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The Sociological Perspective
Chapter 1
Learning Objectives
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Understand the sociological point of view and how it differs
from that of journalists and talk-show hosts.
Compare and contrast sociology with the other major social
sciences.
Describe the early development of sociology from its origins in
nineteenth-century Europe.
Know the contributions of sociology’s pioneers: Comte,
Martineau, Spencer, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.
Describe the early development of sociology in the United
States.
Understand the functionalist, conflict theory, and symbolic
interactionist perspectives.
Realize the relationship between theory and practice.
Sociology as a Point of View
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What is Sociology?
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Main focus
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It is the scientific study of human society and social
interactions.
Group
Seeks to understand:
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Forces that operate throughout society
Forces that mold individuals and shape their behavior
And, thus determine social events
The Sociological Imagination
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Wright Mills (1959) used the term
sociological imagination to refer to:
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Examining the relationship between individual
experiences
Bringing into focus the forces in the larger
society that shape our actions
The Sociological Imagination at Work
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Social Problems
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Divorce
Appropriate taxation
Increased tuition
Suicide or death of a loved one
The Sociological Imagination at Work
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Social Relationships
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Crowds at sports events
Shifts in styles of dress and popular music
Changing patterns in courtship and marriage
The emergence and fading of different lifestyles
Political movements
Religious sects
The distribution of income and access to resources
and opportunities
Decisions made by the Supreme Court, congressional
committees, and local zoning boards
To be a sociologist, you have to:
 Develop
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a Sociological Imagination
Change how you see the world
Broaden your perspective on the world
Make objective sense out of what’s going on
around you
Objective Analysis
 Understanding
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Crime Statistics
An example of moving from personal or anecdotal
experience to objective understanding
Sociology and Science
 Sociology
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Commonly described as one of the social
sciences
Refers to a body of systematically arranged
knowledge that shows operation of general
laws
Employs the same general methods of
investigation that are used in the natural
science
Scientific Method
A
process by which a body of scientific
knowledge is built through observation,
experimentation, generalization, and
verification.
Empiricism
The view that generalizations are valid only if they rely on
evidence that can be observed or verified through sense.
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Theologians
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Believe faith produces
true happiness
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Philosophers
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Debate what happiness
encompasses
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Sociologists
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Note, analyze, and
predict consequences of
such measurable items
as job satisfaction,
relationship between
education and income,
role of social class, and
divorce.
Social Sciences
 The
disciplines that apply scientific
methods to the study of human behavior.
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Sociology
Anthropology
Psychology
Economics
History
Political Science
Social Work
Sociology vs. Other Disciplines
Sociologist study groups and institutions
within large, modern, and industrial societies
using research methods that enable them to
quickly gather specific information about large
numbers of people.
Cultural anthropologists immerse themselves
in another society for a long time, trying to
learn as much as possible about that society
and the relationships among it.
Sociologists look at patterns of behavior.
Psychologists look at motivation, perception,
cognition, creativity, mental disorders, and
personality.
Sociologists study social factors that influence
a person’s economic decision.
Economists study price availability factors.
Sociologists look at historical events within
their social contexts to discover why things
happened and, more importantly, to assess
what their social significance was and is.
Sociology focuses on the present.
Historians look at past events to attempt to
learn what happened, when it happened, and
why it happened.
Sociologists focus on how political systems
affect other institutions in society.
Political science devotes more attention to the
forces that shape political systems and the
theories for understanding these forces.
Sociologists try to understand why problems
exist.
Social workers help people solve problems.
Development of Sociology
Emerged as a separate field of study in
Europe during the 19th century
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Stimulated by the Industrial Revolution and
the 18th-century American and French
Revolutions.
Key Sociologists
 Auguste
Comte (1798-1857)
 Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
 Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
 Karl Marx (1818-1883)
 Émile Durkheim (1858-1917)
 Max Weber (1864-1920)
 W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
Notable Contributors
Auguste Comte
(1798-1857)
Harriet Martineau
(1802-1876)
Herbert Spencer
(1820-1903)
Auguste Comte
(1798-1857)
 Envisioned
a science of man
 Sought to develop a cohesive discipline
that would:
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reveal the underlying principles of society
utilize scientific principles of physical science
 Coined
the term sociology
Harriet Martineau
(1802-1876)
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Published Theory and Practice of Society is
America in 1837.
