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8/1/2013 In our first lecture we discuss… Different types of human societies. The history and emergence of sociology. The levels of sociological inquiry. Sociological perspectives and theorists. 1 A human society is defined as… A politically autonomous population whose members engage in a broad range of cooperative activities. 2 1 8/1/2013 Social organization represents networks of relationships among society’s members, taking the form of.... Individuals Social positions, roles, and statuses Groups, defined by: 1. Cooperation to satisfy needs 2. Shared norms 3. Common identity Classes Stratification 3 Social institutions exist to assist in social organization. Institutions are frameworks or rules that define appropriate behavior, emotions, and ways of thinking in specific areas of social life. Institutions are “durable answers to important and persistent problems.” 4 2 8/1/2013 There are six main social institutions: 1. Kinship ▪ Kinship represents structures of obligations and responsibilities among relatives, marriage choices, and relations between spouses. 2. Economy ▪ The economy centers on the production and distribution of valued goods in a society. 5 3. Polity ▪ Polity represents the distribution of power and the governance of society. 4. Religion ▪ Religion organizes societal beliefs and practices regarding things considered sacred. 6 3 8/1/2013 5. Education ▪ Education prepares society members to assume productive roles in society. 6. Law ▪ A society’s legal system defines appropriate and inappropriate conduct and provides rules for sanctioning offenders of the moral order. 7 Three assumptions about human societies: 1. Human societies are influenced by their environment. 2. Human societies are endowed with a genetic heritage that influences behavior. 3. Human societies create symbolic cultural heritages that give life a unique quality. 8 4 8/1/2013 Classifications of human societies are based on the primary subsistence technology a society employs. Societies thus can be divided the following ways: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Hunting and gathering Horticultural Agrarian Industrial Post-industrial* 9 Type of Society Plant Metallurgy Cultivation Plow Iron Inanimate Energy Hunting/gathering Horticultural (simple) Horticultural (adv.) Agrarian (simple) Agrarian (adv.) Industrial 10 5 8/1/2013 High Energy and Information Industrial Typical Pattern of Evolution Agrarian Atypical Pattern of Evolution Maritime Herding Horticultural Fishing Hunting and Gathering Low 11 Hunter/Gatherers Horticultural Agrarian Industrial TIME 15,000 B.C. 10,000 B.C. 5,000 B.C. 0 2,000 A.D. 12 6 8/1/2013 As societies evolve and become more technologically advanced, they are affected by differences regarding: 1. Size ▪ More technology = larger societies 2. Permanence of settlements ▪ More technology = permanent societies 13 As societies evolve and become more technologically advanced, they are affected by differences regarding (cont.): 3. Societal complexity ▪ More technology = greater division of labor, status differentiation 4. Ideology ▪ More technology = changes in beliefs 14 7 Percentage 8/1/2013 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 100 51 7 1 0 Complex Status Systems Percentage 15 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 64 4 10 15 Belief in a Creator God Concerned with Moral Conduct 16 8 8/1/2013 Modern societies are commonly identified as a three-level typology: 1. First world (high income) societies 2. Middle-income societies 3. Third world (low income) societies 17 Before we define sociology, let’s first examine what the sciences study: The natural sciences ▪ Natural sciences explain and predict events in the natural environment (e.g. biology, physics, chemistry). The social sciences ▪ Social sciences examine human relationships (e.g. psychology, anthropology, sociology). 18 9 8/1/2013 What do the social sciences study? Anthropology focuses on culture. Economics focuses on the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. 19 Political science focuses on how people govern themselves. Psychology focuses on process within individuals. 20 10 8/1/2013 The term sociology was coined in the 1830s (by Auguste Comte). The term is derived from Latin and Greek: ▪ socius (companion/being with others) ▪ logos (the study of) Sociology is the scientific study of society and human behavior. 21 Four factors contributed to the birth of sociology: 1. The Industrial Revolution 2. The American and French Revolutions 3. Imperialism 4. The scientific method 22 11 8/1/2013 Comte believed society should be understood through positivism: a way of understanding based on science. Comte saw sociology as the product of a three-stage historical development: 1. Theological stage (in which thought was guided by religion) 2. Metaphysical stage (a transitional phase) 3. Positive stage (using science to understand society) 23 The sociological perspective helps one see general social patterns in the behavior of particular individuals. It enables one to grasp the connection between history and biography. ▪ History represents the idea that society is located in a broad stream of events. ▪ Biography represents an individual’s specific experiences. 24 12 8/1/2013 Sociology has three main goals: 1. To explain why social phenomena occur. 2. To make generalizations by looking for patterns, recurring characteristics, or events. 3. To predict what will happen in the future, given current knowledge. 