Sociology
The systemic study of human society
Sociological Perspective
Sees general patterns of society in the lives of particular people
Peter Berger
Described the sociological perspective as "seeing the general in the particular
C. Wright Mills
Claimed sociological imagination transformed personal troubles into public issues
United States
Faces the most serious social problems
Helps us learn more about ourselves
Learning about life in other societies
Global Perspective
The study of the larger world and our society's place in it
High-income countries
Nations with the highest overall standards of living
Middle-income countries
Nations with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole
Low-income countries
Nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor
Public policy
Research by sociologists plays an important role in shaping this
Positivism
A way of understanding based on science
Comte
Used positivism as way to understand society
Marx
Used sociology to try and make society better
Comte
Named sociology in 1838 to describe a new way of looking at society
Rapid social change
People were made more aware of their surroundings and helped trigger the development of society
Rise of an industrial economy
Moved work from homes to factories, weakening traditions that had guided community life for centuries
Esplosive growth of cities
Created many social problems such as crime and homelessness
Political change
Based on ideas of individual liberty and individual rights encouraged people to question the structure of society
Theory
States how facts are related, weaving observations into insight and understanding
Theoretical approaches
The way sociologists describe the operation of society
Structural-functional approach
Explores how patterns of behavior work together tohelp society operate
Comte, Durkheim, Spencer
Helped develop the structural-functional approach
Merton
Pointed out that social structures have both manifest and latent functions
Social dysfunction
Any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society
Social-conflict approach
Shows how inequality creates conflict and causes change
Marx
Helped develop the social-conflict approach
Gender-conflict approach
Linked to feminism and focuses on ways in which society places men in positions of power over women
Martineau
First woman sociologist
Race-conflict approach
Focuses on the advantages that society gives to white people over people of color
Web Du Bois
Identified the double consciousness of African Americans
Manifest functions
The recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern
Latent functions
The unrecognized and intended consequences of any social pattern
Feminism
Support of social equality for women and men
Symbolic-interaction approach
Studies how people in everyday interaction construct reality
Weber
Claims that people's beliefs and values shape society is the basis of social-interaction approach
Social-exchange analysis
States that social life is guided by what each person stands to gain or lose from interaction
Macro-level orientation
A broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole
Micro-level orientation
A close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations
Symbolic-interaction approach
A framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals
Stereotype
A simplified description applied to every perrson in some category
Sociology
Helps us understand the difference between well-grounded generalizations and unfair stereotypes