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Hempfield Sociology
Ch 01 Lesson 01
Chapter 01 – Lesson 01
Lesson One: The Sociological Perspective - Pages 4-5
Chapter Outline
Key Terms
Key Players
The Sociological Perspective
Social Location: the corners in life
that people occupy.
Sociological Perspective:
understanding human behavior by
placing it within its broader social
context.
Society: people who share a
culture and a territory.
Social Sciences: the intellectual
and academic disciplines designed
to understand the social world
objectively.
C. Wright Mills: wrote that “The
sociological perspective enables us to
grasp the connection between history
and biography.”
Sociology and the Other
Sciences
Media Supplements
PowerPoint Presentation
Chapter One
James Henslin Auhtor of the text.
Symbolic interactionism, Became
homeless to truly experience the
homeless perspective
Lesson Summary
Sociology offers a perspective, a view of the world. The sociological perspective opens a window into unfamiliar worlds and
offers a fresh look at familiar worlds. Sociologists study the broader social contexts that underlie human behavior. These
include the social groups that influence human behavior and the larger society that organizes it.
The sociological perspective is an approach to understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context.
C. Wright Mills referred to the sociological perspective as the intersection of biography (the individual) and history (social
factors that influence the individual).
Sociology is one of several disciplines referred to as a “social science.” As the term implies, social sciences address the social
world. The natural sciences, on the other hand, are the intellectual and academic disciplines designed to explain and predict
the events in the natural environment. The other social sciences include anthropology, economics, political science, and
psychology.
As a scientific discipline, sociology seeks to explain why something happens, attempts to make generalizations that can be
applied to a broader group or situation, and predicts what will happen based on the knowledge received. Sociology
specifically seeks to explain the causes of human behavior and to recognize the patterns of human behavior. It also seeks to
predict the future behavior of people. Although sociologists usually do not make decisions on how society should be changed
or people treated, sociologists provide valuable research data that can be used by authorities who do make such decisions.
Hempfield Sociology
Ch 01 Lesson 01
Lesson Outline
I.
The Sociological Perspective
a. The sociological perspective (or imagination) is the unique lens that sociologists use to view the
social world. It involves seeing the social world and one’s place in it from a fresh perspective—
that is, with “new eyes.”
b. Sociologists use the sociological perspective to examine the broader social contexts that underlie
human behavior. C. Wright Mills referred to the sociological perspective as the intersection of
biography (the individual) and history (social factors that influence the individual).
c. To understand what motivates and shapes people’s actions, sociologists examine social location:
where a person or group of people is located in a particular society and at a particular point in
history. This may include variables such as race, class, gender, generation, nationality, occupation,
and education. Social location helps people define themselves, as well as helps other people
define them.
d. Since all human beings are influenced by their social groups, social institutions, social interactions,
and social experiences, the sociological perspective (along with social location) helps sociologists
critically examine the links between what people do and the social settings that shape their
behavior.
e. The sociological perspective enables sociologists to look beyond community and national
boundaries and envision the social world as a global village. With the nations of the world
becoming more technologically, politically, socially, and economically interconnected and
interdependent, the sociological perspective incorporates cultural and cross-cultural worldviews.
Key Terms
science: requires the development of theories that can be tested by systematic research (3)
sociology: the scientific study of society and human behavior (4)
society: a group of people who share a culture and a territory (2)
social location: the corners in life that people occupy.(2)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing Lesson 1, you will:
1. Understand what is meant by the broader social contexts that underlie human behavior and how and why
sociologists study these broader social contexts. (2)
2. Know what is meant by social location and how it helps people define themselves and others define them. (2)
Hempfield Sociology
Ch 01 Lesson 01
3. Explain the sociological perspective: what it is, what it offers, and why C. Wright Mills referred to it as “the
intersection of biography (the individual) and history (the social factors that influence the individual).” (2)
4. Identify, understand, and make distinctions between tradition and science. (3)
Anticipatory
1. Students watch Video on homeless
Procedure
2. Video on homeless
3. PowerPoint presentation discussing key concepts such as social location
4. Exercise in Sociological perspective – (LPGA activity)
5. Students read opener to chapter 01 and practice making statements the display the sociological
perspective