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SOCIOLOGY 1301 TOPICS/CHAPTERS (L&B) COVERED BY LECTURES (1-4)
The Sociological Perspective (Section 1)—an introduction including topics, development,
theoretical perspectives and uses
NOTES:
The Research Process (Section 2)—steps in the process, research design (ethics)
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Culture (Section 3)—culture and society, symbols, change, theory, diversity
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Social Structure (Section 4)—status and role, social groups, larger social structures, evolution of
societies
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Socialization and Social Interaction (Section 5)—Theory, soci. and psyc., agents of socialization,
Theory (interaction), nonverbal communication
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Deviant Behavior (Section 6)—Deviance, 4 questions (Who, What—functions, why, What—
reactions)
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Economic Stratification (Section 7)—legitimating st., systems of st., explaining, global
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Racial and Ethnic Minorities (Section 8)—race-ethnicity-minorities, prejudice-discriminationracism, theory, minority-dominant relations, immigration
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Gender (Section 9)—Theory (roles), Global (women and dev.), social institutions, reducing
stratification, gendered media messages
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Religion (Section 10)—Theory, beliefs and organizations, world religions and social change
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The Political Economy (Section 11)—power/authority, theory, contemporary, distribution of power,
current trends
NOTES:
Social Change, Globalization and Development (Section 12)—What is, sources, theory,
transformation, devoloped/developing world
NOTES:
HCC Sociology 1301
LectureNotes (Introduction to Sociology)
THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE--Section 1
I.
II.
What is Sociology?
A) Sociology defined
1) Lindsey and Beach suggest that Sociology is the scientific study of human social
behavior
a) It assumes that social factors rather than biological or psychological ones are useful
in explaining regularities in social life
b) Its focus is on collectivities (groups, organizations, whole societies etc.) rather than
individuals
c) What makes sociology distinctive is its perspective or the way in which it interprets
human behavior rather than specific subject matter
d) Sociology views individuals and society as mutually influencing each other
2) The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology suggests that Sociology is “the study of social life
and behavior, especially in relation to social systems, how they work, how they change,
the consequences they produce and their complex relation to people’s lives” (299)
3) Farganis claims that Auguste Comte originated the term “sociology” in 1822 (or 1839 in
Brinkerhof and White) to connote the systematic study of society (1)
4) One of the main goals of a sociology class is to develop what is known as the
“sociological imagination”
a) The “sociological imagination” refers to being able both participate in social life and
to step back and analyze the broader meanings of what is going on
b) This idea is attributed to C. Wright Mills circa 1959—1916-1964 (Collins and
Makowsky 160)
1. Collins & Makowsky claim that C. Wright Mills was a controversial motorcycle
riding sociologist from Columbia University (
2. He was seen as a big burly Texan so full of energy that he even wrote standing
up
c) Brinkerhof and White claim that the sociological imagination is about putting
personal troubles such as poverty, divorce or loss of faith that may be beyond our
control into a larger social context where they can be seen as public issues (4)
d) These issues are rooted in society as a whole, its historical development and the way
it is organized (its social structure)
1. An example is when a man is unemployed it may be a “personal trouble” related
to job skills. However, when in a nation of 50 million 15 million are
unemployed then it is an issue and the solution lies not with one man, but with
the political and economic institutions of a society
The Sociological Perspective
A) Sociology as a science
1) Sociology employs the scientific method and encourages people to debunk or be skeptical
of many conventional explanations of social life
2) Science is rooted in the collection and analysis of empirical evidence or data derived
from observation and experience and not from intuition, conjecture, or hearsay
3) Scientists study a number individual cases and these findings are extrapolated through the
process of generalization to apply to many different specific cases
4) Causality vs. Correlation
a) Lindsey and Beach argue that sociologists assume that causal factors exist (normally
social ones) that can explain why things are as they are
b) However, causality is difficult if not almost impossible to find so correlations are
often examined instead
1. a correlation in simplest terms refers to things that relate to one another
a. a positive correlation refers to things that vary in the same direction
b. a negative correlation means that things vary in the opposite directions
5) Lindsey and Beach note that “in sociology, as in all science, a theory is an explanation of
the relationship among specific facts” (6)
a) They claim that theories must always be testable and subject to possible refutation
6) Blackwell claims that it is implied in a theory that there are a set of underlying
assumptions and methods that are rarely questioned
a) My view is that a theory is a plausible explanation, but that in the social sciences it
could be erroneous
7) An example of the interplay of research and theory in sociology is a study by Emile
Durkheim on suicide
a) Durkheim discovered that social integration or higher levels of sustained
involvement with other people lessened the chances for suicide
b) It should be noted that this refers to collective behavior and is not an indicator of
what any given individual will do
1. This idea of automatically applying group data to particular individuals is
known as the ecological fallacy (7)
2. Social theories are essentially probabilistic meaning that they predict likely
outcomes, but not absolute outcomes (Glass 3/4s full and ¼ empty-or half and
half i.e. glass half full or empty—it is both
8) Debunking—noted earlier—refers to a habit of looking at both the obvious surface level
& at the less obvious deeper one for explanations of social behavior
a) This idea is a bit cynical, but it is ultimately a search for the truth (not capital “T”)
b) The individuals most likely to question these issues are those who experience social
marginality
c) Social marginality refers to those who are to a certain extent excluded through no
fault of their own from mainstream society
9) In terms of diversity modern sociology suggests that many societies are moving toward
multiculturalism
a) this is the idea that different groups of people should be able to live side by side
without one dominating the others or any single group having to abandon its heritage
b) Parrillo suggests that it ranges from efforts for an all inclusive curriculum to an
emphasis on separatist pluralism (550)
c) Pluralism refers to the idea that minorities can maintain their distinctive subcultures
and at the same time interact with relative equality within the larger society
d) This multicultural movement is only occurring to a large extent in the U.S.
(Blackwell 202)
e) It is being criticized by some Conservatives as a devaluation of core values and
wisdom traced to Western Civilization
f) Others argue that it masks an underlying inequality of wealth and power that it does
little to remedy
10) Globalization (Blackwell 135) is the process in which social life within societies is
increasingly affected by international influences based on everything from political and
trade ties to shared music, clothing styles and mass media
a) religious fundamentalism is a key response to this inputting of alien cultures or
globalization (a non-acceptance of global cultural ideas)
b) Lindsey and Beach note that a global culture is beginning to emerge and that English
is becoming a Universal language
c) My argument is that while Western Civilization is inputting a lion’s share of the
information that other cultural sources may be extremely influential in certain
context
1. Japanese cartoons in the U.S.
2. Telenovellas in the People’s Republic China
d) Some good points are that it offers greater cultural understandings and creates hybrid
cultures (i.e. “new cultures”)
e) Some bad points are that it can change traditional culture and indirectly attack
religious beliefs
f) However, these good and bad points are actually subjective
III.
