AUGUSTE COMTE (kant) 1798-1857:French
-Considered the founder of Sociology
-Coined the term "sociology"
-Believed that the new scientific approach to problem solving could be applied to the study of society
-He penned Positive Philosophy, which was the first systematic, sociological approach to the study of society
-Emphasized Positivism, the use of observation, comparisons, experimentation, examining history to analyze society
HARRIET MARTINEAU (1802-1876): French
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HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903): English
-One of 9 children but the only one to survive infancy
-Coined the term "social Darwinism" based on 'survival of the fittest' (the evolution of society ad the survival of those within were directly liked to their ability to adapt to changing conditions). His social Darwinism was only theoretical; did not operationalize the theory
Espoused a free and competitive marketplace so the best and brightest would succeed; however, he advocated for no form of welfare to help the poorer/weaker members of society
-Wealthy industrialists strongly supported Spencer's theories because it supported their continued positions of power with no regard for the poor and disenfranchised
LESTER F. WARD (1862-1913): US
taught the first sociology course in the US
JANE ADDAMS (1860-1935): US
established Hull House, worked with the poor and homeless in Chicago; 1st American woman to win a Noble Peace prize
MARGARET SANGER: US
applied sociological theories to issues of women's rights; sought relief for problems of population, health and birth control
WILLIAM E.B. DUBOIS (1868-1963):
- applied Max Weber's verstehen to the study of African Americans in the US;
- founded the NAACP;
- declared in 1903 that "the problem of the 20th century is the color line.
MAX WEBER (1864-1920): German
Focused on understanding the meaning of social interaction(s) through verstehen (fair-stay-en) - the process by which an outside observer of a culture relates to an indigenous population on their terms rather than interpreting that population by the observer's own culture
Observers should avoid their personal biases and put themselves in the place of those they study
Verstehen requires a subjective, empathetic and introspective analysis of the interaction
Was concerned with social inequalities
IDEAL TYPE: a conceptual model from direct observation of a number of specific cases and representing the essential qualities found in those cases (a generalization based on many specific examples, not that a trait was specifically desirable)
Symbolic interactionist
EMILE DURKHEIM (1858-1917): French
-Was influenced by the writings of Comte
-Primarily concerned with social order
-Postulated that social solidarity, or social bonds between individuals and within their society, create social order
-Two types of social solidarity:
-Mechanical solidarity - found in simple rural societies based on tradition and unity
-Organic solidarity - found in urban societies and was based more on a complex division of labor and formal organizations
EMILE DURKHEIM CONT.
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Functional Imperative of Societies
1. All societies must organize the activities of their members in order to obtain the basic goods and services for survival.
2. Protect their members from internal/external harm.
3. Replace members lost because of death or emigration
4. Transmit knowledge to new members, rights, obligation, responsibilities, and expectations of appropriate behavior.
5. Motivate all members to conform to expected behaviors
6. Develop means for resolving conflicts.
Social Institutions
are considered relatively enduring clusters of values, norms, social statuses, roles and groups that address fundamental social needs
Societies create social structures (Institutions) to fulfill these fundamental needs:
FAMILY
EDUCATION
RELIGION
GOVERNMENT
ECONOMICS
Family
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Education
-Structural Functionalist: transmit needed skill to all young/new members in order for them to be fully productive members of the group
-Conflict Theory: reproduces inequalities; the basic way in which most school systems are funded are through property taxes. Poorer areas are immediately at a disadvantage because of their lower tax base.
Religion
-Structural Functionalist: motivates members to comply with their responsibilities by assigning meaning and purpose
-Conflict Theory: reinforces gender inequalities by limiting roles of women and their access within the power structure; and aids in the continual cycles of abuse
(Note: some religions challenge existing inequalities, for example Reform Judaism)
Government
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Economy
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5 fundamental patterns of social interaction:
1) Exchange: based on the norm of reciprocity, that we help and not harm those who have helped us; we seek to maximize rewards and minimize costs
2) Cooperation - pattern or interaction where groups, individuals and societies work together to achieve shared goals. This form of interaction is fundamental to human survival.
3) Competition - a pattern of exchange in which both individuals and groups strive to achieve a shared goal. In competition it is recognized that society's prizes are in limited supply and only one person or group can obtain them.
4) Conflict - a pattern of interaction in which people or groups struggle to achieve a commonly prized object or goal. In conflict, competitors often violate rules and seek to gain their objectives by any means possible.
5) Coercion - is the actualization of the threat of force that those with power sometimes use to achieve their objectives.
Culture
refers to the social heritage of a people - those learned patterns for thinking, feeling and acting that are transmitted from one generation to the next; the learned set of beliefs, values, norms and material goods shared by group members. Culture is highly complex. It includes both nonmaterial culture, such as the collective assumptions, languages, beliefs, values, norms that serve as guidelines for group behavior and material culture like physical artifacts or objects such as stone axes, computers, loincloths, tuxedos, automobiles, paintings, hairstyles, etc.
