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Sociology
Your Compass for a New World
BRIEF EDITION
Robert J. Brym
University of Toronto
John Lie
University of California at Berkeley
Chapter 1
A Sociological
Compass
Chapter Outline
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Introduction
The Sociological Perspective
Sociological Theory and Theorists
Conducting Research
The Main Methods of Sociological
Research
• A Sociological Compass
The Sociological
Explanation of Suicide
• Émile Durkheim showed that suicide
rates, are strongly influenced by social
forces.
• Durkheim argued that suicide rates vary
because of differences in the degree of
social solidarity in different groups.
Durkheim’s Theory of
Suicide
Durkheim’s Theory and
Suicide Rates Today
• Suicide is most common among the
divorced and widowed.
• Men, typically less involved in family life,
are about four times more likely to
commit suicide.
• Areas of the U.S. with high rates of
church membership have low suicide
rates.
Durkheim: Altruistic suicide
• Occurs when norms tightly govern
behavior, so individual actions are often
in the group interest.
– Example: When soldiers knowingly
give up their lives to protect members
of their unit.
Durkheim: Egoistic Suicide
• Results from a lack of integration of the
individual into society because of weak
social ties to others.
– Example: The rate of egoistic suicide
is likely to be high among people who
lack friends and are unmarried.
Durkheim: Anomic Suicide
• Occurs when norms governing behavior
are vaguely defined.
– Example: When people live in a
society lacking a widely shared code
of morality, the rate of anomic suicide
is likely to be high.
Suicide Rate by Sex and Age
Cohort (per 100,000 people)
Levels of Social Structure
• Microstructures are patterns of intimate
social relations.
• Macrostructures are patterns of social
relations outside your circle of intimates and
acquaintances.
• Global structures are international
organizations, worldwide travel and
communication, and economic relations
between countries.
Origins of the Sociological
Imagination
Three revolutions pushed people to think about
society in a new way:
1. Scientific Revolution suggested that a
science of society is possible.
2. Democratic Revolution suggested people
can intervene to improve society.
3. Industrial Revolution presented social
thinkers with social problems in need of a
solution.
Theoretical Traditions in
Sociology
Theoretical
Tradition
Main Level of
Analysis
Main Focus
Functionalist
Macro
Values
Conflict
Macro
Inequality
Symbolic
Interactionist
Micro
Meaning
Feminist
Macro and Micro
Patriarchy
Theoretical Traditions in
Sociology
Theoretical
Tradition
Main Question
Functionalist
How do the institutions of society
contribute to social stability?
Conflict
How do privileged groups maintain
advantages and subordinate groups
increase theirs, often causing social
change in the process?
Theoretical Traditions in
Sociology
Theoretical
Tradition
Main Question
How do individuals communicate
Symbolic
to make their social settings
Interactionist
meaningful?
Feminist
Which social structures and
interaction processes maintain
male dominance and female
subordination?
Polling Question
•
Which sociological perspective do you
feel explains the most to you about our
society?
A. Structural-functional
B. Conflict
C. Symbolic interactionist
D. Feminist
Polling Question
•
Which sociological perspective do you think
is generally the weakest in explaining things
in our society?
A. Structural-functional
B. Conflict
C. Symbolic interactionist
D. Feminist
The Research Cycle
The Research Cycle
1. Formulate a research question.
2. Review the existing research
literature.
3. Select a research method.
4. Collect data.
5. Analyze the data.
6. Publicize the results.
Ethical Considerations
• Researchers must respect their
subjects’ rights to:
– Safety
– Privacy
– Confidentiality
– Informed consent
Field Research
• Based on the observation of people in their
natural settings.
• Field researchers go where people meet:
– Italian-American slums
– Intensive care unit of a major hospital
– Audience of a daytime TV talk show
Participant Observation
• Sociologists take part in the activities of the
people they are studying.
• Allows researchers understand beliefs,
values, and motives.
• Requires that sociologists observe their
subjects from an outsider’s point of view.
• Tension exists between the goals of
subjectivity and objectivity.
Participant Observation:
Methodological Problems
• To accept the findings of participantobservers:
• We must be confident the findings
extend beyond the case examined.