Major topics of sociological interest
A) Most sociological research can be categorized into 4 very general areas
1) Socialization or the lifelong process where we learn our culture (10)
2) Social stratification or when people are divided into distinct social categories (class,
ethnicity etc.) and that membership in these categories offers some people better
opportunities than others
a) social stratification is not usually maintained by force or coercion, but through the
more advantaged socializing everyone to accept a belief system or ideology that
legitimates existing patterns of structured social inequality (order)
3) Social institutions are a predictable established way to provide for one or more of
society’s basic needs
a) an example is the family
4) Social change—sociology is often about proposing or opposing social change
B) Sociohistorical context
1) 4 key developments led to the birth of sociology
a) Scientific ways of investigating the natural world began to gain greater acceptance
despite the hostility of the church
b) The idea spread that the human condition could and should be improved through the
application of reason
c) The Industrial Revolution led to many peasants leaving the countryside to swell the
size of the cities causing social problems (ex. Poverty) to arise
d) The expansion of colonialism and subsequent contact with non-European peoples
increased sociologists awareness of diversity and globalization
C) European origins of sociology
1) sociology arose during the latter half of the 19 th century or circa 1850 (according to
Lindsey and Beach)
2) However, Kornblum (7) notes that like all sciences sociology developed out of
prescientific longings to understand and predict (this arose from earlier Greek
philosophers)
3) Kornblum claims that the roots of modern sociology started among the philosophers and
scientists of the Enlightenment that itself originated in scientific discoveries of the 1600s
(17th century)
4) The Enlightenment itself may have arisen out explorations in the 1500s where many
merchants, seafarers and military individuals were exposed to new cultures in foreign
lands
a) This exposure led to writings about these cultures that became popular in 1600s
Europe and may have prompted the interest and inquiries that later developed into
the social sciences
5) The field first developed in France, Germany and England
6) France
a) Auguste Comte coined the term sociology and is considered the founder of
Sociology
1. Comte was among the first to suggest that the scientific method could be used to
examine social events
2. He used the term “positivism” to argue that social behavior could be observed
and measured scientifically and that once the laws of social behavior were
learned he believed scientists could accurately predict or possibly control events
3. Positivism is also rooted in a theory of intellectual development composed of 3
stages analogous to a life span from infant to adulthood
a. Theological-sees supernatural beings as the ultimate cause of all that
happens in human life. Priests and military rule society
b. Metaphysical-the human mind creates abstract forces to account for
phenomena in the real world. Clergy and Lawyers rule society
c. Positive-the mind is freed from abstractions and the mind seeks social
development using observation of facts, historical comparisons and if
possible controlled experimentation. Dominated by industrialists and
scientists
4. Comte also formed a religion of humanity with himself as high priest and
referred to society as the “Great Being”
5. He created a calendar with days of devotion for scientists, saints, poets and
philosophers and planned for a council organized under the high priest of
humanity to rule the world benevolently through positivism
b) Emile Durkheim notable for his work with anomie (normlessness) or a general
decline in the strength of the rules that guide people in deciding how they should
behave in a society
1. Durkheim’s main concern was with instability, decadence and violence
2. He also claimed that society is based on a common moral order (collective
conscious) rather than on rational self-interest (as in Rousseau’s and Thomas
Hobbes’ “social contract” (Collins etc 104)---{trans. Game theory a rational
individual will never live up to a contract since the rational choice is to cheat)
c) Karl Marx is important for his role as a conflict theorist
1. Marx also emphasized economics as a shaper of social life
2. He made 2 key contributions to sociology: economic determinism & the
dialectic (similar to the Socratic dialectic, but specific) {dialectic transparency}
a. In economic determinism the modes of production (the basic task is finding
food and shelter) are the foundation for political and social arrangements
1 he sees the family structure, law and religion as developing after the
economic structures (economics determines the form of these groups)
b. The dialectic views change as the product of contradictions and conflicts
between parts of society
d) Max Weber is notable for his work with rationalization, legitimacy, verstehen, ideal
types, value free science, the Protestant work ethic and its linkages to capitalism and
bureaucracy
1. verstehen—refers to an empathetic understanding of what people’s subjective
meanings are
2. ideal types are conventions used decompose larger complex ideas into smaller
ones that are easier to work with, but do not really exist by themselves (Collins
123)
a. Example: Socialism and Capitalism can be seen as ideals, but they do not
really exist independently outside of the ideal notion
3. Weber argued for value free science or that sociology should only be concerned
with what is and should avoid making conclusions of what ought to be
e) Herbert Spencer is noted for the phrase “survival of the fittest” and Social
Darwinism
1. Social Darwinism refers to the development of societies resembling natural
evolution with competition among various groups (racial, ethnic, class)
2. This competition leads to victory by the more fit over the less fit (the wealthy
are more fit than the poor (this has little credibility among sociologists)
(Blackwell 288)
f) Harriet Martineau is thought to be the first woman to contribute to the field of
sociology and translated Comte’s works into English
D) Sociology in the U.S.
1) William Graham Sumner, a Social Darwinist, taught the first sociology class in the U.S.
at Yale in 1876
2) However, the first department of sociology was established at the University of Chicago
in 1892
3) During the late 1920s the U.S. became the World leader in sociology.
4) The two great centers of American research were Columbia University and the University
of Chicago both using distinctive approaches
a) Columbia and the East coast schools tended to be similar to the European school of
thought that used macro-level analysis of social structure and change (funct or conf.)
IV.
b) The University of Chicago tended to influence thought at many other Universities
especially in the Midwest, South and West
c) The University of Chicago sociologists saw their city as a vast laboratory where
social issues could be examined
d) Park and Burgess named their methodology for examining conditions urban ecology
(human ecology in Kornblum)
e) Urban ecology is defined by Blackwell (677) as the idea that urban growth can be
examined by focusing on social categories of people who differ in characteristics
such as ethnicity, social class and race (metaphorically different species in an
ecosystem) and who adapt and/or compete with each other
f) When cities develop, factories or businesses attract certain types of workers who
then adapt to their surroundings and form neighborhoods with certain classes or
ethnicities
1. The location of these communities depends on their proximity to employment
opportunities
2. As businesses and factories move to different locations or new immigrants
arrive residential patterns may change in response to this in a process called
ecological succession
5) In the 1940s and 1950s the sociology in the U.S. moved away from the reformist (social
reform) perspective and toward empiricism
6) In the 1990s Sociology began to move from empiricism back to social reform
Theoretical perspectives in Sociology
A) Functionalism
1) Functionalism is a macrosociological (large scale phenomena) theoretical perspective that
was popular during the middle of the 20th century and is still important today {TRANS.}
2) Lindsey and Beach claim that “functionalism interprets all social groups regardless of
size…as systems whose parts are interdependent so that a change in one element
necessarily leads to changes in every other element”
a) social groups can be compared to organs in a body (the organic analogy) with each
dependent on the other
3) There can be manifest and latent functions
a) manifest functions in terms of a social system are the obvious functions that we
openly intend it to perform
b) latent functions are the unintended or unrecognized functions that a social system
provides
4) Critics of functionalism claim that harmony is over emphasized
5) Classic functionalism asserts that social systems remain largely unchanged as long as
their parts work properly, a state called equilibrium (18)
6) The system can also be disrupted or not run smoothly. This is known as a dysfunction
7) The functional perspective suggests that people in a normally functioning social system
will share a number of values that hold society together
a) How would a functionalist view a multicultural society?
