Download Sociology

Chapters 1 and 2
Sociology
 Sociology is the study of social structure
 Perspective is a particular point of view.
 Ex: Babies look cuter to their parents
 Sociological perspective
 Sociologists study the group or society as a
whole
 Psychologists study from the individual perspective

EX: Why crime is committed
Group perspective
 Sociologists realize that we behave differently in social
settings.
 Our behavior is shaped by the groups we are in
 Ex: Family, teams, co-workers, or friends
 The questions is: How much are our opinions shaped
by the group?
Founders of Sociology
Sociology pioneers
August Comte
Father of
Sociology
Coined the term
sociology
Must study
society
scientifically to
make it stronger
Developed the
difference between
social statics (the
study of social
stability and order)
and social dynamics
(the study of social
change)
More pioneers
Harriet Martineau
• Believed that the lack of economic power kept women dependent and inferior to men
Herbert Spencer
• Introduced Social Darwinism
• Survival of the fittest
• Poor and rich deserve their status
• Interference through welfare or taxes is bad
Karl Marx
• Capitalism will lead to rebellion and produce a classless, communist society
Emile Durkheim
• Believed that society must have mechanical solidarity in order to survive
• Mechanical solidarity is an agreement on values, beliefs, strong pressure to conform, and
dependence on family and tradition
• Organic solidarity is the idea that we are dependent on each other for goods and
services.
Max Weber
Suffered a mental breakdown
• Single most important influence on
sociology
Came up with Verstehen
• Understand social behavior by putting
yourself in their shoes
Surveys
Surveys
 Survey
 Most widely used research method for sociologists
 Population
 Everyone with the characteristics a researcher wants to
study

Ex: high school seniors, single mothers, etc.
 Sample
 Limited number of cases drawn from a larger population
 Must be representative
Collecting data
 Secondary analysis
 Use data that is already collected

Ex: prison records, census records
 Participant Observation
 Researchers involve themselves in a group they are
studying with or without the group’s knowledge

Ex: Black like Me
Causation
 Causation
 Events occur in predictable, nonrandom ways

Ex: What goes up must come down
 Multiple Causation
 Events occur for many different reasons


Ex: Crime is caused by drugs, poor parenting, peer pressure,
etc.
These are called variables
Variables
 Variables
 Characteristics that are subject to change

Ex: age, education, occupation
 Quantitative variables
 Variables that can be measured and given a numerical value

Ex: literacy rate, income average, years of schooling
 Qualitative variables
 Identified by membership in a group or category

Ex: Gender, marital status
Correlation
 Correlation
 Looks at how things are related to one another
 Positive correlation
 Both variables move in the same direction

As study time increases, test scores increase
 Negative correlation
 Variables move in opposite directions

Grades decrease as television viewing increases
Positive and Negative Correlations