Warm Up

• What are some things that might be

considered part of a definition of sociology?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5pp_fZ
DU8I

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK5J0-c
M-HE

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 What is Sociology
• Sociology is the social science that studies groups of people and the
society they inhabit. Whereas Psychology studies the individual and how
they are impacted by society, Sociology focuses on how groups create and
even define a society. Sociologists generate theories about social issues
such as the role of gender roles, crime, age, racism, and culture through
three theoretical perspectives: Functionalist, Conflict and Symbolic
Interactionist. Over the course of the semester you will learn to view
various themes in sociology through those theoretical perspectives. This
course serves as a good introduction to the study of Sociology and will
give you a solid foundation if you choose to take a Sociology course at the
college level.

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What is Sociology?
 What is Sociology?

• Developing A
Sociological Perspective
• Development of
Sociological Thinking
• Is Sociology A Science
• How Can Sociology
Help Us in Our Lives

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 What Is Sociology?

 Sociology
-The systematic study of
human societies, with
special emphasis on
social groups in modern
industrialized systems.

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Chapter 1 What Is Sociology- Social Structure

• Patterns of social behavior

E.g., divorce, substance abuse, aging,
immigration, unemployment,
underemployment, overwork, lower pay etc.
However, they are public issues at the societal
level.
• Social structure is an active & constantly
changing social force.
• It varies across space & time.
• Counseled

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Structuration
Social Human behavior & thinking
World

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 Slide 8

Chapter 1 What Is Sociology

– Culture
– Socialization
– Social interaction  Human behavior &
– Social organizations
& institutions
 thinking

– Social inequality
– Environment

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 Scope of Sociology
The scope of sociology: studying all human
relationships, groups, institutions, and societies.
E.g., romantic love & marriage, gay family &
marriage….(continued)
 Scope of sociology?

• Health & illness, racial & ethnic conflicts,

poverty, education, immigration, sexuality,
gender, class, and crime & punishment,
environment & economic development all come
under the scope of sociology.

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 Slide 11

The Development of Sociological Thinking

• Merton’s Micro and Macro

Approaches to the Study of
Society
• Macro-sociology: large-scale
phenomena
• Micro-sociology: individual
characteristics & social
interactions

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Macrosociology Micro-sociology




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 Slide 13

Sociological Imagination

 C. Wright Mills (1959)

-“think ourselves away”
from the familiar routines of
our daily lives
-look at them anew
-from another’s perspective

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 Slide 14

Developing Sociological Perspective

• Social reproduction
-the way societies keep going over time.
• Social transformation
-processes of changes derived from conscious
intentions to change
-processes of unintended outcomes via social
reproduction
• Sociology studies the resulting balance between
these two processes.

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 Level of Analysis:
Macro-Sociology & Micro-Sociology

• Microsociology - the study of everyday

behavior in situations of face-to-face
interaction.
• Macrosociology - the analysis of large-
scale social systems.
• The two are closely connected.

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The Development of Sociological Thinking

• Sociology encompasses a diversity of

theoretical approaches.
• Theories - constructing abstract
interpretations that can be used to explain
a wide variety of empirical situations.

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 Early Sociologists

• Auguste Comte
1. He invented the word “sociology.”
2. Scientific evidence
3. Seeing sociology as a means to predict
& control human behavior, which in
turn contributes to human welfare.

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 Early Sociologists

• Emile Durkheim
1. Social changes & division of labor
2. Sociology must study social facts
3. Harmony among specialized institutions
4. Society is an integrated whole (organic
solidarity).

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 Durkheim
• Suicide- as a social problem
• Egoistic- unattached to society
• Altruistic- “overly” attached to societies goals
• Anomie- the absence of moral regulation
• Rock stars/ dot.com

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 Early Sociologists

 Karl Marx
1. “All human history thus far is the history of
class struggles.”
2. Emphasizing economic inequality & its
influences on social changes
3. The ruling class exploited the working class
and the working class struggled to overcome
that exploitation.
4. A classless system.

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 Early Sociologists

• Max Weber
1. Emphasizing Durkheim's notions of social
values and ideas.
2. Values and ideas, such as those of religion
and science, can shape a society.
3. Rationalization of social and economic life
4. Bureaucracy-efficiency and red tape
5. Sociology of religion

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 Modern Theoretical Approaches

 Symbolic Interactionism
 Symbols
 The exchange of symbols between
individuals in social interaction
 Small-scale interactions of individuals,
not society as a whole.

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 Symbolic Interaction

Tree

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 Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Functionalism
1. Seeing society as a whole
2. Robert Merton has been particularly
influential
3. Manifest, latent functions and
dysfunction
4. Study of deviance

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 Modern Theoretical Approaches

 Marxism
1. Power
2. Ideology
3. Class division-Proletariat & bourgeoisie
4. Social conflict
5. The power class uses ideology to retain their
dominance

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 Modern Theoretical Approaches

Feminism
1. Linking sociological theory and political
reform
2. women’s lives and experiences
3. Gendered patterns and inequalities are
socially constructed.

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 Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Postmodernism
1. Society is no longer governed by history or
progress.
2. Postmodern society is highly pluralistic and
diverse, with no "grand narrative" guiding its
development.

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 Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Rational choice theory

1.Self-interest
2.Cost-benefit calculation
3.Goal oriented
4.Game Theory
5.Economics

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 Is Sociology a Science?

• Science:
1. Systematic methods of empirical investigation
2. Data analysis
3. Theoretical thinking
4. Logical assessments of arguments
5. A body of knowledge about a particular
subject matter
6. Value-free, objective & observable
7. Empirical evidence & facts

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 How Can Sociology Help Us in Our
Lives?
• Understanding social circumstances provides us
a better chance of controlling them.
• Sociology provides the means of increasing our
cultural sensitivities.
• We can investigate the consequences of
adopting particular policy programs.
• Sociology provides self-enlightenment, offering
groups & individuals an increased opportunity
to alter the conditions of their own lives.

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