• We must be confident the interpretations
are accurate.
• We must be confident another
researcher would interpret things the
same way.
Experiments
• A carefully controlled artificial situation
that allows researchers to isolate
hypothesized causes and measure
effects.
Experiments
• Use randomization to create two similar
groups.
• The hypothesized cause is introduced to only
one of the groups.
• The groups are compared before and after
one of the groups has been exposed to the
hypothesized cause.
Steps in Experiments
1. Selection of subjects.
2. Random assignment of subjects to
experimental and control groups.
3. Measurement of dependent variable in
experimental and control groups.
Steps in Experiments
4. Introduction of independent variable to
experimental group.
5. Remeasurement of dependent variable in
experimental and control.
6. Assessment of experimental effect.
Field Experiments
• Retain benefits of experimental design while
overcoming validity problems.
• Either:
– Introduce the independent variable
themselves.
– Observe what happens when the
independent variable is introduced in the
normal course of social life.
Surveys
• Three main ways of conducting a
survey:
– self-administered questionnaire
– face-to-face interviews
– telephone interviews
Threats to Validity of Surveys
1. Exclusion of part of the population from the
sampling frame.
2. Refusal of some people to participate in the
survey.
3. Unwillingness of some respondents to
answer some questions frankly.
4. Asking leading or confusing questions or
questions that refer to multiple, unimportant,
or noncurrent events.
Analysis of Existing
Documents: Advantages
1. Can save the researcher time and money
because they are available in libraries or on
the web.
2. Usually cover entire populations and are
collected using rigorous methods.
3. Does not require live subjects.
4. The researcher’s presence does not
influence the subjects’ behavior.
Polling Question
•
If you possessed the money, skill, and other
necessary resources, in which one area
would you like to conduct research?
A. Racial profiling
B. The cause(s) of sexual orientation
C. Sexual assault and abuse
D. The effects of divorce on children
Strengths and Weaknesses of
Research Methods
Participant observation
Strengths
Researchers get “inside” the minds of
their subjects and discover their
worldview.
Weaknesses
Low reliability; not very useful for
establishing cause-and- effect
relationships.
Strengths and Weaknesses of
Research Methods
Experiment
Strengths
High reliability; excellent for
establishing cause-and-effect
relationships.
Weaknesses
Low validity for many sociological
problems; problems with
generalizability.
Strengths and Weaknesses
of Research Methods
Survey
Strengths
Good reliability; useful for establishing
cause-and-effect relationships; good
generalizability.
Weaknesses
Some problems with validity (but
techniques exist for boosting validity).
Strengths and Weaknesses of
Research Methods
Analysis of existing documents
Strengths
Often inexpensive and easy to obtain,
provides good coverage; useful for
historical analysis; nonreactive.
Weaknesses
Often contains biases reflecting the
interests of their creators and not the
interests of the researcher.
A Sociological Compass
Quick Quiz
1. Durkheim explained variations in the
suicide rate by focusing on:
a. personal troubles
b. microstructures
c. power
d. social solidarity
e. mesostructures
Answer: d
• Durkheim explained variations in the
suicide rate by focusing on social
solidarity.
2. According to Durkheim, the more a
group's members share beliefs and
values, and the more frequently and
intensely they interact, the more social
solidarity there is in a group.
a. True
b. False
Answer: True
•
According to Durkheim, the more a
group's members share beliefs and
values, and the more frequently and
intensely they interact, the more social
solidarity there is in a group.
3. Sociologists call stable patterns of
social relations:
a. microstructures
b. mesostructures
c. macrostructures
d. global structures
e. social structures
Answer:e
•
Sociologists call stable patterns of
social relations social structures.
4. The main question
of _________________ theory is,
how do the institutions of society
contribute to social stability and
instability?
Answer: functionalist
• The main question of functionalist
theory is, how do the institutions of
society contribute to social stability and
instability.
5. Which of the following is usually the
first step in the research cycle?
a. selecting a research method
b. reviewing the literature
c. formulating a research question
d. collecting data
e. none of these choices
Answer: c
• Formulating a research question is
usually the first step in the research
cycle.