SYG2010 Textbook Lecture Notes Chp 1 3 01 12 2015 CHAPTER 1 1 1 The Sociological Imagination Sociological imagination perspective C Wright Mills looks at people s actions and attitudes in the context of the social forces that shape them o Come from home religion nationality generation ect o Personal perspective relates and make sociological imagination different o When applying imagination do not apply personal stance Look at it in a more broad way more unbiased Personal troubles are connected to broader conditions of our society Social context 3 levels Broad historical events war peace economic booms busts Narrow gender race ethnicity religion age marital status and social class Personal intimate relationships with family friends coworkers o All help form our outlook which contributes to our imagination and perspective Social location where you are in society physical place and personal characteristics has to do with economics o Helps form relationships by all your narrow and personal o Social location does not determine our actions does contexts influence us 1 2 Social Location Unmarried women 4x as likely 20 24 yrs of age Blacks most likely whites close behind Most take place before 11th week of pregnancy About half have had an abortion before Sociologist can use social location to predict GROUP not individual behavior 1 3 Social Problems are socially constructed not real until society says it is Just bc its experienced does not a social problem If 90 experience abortion but no one has concerns about it its not a social problem Its not a problem until some one has a problem with it Objective condition can be measured or experienced threat of publishing our results keeps bias out bc when publish has to be reviewed by many different people o Ex abortion whether they are legal who obtains them and under what circumstances Subjective concerns concern that a large amount of people have about the objective condition o Ex abortion some are concerned women give birth to unwanted children others concerned that some women terminate their pregnancies Social problems are dynamic as society changes so do social problems Problems take shape as groups react to one another Central characteristics of social problems objective conditions subjective concerns dynamism relativity and competing views 1 4 The Natural History of Social Problems 4 Stages 1st Stage Defining the Problem the Emergence of Leaders and Beginning to Organize condition in society o Define the problem people have to become upset about a o Emergence of Leaders people who become central to the argument the group that puts up posters o Organize around the Issue Leader gets others involved and organizes around the issue 2nd Stage Crafting an Official Response 3rd Stage Reacting to the Official Response 4th Stage Developing Alternative Strategies o When abortion becomes a social problem 1 5 The Role of Sociology in Social Problems 5 contributions sociologist can make o 1 Can measure objective concern can gather infor o 2 Can measure subjective concerns can determine attitudes and views about social problems o 3 Can apply the sociological imagination can place social problems into their broad social context o 4 Can identify possible social policies to address a social problem they can suggest potential courses of action for public and private agencies ect o 5 Can evaluate likely consequences of social policies estimate the social effects of a proposed social policy Sociologist can suggest which consequences are likely to result if some particular social policy is followed o Do not determine which social policy should be followed o Social policy is based on values and outcomes people want to see 1 6 Sociology and Common Sense Common sense is not adequate for social problems bc some peoples ideas are built on faulty assumptions Faulty assumption would be you should know to turn on lights when its raining 1 7 Methods for Studying Social Problems Method sociologist pick based on three factors 4 Research Designs Used o 1 Question they want to investigate o 2 Matter of practicality you may want to do face to face interviews with people across the country but u cant bc you do not have the time or money o 3 Ethics some methods that may yield good data are unethical Might cause emotional harm or violate privacy o 1 Case Studies focus on one individual event or organization ie a abortion clinic you would get their thoughts how they feel and how they adjust after an abortion o 2 Surveys in a survey you focus on a sample of the group you want to study They are used to represent the entire group u are studying You are able to generalize what you find doctors and women 4 Methods for Gathering Info Best sample random sample everyone in population has an equal chance of being included in your research need to get a mix of these people everyone needs an equal opportunity to take the survey o 3 Experiments You would randomly divide people who have certain characteristics into two groups then expose half to some experience the experimental group and other half to control control group experiments are rare bc ethics do not allow us to create problems for people o 4 Field Studies participant observation researches go into setting they want to learn more about going into the field ex going into an abortion clinic and talking to the o 1 Interviews ask people questions on the topics that you want to explore structured interview ask everyone the same question unstructured interview let people talk in depth about their experiences but must be sure everyone covers certain topics o 2 Questionnaires ask people to answer written questions could be open closed ended question closed ended questions are easier to compare open ended questions though provide more depth o 3 Documents written sources or records that provide valuable data about social problems ex official records informal records journals blogs these reveal peoples behaviors o 4 Observation watch and listen to what is taking place and record or take field notes on people s actions overt observation identify yourself as a researcher during the study covert observation the people in the setting will not be aware that you are studying them o Researchers often combine methods 1 8 Should Sociologist Take Sides Objectivity dispassionate analysis vs partisanship taking sides Whenever someone takes any position on a social problem values of some sort underlie that person s views Most popular view we should