Chapter 1-Sociological Perspective and Research ProcessWednesday, September 3, 20141:23 PMA. Putting Social Life in Perspective1. Sociology: is the systematic study of human society and social interaction2. Why Study Sociology?oSee how behavior is "influenced" by societyoUnderstand ( global) inter-dependence oSee connection between self/societyoSee "new" ways of problem solving3. Commonsense Knowledge:oGuides social behavior, maybe in error4. Myth:oPopular, but inaccurate notion that may be used to perpetuatesocial action5. Examples:1. Why do people commit suicide?i. The relationship between the cohesiveness/ connectedness in their societyii. Durkheim- "suicide"2. Why do students NOT respond to (answer) questions, asked of the teacher, during class?i. Rebekah Nathan- my freshman yearB. The sociological imagination1. Definition: the link between personal experience and the larger society2. Personal Troubles and Public IssuesoPersonal Troubles- private, actors, and networks( private problems that affect individuals and the networks of people whom they are associate regularly. As a result, individuals within their immediate social settings must resolve the problems-For example: one person may be unemployedoPublic Issues- affect large numbers -Widespread unemployment as a result of economic changes 3. Example: Obesity Increase in U.S.oResource Rich EnvironmentoDaily life does not encourage effortoRituals of eating disrupted?C. Development of Sociological Thinking 1. Early Thinkersi. ComteCame up with the phrase "sociology"Social Statics: forces for social order and stabilitySocial Dynamics; forces for conflict and change "positivist" scientific Inquiry: a belief that the world can best be understood through scientific inquiryii. SpencerEvolutionary perspective on social order and social change Social Darwinism: the belief that those species of animals,including human beings, best adapted to their environment survive and prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die out.iii. Durkheim- Types of SuicideEgoistic- isolated- all social groupsAltruistic- excessively integrated Anomic- lack of social integration when social control becomes ineffectiveFatalistic- excessive regulation2. Differing Viewsi. MarxHistory is a continual conflictClass conflict; owners/workers ( is necessary in order to produce social change and a better society)Alienation: feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and from oneself Capitalism 'causes' crime due to the fact that it was responsible for the overwhelming poverty that he observedii. WeberIdeas matterSociology should be "value-free": means that research should be conducted in a scientific manner and should exclude the researchers personal values and economic interests - later realized sociologists cannot be totally value freeBureaucracies= "soul crushing"Bureaucracies maintain powerfuliii. SimmelEarly "social network" theorist Dyad- mutual interest( consists of 2 members)Triad- principal of least interest and power( 3 members) D. Contemporary (theoretic) Perspectives1. Functionalism: oAssumes that society is orderly/ stableoAssumes overall “consensus”: the majority of members share a common set of values, beliefs, and behavioral expectations oManifest (intended) or overtly recognized by the participants in a socialunit -Manifest function of education is the transmission of knowledge and skills from one generation to the nexto Latent (unintended) Functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged by participants-Latent function of education is the establishment of social relations and networks 2. Conflict Theory:o Groups are in continuous power struggle for the control of scarce resourcesoView social life as a continuous power struggle among competing social groupsoTheorists: Max Weber and C. wright mills 3. Symbolic Interaction:oSociety is the sum of the interactions between individuals and groupsoFocus on the process of interaction: the immediate reciprocally oriented communication between 2 or more people oSymbol- anything meaningfully represents something else-Signs, gestures, written language, and shared valuesoOccurs when people communicate through the use of symbols- ring to indicate a couples engagementE. The sociological research process1. Overview- systematic, continuous, quantitative and qualitative- Systematic= orderly, organized- Continuous= never “prove”- Quantitative= objective, statistics, focus on data that can be measured numerically- Qualitative= subjective, themes, descriptive words are used to analyze underlying meanings and patterns of social relationships 2. The Conventional Model (Durkheim and Suicide)- Hypothesis- states expected relationship between 2 or more variables - Variable- independent, dependent ( any concept with measurable traits or characteristics that can change or vary person from one person, time, situation, or society to another- Validity – measures what you want( the extent to which a study or research instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure - Reliability – consistent over time (extent to which a study or research instrument yields consistent results when applied to different individuals at one time or to the same individuals over timeF. Research Methods- Survey (random sampling) a poll in which the researcher gathers facts or attempts to determine the relationships among facts- Secondary analysis of existing Data: researchers use the existing material and analyze data that were originally collected by others- Field Work (participant / observation): the process of collecting systematic observations while being part of the activities of the group that the researcher is studying- Experiments (control / exposure): carefully designed situation in which the researcher studies the impact of certain variables on subjects attitude or behavior G. Ethical Issues- Subjects- informed consent – risk – benefit- Conflicts of interest- Full disclosure of