Society
the people who live in a specific geographic territory, interact with one another, and share many elements of a common culture.
Ethnocentrism
the tendency to evaluate the customs of other groups according to one's own cultural standards (we/us are the center of the world). On the positive side, ethnocentrism can enhance stability by providing members with a strong sense of meaning and purpose.
Cultural relativism
evaluating a culture according to its own standards
LANGUAGE
is the cornerstone of every culture: verbal (sound patterns to which meaning has been ascribed) and nonverbal, the language of each culture influences and shapes the perceptions of its speakers. Populations that speak different languages live in different sensory worlds as the structure of their language highlights some things and ignores others depending on that culture
Contemporary cultures share one important concept
they are all characterized by large-scale social structures that span the globe and link billions of people.
Social Imperative:
as humans, our very survival depends on developing social bonds that result in a common culture and the creation of societies.
Norms:
are expectations and rules for proper conduct that guide the behavior of group members; a rule that is socially enforced; social rules that specify appropriate and inappropriate behavior in given situations; they tell us what we "should, ought, must" do and what we "should not, ought not, must not" do.
Norms are broken down into subcategories:
a) folkways: informal rules and expectations that guide everyday behavior; moral significance is not usually attached to folkways
b) mores: salient norms that are considered essential to the proper working of society; mores are seen as vital to a society's well-being and survival. Moral significance are usually attached to mores and define those who violate them as sinful and evil.
c) laws: formal rules enacted and enforced by the power of the state which includes the use of physical power or force to maintain order. Laws are the result of conscious thought, deliberate planning and formal declaration.
Values
shared ideas about what is socially desirable, correct or good that most members in a society share
Beliefs
assertions about the nature of reality; statements held to be true
Sanctions:
penalties or rewards society uses to encourage conformity and punish deviance
Subcultures
a set of people with distinct sets of behavior and beliefs that differentiate them from the larger culture of which they are a part.
Countercultures
group(s) whose values and norms run counter to those in the mainstream
Culture shock
feelings of confusion and disorientation that occur when a person encounters a very different culture
Ethnocentrism
- the tendency to evaluate the customs of other groups according to one's own cultural standards (we/us are the center of the world). On the positive side, ethnocentrism can enhance stability by providing members with a strong sense of meaning and purpose.
Cultural relativism
evaluating a culture according to its own standards.
Multiculturalism
term used to describe many cultures and learning to get along with one another with mutual respect. Also, an educational program which promotes equality among culture and cultural ideals.
Eurocentrism
view of the world through European culture; belief that those values, norms and religions are superior to those of other cultures; an attempt to understand other cultures from an European perspective.
Afrocentrism
view of the world through African culture; belief that those values, norms and religions are superior to those of other cultures; an attempt to understand other cultures from an African perspective.
Ideal culture
what people "should do" according to the norms, values, beliefs, etc., of that culture
Real culture
what people actually do in everyday social interactions
Cultural Lag
Sociologist William Ogburn coined the term "cultural lag" (1964, On Culture and Social Change) to describe the period of time between the introduction of a new technology and the much more time-consuming social adaptation to that new technology.
Paramount to the creation of social communities...
is the social structure and how we become socialized beings.
Social Structure
ordered relationships and patterned expectations that guide social interactions
Status
A status refers to a recognized social position that an individual occupies. Each involves certain rights, privileges, obligations, and expectations that are widely recognized. Statuses guide the behavior of people in different social situations, and are an important part of how people define themselves. Status set relates to all the statuses a person holds at a given time. An example would include being a mother, grandmother, sister, lecturer, student group advisor, female and wife.
- statuses determine where a person fits in society
Ascribed and Achieved Status:
An ascribed status is a social position a person receives at birth or assumes involuntarily later in life. In contrast, an achieved status refers to a social position that a person assumes voluntarily and that reflects a significant measure of personal ability and choice. Most often there is a combination of ascribed and achieved factors in each of our statuses.
Master Status
A master status is a social position with exceptional importance for identity, often shaping a person's entire life. A person's occupations often comprise a master status.
ROLE:
a set of expectations, rights, and duties that are attached to a particular status. Roles make it possible for day-to-day interactions with others to go somewhat smoothly; instead of having to know about each individual that one comes in contact with, on can depend on the "role" they fill during the interaction: student/professor' mail carrier/postal customer; grocery store clerk/customer; police officer/citizen. Generally, a person has many more roles than statuses, as each status typically has multiple roles attached.
Role Set:
Robert Merton introduced the term role set to identify a number of roles attached to a single status.
