SOC 001 1st Edition Lecture 8Outline of Last Lecture I. Clicker QuestionII. Eating Disorder ExampleIII. Chapter One Reading AssignmentOutline of Current Lecture IV. Clicker QuestionsV. Recap of Chapter OneVI. Chapter Three Reading AssignmentCurrent Lecture- Clicker Question 1: The defining quality of the sociological imagination is the ability to see beyond the private troubles (like an eating disorder) of the individual and to see the public issue of social structure operating on society as a whole.- Clicker Question 2: A genetic predisposition toward weight gain is probably an individual factor having to do with eating disorders.- Clicker Question 3: “The explosion of foods” (as the article puts it) is probably a public issue (of social structure) having to do with eating disorder.Recap of Chapter 1: - Founders of sociology in Europe = Durkheim, Tönnies, Weber and Spencer. Founders of sociologyin US = Sumner, Addams and DuBoiso They all brought sociology from a laughing stock to prominence by end of 19th centuryo They were all skeptical of the traditional views of the social worldChapter 3 Reading: Science and Fuzzy Objects; Specialization in Sociology- “It is difficult to paint a clear picture of a fuzzy object” –Ludwig Josef Wittgenstein- Werner Heisenberg published “the uncertainty principle”: there are certain limits on science’s ability to measure and predict the behavior of physical objects- Chaos is everywhere in the world- Sensitive dependence on initial conditions principle: the idea that a very small initial difference may lead to an enormous change to the outcome- The fact that sociologists cannot offer predictions with absolute certainty does not make their work less scientific - Sociologists divide society into chunks and specialize in how they are going to approach the study of these chunks through three parts:o Topic area or subject matter Ex. Age, art, collective behavior, culture, demography, economy, education, etc.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.o Theoretical perspectives (paradigms- framework or model of the world) Functionalist: have three major assumptions about the nature of the social world- Within a particular society, there is a great deal of consensus about whatvalues and norms are important.o Working hard = importanto Murder = bado Obtaining wealth = good- Society is an entity or whole that is made up of many integrated parts tied togethero When one part of society changes, other parts will change in responseo Ex. If the economic system changes, education and family systems will change as well- Society tends to seen stability and avoid conflicto Conflict = not normal, dysfunctional and pathological Conflict: based on assumptions that seem opposite to theories that grow out of the functionalist paradigm- Within a particular society, there are subgroups of people who cherish different beliefs and have conflicting values and goals- Society is made up of subgroups that are in ruthless competition for scarce resources- Society is never harmonious; conflict = normal in society Symbolic Interactionist aka social constructionists: interested in how people construct their own social worlds- How people use symbols to make sense of their environments- Four basic assumptions about the nature of the social worldo How people act depends on how they see and evaluate realityo People learn from others how to see and evaluate societyo People constantly work to interpret their own behavior and the behavior of others determine what these behaviors “mean” o When people do not attach the same meanings to behaviors or perceive reality in the same way, there will be misunderstandingand conflicto Levels of analysis Microsociology: focus on the interactions of individuals and the context of those interactions Macrosociology: focus on broader social phenomena, such as whole social structures, institutions, and
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