B) Conflict Theory
1) Conflict theory is also a macrosocial perspective
2) The conflict perspective suggests that society is an arena where different groups struggle
with each other over scarce resources such as property, prestige and power
3) This theory tends to ignore harmonious interaction (discuss idea of becoming involved—
activism)
C) Symbolic Interactionism
1) This is a microsocial perspective
2) Symbolic Interactionism examines specific cases of how individual people behave in
particular face to face social settings
3) larger social structures are nothing more than creations of interacting people
4) Macrosociologists in a critique see difficulty with changing long established social
arrangements suggesting that these arrangements achieve a life of their own (not an
interacting construct)
D) The feminist perspective and androcentric (male) bias
1) The feminist perspective is about unequal power relations
2) The idea of structured social inequality is justified by ideologies that may be accepted by
both the privileged and the oppressed
3) The key condemnation of this perspective is that it allows for the establishment of bias
(Stephen and the idea of propaganda & reflexive ethnography)
4) Some feminists argue that the demand for scientific objectivity is often hiding male bias
(men are often seen as more objective than women)
Sociology 1301 (Introduction to Sociology)
THE RESEARCH PROCESS--Section 2
I.
II.
Research and the science of Sociology
A) The main focus of sociology is on social scientific research or the studying of people for the
purposes of testing and building theories to explain social behavior
B) The scientific method is used to insure the accuracy and usefulness of the data
1) The scientific method can be defined as a systematic procedure for acquiring knowledge
that relies on empirical evidence--that derived from observation and experience (Lindsey
and Beach 30)
2) Scientific research should ideally be objective or neutral and unbiased
a) However, as has been noted before androcentric (male) bias or possibly gynocentric
(female) bias can exist when the feminist perspective is used
b) Ideologies such as Socialism and Marxism or even “religious” beliefs such as
atheism or Christianity can be inserted into research
c) The truth is that we all have biases, but that the ideal to pursue when researching is
objectivity (and this is not true of all social scientists)
d) There are others such as Dr. Stephen that suggest that we should report only what
those being interviewed want us to report, which is less than the whole truth and in
some cases may be little more than propaganda
e) It is also notable that the materials from which research is being drawn may be
biased (P.R.C. research materials)
f) Interpretation of data can also be misleading (Cokie Roberts and whether enough
was being done to Bill Clinton pro con and neutral)
3) Lindsey and Beach argue that the scientific method helps to protect science from errors in
human judgement in 2 important ways
a) the scientific method including the knowledge generated by using the method is
basically self correcting (31)
1. The method should be reproducible i.e. researchers who examine similar
questions should arrive at similar answers
2. However, this is again an ideal when dealing with people because people may
not be asked the right questions, issues may be too complex etc.
b) The second way science deals with errors in judgment is that research is carried out
under fairly strict ethical guidelines especially where human subjects are concerned
1. Again, this is subjective since guidelines for study can vary by individual, nation
etc.
2. Essentially the question that should be asked is whose ethics are being applied in
a given situation
Steps in the Research Process
A) Dr. Bernard makes 2 claims about research
Noone is expert in all methods of research
Research is a craft or a skill that is learned through practice
B) These items are common to all research projects
Formulating the problem
Lindsey and Beach suggest that the formulation of the problem is based on filling in gaps
in present knowledge
I would also argue that repeats of potentially “Ideological” studies are also valid
It is noted that some exploration of past research should be done before formulating a
research question
Review the literature
This involves the examination of academic journals and texts if available
It should be noted that there may not be any academic writings about certain issues,
therefore, newspapers or other relatively authoritative materials may be used
The literature can provide a conceptual framework that summarizes information about the
research and integrates important concepts
this framework should expose gaps in knowledge
However, Lindsey and Beach apparently assume that the material being researched is
correct
For example in Anthropology Lila Abu-Lughod (about 1980) found that
Bedouins had been lying to Anthropologists about certain issues for quite a
long time
There is also the issue of traditional bias as has been suggested by feminists in
the case of androcentric bias.
Formulate research questions
a) Kottak (63) suggests that a good proposal should include several important questions
1. What is the topic or problem to be investigated?
2. Where and when will it happen?
3. What is going to be tested and how?
4. Is the person proposing it qualified to do it?
5. These questions are often submitted to a Committee on Human Subjects at the
University of attendance. This committee is designed to protect the individuals
who are under examination.
Developing a hypothesis
a) A hypothesis is designed to predict an answer to a research question
b) The ideas in a hypothesis are stated as variables or characteristics and traits that can
be measured
1. An independent variable causes changes in a dependent variable
2. An independent variable is a cause and a dependent variable is an effect
3. A control variable is also important because it is held constant (unchanged) and
it shows the clear influence of the independent variable on the dependent
variable
Measurement is a process of assigning values such as numbers to variables
research moves from the abstract to the empirical
an operational definition is developed that allows concepts and variables to be
empirically measured
A key issue is validity or is the examination effective in measuring what you want it to
measure
A second issue is reliability or would the answers be the same during a second
measurement
Research design
a) Select a method--The 4 major types of research design are experiments, surveys,
secondary research and field research
1. Research design is centered on the population or the group of people who are
being studied
2. Since populations are usually large, the use of a sample or a subset of the larger
population is usually used
3. The actual method used should be appropriate for the type of study being
conducted
4. My preferred method is to select a humanistic method such as personal
interview with a more mathematically oriented method such as a questionnaire
this use of multiple methods is called triangulation
5. Lindsey and Beach offer a fuller examination of causality by listing 4 conditions
that must be met to have a “cause” and not an influence
A cause must come before an effect (or time order)
There must be a systematic relationship or a correlation
The correlation between the independent and dependent variables cannot be
explained by a 3rd variable (elimination of a false or spurious relationship
A theory must be created or exist to explain the empirical findings
6. The first method mentioned earlier is the experiment
a. the researcher divides the subjects into the experimental group that is
changed and a control group that is not
b.
7.
8.
