Download Basic Sociological Concepts

Basic Sociological
Concepts
Sociology
Sociology is the Systematic study of human behavior
• Implies that social behavior is regular and patterned
• Takes place between individuals, small groups, large organizations,
and societies
Sociological Imagination
• Ability to see the relationship between individual experiences
and social influences
• Emphasizes connection between personal troubles and
structural issues
• Relies on micro-and macro-level approaches to understanding
social world
• Microsociology: Examines the patterns of individual’s social
interaction in specific settings
• Macrosociology: Examines large-scale patterns and processes
that characterize society as a whole
Importance of Sociology
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Helps make informed decisions
Aids in understanding diversity
Shapes social and public policies and practices
Develops critical thinking
Expands career opportunities
Origins of Sociological Theory
• Theories are developed to understand human behavior
• Theory: Set of statements that explains why a phenomenon
occurs
• Produce knowledge, guide research, analyze the findings, and
offer solutions for social problems
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Important Sociological Theorists:
Auguste Comte
Harriet Martineau
Émile Durkheim
Karl Marx
Max Weber
Jane Addams
W.E.B. Du Bois
Contemporary Sociological Theories
Functionalism
• Views society as a system of codependent parts that work
together to ensure survival
• Society as a social system
• Composed of institutions having structures connected to each
other, within which behavior occurs
• Functions - Contribute to a society’s stability and survival
• Dysfunctions: Have a negative impact on a society
• Manifest functions: Intended and recognized purposes and
activities
• Latent functions: Unintended and unrecognized purposes and
activities
Contemporary Sociological Theories
Conflict Theory
• Examines how and why groups disagree, struggle over power,
and compete for scarce resources
• Sources of conflict
• Racial discrimination
• Economic inequality
• Sources of economic inequality - Race, ethnicity, gender, age, and
sexual orientation
• Social inequality
• Involves tension between the haves and the have-nots
Contemporary Sociological Theories
Feminist Theory
• Examine women’s social, economic, and political inequality
• Maintain that women suffer injustice because of their gender
• Stress upon freeing women from oppressive expectations and
constraints, roles, and behavior
• Focusing on gender
• Emphasized by feminist scholars as an important research
variable on micro and macro levels
Contemporary Sociological Theories
Symbolic Interactionism
• Examines individual’s everyday behavior through the
communication of:
• Knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes
• Focuses on process and keeping the person as the center of
analysis
• Micro-level perspective
• Constructing meaning
• Individuals’ actions are based on social interaction
• Symbolic interaction
• Involves influencing people by communicating through symbols
• Words, gestures, or pictures
• Requires symbols to have shared meanings, or agreed-on
definitions
Sources of Knowledge
• Tradition - Passed down from generation to generation
• Authority - Socially accepted source of information
• Research methods: Organized and systematic procedures to
gain knowledge about a particular topic
Importance of Sociological Research
• Challenges overgeneralization
• Exposes myth
• Helps explain people’s behavior
• Influences social policies
• Sharpens critical thinking skills that affect daily living
Scientific Method
Body of objective and systematic techniques for:
• Investigating phenomena
• Acquiring knowledge
• Testing hypotheses and theories
Elements of the Scientific Methods
• Concept: Abstract idea, mental image, or general notion that represents
some aspect of the world
• Vary among individuals and cultures
• Variable: Changes in value or magnitude under different conditions
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Used by scientists to measure concepts
Includes attitudes, behaviors, or traits
Independent: Has an effect on the dependent variable
Dependent: Outcome that is affected by the independent variable
Control: Constant and unchanged
• Hypothesis: Statement of the expected relationship between multiple
variables
Important to Research
• Deductive reasoning: Begins with a theory, prediction, or general principle that
is tested through data collection
• Inductive reasoning: Begins with specific observation followed by:
• Data collection
• Conclusion about patterns or irregularities
• Formulation of hypotheses that lead to theory construction
• Reliability: Consistency with which the same measure produces similar results
repeatedly
• Validity: Degree to which a measure is accurate and measures what it claims to
measure
• Causation: Relationship in which one variable is the direct consequence of
another
• Difficult to prove
• Correlation: Relationship between two or more variables
Steps in the Scientific Method
1. Choose a topic to study
2. Summarize the related research
3. Formulate a hypothesis or ask a research question
4. Describe the data collection methods
5. Collect the data
6. Present the finding
7. Analyze and explain the results
Data Collection Methods
Surveys
Data collection through questionnaires, interviews, or a
combination
• Sample selection
Random sample - Preferred because the results can be generalized to a
larger population
• Questionnaire: Series of written questions that ask for
information
• Close-ended questions
• Open-ended questions
• Interview: Researcher asks respondents a series of questions
directly
• Structured
• Unstructured
Data Collection Methods
Field Observation
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Involves observing people in their natural surroundings
Converts the recorded data into quantitative summaries
Examines complex communication patterns
Measures the frequency of acts or note the duration of a
particular behavior
• Participatory---Researchers interact with the people they are
studying
• Non-participatory---Researchers study phenomena without being
part of the situation
• Short-time---Observing for a few weeks or months
• Ethnographies---Require a significant amount of time in the field
Basic Principles of Ethical Sociological
Research
• Do no harm by causing participants physical, psychological, or
emotional pain
• Obtain the participants informed consent to be in a study
• Protect the participants privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality
• Avoid exploiting research assistants for personal gain
• Use the highest methodological standards and be accurate
• Describe the limitations and shortcomings of the research in
the published reports
• Identify the sponsors of the research
• Acknowledge the contributions of research assistants for their
participation