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SOC 312: American Society
Section 1: What is Sociology?
What is Sociology?
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a discipline
a profession
a field of study
a department
– in college of liberal arts
– in the social sciences
Sociology versus Other Social
and Behavioral Sciences
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anthropology
political science
economics
psychology
Max Weber: the topic
• behavior subjectively meaningful
– not instinctual
– not impulsive
– not biologically or psychologically determined
• social action: takes others into account
– social psychological: face to face, group
– organizational and institutional
Levels of Analysis
• Macro
– institutions: relatively enduring organizations
– organizations: deliberately created positions
and relationships
• Micro
– groups: individuals with routine access to
each other
– categories of individuals: men and women,
blacks and whites, students and teachers
Bridging Levels of Analysis
• Most interesting questions
– what types of orgs are institutionalized?
• How? Why? So what?
– what types of groups become organized?
• How? Why? So what?
– what categories of individuals form groups?
• How? Why? So what?
Realms of Social Action
• Culture (traditional focus of Anthropology)
– passed down or diffused
• Economy (Economics)
– produce and distribute necessities of life
• Politics (Political Science)
– power: ability to get what you want despite
resistance
• Society (Sociology)
– acted out
Sociological Map
Realms
Levels of
Analysis
Cultural
Social
Institution
denominations
public schools
cities
neighborhoods
banking
collective
bargaining
elections
bipartisanship
Organization
local church
local school
Lions Club
Neighborhood
Watch
firm
union
Young
Republicans
NOW
Group
discussion
group
lunch friends
neighbors
chatting
kids playing
co-workers at
coffee break
Labor Day
picnickers
meeting
Baptists
students
Residents
immigrants
Workers
Managers
Republicans
Democrats
Category
Economic
Political
What is in the Boxes?
• - social action
• - stuff that sociologists study
• - Why impose the structure?
– - descriptive
– - heuristic
- So what?
- can our map help us understand the world?
- what is missing?
Why Do People Smoke?
Psychology
• because they are
nervous
• because they feel
anxiety differently
• because they are
neurotic
Social Psychology
• because their friends
smoke
• because smoking is
fun
• because smoking has
become a habit
More Macro Political Economy
• Organizations promote smoking for profit
– tobacco companies
– mass media
• Organizations that combat smoking
– medical industrial complex: monopolize legal
drugs and crush the competition
– government: determines legality and
regulates drugs (Why?)
Why Are We Losing the War on Drugs?
• Drugs provide jobs for poor people
– hippies/college students
– ghetto residents
• Drugs provide cash crop for poor nations
– Colombia Drug Cartel
– Taliban in Afghanistan
Conclusion
There are many different ways to explain social
action.
Psychologists reduce it to individual/personality
disorders (e.g., neurotic).
Social psychologists tend to focus on the social
aspect—subjective meaning for individual
entails taking others into account: e.g., smoking
is cool
Conclusion (continued)
More macro orientation looks at organizations
and institutions (republican capitalism and political
economy of drugs)
Macro orientation might focus on any realm
(or set of realms)—cultural analysis of smoking as
religious ritual for Native Americans and its
commercialization by the colonizers.
Sociological analysis answers question but generates
more questions: e.g., What is the interest of
government in regulation? Why are poor people the
criminals?