Lauren Hedrick September 3rd Sociology as a Science Explaining Gender Inequality At Home Functionalism Conflict Perspective Symbolic Interactionism A teaspoon of Background Industrial Revolution in Europe o Moved off of farms and into cities looking for jobs o One of the youngest sciences o Time of dramatic social changes o Progress was being made in science o Needed a scientific view of social structure Developing new theories of society Founding fathers of sociology Karl Marx o Simplistic idea of social structure Emile Durkheim Max Weber Development of Sociology Max Weber o How societies are held together and interact o Focused on subjectivity and social organization Inaccurate and impossible to test scientifically o People began to believe they had more control over their own life and relationship with others now that they had a better understanding o Ideal Type focus on principal characteristics of subject and ignores minor differences Example When studying institutions focus only on the main characteristic of the institution and disregard minor differences such as police department vs fire department o Emphasized the importance of a free value sociology Contemporary Sociology o Feminism evolving set of theoretical perspectives on a women s part in society Looks at what women contribute to society o Post modernism distrusts scientific approach Society dominated by an ever changing image of what society should be Argues that the founding father s ideas and theories are no longer relevant since there is no set image of what society should be Common Sense vs Scientific Theory Common Sense o Lots of times not very reliable Lauren Hedrick September 3rd o Based on your own thoughts and not scientific facts Scientific Theory o Problems with common sense Circular That which is trying to be explained appears in part of the explanation Not always wrong Argument is usually irrelevant Example Do you believe in God Yes Why do you believe in God Because the Bible says that God exists Why do you believe in the Bible Because the Bible is the word of God Unconditional Usually false statements These statements usually depend on more than one factor that is not being examined o Example Water freezes at 32 degrees But a pond will freeze faster than a river because it is still while a river is not o Properties off Good Theories Free of circulation Avoids irrelevant circular arguments Conditional Takes into account the theory being studied and creates and argument around it rather than one that becomes irrelevant when boundaries are placed on the statement Scientific Theory Set of explicit abstract rigorous and logically related statements that explains a general class of phenomena within a prescribed domain Scope Conditions Set of statements that define a domain of phenomena to which a certain theory applies o Example This theory applies In a perfect vacuum Statements The mortar of theories o Combine terms to express ideas logically and theoretically o Testable because they are conditional o Logic provides the rules for transforming statements into new statements o Can be true or false logically or empirically Logical Truth Does not consider the content of the statement only how the parts relate to one another Associative Property x y and y z then x z Example S1 If fish can breath air then fish can smoke cigarettes S2 If fish can smoke cigarettes then fish can blow smoke rings C1 Therefore if fish can breath air fish can blow smoke rings If S1 and S2 are true then C is guaranteed to be true Lauren Hedrick September 3rd Empirical Truth Considers whether or not the statements correspond to proven scientific observations Testing determines empirical truths Conducting Research Theory general framework that provides an explanation for a specific social phenomena Research provides findings that test theories and provide information needed to formulate public policy o Scientists look for relationships among variables something that influences something else Independent variable variable that causes an effect Dependent variable variable that is affected o Methods of Research Different ways to gather information about the topic of which you are studying There are many different ways to approach gathering information Experiments Researchers work with two groups that are made to be identical in all relevant respects through a process of random assignment o Strictly has two groups Control group group that does not receive the treatment the constant of which to base a comparison on for the experiment Experimental group group that receives the treatment and is the group that is being messed with and tested o Experiments performed in the real world instead of the lab are considered to have higher validity Example Identical resumes are sent out to different countries around the world with the only difference being the names Some are typically African American names and others are typically white names The group that has a higher callback rate is the group with traditionally white names Surveys Typically gathered through interviews or prepared questionnaires Must be careful of bias Sampling and selection bias are two factors that need to be taken into account when selecting a group to survey The group selected needs to be an accurate representation of the entire population being looked at and not just one part of it Example When trying to survey the political views of a city you would not be able to go only in one neighborhood and expect to get an accurate representation of the entire population because Lauren Hedrick September 3rd chances are that the neighbors in one area all share similar if not the same political views o Conducting Research Observation A method of study in which the group being studied is not messed with or tested in any way The group being studied is merely being watched and examined for their routines o Unobtrusive The person gathering information does not have any sort of interaction with the subjects being studied o Participant Observation The subjects that are participating in the experiment are the ones making the observations and reporting them back to the researcher Example A group of students volunteers to be part of a study in which they go to parties and observe and record what they witness and the encounters they have and then report their findings back to the groups of researchers Comparative and Historical Research Archival research uses existing records produced or maintained