Download Thinking Like a Soc Notes - PPT

JANUARY 17, 2017
Word Plays
■ Sociology
■ Sociological Imagination
■ Microsociology
■ Macrosociology
■ Theory
■ All must have…
– 1 definition
– 2 pictures
– 3 crosswords
Sociological Imagination
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BINK6r1Wy78
Auguste Comte (KONT)
■ Coined the term “sociology” & thought of as father of sociology
■ Decided the study of society must be empirical
– Empirical – based on observations, experiments, or other forms of data
collection
■ Saw sociology as the scientific study of social statics and social dynamics
– Social statics – investigates how principles of social order explain a particular
society, as well as interconnections between institutions (ex: education,
political affiliation, social class, religious groups,)
– Social dynamics – explores how individuals and societies change over time
■ Emphasized social order and change within and across societies
Harriet Martineau
■ English author, published first sociology research methods textbooks
■ Translated and condensed Auguste Comte’s work for larger audiences to
comprehend
■ Emphasized importance of data collection through observation/interviews and
objective analysis of data to explain events/behavior
Emile Durkheim
■ Saw societies as characterized by unity and cohesion because members are bound
by common interests and attitudes
■ Studied suicide through analysis of statistics
– Concluded that suicide is not an isolated, individual act
– Suicide is often based on relationships and social integration
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUvCjhjKRHk
■ Studied social facts, division of labor and social integration
Emile Durkheim
■ Social facts – aspects of social life, external to the individual, that can be measured
– Material facts – demographic info; age, location of residence, population size
– Non-material facts – communication processes, social movements, collective
behavior
■ Division of labor – questioned how people can be autonomous and individualistic
while also being integrated into society
– Social solidarity is held together by a division of labor
■ Social integration – meaningful social relationships (families, social groups,
communities) help people feel important, like they belong, etc.
Karl Marx
■ Tried to explain the societal changes taking place during the Industrial Revolution
■ Thought that economic issues produced issues in society
– Capitalism – an economic system in which the ownership of the means of
production is in private hands
■ Saw society as composed of 3 social classes
– Capitalists – the ruling elite who own the means of producing wealth (ex:
factories, machines, raw resources)
– Petit Bourgeoisie – small business owners/workers who still have their own
means of production
– Proletariat – the masses of workers who depend on wages to survive, have few
resources and make up the working class
Karl Marx (continued)
■ Class conflict – Marx believed that society is divided into the “haves” (capitalists) and
“have-nots” (proletariat)
– Capitalists make money by taking advantage of the proletariat
– This is allowed because the proletariat has to give in to the capitalists in order to
survive
■ Argued that there’s a close relationship between inequality, social conflict and social
class
– Saw history as a series of class struggles between capitalists and workers
– Think about the “1%” and the “Occupy Wall Street” movement
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpdpMjG5CmY
■ Foresaw a violent revolution of the proletariat overthrowing the capitalists
– Never happened in US
■ Alienation – the feeling of separation from one’s group or society
– Common in all social classes
Max Weber (VAY-ber)
■ Focused on social organization, a subjective understanding of behavior, and a valuefree sociology
■ Believed ideas, religions, values, ideologies, and charismatic leaders to be as
important as Marx believed economic situations to be
■ Emphasized subjective understanding – verstehen (fer-shtay-en)
■ 2 types of verstehen
– Direct observational understanding – the social scientists observe a person’s
facial expressions, gestures and listens to his/her words
■
Ex: A person bursts into tears and the observer knows what that person is feeling
because of DOU (anger, sadness, etc.)
Max Weber (VAY-ber)
■ 2 types of verstehen
– Explanatory understanding – social scientists tries to grasp the intention and
context of a behavior
■
Ex: After that person starts crying, a sociologist using the EU approach theorizes about
WHY he/she started crying (break up, dog died, embarrassed, failed test, etc.)
■ Value-free sociology/a value-free sociologist – one who separates his/her personal
values, opinions, ideology and beliefs from scientific research
■ Encouraged individuality but thought educators/scholars should be as objective as
possible to ensure they’re teaching knowledge and not opinion
– Objective = unbiased, fair
Jane Addams
■ Social worker
■ Co-founded “Hull House” (one of the first community centers to help the poor)
■ Leader in women’s suffrage
■ First American woman to be awarded the Novel Peace Prize
– Advocated negotiation, not violence, to settle disputes and disagreements
■ Much of her work contributed to help develop the “symbolic interaction” theory and
the idea of applying knowledge to everyday problems
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFQIIM8IRZU
■ Helped map criminology in Chicago
W.E.B. Du Bois (Do-Boice)
■ Prominent black sociologist, writer, editor, social reformer and orator (speaker)
■ 1st African American to receive a PhD from Harvard
■ Helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP)
■ Believe race problems stemmed from ignorance and advocated “cures” for racism
– Cures included promoting black political power and civil rights and providing
blacks with higher education
■ Examined oppressive side effects of race, class and gender issues; advocated for
women’s rights and help reshape black-white relations in America