Soc201 Exam 1 Dr Ann Bell avbell udel edu TA Andrea Schloss adkelley udel edu 8 30 Sociology study of human society a way of thinking about the world link individual actions to social phenomena explain human behavior with reference to social groups ex Why does one individual get accepted to UD over another OR why does an individual apply to UD compared to an individual who doesn t Why do men cross their legs a particular way and women a different way Sociological Perspective Imagination C Wright Mills wrote about the sociological perspective in The Sociological understand the relationship between individuals and their society defined sociological imagination as the ability to see societal patterns that influence an individual as well as groups of individuals Sociological Imagination the ability to connect the most basic intimate aspects of an individual s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces 3 research questions o social structure What is the structure of this particular society as whole history o sociohistorical Context Where does this society stand in human o diversity What varieties of men and women now prevail in this society and period Troubles vs Issues Troubles private matter among individuals individual values are threatened limited to the immediate surroundings awareness of the individual personal relationship individual unemployment Issues public matter among society social values are threatened go beyond the individual to issues that affect larger society natural disaster gay marriage 15 mil unemployed Social Institutions a complex group of interdependent positions that together perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time put simply any social institution that works to shape the behavior of the groups or people within it institutions are not monolithic stable or uniform they are socially constructed and thus fluid and ever changing ex govt family education religion 9 4 History European Antecedents Sociology is a product of rational sensibilities unleashed by Enlightenment Sociology as social physics o Auguste Comte 1798 1857 o The Positive Philosophy 1830 Sociology as Darwinism applied to social life o Herbert Spencer 1820 1908 o Progress Its Law and Cause 1857 Sociology began to emerge during the nineteenth century as a way of making sense of democratization and industrialization o Karl Marx 1818 1883 Communist Manifesto 1848 o Max Weber 1864 1920 Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 1904 5 o Emile Durkheim 1858 1917 Division of Labor in Society 1893 History of Sociology American Exceptionalism Sociology took root more slowly in the U S because of ideas about American Exceptionalism Ideology that the United States is somehow different than the rest of the world Free from the bonds of history free of religious conflict and class strife Started to question when conflict arose in late 19th century Development in US Chicago School o 1st school of sociology in the US Founded in 1892 Used the city of Chicago as a social laboratory for case studies Polish immigrants adjusting to normal life o 2 observational studies of social life 1929 1937 First use of surveys Social stratification Indiana town run by 1 wealthy family and noted other problems Middletown Parsons o Postwar sociology 1950s 1960s Functionalism like Durkheim Society big machine Contemporary Sociology o Diversity is key o No dominant paradigm o Focus on empirical research Sociological Theories Functionalism Theory o Theory that various social institutions and processes exist to serve important functions to keep society running o Foundational theory for US sociology in the 20th century o Durkheim Parsons o Crime and inequality exist for a reason maintain status quo and no change Conflict Theory o What about challenging the social system o Conflict not consensus drives social change o Marx Feminist Theory o Came out of women s movement in the 1960s and 1970s o Conglomeration of many theories o Unified by a focus on women s inequality o Sex biological vs Gender social o Power Symbolic Interactionism Micro level symbols within interactions how symbols create social world stop signs baby clothes Herbert Blumer Cycle of Meaning Goffman organization of everyday behavior act differently around different people social actors try to alter impression the dramaturgical approach to human interaction Front stage Back stage o Front in front of an audience positive desired impressions o Back can be their true selves drop identities social norms are the basis of society 9 6 Sociology and Its Cousins Sociology focuses on making comparisons across cases to find patterns and create hypotheses about how societies work now or how they worked in the past Sociology looks at how individuals interact with one another as well as at how groups small and large interact with one another Distinctions are important but a lot of overlap exists between the work done in different academic disciplines o History and anthropology cultural anthropology in particular tend to focus more on particular circumstances o Psychology and biology examine things on a more micro level than sociology does and economics is an entirely quantitative discipline o Political science focuses on one aspect of social relations power Divisions within Sociology Microsociology understands local interactional contexts focusing on face to face encounters and gathering data through participant observations and in depth interviews Macrosociology looks at social dynamics across whole societies or large parts of them and often relies on statistical analysis to do so Culture meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a society includes beliefs values knowledge art morals laws customs habits language and dress o Material culture consists of objects created in a given society buildings art tools toys print tangible objects o Nonmaterial culture norms laws customs ideas beliefs of group of people Folkways informal norm cultural forms of dress food habits Language english spanish hieroglyphics Elements of culture Norms manners Mores formal norm religious doctrines formal law Beliefs belief in a higher being Values Liberty freedom Cultural diversity 11 of people living in the United States are foreign born Immigrants from more than 100 countries come to the United States every year 18 of young people speak a language other than English at home Ethnocentrism one own s culture is the best Judging a culture by standards of one s own