Sociology: Chapter OneClass notes: August 29, 12Margaret Thatcher “ no such thing as society”We as humans are trained to think about things individually and not look at the big pictureAuguste Comte- “not just a collection of individualsSociety are influenced by peopleWe do things in a society setting that we would do by ourselvesWhen we are together we act a “hurd” in societyTraces- social interaction and left a messageBook outlineThere is an everyday “actor” which are normal people in societyTheir knowledge is practical no scientificIn contrast there is a “social analyst”They place in question everything that seems unquestionableThey take on the perception of a stranger with the social worldThey go outside their norm and their elementThe analyst sees with clarity what the actor glosses overStrengths and weaknesses in both approachesWhat is sociology?Sociology- the systematic or scientific study human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactionsSociety- a group of people who shape their lives in aggregates and patterned way that distinguish their group from other groupsSocial Sciences- the discipline that use the scientific method to examine the social world, in contrast to the natural sciences, which examine the physical worldSociological perspective- a way of looking at the world through a sociological lensBeginner’s mind- approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things in a new wayUnlearning basically what we already know to see things in a different wayThis way approaches the world without knowing in advanced what we will find outAllows us to repercieve things in an open way and gain a different look at a familiar situationWe are often all too preoccupied with thoughts and feelings that prevent us from fully participating in realitySociology overlaps with other social sciences, while maintaining its own approachAnother way to gain sociological perspective is to create a culture chockCulture shock- a sense of disorientation that occurs when you enter a radically new social or cultural environmentSociological imagination: a quality of the mind that allows is to understand the relationship between our individual circumstance and larder social forces.Most of the time we use psychological rather than sociological argument to explain why things are or aren’tLike debtThe social imagination searches for the link between micro and macro levels of analysisThis allows us to see fallacies in our way of thinkingClass Notes Friday August 29, 12C. Wright Mills- he was trying to convince the average American that this perspective would benefit individuals and whole societies.He wrote a guide book for those who wanted to start thinking and acting on their own behaviorsHe argues that in the United States we are all taught to think about things as private matters.Every person is unique there will always be a difference because we perceive things differently.We can never fully take on someone else’s perspectiveHave to make things difficult studying individual behavior thinking and behavior but looking from the social point of view.Unique perspective in sociology that sets is apartRelationships between similar individuals and similar situations but still have different experiences.People can escalate their behaviors when something else is really to blame.One gets tied up and there is nothing to blame in the situation but in a bigger social issueThe car example. The cars and the two people were blaming each other and in reality the social issue is that whoever made that space made it to small. So they are to blame in reality. You can go back in time to how this trickled down…If we don’t look at bigger situations than we begin to blame the wrong people and things. When in reality the issue is bigger than what one can seeWhen you don’t view the larger social contextAlong with the opposite way of looking at it…. Using an excuse to say that it is society to blameBook outline 14-27Levels of AnalysisSociological perspectives are like the photographer’s lensesMicrosociology- the level of analysis that studies face-to-face and small group interactions in order to understand how they affect the larger patterns and institutions of societyZoom lensLooks at the smallest building blocks of society in order to under its large-scale structureSociety’s larger structures are shaped through individual interactionsMacrosocioloy- the level of analysis that studies large-scale social structures in order to determine how they affect the lives of groups and individualsSociety’s larger structures shape those individual interactionsFamily treeTheories- in sociology, abstract propositions that explain the social world tht make predictions about the futureThey try to explain and predict the social worldRootsAuguste Comte-First to provide a “social physics”Positivism- the theory developed by comte, that sense perceptions are the only valid source of knowledgeGain knowledge of the world directly through your sensesScientific method- a procedure for acquiring knowledge that emphasizes collecting concrete data through observation and experimentcreated the word “sociology”played an important role in the development of disciplineHarriet MartineauShe translated comtes ideas into English so America could se his important ideasHerbert SpencerWas primarily responsible for the establishment of sociology in America and in BritainSocial Darwinism- the application of the theory of evolution and the notion of survival of the fittest to the study of societyMacrosociological TheoryStructural functionalismThe assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structuresEmily DurkheimCentral figureSocial bonds were in every society but that different types of societies created different bondsMechanical solidarity- term development to describe the type of social bonds present in premodern societies.Shared traditions and beliefs created a sense of social cohesionOrganic solidarity- the type of social bonds present in modern societies based on difference interdependence and individual rightsHe believed that even the most individualistic actions had sociological explanations and set out to establish a scientific methodologyAnomie- normalness. To describe the alienation and loss of purpose that result from weaker social bonds and an increased pace of