 Emphasized observation of day-to-day life
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Encouraged social activism
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Traveled throughout the United States observing life
everywhere from prisons to family gatherings
Outspoken about treatment of women in the United
States
Translated Auguste Comte’s six volume Positive
Philosophy to English
Herbert Spencer
(1820-1903)
 Believed
that society was similar to a living
organism
 Wrote the first sociology textbook
 Proponent of social Darwinism
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Charles Darwin’s notion of “survival of the
fittest”—animals adapted to the environment
survived and prospered while the poorly
adapted died out.
 Provided
support for social inequality
Spenser
 Human
society is always in a kind of
evolutionary process in which the fittest—
which happened to be those who can
make lots of money—were chosen to
dominate. There were the armies of unfit,
the poor, who simply could not compete.
And just as nature weeds out the unfit, an
enlightened society ought to weed out its
unfit and permit them to die off so as not to
weaken the racial stock. ( Spencer, 1864)
Classical Sociological Theorists
Karl Marx
(1818-1883)
Émile Durkheim
(1858-1917)
Max Weber
(1864-1920)
Karl Marx
(1818-1883)
 Focused
on human condition during
Industrial Revolution
 Historical perspective of class conflict
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Bourgeoisie – the owners and controllers of
the means of production (capitalists)
Proletariat – the mass of workers
 Provided
theory
foundations for modern conflict
Émile Durkheim
(1858-1917)
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Did the first sociological study
 Viewed individuals as the product of the social
environment
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Focused on forces that hold society together
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Society shapes people in every possible way
Concept of social variables
Provided foundations for functionalist theory
Studied/Identified
Three Types of Suicide
 Egoistic
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Suicide comes from low group solidarity, and
underinvolvement with others. (divorced people)
 Altruistic
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Suicide derives from a very high level of group
solidarity and overinvolvement with others. (terrorists)
 Anomic
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Suicide results from a sense of feeling disconnected
from society’s values (norms).
Max Weber
(1864-1920)
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Focused on understanding social actions
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Primary interest: Individual meanings people attach
to the world around them
• Subjective interpretative
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Concentration on understanding human behavior
Emphasized understanding rather than activism
 Pursued description and explanation of social
truth or fact as means for influencing the social
system
American Sociologists
W.E.B. Du Bois
(1868-1963)
Talcott Parsons
(1902-1979)
Robert Merton
(1910-2003)
George Herbert Mead
(1863-1931)
W.E.B. Du Bois
 First
African-American to receive a Ph.D.
from Harvard
 Established sociology program at Atlanta
University
 Advocated militant resistance to white
racism
 Moved to Ghana
Talcott Parsons
 Most
responsible for developing theories
of structural functionalism in the U.S.
 Elaborated on the ideas of Durkheim
Robert Merton
 Influential
proponent of functionalist theory
 Manifest functions and latent functions
 Under leadership of Merton and Parsons,
U.S. sociology adopted a “value-free”
perspective
George Herbert Mead
 Developed
the symbolic interactionist
perspective
Foundation of Sociology
Classical
Sociological
Theories
Functionalist
Conflict
Symbolic Interactionist
Functionalism
 Views
society as a system of highly
interrelated structures or parts that
function or operate together harmoniously
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Society viewed as organism in balance
 Attempts
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to account for all social variables
Conflict between variables disrupts balance
Conflict Theory
 Envisions
constant struggle to obtain
maximum benefit
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Conflict viewed as the normal order
Wealth, power, and prestige are focus of
conflict
 Emphasis
on who benefits from social
division and control
 Struggle based on unequal power and
control of means of production (resources)
Symbolic Interaction
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Subjective Interpretation
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Focuses on how individuals interpret the social world
Seeks understanding of meanings of individual and
social behavior—the social act
The interpretation and meaning of:
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Signs
Symbols
Language
Gestures
Objects
Contemporary Sociology
A
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synthesis of theory and research
Seeks broad understanding of and attention
to social problems via:
• Empirical study
• Compilation and interpretation of data gathered
• Activist application