
of selection
• Social Philosopher
– Did not conduct scientific studies
– Only developed ideas about society
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The Sociological Perspective
Karl Marx:
Class Conflict
• Human history
– Created by class conflict
– Economics is central force for
social change
• Class Conflict
– Proletariat vs. the Bourgeoisie
• Marx’ predictions
– Social class revolution
– Classless society
• Marxism is not the same as
Communism
• “I am not a Communist”
1818-1883
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The Sociological Perspective
Max Weber:
Religion
• Lived in Germany
• Disagreed with Marx
– Economics is not the central
force for social change
– Religion central for social
change in society
1864-1920
• The Protestant Ethic is
tied to the rise of
capitalism
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The Sociological Perspective
Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism
• Compared Catholic religion with Protestant
religion to prove this theory
• Catholic religion encourages followers to
hold onto traditional ways of life and
believe everyone will go to heaven
• Protestant religion encourages followers to
embrace change
• Religion was a key factor to the rise of
capitalism
The Sociological Perspective
Emile Durkheim:
Social Integration
• First to establish sociology as a separate
academic discipline; a social science
• Explained that Sociological ideas could
be tested and published
– Theory: Social forces shape human
behavior
• Studied suicide rates in several
European countries
1858-1917
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The Sociological Perspective
Rural Areas
• Agricultural life
• Smaller population
• Close friendships and
family ties
• Great social support and
social control
• People followed rules of
social conduct
• Lower suicide rates
Urban Areas
• City life
• Larger population
• Individualistic: no time for
social interaction or new
friendships
• People work 12-16 hrs a
day/ 6 to 7 days a week
• Isolated among family
and friends
• Higher suicide rates
The Sociological Perspective
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Catholics and Protestants
Married and unmarried
Females and males
SOCIAL FACTORS underlie suicide
Social Integration
 The degree to which people are tied to their social
group
 How closely linked people are to their social
group (strong or weak bonds)
The Sociological Perspective
Types of Suicide
• Egotistic
– Low social integration/weak bonds
– Individualistic
• Altruistic
– High social integration/strong bonds
– Willing to die to accomplish group’s goals
• Anomic Suicide
– No integration
– Can not pursue society’s goals
The Sociological Perspective
Sexism in
Early Sociology
 Attitudes of the Time
1800s Sex Roles Rigidly Defined
Higher education reserved for men and the
wealthy
Women devoted themselves to the 4 C’s
Harriet Martineau
• Church, cooking, children, and clothes
 Harriet Martineau
Published Society in America Before
Durkheim and Weber Were Born
Known for translating Comte’s works from
French to English
1802-1876
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The Sociological Perspective
Jane Addams
Came from a background of privilege
Social reformer
She worked tirelessly for social justice
Co-founded the Hull House in 1889
Campaigned for laws against child labor
Leader of women’s rights and peace movement of
World War I
Co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931
1860-1935
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The Sociological Perspective
W.E.B. Du Bois and
Race Relations
• 1st African American to earn a doctorate at
Harvard
• Grew up within a very racist society
• Every year between 1896 and 1914 he
published a book on race relations between
African Americans and Whites
– Souls of Black Folk 1903
– Philadelphia Negro
• He became active in social reform after years
of collecting and interpreting data
• Founded the N.A.A.C.P
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The Sociological Perspective
Three Theoretical
Perspectives
• Theory-a general statement about how some
parts of the world fit together and how they
work
• Symbolic Interactionist
• Functional Analysis
• Conflict Theory
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The Sociological Perspective
• Each theoretical perspective looks at statistical data in
a different light, i.e. marriage and divorce rates
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The Sociological Perspective
Symbolic
Interactionism
• Symbolic Interactionists believe that
individuals evaluate their own conduct by
comparing themselves with others
• Symbolic Interactionists study:
– How people interpret symbols
– How people interact one on one
– How people behave according to how they define
themselves and others
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The Sociological Perspective
Functional Analysis
• The Functional Analysis perspective views
society as a whole unit, made up of
interrelated parts that work together.
• Functional Analysists study:
– The structure of society
– How each part of society has certain functions
that must be fulfilled
– What happens to society when dysfunctions
occurb
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The Sociological Perspective
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Founded by Karl Marx
Groups competing for scarce resources
Groups competing for power and authority
Conflict can be positive as it can bring about
positive change
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The Sociological Perspective
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The Sociological Perspective
Two Levels of
Sociological Analysis
• Macro Level - Large Scale Patterns in
Society
– Functional Analysis and Conflict Theory are
components of Macroanalysis
• Micro Level-Social interactions on a small
scale
– Symbolic Interactionism is a component of
Microanalysis
Which level of analysis is best?
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The Sociological Perspective