This division of groups is selected randomly either through coin flips,
computer based randomization or through random number tables
c. The dependent variable is measured beforehand by a pretest and afterwards
by a posttest
d. The difference in the dependent variable is then attributed to the
independent variable (38)
e. A major issue with field experiments is whether they are ethical or not. The
issue of ethics often depends on the technique used
f. The Lost letter method (an example)—stamped, addressed letters are left in
assorted places to see if the letters are mailed by those who find them (those
addressed to individuals had a 70% return rate while those addressed to hate
groups had a 25% return rate)
g. Randomized experiments can be a problem when, for example, random
denial of a drug that could save someone’s life—placebos used by the
control group
h. Deception—this is used by psychologists and can be an ethical issue
depending on the individual
i. Passive deception—(no manipulation); example pretending to be a shopper
to see how parents discipline their children
The second method is Survey research--Survey research design involves
sampling, impersonal data collection and statistical analysis
survey research typically provides information that is useful for quantitative
analysis—data easily translated into numbers
Surveys try to find out precise information about behaviors. Today one can
generalize from a small group of respondents to a larger group
people who are being studied and answer the survey are respondents
random sample—all members of the population have an equal statistical chance
of being chosen for inclusion (there are statistics books that give listings of
random numbers)
a convenience sample is an example of a nonrandom survey that uses people
readily available to the researcher
a potential problem arises if those chosen for the survey choose not to respond
(less than random if a number do not respond because their reasons for not
responding are not known—only respondents provide input)
another issue is the area being surveyed which may be either heterogeneous or
homogeneous
variables—attributes that vary among members of a sample or population
the number of variables that influence social identity and behavior increases
with social complexity
Complex societies are—large and populous societies with social
stratification and central governments
Questionnaires—drawbacks of this method are that results are not as rich and
people are restricted in their answers. The design of a good questionnaire is
both a science and an art
Questionnaires can be sent out by mail, e-mail or can be hand delivered etc. and
returned by the same methods
Closed Questions—people select from a set of answers
The most important rule here is that the list of possible responses must be
mutually exclusive (no overlap of alternatives) and exhaustive (all
possible alternatives are listed)
The reality is that closed questions can lead to erroneous assumptions being
derived because there is no feedback from those being questioned
How many of you have been asked a question on a questionnaire that you
cannot fully answer because it is 1. The wrong question 2. A question
where your answer would lie somewhere in between the answers that
are listed
Open Questions—allows people to say what comes into their minds
these questions allow for a more complete response than closed questions
However, it is more difficult to summarize the results than for a closed
question instrument
Lindsey and Beach recommend a mix of closed and open end questions
However, I disagree because the wrong questions could still be asked
without going into the realm of the interview
9. Personal Interviews
Lindsey and Beach give 5 advantages to interviews
A. some people may be able to respond verbally, but not in written form
B. if a question is misunderstood then the interviewer can repeat and
clarify it
C. an interviewer may note factors in the setting that could influence the
answers (Chinese women interviewees)
D. matching the interviewer with interviewees can take place (same
culture)
E. The fifth advantage is that people would rather talk than write
F. My view is that this is the most important format for examining
societies because it allows the interviewer to potentially find the “right
questions”
G. The main issue is that an interview is a dialogue that allows for fuller
answers to one’s questions
H. Also it seems to be assumed that an interviewer from ones own culture
is better than an outsider
1a. This can be a problem because someone from ones own culture
thinks in a similar manner so innovative questions might not be
asked
Interviews also have 3 disadvantages according to Lindsey and Beach
A. They cost more than questionnaires
B. Interviewers are expected to record all responses verbatim (writing is a
problem)
C. Interviewer bias can creep in especially when respondents need
questions clarified
D. The second disadvantage is effectively erased if a tape recorder is used
E. The third disadvantage—the possibility of bias—is present within any
type of research
Interviews usually use an interview schedule where the researcher talks face to
face, asks questions and writes down the answers
Directed Interviews follow a list of questions and are repeated with each
interviewee
Open-ended Interviews are designed to examine specific subjects (topic not
question oriented)
10. Telephone interviews
a. Lindsey and Beach claim that when a quick method of data collection is
used over a wide geographic area then the best method is a telephone
interview
b. Telephone interviews have become important for measuring public opinion
c. Advantages are:
A. low cost
B. interviewer safety
d. disadvantages
respondents can become impatient
some individuals (many if not most Chinese-Americans, some urbanites)
will never answer questions for a telephone interview
It is my view that as public news services publicize cons used by
individuals using the internet, phones etc. that people will become less
willing to answer this type of interview
11. The third method of research is secondary analysis
Secondary analysis involves the use of information collected for other purposes
This method relies on information from documentary sources such as archives,
newspapers, diaries, government and private records etc.
It is the least expensive method of data collection
Documentary resources can be examined through content analysis where
researchers examine the content of documents noting what they feel is
important for the research question
This type of research involves unobtrusive measures (or data collection) where
the researcher cannot influence the data
another unobtrusive measure is a physical trace or evidence left from past
behavior about what they valued thought or felt
Two problems with documentary research are:
access to documents
document based data seldom fits the researchers need
12. The fourth method of research is Field research—in natural setting and concerns
what individuals say and do
This is a qualitative form of analysis that summarizes data in non-numerical
ways to establish meaning and build theory {trans}
Sometimes field research produces ethnography or a description of customs,
beliefs and values of a culture compiled by researchers who live among the
group being studied
Observation and Participant observation
The ethnographer usually takes a year to study his/her group
During this time various methods are used to record data. Some of these
are:
a Diary--records personal impressions
Field Notes—a formal record of field work
Tape recordings—a form of field notes that is better for an interview
format than the written word
Film—this offers visual impressions of the community, but it can get
expensive and is more limited in scope that a written text
Photographs—useful for adding to materials when they are published
A key to good ethnography is to accurately report what is seen in the field
Another key issue is the establishment of rapport—a friendly working
relationship based on personal contact (Kottak 66)
Kottak (66) notes that one of Anthropology’s most characteristic procedures
is participant observation. He notes that by living in a community it is
not possible to be a totally impartial observer
Participant Observation includes participation and observation can use 3
different roles
complete participant or “going native”—becomes a member of the
study group
participant and observer—participates and observes
complete observer—traditionally used where one merely observes what
the natives do
it should be noted that this is on a “spectrum” and that the three roles
are actually points on a continuum
The 7 stages of Participant Observer as experienced by the researcher
1. Contact—excitement for the researcher
2. Culture Shock—almost all contract depression or “shock” lasting
for a few weeks it is at best feeling uncomfortable and at worst
“nothing seems right”
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Discovering the Obvious—first discussions seem worthwhile, but
later they are found to be commonplace
Break—during the middle of fieldwork—allows one to gain
distance both physically and emotionally and allows one to gain
perspective
Focusing—based on thought and perspective gained during the
break
Exhaustion of informants (information wise)—frantic activity for
the Anthropologist (near the end of fieldwork)
Leaving the field—generally when work stops being exciting
Sociology 1301 (Introduction to Sociology)
CULTURE--Section 3
Lindsey and Beach claim that culture is “a human society’s total way of life; it is learned and shared and
includes the society’s values, customs, material objects and symbols.” (63)
A) The use of the phrase human society suggests that only humans have culture
B) Definitions and history (much from Heider 34)
1) Some of the earliest definitions of culture date from the 1700s and are in German
2) In a 1952 study, Kroeber and Kluckholm compiled and analyzed and compiled all of the
definitions about culture that they could find and ended up with 300 pages of material
C) Culture is Learned
Heider (34) suggests that culture is not innate or genetically passed on, but learned (this is
hard to prove in an absolute sense and there is some disagreement on this point).
