Kendall Chapter 1The Sociological Perspective and Research Process

Putting Social Life Into Perspective• Sociology is the systematic study of human

society and social interaction.

• Sociologists study societies and social interactions to develop theories of :

– How human behavior is shaped by group life.

– How, group life is affected by individuals. P. 4

• YouTube - Ep.3 - sociology is garbage

The Sociological ImaginationC.Wright Mills

• The ability to see/assess the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society.

• The ability to see personal issues as public (societal) issues.

• The balance between the internalization of problems that may be out of our personal control. Or assessing blame on society for our personal shortcomings. P.5

Power Not Truth

• Friedrich Nietzsche:

– Objective “truth” is merely the reflection of reality through the lens of personal prejudice.

– The “will to truth”, according to Nietzsche, is simply the “will to power”

Benefits of the Sociological Perspective

• 1) The sociological perspective helps us critically assess the truth of “common sense”

• 2) The sociological perspective helps us see the opportunities and constraints in our lives.

• 3) The sociological perspective empowers us to be active participants in our society.

• 4) The sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse world

Importance of a Global Sociological Imagination

• The future of our nation is intertwined with the future of other nations on economic, political, environmental, and humanitarian levels.

• Understanding diversity and developing tolerance for people who are different from us is important for our personal, social, and economic well-being.pp.6&7

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

“Father of Sociology”

Social Statics-the inter-workings and relationships between major units such as

economy, family and politics.

Social Dynamics-the study of Whole societies: How and why they change through

time.

Herbert Spencer 1820-1903

• Social Darwinism

• Survival of the Fittest

–The concept of natural selection it is natural, normal, and proper for the strong to thrive at the expense of the weak.

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Social-Conflict Paradigm

“The history of hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”

Alienation- a feeling of powerlessness and estrangement form other people and

oneself.

Analysis • The worker becomes all the poorer the more

wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and range. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates. With the increasing value of the world of things proceeds in direct proportion to the devaluation of the world of men. Labour produces not only commodities; it produces itself and the worker as a commodity -- and does so in the proportion in which it produces commodities generally.

• Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)

Max Weber (1864-1920)

Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Rationality-deliberate, calculation of the most efficient means to accomplish a particular task.

Bureaucracy- a organization model rationally designed to

perform tasks efficiently.

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

1) Attributed ultimate social reality to the group not to the individual.

2) When social regulations break down, and the controlling influence of society on individual are no longer effective and

individuals are left to their own devices. Such a state of affairs Durkheim calls

Anomie :a feeling of normlessness in a whole society or in some of its component

groups.

SOCIAL PARADIGMSSOCIAL PARADIGMS• THEORY: A STATEMENT OF HOW AND WHY

FACTS ARE RELATED• PARADIGM: A SET OF FUNDAMENTAL

ASSUMPTIONS THAT GUIDES THINKING

PEOPLE HOLD DIFFERING OPINIONS ABOUT THEIR SOCIAL WORLD

WE ALL COME FROM DIFFERENT SOCIALEXPERIENCES AND THEYBIAS OUR ASSUMPTIONS

DOWN WITHPEOPLE

UP WITHPEOPLE

Analytical Sociological Keys• Structural-Functionalist Paradigm-

Seeing society as the sum of it’s collective parts.

• Social-Conflict Paradigm-Seeing society as an arena of constant social change propelled by social inequality.

• Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm-Seeing society as generated from the everyday interactions of individuals.

• Postmodern Paradigm-Attempts to explain social life in modern societies that are characterized by post industrialization, consumerism, and global communications.

Social Construction Paradigms

• Social Construction-the way people assign meaning to the world.– Claimsmaking– Media Coverage– Public Reaction– Policymaking– Social Problems Work– Policy Outcomes

Plato• The Allegory of the Cave- A cave filled with

prisoners, all of whom are chained together and facing a wall. Behind them is a fire that lights the space. The prisoners have never seen life outside the cave. The only knowledge of the world is provided by their captors, who hold up puppets behind them, casting shadows on the wall in front of them. Their reality is thereby MANUFACTURED by others.

Theory and Research Cycle

Sociological investigation • Identify cause and affect relationships

among variables in which one variable (independent variable) causes a change or effect in another variable (dependent variable).

– You are out of gas. Your car won't start.

– Cause (Independent) Effect Dependent)

Three conditions of cause and effect

• 1) A correlation (a relationship) exists between the variables

• 2) The independent variable precedes the dependent variable in time

• 3) No evidence exists that a third variable is responsible for a spurious (an apparent, although false, relationship) correlation between the two variables.

Research Methods

• Experiment: Investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions.

• Survey: Subjects respond to a series of statements or

questions in a questionnaire or an interview.

• Participant Observation: The systematic observation of people while joining them in their routine activities.

• Existing sources: Drawing and expanding on pre-

existing data.

Research Objectives: Studying the science of society

• Max Weber- Sociology should remain as value free as possible.

• Karl Marx- Social Science should bring strong moral commitment to their work.

• Alvin Gouldner- Social scientists should be explicit about what their values are and be aware of those values in when during research.