25 There are three levels of sociological analysis: 1. The micro-level ▪ Dyads, triads, small groups 2. The meso-level ▪ Organizations (small/large) 3. The macro-level ▪ Large scale populations/societies 26 13 8/1/2013 How do social forces at each level operate together? Each process operates in a reflexive fashion. Micro level processes create (and are constrained by) macro level processes. 27 Forces Macro-level forces Meso-level forces Micro-level forces Structural Outcomes → Social Institutions ↕ → Corporate Units ↔ Categoric Units ↕ → Face-to-Face Encounters These embedded social forces and their structural outcomes reveal (in a very simple way) the structure of society and social organization. 28 14 8/1/2013 There are four main perspectives that (generally) define sociological inquiry: 1. Structural Functionalism 2. The Conflict Perspective 3. Utilitarianism 4. Symbolic Interactionism 29 Structural-functionalism sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. It asserts that individuals are guided by social structures (relatively stable patterns of social behavior). Each social structure has a social function, or consequence, for the operation of society as a whole. 30 15 8/1/2013 Key figures in the development of functionalism include Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Robert Merton, and Talcott Parsons. 31 Utilitarianism is a “rational choice” perspective that believes individual and group actions are motivated by the attempt to maximize rewards while minimizing costs. Human beings are “status maximizers.” All human behavior is based on the exchange of resources. Resources can be material (money, goods) or immaterial (time, services, love). 32 16 8/1/2013 Key figures in the development of utilitarianism include James S. Coleman, George Homans, Peter Blau, and Richard Emerson. 33 The conflict perspective sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change. Individuals in society are in a constant struggle for scarce resources. Most sociologists who favor the conflict approach attempt not only to understand society but also to reduce social inequality. 34 17 8/1/2013 Key figures in the development of the conflict perspective include Karl Marx, Harriet Martineau, Jane Addams, and W.E.B. Du Bois. 35 Two major approaches within the conflict perspective regard gender-conflict and race-conflict. Gender-conflict represents inequality and conflict between males and females. Race-conflict focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories. 36 18 8/1/2013 The symbolic interactionist perspective sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals. The functionalist and conflict perspectives are macro-level orientations (they focus on broad social structures that shape society as a whole). Symbolic-interactionism is a micro-level orientation; it focuses on patterns of social interaction in specific settings. 37 Key figures in the development of symbolic interactionism include Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, Herbert Blumer, and Sheldon Stryker. 38 19 8/1/2013 Sociological perspectives are… 1. Historical and evolutionary To understand social change, one must consider the trajectory and development of a society over time. 39 2. Comparative Comparison is the basis of science; understanding a specific society is only possible via its comparison of similarity and difference with others. 40 20 8/1/2013 3. Theoretical Theory is the engine that drives sociological inquiry; theories explain aspects of nature and why things are as they are. Theories must be falsifiable. 41 Sociology is practiced in different ways. There are three main “versions” of sociology: 1. Positivist sociology 2. Interpretive sociology 3. Critical sociology 42 21 8/1/2013 Positivist (or scientific) sociology is the study of society based on systematic observation of social behavior. This scientific orientation assumes that an objective reality exists, and emphasizes the examination of relationships among variables. 43 A variable is a characteristic or condition that can change. Variables have multiple values. An attribute is a specific value of a variable. ▪ E.g.: the variable sex has two attributes: male and female. Variables can represent any quantitative or qualitative facet of persons, objects, or events. 44 22 8/1/2013 45 Variables can take different forms: Discrete variables ▪ Discrete variables consist of indivisible categories. ▪ Examples: race, religion, sex, and gender. Continuous variables ▪ Continuous variables are infinitely divisible into whatever units a researcher may choose. ▪ Examples: time, weight, income. 46 23 8/1/2013 Variables can be classified as independent or dependent depending on how a researcher conceives them in relation to other variables. An independent variable (IV) is a variable that causes a change in a dependent variable. It represents the antecedent conditions that occur prior to observing a dependent variable. ▪ Researchers often manipulate an IV to see how it affects a dependent variable. 47 A dependent variable (DV), or outcome variable, is the variable that is observed after exposure to one or more independent variables. ▪ A change in a DV is dependent on a change in an IV. Independent Variable Education Dependent Variable Income All variables can be independent or dependent depending on context: There is no example of a variable that is only one or the other! 48 24 8/1/2013 In order for variables to be causally related, the following three criteria must be met: 1. Correlation (x and y must co-vary). 