However, this is an identity and because Heider defines it this way his definition is not
wrong because it is his definition.
a) Disagreement arises from biological reductionists who tend to explain social
behavior in terms of causes such a physiology or genes
b) The most recent version of biological reductionism is sociobiology (coined by
Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson)
c) Lindsey and Beach’s definition of culture as learned could arise because of a
consensus in the social sciences over a definition although biologists may see it
differently
d) However, Montagu and Pastore both think that those holding conservative political
views tend to believe in the power of genes over the environment whereas those
holding liberal political views tend to believe in the power of the environment over
genes
e) My view is that I tend to believe in the influence of the environment or culture as
learned, but due to my knowledge of science I cannot completely rule out
sociobiology despite a dislike for it
Culture and Society
A) Lindsey and Beach claim that culture can be divided into 2 major segments
Material culture includes artifacts, physical objects and items that are found in a society
Nonmaterial culture composed of society’s abstract components such as values, beliefs and
traditions
B) The text notes that culture exerts a powerful influence and that this can lead to ethnocentrism
or seeing one’s culture as superior to others
It should be noted that ethnocentrism is not the same as racism because it is based on culture
and not race, however, in some instances it can be racist
One type of ethnocentrism is European/American based and is known as Eurocentrism
(origins of social sciences)
a) Parrillo defines it as an idea where the content, emphasis or both in history, literature
and other humanities primarily if not exclusively, concern Western culture.
A second type that exists is Afrocentrism where emphasis is placed on African culture and its
influence on Western civilization and the behavior of African-Americans
a) In its moderate form it is an effort to counterbalance Eurocentrism and the
suppression of African influences
b) In a bolder form it is also ethnocentric
c) An example, is a New York professor of African American Studies, Leon Jeffries,
became enmeshed in a controversy when he asserted the superiority of the African
“sun people” over European “ice people”
Sociology is arguably the “enemy” of ethnocentrism. What would the friends of this term
say?
The viewing of one’s own culture as superior could be an aspect of patriotism and be
a reflection of self-confidence and self worth
The notion of applying one’s own values to judge the values and beliefs of another
culture is an aspect of the idea of universal human rights (the rights are seen as
universal by some nations and others disagree)
The text claims that an alternative to ethnocentrism is cultural relativism or the view that all
cultures have intrinsic worth and that each culture must be evaluated and understood in
accordance with its own standards
a) Kottak (93) notes that taken to extremes the relativist perspective would view Nazi
Germany as non-judgmentally as Athenian Greece
The idea of human rights is in partial opposition to cultural relativism
Human rights are usually invested in individuals and are seen as inalienable-Inalienable
can be defined as nations being unable to abridge or terminate them
This ideology when carried too far can lead to interference in other cultures and a
mentality not unlike that exhibited during colonialism (the “white man’s burden”)
C) Values and Beliefs
Values are cultural ideals of what is considered moral or immoral, good or bad, or proper or
improper
Core values are embraced by most members of a culture and help distinguish it from other
cultures
Beliefs are more specific and deal with what is true or false
Lindsey and Beach offer a list of values that individuals in the U.S. are supposed to have and
note that sometimes they can contradict one another
Individualism—some Africans may see the U.S. as too anarchistic (it can be good or
bad). However, many minorities and individuals might not subscribe to this ideal
Achievement—(hard work pays off) exceptions? some street people
Material comfort—exceptions? Masochists, monks
Democracy and equality of opportunity—exceptions? Communists, fascists,
megalomaniacs
Nationalism—exceptions? Some college professors
Group Superiority—our culture is superior—exceptions? Nationalized citizens
Science and efficiency—exceptions? Some Religious groups
Humanitarianism—exceptions? Hard to find one
D) Norms and Sanctions
1) Norms are rules of conduct that guide people’s behavior in specific situations and express
real culture versus ideal culture expressed in values
2) There are two categories of norms
a) folkways are informal norms regulating customary ways of behaving
1. facing the wrong way in an elevator experiment, wearing a 3 piece suit to High
School classes
b) Mores are the norms that members of a society or culture consider vitally important,
necessary or inviolable and can form the basis for laws
1. smoking pot, a male wearing a dress at my old High School
c) Both categories have sanctions or penalties for violating them and rewards for
following them
Culture as a symbol system
Lindsey and Beach claim a symbol is something that stands for or represents something else and is
given meaning by those who use it (69)
1) Language is a symbol system of rules and meaning that govern the production and
interpretation of speech (Lindsey and Beach)
2) Wardhaugh (3) claims that language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for
human communication
a) Language is a system or else it could not be learned or used consistently with the
most basic observation about language being that it is composed of 2 systems (1 of
sounds and 1 of meanings)
b) All languages have this duality of sounds and meanings
3) Linguistic Determinism versus Linguistic relativity
Linguistic determinism implies that language shapes thought
Linguistic relativism involves the idea that significant differences between languages
cause or at least are related to significant differences in cognition (not linguistic
relativity)
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis—determinism--(Kottak 180) is the theory that different
languages produce different ways of thinking (Sociology language)
Sapir and Whorf (in Kornblum) assert that “a person’s thoughts are controlled by
inexorable laws or patterns of which he is unconscious”
4) Common symbols can also have radically different meanings or shades of meaning to
different people
a) In an example of different meanings The Dead Kennedys (writing is symbolic)
means a punk rock band to one person and John F. and Robert Kennedy to others
b) In terms of shades of meaning, we can discuss flag burning.
A patriot may love the flag because it represents his/her country and a flag burner
may hate the flag because it has the same meaning
However, to both the flag is a symbol for the United States
5) Nonverbal Communication—hand movements, facial expressions and the use of personal
space are a few of the more obvious examples
Gestures—these seem to be learned and not biological, they can vary by culture and are
of 3 types
Emblems are gestures with specific meanings that could be used without speech
(thumbs-up for o.k. or “v” sign or cornuto)
illustrators—hand and arm motions that accompanied speech but have no direct
translatability and are meaningless apart from speech (for emphasis)
Butterworths—gestures that occur specifically as a part of an effort to recall a word
and/or find an appropriate sentence structure
Proxemics—the cultural use of space. Edward T. Hall offers 5 features
1. the distance between people (the dance of differing distance and comfort many
Arabs stand so close to each other that they smell the breath of the other—to do
otherwise would be rude)
2. as an example of the complex nature of distance E.T. Hall (Beyond Culture 98)
speaks of “intrusion distance” or the distance one has to maintain from the two
people who are already talking in order to get attention, but not intrude.
3. This idea depends on several aspects
A the activity
B Your status
C Your relationship in a social system (husband and wife, boss and
subordinate)
D the emotional state of the parties
E the urgency of the needs of the individual who must intrude (and other
issues)
4. the degree of eye contact (ogling/threatening stare versus culture, and not
meeting one’s eyes as shifty—southern Europe and Hispanics tend to have high
eye contact while Northern Europeans and East Asians have low eye contact)
5. the shoulder axis angle between two people (open or closed—Buffalo stance?)