Role Conflict:
A situation in which a person is expected to play two incompatible roles. For example, a boss will suffer role conflict if forced to fire an employee who is also a close friend.
Role Strain:
contradictory demands on the same role
Role merger
occurs when a role becomes central to a person's identity and the person literally becomes the role she or his is playing (remember the Stanford University experiment in the 1970s where the students were assigned to be either a prisoner or a guard? The study had to be called off because the students became enmeshed with those roles that their identities merged with the roles. )
Scientific Method
a systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem
Hypothesis
a carefully formulated statement that may be either verified or discarded on the basis of examination of relevant data
Variable
a measurable trait or characteristic that is subject to change under different conditions
Independent variable
a variable that affects another variable. A change in the independent variable causes the other variable to change
Dependent Variable
the variable in which change is caused; this is what is measured
Sample
a selection from a larger population that is statistically representative of that population
Random Sample
a sample in which every member of an entire population being studied has the same chance of being selected
Validity
refers to the degree to which measure or scale truly reflects the phenomenon under study
Reliability
refers to the extent to which a measure produces consistent results (can someone else repeat the study and get statistically significant results)
Quantitative research methods
uses large surveys, questionnaires, secondary research, looking at large samples. Reports data primarily in numerical form.
Qualitative research methods
one-on-one interviews, interest in gaining very detailed information about the group in the study, uses small groups, cases studies. Also, research that relies on what is seen in field or naturalistic setting.
Research ethics
Standards of conduct that investigators are ethically bound to honor to protect their research participants from physical or psychological harm.
4 research methods
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SYMBOLIC INTERATIONISM (MICRO)
-examines how individuals and groups interact, focusing on the creation of personal identity through interaction others.
-is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology
-MAX WEBER (1864-1920), and the American philosopher, GEORGE HERBERT MEAD (1862-1931). HERBERT BLUMER, who studied with George H. Mead at the University of Chicago, is responsible for coining the term "symbolic interactionism".
-One of the perspective's central ideas is that people act as they do because of how they define the present situation.
-MICO= the study of people in groups or one on one in various situations
communication through symbols
The history, culture and forms of communication of humans can be traced through symbols and it is through symbols that meaning is associated with interpretation, action and interaction.
GEROGE H. MEAD
studied very small forms of communication such as smiles, frowns, nods, hand signals
CHARLES COOLEY
The Looking Glass Self: this term was coined to describe the process in which individuals use others like mirrors and base their conceptions of themselves on what is reflected back to them during social interaction or, at least, what the individual thinks is being reflected back. We see ourselves through the eyes of other people, even to the extent of incorporation their views of us into our own self-concept.
ERVING GOFFMAN
Dramaturgical analysis: describes social behavior from the standpoint of the language of the theater - individuals are defined as actors and social interactions views as dramatic productions. However, no role is staid or stale; individuals continually rewrite the scripts that go along with each role. It is argued that human actions are dependent upon time, place, and audience. Central to this analysis is a process called the presentation of self, meaning an individual's effort to create specific impressions in the minds of others.
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM (MACRO)
a MACRO level analysis, which examines broader social structures and society as a whole. Later, it came to focus on the ways in which social institutions fill social needs, especially social stability and social order. Early SF was based on the work of EMILE DURKHEIM.
Structural Functionalism Key Consepts
1. Society is viewed as a system - a collection of interdependent parts, with a tendency toward equilibrium (equilibrium=a stale situation in which forces cancel one another);
2. There are functional requirements that must be met in a society for its survival.
3. Social structures exist [SOCIAL STRUCTURES=SOCIAL INSTITURIONS] because they serve a function. If those institutions stop serving those functions they will cease to exist.
Manifest functions
the anticipated or intended consequences of social institutions
Latent functions
the unintended or unrecognized consequences of social institutions
Dysfunctions
aspects of society that threaten to disrupt social stability and order.
ANOMIE
Normlessness - refers to the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective. The state of anomie occurs when people have lost their sense of purpose or direction, often during a time of profound social change. In a period of anomie, people are so confused and unable to cope with the new social environment that they may resort to suicide.
CONFLICT THEORY (MACRO)
The Conflict perspective focuses on social class exploitation between the bourgeoisie (the haves) and the proletariat (the have not's - the working class) with emphasis on unequal distribution of wealth and differential access to wealth, power and prestige.
-Conflict theory is a Marxist-based social theory which argues that individuals and groups (social classes) within society have differing amount of material and non-material resources and that the more powerful groups use their power in order to exploit groups with less power. The methods by which this exploitation is done are through brute force and economics
The first class of Sociology was taught...
in the US at the University of Chicago
1) Why is it important to study Sociology? OR 2) Why study Sociology?
The second question is a "better" question because it is not biased, it allows for positive or negative response.