Designed by Karen Saucier Lundy to supplement the textbook Families in Context: Sociological Perspectives, by Gene H. Starbuck and Karen Saucier Lundy. For publication information about the text: http://www.paradigmpublishers.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=409768

What Is Sociology? Sociology as science

▪ Objectivity

▪ Replication

▪ Testability C Wright Mills

▪ Precision of definition and measurement

▪ Positivist approach

Family Images in the Media

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/fashion/23THISLIFE.html?pagewanted=all

“Modern Family” has been a successful family ‘mockumentary’ which has experienced surging viewership and multiple Emmys, including outstanding comedy series. In a rare concurrence, the darling of the critics is one of the highest rated comedies on television.This unusual success for a family comedy raises questions: What aspects of contemporary life has it tapped into? What does “Modern Family” say about modern families?

How do you define sociology?

Based on what you have learned from this

book or elsewhere, make up a definition of

“sociology.”

•What do sociologists study?

•What methods do they use to gather their

information?

•How do you expect a college-level social

science course about the family to

be different from more popular

sources of information such as

television talk shows?

1. Because these social influences are real. They are complex and they do affect us in many different ways. 2. To be human is to be social. The social is like the air we breathe. It is all around us. It goes largely unquestioned because it feels natural to us. 3. Because there is in the American culture, an anti-social bias, that is, a rejection of sociological explanations. Individualism prevails as cultural value

4. To not understand the significance of social processes is to live one’s life blind. 5. To understand the different layers of social determination also helps us understand that systems, institutions and processes are not neutral. 6. The extension of this is that in order to be a competent player, wouldn’t you want to see the entire game and understand the entire set of rules? And wouldn’t it be interesting to be able to tell, when you are watching the news, whether you are being told the complete story, or when there is more that is not told to you?

Sociology as humanistic studies

▪ Post-positivist approach

▪ Value aware

Other fields in family studies

▪ Psychology

▪ Anthropology

▪ Human development

▪ Political science

Methods of Family Research

Controlled experiments

Survey research

Field research

Unobtrusive research

▪ Analysis of existing statistics

▪ Content analysis

Program evaluation

Searching for regularities

Macro-Sociological Analysis Functionalism, family functions

▪ Regulation of reproduction

▪ Socialization

▪ Status location and sense of belonging

▪ Economic cooperation

Critique of functionalism

The conflict paradigm▪ Economic determinism

▪ Praxis

Feminist thought▪ Centrality of gender

▪ Gynocentric

▪ Vulnerability and oppression

▪ Praxis

▪ Distrust of objective science

Critique of the conflict paradigm and feminist thought

Ecological evolutionary theory▪ Modes of production

▪ Technology

▪ Comparison of macro theories

Microsociological Perspectives

Symbolic interactionism

Critique of symbolic interactionism

Other Family Studies Perspectives

Social exchange theory

The developmental perspective

Family systems theory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR-qQcNT_fYStages of a family’s life in song.

Micro-Macro Synthesis: The Scripting Model

Societal scripts

Personal/individual scripts

Scenes

Mutual scripts

Think of spouse as best friendLike their spouse as a personThink of marriage as long term commitmentBelieve marriage is sacredAgree with their spouse on goals.Believe their spouse has grown more interesting over the years.Strongly want the marriage to succeed.Laugh together.

Lauer and Lauer (1992). “Made to Last.”

“A good relationship has a pattern like a dance and is built on some of the same rules.”

Ann Morrow Lindbergh

Which research method might be most useful in addressing the each question below. How would this research be conducted?

How much physical abuse is occurring among dating couples on campus? Nationally?

What impression of men is given by conversations and activities at all-women bridal showers? What impression of women is given by conversation and activities at bachelor parties?

Of conflict theory, functionalism, and symbolic interactionism, which provides a better explanation for gender-role differences?

How do married couples usually resolve disagreements about spending money?Do students whose parents are divorced have the same kind of college experience as students whose parents never divorced?Do “abstinence only” sex education programs reduce unwanted pregnancy?

The assumption of objectivity in science implies that A. Every scientific study will reveal unchanging

truth.

B. Truth is whatever people think it is.

C. Scientists can prove whether or not God exists.

D. There is a truth to be discovered.

E. Self-reflection is the route to discovering truth.

“Should people cohabit

before marriage?”