6. the degree of touching (or nontouching) the concept in the U.S. vs. European
views
7. Vocal volume (deafness, rudeness exceptions)
Kinesics—the study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures and
facial expressions (Buffalo stance)
Birdwhistle (Heider 113) suggests that tertiary sexual attributes (after primary—ex.
Ovaries and secondary—ex. Breast development) are learned behaviors that
communicate masculinity and femininity
A. an example is intrafemoral angle or the notion that males sit with knees
apart and females with knees together
B. However, today this cultural attribute is changing due to women wearing
pants suggesting that instead of communication it may merely be reflective
of modesty
Choreometrics—or dance and work movements
1. 2 main torso movements
A. the trunk is held rigid and moves as a single unit (Europeans)
B. the trunk moves as 2 units with the hips and shoulders moving separately
(African/Polynesian/Elvis Presley)
In terms of “gendered” speech men and women
1. pronounce vowels differently (men tend to pronounce them more “centrally”
like “runt” instead of rent and women tend to pronounce them more peripherally
like “rant” or “rint”)
2. women tend to use uneducated speech less than men
3. women usually swear less
4. Women (172) tend to build rapport or social connections with others while men
tend to make reports reciting information that serves to establish a place for
themselves in a hierarchy (example: corporations)
Kottak (172) notes that we also use and evaluate speech in the context of extralinguistic
forces (social, political and economic) with low status groups being seen as
uneducated
Bourdieu views linguistic practices as symbolic capital that properly trained people may
convert into economic and social capital.
1. If one speaks of certain topics or with the proper accent (Eliza Doolittle—My
Fair Lady) one can be accepted into a different class
6) Lindsey and Beach suggest that the idea that animals possess culture is difficult to defend
for three reasons
biological differences especially the capacity to develop language separates humans from
higher primates
primates may be able to learn through emulation, but they probably would be able to
learn the behavior on their own
instincts or unlearned patterns of behavior are not cultural because they do not have a
symbolic referent
Essentially, animals learn from experience, but human cultural learning depends on the
(apparently) unique ability to use symbols
This can be seen as a homocentric concept because not all life on earth is known (ocean
depths), we may not be testing some animals correctly and there may be life on other
planets.
Cultural Change
A) Culture is never fixed or static (it changes)
B) Culture is contested by individual groups struggling with each other over values
C) Cultural integration is a process where cultural elements become closely connected
This suggests that a change in one part of culture will produce a change in other areas
D) Both cultural change and integration are influenced by 2 important elements that bridge
material and nonmaterial culture
technology or tools and the body of knowledge pertaining to their use that help to accomplish
social tasks
popular culture where cultural patterns are produced and spread through the mass media
especially television
I would suggest that there are more elements that are influential such as high culture (opera
etc.)
E) Lindsey and Beach suggest that material culture changes faster than nonmaterial culture
F) Cultural lag is this gap that exists between the time an object is invented and the time when it
becomes integrated into a culture’s value system
G) Cultural change can occur through diffusion or the spread of cultural items from one place to
another
Diffusion can be direct (like when 2 cultures intermarry or seize prisoners from one another)
Diffusion can be Indirect where cultural items move into a culture without firsthand contact
with the culture or origin
Cultural change can occur through invention—where existing cultural elements are combined
to form new ones
And also through discovery or the creation of new cultural elements or the reinterpretation of
existing ones
Theoretical Perspectives on Culture and Cultural Change
Functionalism—stresses the idea that every society must meet basic needs such as food and shelter
in order to survive
1) all known prehistoric and historic societies are thought to have cultural universals
(Murdock claims that there are 70 of these) such as an incest taboo (sociobiology
argument)
2) Unique customs develop and persist because they are adaptive or help people to survive
and reproduce and help a culture to maintain equilibrium despite change(Spencer’s “the
survival of the fittest”)
Conflict theory suggests that whatever group controls a culture’s ideology (the value system
defining social inequality as just and proper) also determines how power and resources are
allocated
This ideology can even become a part of an oppressed group
Symbolic interactionism
This perspective suggests that people often present views that are flexible and pragmatic and
that vary according to their personal situations
Symbolic Interactionism suggests that cultural values and attitudes can help or hinder change-the book suggests progress and development, but these ideas are frequently subjective
People may even reject an innovation that is adaptive
Cultural Diversity
Subculture—a segment of a culture sharing characteristics that distinguish it from the broader
culture (they have values and norms distinct from mainstream culture)
1) subcultures are generally based on race, social class, ethnicity, age, religion, gender,
sexual orientation, hobby, occupation etc.
a) rites of passage are elaborate ceremonies that mark the transition from one life stage
to another such as boyhood to manhood (also known as liminality or being on the
threshold of change)
b) Lindsey and Beach use the term race, but races do not actually exist because of the
idea of clines or a gradual transition (intermediary groups) from one race to another
Countercultures also exist that have values and norms that oppose the dominant culture (protest
movement against Vietnam associated with rock music, sexual experimentation, illegal drug
use etc.)
The idea of multiculturalism has 2 levels of meaning
1) different cultural groups exist side by side in a given culture (these groups are
subcultures)
2) multiculturalism refers to the emerging value of cultural identity or a belief that the ethnic
heritage of all groups should be understood and respected
3) Parrillo suggests that multiculturalism is a cultural concept that ranges from efforts for an
all inclusive curriculum to an emphasis on separatist pluralism
Ethnocide can also take place where the extinction of a culture is attempted through conquest and
genocide
1) However, ethnocide rarely succeeds for 2 main reasons
a) because there have been advances in communication, isolation cannot be assured by
geography
b) there is a global consensus on human rights (no torture etc.)
Sociology 1301 (Introduction to Sociology)
SOCIAL STRUCTURE--Section 4
I.
III.
