Sociology 1101 Final Study Guide Kristi Williams What is Sociology Scientific study of the dynamic relationship between individual people and social systems and their influence on human behavior and social life Defined more by its perspective sociological imagination than a particular subject matter Scientific study of the dynamic relationships between individual people and social systems and their influence on human behavior and social life Individualism Social problems caused by flaws in individual character society individual people ignores difference between individuals and social relationships Social System 1 individual 2 group 3 system Scientific Study Sociology is based on an epistemology of empiricism epistemology how we know what we claim to know empiricism knowledge through evidence gathered from senses What is the Sociological Imagination How individuals understand their own and others pasts in relation to history and social structure Seeing the General in the Particular Seeing general patterns in the behavior of individuals General categories of social structure gender age race class in which we all shape our particular life experiences Think ourselves away Everyday human behavior is not just a matter of what people decide to do but is instead a guided and shaped by larger cultural social forces Seeing personal Choice in Social Context Moving beyond individualistic bias in seeking solutions to social problems Recognize that fundamental social causes shape individual proximal causes Sociology and the Industrial Revolution Shift in economic structure of society away from agriculture Mass movement away from rural life on farm to cities and work in factories Had profound influence on all aspects of social life and brought new social problems including urban poverty Auguste Comte coined the term positivism and is widely considered the father of French social thinker who coined the term sociology in 1838 to describe a scientific Positivism society can be understood by determining the logic or scientific laws Functionalism social patterns exist because of the useful functions they serve Conflict Perspective social patterns exist because they serve those with power and are justified by ideology Marx Symbolic Interactionism social patterns maintained and changed by people sociology view of understanding society governing human behavior Theoretical Approaches Durkheim interacting Functionalism and stability society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote order Social structures can best be explained in terms of their functions Merton Manifest and Latent Functions Critiques Focus on stability Circular reasoning Emile Durkheim interested in what societies needed to function smoothly and have organic solidarity Best known for studying social isolation and anomie normlessness in relation to social change and human behaviors such as suicide Conflict Perspective Society is characterized by inequality that generates conflict and change Social patterns exist because they serve those with power Marx Karl Marx economic system Materialist conception of history All social patterns and relations stem from the False consciousness workers misunderstand their positions in the social economic system have an individualist bias Levels of Analysis Micro and Macro patterns exist functionalism conflict Macrosociology broad focus on large social systems and institutions why social Microsociology Close up focus on everyday face to face interaction How do social patterns come to exist Symbolic Interactionism social patterns maintained and changed by people interacting based upon shared shared meanings and assumptions guide interaction and produce social order influence of shared meanings and interactions on individual identity formation and Symbolic Interactionism meanings and assumptions social construction of reality maintenance Sociology A working Definition Scientific study of the dynamic relationship between individual people and social systems and their influence on human behavior and social life Social Systems Structures Collection of statuses roles and shared ideas norms and values that tie these structures and roles together into relationships Example families universities or whole societies All social systems have a culture that is transmitted to individuals through socialization What is culture Set of beliefs values norms and material goods shared by a given group Material culture built environments objects belongings Physical objects and technology Non Material Culture includes ideas created by members of a society includes 1 Symbols and Language Symbol anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture Language organized set of symbols gestures 2 Beliefs and Values Beliefs specific statements that people hold about what is true and real influences values Values standards for what is good and just honest honor both are often taken for granted and often unquestioned 3 Social Norms Rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a range of social situations link beliefs and values to social consequences sanctions Cultural Variation and within societies Key point culture is learned is not instinctual or inherited Culture varies both across What is important and seemingly normal in one society may not be in another Even within a society the dominant values and norms change over time Cultural Diversity Is the US really a melting pot other cultures Ethnocentrism viewing one s own culture and normal and judging it as superior to Cultural Relativism judging other cultures based on their own norms and standards Sneeches Star On Star Off Machine Cultural Change Globalization Globalization is the most recent significant cultural change Television e communication the global economy multinational corporations and international nongovernmental organizations increased interdependence across nations debate over effect of internet on local cultures and cultural change Main points form Watts Reading the world as more orderly than it is Common sense wisdom often turns out to be false because we have a tendency to view The problems of the modern world distributions of wealth sustainable development public health require us to understand cause and effect in complex systems with consequences unfolding over years or decades And for these kinds of problems there s no reason to believe that common sense is much of a guide at all Human Behavior Nature or