2. Time-order (x must precede y in real time). 3. Nonspuriousness (the relationship between two variables [x and y] cannot be explained by a third variable [z]). 49 Interpretive sociology is the study of society that focuses on subjective meanings people attach to their social world. The interpretive sociologist’s job is not just to observe what people do, but to share in their world of meaning and come to appreciate why they act as they do. 50 25 8/1/2013 Critical sociology is the study of society that focuses on the need for social change. Critical sociologists reject the idea that society exists as a “natural” system with a fixed order. The point is not merely to study the world as it is, but to change it for the better. 51 One of the most important elements in sociology is the generation of theory. A theory is a system of generalized statements or propositions about phenomena. Scientific theories… 1. Explain and predict a phenomena in question. 2. Produce testable and thus falsifiable hypotheses. 52 26 8/1/2013 Many famous theorists in sociology have impacted the discipline. Some of the most important theorists from the classical era include… 1. Auguste Comte 4. Emile Durkheim 2. Herbert Spencer 5. Max Weber 3. Karl Marx 6. G.H. Mead 53 Auguste Comte (1798-1857) coined the term sociology; his “social physics” sought to provide a systematic understanding to the workings of the social universe. Comte’s “positive philosophy” was based on a hierarchy of the sciences, beginning with astronomy and culminating in sociology. 54 27 8/1/2013 Comte saw the hierarchy of the sciences culminating in sociology: the queen of the sciences. Sociology Biology Chemistry Physics Astronomy 55 Herbert Spencer’s (1820-1903) analytical functionalism and moral philosophy compared societies to organisms. Spencer believed that a society’s structures function to serve requisite needs. As a societies increase in size, their needs differentiate among structures of operation, regulation, and distribution. 56 28 8/1/2013 Karl Marx (1818-1883) was inspired by the transition from feudalism to industrial capitalism. Marx focused on economic classes (the bourgeoisie and the proletariat) and their relationship to forces of production. Marx stated that “the history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle.” 57 By any standard, Durkheim (1858-1917) is one of the greatest minds in the history of sociology. His work examined… How task specialization affects interpersonal relationships in modern society. The origins of religious life. Morality, suicide, and deviance. 58 29 8/1/2013 Max Weber (1864-1920) is perhaps the most influential figure in sociological theory; his brand of sociology employs a historical comparative methodology. Weber was interested in why people defer to authority, how power is used by individuals, what causes social action, the evolution of world religions, and what spawned modern capitalism. 59 George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) was mainly a philosopher, though he had a major influence on sociology. Mead’s ideas are the foundation of many areas of sociological social psychology and are the basis of symbolic interactionism. Mead examined relationships among the mind, self, and society. 60 30 8/1/2013 The first empirical sociological study was done by Émile Durkheim (1897), who examined rates of suicide. He demonstrated that suicide—a phenomenon most think of as an intensely individual act—had social (rather than psychological) roots. 61 Durkheim felt that the question was not “why a person commits suicide,” but “why doesn’t everyone commit suicide?” He felt answering the latter question could lead to a better understanding about why certain individuals commit suicide and others do not. 62 31 8/1/2013 Durkheim identified four types of suicide: 1. Egoistic 2. Altruistic 3. Anomic 4. Fatalistic 63 Egoistic suicide Definition: Self-destructive behavior occurring when the social part of an individual’s nature is insufficiently developed. Egoistic suicide, like anomic suicide, is most prevalent in periods of transition to modern society. It occurs due to an extreme lack of social integration. 64 32 8/1/2013 Altruistic suicide Definition: A form of self-sacrificing behavior that occurs as a result of over-conformity with group rules and over-identification with the collective whole. Altruistic suicide is most prevalent in simple societies. It occurs due to extreme social integration. 65 Anomic suicide Definition: Self-destructive behavior arising in a social setting that lacks sufficient sociomoral rules to constrain actors. Anomic suicide is most prevalent in periods of transition to modern society. It occurs due to an extreme lack of social regulation. 66 33 8/1/2013 Fatalistic suicide Definition: Self-destructive behavior in social conditions where an individual experiences pervasive oppression. ▪ Durkheim only briefly describes this type, seeing it as a rare phenomenon in the real world. Examples include those with overregulated, unrewarding lives such as slaves, childless married women, and young husbands. It occurs due to extreme social regulation. 67 Durkheim posited that the four types of suicide were extreme ends of two dimensions, suicide is a function of: 1. Social integration 2. Social regulation 68 34 8/1/2013 Degree of Social Force Social Force Low High Integration Egoistic suicide Altruistic suicide Regulation Anomic suicide Fatalistic suicide 69 70 35