Social structure
Blackwell notes that along with the concept of culture, social structure is a crucial defining
concept for sociology as a way of thinking about social life (295)
all social systems have structure and it is the structure that accounts for much of the difference
between systems and the patterns of human experience and behavior that constitute social
life (Blackwell 295)
a) a social system can be defined as any interdependent set of cultural and structural
elements that can be thought of as a unit (Blackwell 295)
b) The pieces of the system can be of any size or complexity
Blackwell claims that the structure of a social system can be analyzed in terms of 2
characteristics
a) Relationships are the mechanisms that connect various parts together
The parts can range from statuses that individuals occupy to entire systems or
groups, organizations, communities, societies
Social groups are the “building blocks” of a society
A group is any collection of people who interact on the basis of shared
expectations regarding one another’s behavior
The relations that connect the parts have structural characteristics (focus on relations
and not distribution)
An example would be a role structure that includes all the different tasks people are
expected to perform in the “division of labor
a. Do gender differences-(how one relates to the other_
b. Do organic solidarity type roles
b) Distributions or the way things are distributed
As an example power may be distributed equally, as in a democracy or unequally as
in an authoritarian regime
Do gender differences (distribution power relations)
Do organic solidarity role types
Lindsey and Beach see social structure as referring to the relatively stable patterns of social
interaction that characterize social life
They clarify Blackwell’s view by suggesting that culture and social structure are
interconnected and that culture is a program for how people behave with social structure
providing the setting where culture is acted out
Status and Role—the smallest components of social structure
Status can have 2 different meanings (Blackwell 309)
Max Weber equated the term with prestige
Examples would be a “high status occupation” or someone who was “status conscious”
The majority of sociologists , however, define status as a position that is occupied by an
individual in a social system
examples would be husband and wife in a marital system or halfback and quarterback on
a football team
Status is purely a relational term that demands at least 2 positions (a system)
a) the term husband is useless without the term wife
Statuses are also positions in a social system and are independent of the individuals who may
occupy them
The sum of all of the positions we occupy is a status set
this multidimensional network of social systems composes the world we live in
If these statuses do not fit together smoothly because they are ranked at different levels (high
and low) then a condition called status inconsistency is taking place—differences
between race, gender, ethnicity, etc. (92)
An example is that an organized crime boss ranks high in terms of wealth and income,
but low in terms of prestige
Status inconsistency creates tension that can be resolved by bringing the various dimensions
into alignment in a process known as status crystallization (discussed by Lenski—in
Blackwell)
an example is the crime boss becoming involved in legitimate businesses or even giving
up crime altogether
Barzini’s idea of wealth creating purity (Italian cultural view)
Much interaction is status specific so people of means usually display status symbols
suggesting how others are supposed to interact with them (my college ring)
ascribed and achieved and Master statuses
An ascribed status is a social position that is assigned at if not before birth and is usually
permanent
some ascribed status characteristics are race, gender, country of origin, ethnicity, caste
and possibly religion
An achieved status also known as an acquired status is a position in a social system that is
acquired after birth (Blackwell 4)
Examples are marital status, educational attainment etc.
A master status is often the most important positions people occupy and it lies at the core of
their social identity
it influences how the roles associated with other positions are performed
Some statuses are high such as University Professor
Some statuses can have stigmas attached to them such as conviction for a crime
Blackwell defines a stigma as a negative social label that identifies people as deviant not
because their behavior violates norms, but because they have personal or social
characteristics that lead people to exclude them
1. Examples are obese people (individualistic), some minorities (social category)
etc.
an ascribed status such as gender can function as master statuses especially in groups
dominated by the opposite gender or a different race
An example is the first person to fill a status such as a female executive is often dealt
with more by her gender status than as an executive
This position as the only individual of one’s gender or ethnicity in a group is known as
tokenism
Rosabeth Kanter discusses stereotypical roles adopted by token women in a corporation
(Men and Women of the Corporation 235)
She claims two of the roles are classics in Freudian theory, specifically, the mother
and the seductress (Freud wrote that men need to handle women’s sexuality by
envisioning them as “madonnas” or whores” or asexual mothers or overly sexual
seductresses
In the mother role the woman is brought problems by the men and is expected to
comfort them (no availability for sexual pursuit)
In the seductress role can involve competition and jealousy. She may not even
be acting the role at a conscious level, but may be cast in that role by the
men surrounding her
The second 2 roles of “pet” and “iron maiden” also have counterparts in the kid sister
and the virgin aunt
A. The “pet” is adopted by the male group as cute and is treated as a mascot.
They desire her to display humor and admire, but not enter into their
displays (metaphorically a cheerleader on the sidelines)
B. The “iron maiden” is the one who resists all of the other roles and is
stereotyped as tougher than they are. These women face abandonment
(unlike seductresses and pets) and are left to flounder on their own when
they have problems
This idea only involves tokens {transparency? Pg. 209 Kanter}
1) She notes that as the minority group expands to ratios of possibly 65:35
dominants become the majority and tokens become just a much less noticeable
minority. Minorities can form coalitions.
IV.
2) When the group reaches 60:40 or 50:50 the group becomes balanced and both
majority and minority become potential subgroups. Events depend on personal
abilities and structural factors
h) It should be noted that multiple ethnic groups would change the group dynamics
immensely as will is illustrated on page 101 of Lindsey and Beach
Role—Lindsey and Beach claim that it consists of norms associated with a particular status—
norms that specify the behavior of an individual occupying that position
1) Blackwell sees the idea of role as more complex using the example of the role of a
teacher
a) A teacher’s role is built around a set of ideas about teachers in relation to students.
These are:
1. Beliefs about who they are
2. Values related to the goals they are supposed to pursue
3. Norms about how they are to appear and behave
4. Attitudes about their emotional predisposition toward their work and students
5. Students may have ideas like:
A. a belief that they know less than the teacher, the value
B. learning is good as an end in itself
C. expectations to arrive on time and work hard
D. maintenance of an attitude of respect toward their teacher and other students
6. neither students nor teachers believe
A. in approaching each other sexually
B. in exchanging money for grades
C. in being vicious or sarcastic
2) A role partner is the occupant of a social status in relation to whom a person’s role is
defined (Blackwell 266)
In terms of a role partner a mother is defined in relation to the role of a child (mother and
child are role partners)
3) A role set--“important” statuses are accompanied by a cluster of related, but somewhat
distinct roles
4) Role conflict arises when people are confronted with contrary or incompatible role
expectations in the various social statuses they occupy in their lives
a) role strain can result where conflicting roles are associated with the same status
a policeman is expected to be loyal and root out corruption
b) When role conflict involves roles associated with two different statuses the result is
known as status strain
an example of this is that of a parent and an employee (quality or quantity time with
children versus needing to keep a job)
c) There are 4 responses for minimizing role conflict
1. choose which role is the most important then violate the expectations of the
other role
2. leave one of the conflicting statuses (quit a job to care for kids)
3. role (or audience) segregation or the practice of separating various role partners
from one another (doctors can refuse to treat members of their own family)
4. role distance (Erving Goffman) minimizing role strain associated with
associated with a disagreeable role (not just a waiter but an actor, mafia: “it’s
nothing personal, it’s just business)
d) role embracement can also taker place where people feel that they are little more
than the roles they are expected to play
Social Groups
A) Lindsey and Beach and Blackwell define a social group as consisting of 2 or more people who
interact regularly and feel some sense of solidarity or common identity
1) Groups develop a sense of “we-ness” that enables members to identify themselves as
belonging to a distinct entity although recognition that the group exists may or may not
be shared by those outside the group
2) Kornblum notes that groups can be informal with variable and ill defined statuses and
roles (buses) or more formal where statuses are well defined (family)
3) Blackwell further suggests that it is not always clear whether a group has enough
interaction or we-ness to qualify as a group
4) A better way to look at group is to think in terms of varying degrees of “groupness” (a
continuum)
5) Groups also vary by how often and extensively members interact, how long the group
survives and the reasons that people join and participate
6) William Graham Sumner (social darwinist) in 1906 described members of groups as ingroups and non-members as an out-groups and suggested that there could be hostilities
across group boundaries
7) Lindsey and Beach suggest that “we” i.e. in-group are intelligent, dedicated and
consistent and they i.e. out-group are cunning fanatical and rigid
8) Collins & Makowsky claim that Charles Horton Cooley developed the idea of primary
groups (Social Organization 1909) and secondary groups
a) Primary Groups are characterized by intimacy, face-to-face interaction, emotional
warmth and cooperation
these groups are seen as the “seedbeds of society” (Collins 174) because they are
fundamental to the formation of the social nature of the individual and their
primary ideals of love, freedom and justice
The basic experience in this group is the feeling of social unity with other members
b) Secondary groups that are impersonal, contractual, formal and rational
1. Relationships in these groups are cool rather than warm
c) It should be noted that these groups are polemics and that the real structure is a
continuum
d) It should be also noted that primary groups may emerge within, for example
secondary groups or bureaucracies (academic cliques, boards of directors etc.)
