THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

HOW is the sociological perspective a new and exciting way of seeing the

world?

Why study Sociology?

• To assess the truth of "common sense"

• To see opportunities & constraints in our lives

• To be active participants in our society

• To help us live in a diverse world...

• To secure a job after college

–PETER BERGER (1963)

A. “Seeing the general in the particular.”

I. Sociological Perspective: looking for general patterns in the behavior of particular people.

B. SEEING THE STRANGE IN THE FAMILIAR

• How does social class background shape the kind of job you expect to have after graduation?

• What effect will your background have on your decision to go to college?

"THE CORNERS OF LIFE WE OCCUPY IN SOCIETY"

SOCIAL LOCATION EXAMPLES: JOB, INCOME, EDUCATION, GENDER, RACE-ETHNICITY

C. SEEING PERSONAL CHOICE IN SOCIAL CONTEXT

Is the size of a family really a matter of personal choice?

EMILE DURKHEIM

• Research on suicide showed rate strongly influenced by social integration (social ties)

• Increased suicide risk:

• Protestant

• Male

• Unmarried

• Wealthy

• Conclusion: greater wealth & freedom weakens social ties

PRIVATE CHOICES ARE SHAPED BY SOCIETY

D. SEEING SOCIOLOGY IN EVERYDAY LIFE

SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

• Seeing the connection between society and your individual life

• Ex. Great Depression

• Those out of work blamed the economy for the high unemployment

• THUS...Sociological thinking can bring about social change!

C. WRIGHT MILLS (1963)

II. ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY

A. RAPID SOCIAL CHANGE GIVES WAY TO SOCIOLOGY

1. Rise of industrial economy

• Traditions weakened as workers become part of large & anonymous labor force

2. Growth of cities

• Rapid urbanization leads to new Msocial problems (ex. crime, homelessness, unemployment)

3. Political change

• American & French Revolutions encouraged people to rethink social life

• New ideas introduced (ex. Inalienable rights)

4. Imperialism

• Exposure to radically different cultures and ways of life

• Began to ask, "why do cultures differ?"

5. Success of natural sciences

• Use of the scientific method - objective, test theories

• Secrets revealed - logical step since tradition no longer gives answers

B. EARLY SOCIOLOGISTS

1. Auguste Comte (1838)

• Named sociology

• Goal: to understand how society really works

• Positivism: a way of understanding based on science

2. Herbert Spencer

• Societies evolve through social unrest = natural

• No one should intervene in evolution of society = no social reform (Darwin's "survival of the fittest")

3. Karl Marx

• Class conflict will bring about social change

• Sociology's purpose is to make society better

4. Emile Durkheim

• Used scientific method to study of society

• Study only observable aspects

• Identified social facts (ex. patterns of behavior that characterize a group - ex. More births on Tuesday)

• Research should lead to solutions for social problems

5. Max Weber

• Research should be value-free & objective

• Research should be replicated

• Sociologists should practice "Verstehen" - see through the eyes of others (subjective meanings) & go beyond social facts