9) Georg Simmel’s analyses of the effects of group size suggest that a group too large for all
its members to converse together will have a different structure than a smaller one
(Collins and Makowsky 169)
a) A two person group or dyad’s fundamental reality is its “perishability” or ability to
dissolve with the leave taking of one individual. This gives each partner a hold on
the other
b) The triad, composed of three people offers a certain independence because if one
person leaves the group will still exist
1. Collins and Makowsky suggest that in a triad the individual is less significant
than the group
2. Triads also allow for the formation of coalitions and an increased potential for
an imbalance of power
3. It should also be noted that in a dispute between 2 members the third can serve
as a mediator
4. The third member may also try to divide and rule
5. Thoreau’s remark, “I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for
company, three for society” is suggested by Simmel’s idea
c) Once groups of more than 3 members form intimacy declines and stability increases
d) When groups surpass 5 or 6 members they become more formal (Larger social
structures)
10) Parrillo notes that another form of group is a minority group some of which can represent
millions of people
a) the term minority group does not denote a group’s numbers, but instead its relative
power and status in a society
b) Wagley and Harris identified 5 characteristics shared by minority groups on a
worldwide basis (in Parrillo)
1. the group receives unequal treatment compared to other groups
2. the group is easily identifiable based on distinguishing physical or cultural
characteristics that are held in low esteem
3.
V.
VI.
The group feels a sense of peoplehood—that each member shares something in
common with other members
4. Membership in the group has an ascribed status—one is born into it
5. Group members tend to practice endogamy or to marry within their group by
choice, necessity or due to social isolation
Larger Social Structures
The first type is a network defined as a collection of relationships that connect people, social
statuses, or other units of analysis such as groups and formal organizations (Blackwell)
1) It should be noted that it is only since the 1970s that this idea became extremely
significant for sociologists in terms of being a perspective on social life
2) Generally, the network approach assumes that individual experience, behaviors and
outcomes depend more on where people are in the network than who they are as unique
individuals
3) The differences among people can be understood as a result of being in different
networks or located differently in the same network
4) In networks the more centrally a person is located, the more power they tend to have as a
result
5) Strong links exist between those who know each other well, while weak links exist
between those who know each other less intimately
As a part of larger social structures, formal organizations also exist that can be defined as a social
system organized around specific goals and usually consisting of several interrelated groups
or subsystems
Formal organizations are ruled by clearly stated rigidly enforced norms
Bureaucracy is the most highly complex and highly developed type of formal organization
Social institutions are also important and can be defined as an enduring set of ideas about how to
accomplish goals generally recognized as important in a society
Institutions differ because they focus on different social functions (Blackwell)
Like many social institutions institutions are external to individuals who participate in them,
but they are shaped and changed by that participation
Institutions can become more complex over time especially those such as religion education
and politics (Kornblum 91)
Large scale societies like the U.S. have several institutional sectors
The economy for example is an institutional sector that includes markets, corporations or
other economic institutions
A major feature of human societies is the creation of new social institutions known as
differentiation—a term labeled by Talcott Parsons
Parsons meant that the processes whereby the sets of social activities performed by one social
institution are divided among different institutions
a) In the case of a family, new institutions such as schools take over some of the
functions of training the young
The Evolution of societies
Durkheim’s evolutionary theory is rooted in the idea of society being based upon a common moral
order rather than rational self interest
1) He argues the state itself only exists because of the collective use of force (King and
followers together)
2) The collective use of force relies on prior solidarity based on emotional feelings and not
intellectual agreement (not a “social contract”)
3) He suggested that people in a society have a “collective consciousness” or a sense of
belonging to a community with others and hence they feel a moral obligation to live up to
its demands {transparency of follows contract and cheats SOCI}
4) Two types of solidarity arose out of this idea with mechanical being the original method
and organic only coming after changes in society expanded job categories
Mechanical solidarity refers to the idea that in tribal or peasant societies most people are
like each other (almost all are farmers or warriors)
A strong collective consciousness exists because people have many ideas in common
because of their common experiences
Organic solidarity exists in societies with a high division of labor where people have a
great many different occupations
1. It is the exchanges themselves that provide the collective sense of belonging
(human body metaphor)
Ferdinand Tonnies examination of societies started at the microlevel by comparing social
interaction in traditional and modern societies
Tonnies claims that relationships in social systems vary along a continuum anchored by
gemeinschaft relations on one end and gesellschaft relations on the other
Gemeinschaft relations are based on a relatively homogeneous culture and rend to be
intimate, informal, cooperative, and imbued with a sense of moral obligation to the
group often based on kinship ties
Gesellschaft relations tend to be formal, goal-oriented, heterogeneous, and based on
individual self-interest, competition and a complex division of labor
these types of societies are usually found in agrarian and industrial societies
Gerhard & Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution
Their process of socio-cultural evolution from mechanical to organic solidarity or from
gemeinschaft to gesellschaft is divided into 5 stages
Hunting and gathering have a simple division of labor where men mostly hunted and
women gathered
in this society all sought food, therefore there was little time for specialization
Horticultural societies started with the domestication of various types of plants and
animals
1. These societies produce larger amounts of food allowing some craftspeople to
specialize, the size of society grows and a semi-sedentary lifestyle begins
Pastoral societies appeared about the same time as horticulture. Both of these are at the
same level they are just used in different environments
1. Again surplus allows for some full time specialists
Agrarian societies produce large surpluses allowing for quick population growth
1. Full time specialists developed, the state grew in power, female status generally
decreased and social inequality increased at this level
The Industrial and Postindustrial societies
1. Industrial society is based on the use of non-animate sources of production for
economic production
2. During this era a population explosion took place, mechanical solidarity waned,
class systems emerged, however, recently devalued groups (ethnic groups etc.)
have gained more equal treatment
3. The postindustrial model is based on technology and service industries and
Lenski and Lenski predict that the transition will be difficult