SOCI 205 1nd EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 11Lecture 1-3 (August 26th-30th)Introduction to SociologyWhat is Sociology? The sociological perspective, origins, founders, early American sociologists, theoretical perspectives.What is Sociology?- The systematic study of human action in social context. It is based on the idea that our relations with other people create opportunities for us to think and act but also set limits on our thoughts and action.- The systematic study of the relationship between the individual and society and of the consequences of different types of relationships.The Sociological perspective:- We see our private experiences and personal difficulties as entwined with the structural arrangements of our society and the times in which we live.o Social patterns and behaviorso New levels of realityo Society guides our thoughts and deedso Individuality in social contexto Relationships, institutions, organizations, and common senseOrigins of Sociology- Emerged in 1800s- Social and political upheaval- French Revolution- Early SociologistsClassical Theorists- August Comte—positivism—society is better understood by determining the logic or scientific laws governing human behavioro Humans go through stages of ways of thought Theological—society is a result of divine will Metaphysical—saw human kind’s behavior as governed by natural, biological instincts Scientific—we develop social physics in order to identify scientific laws that govern human behavior- Hariette Martineu—one of the earliest feminist social scientists- Karl Marx—founding father of sociologyo Historical materialism: elaborated theories on what “drives” historyo Conflicts between classes drive social changeo History is an account of man’s struggle to gain control of his natural environment- Max Weber—suggested approaching social behavior from the perspective of those engaging in ito Understand the meanings people attach to their actions- Emile Durkheim—division of labor determines how social cohesion is maintainedo Anomie—a sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we no longer expectlife to be predictable; normlessnesso Positivist sociology: social world can be described and predited by certain describable relationships- Georg Simmel—formal sociology—pure numbersTheoretical Perspectives- Functionalism—theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important function to keep society runningo Best way to analyze society is to identify the roles that different aspects or phenomena playo Society is a living organism, each part serving an important role in keeping society together- Conflict theory—idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general- Symbolic Interactionism—micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations,and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people’s actions- Post modernism—a condition characterized by a questioning of the notion of progress and history, the replacement of narrative, and multiple identities resulting from disjointed affiliationso Everything is interpretable within its frameworko Social constructions: entity that exists because people behave as if it exists; perpetuated as society acts in accordance- Midrange theory—attempts to predict how certain social institutions tend to function- Nomothetic approach—sociology is not concerned with uniqueness of phenomena but rather with commonalities that can be abstracted across casesLecture 4-6 (September 2nd-6th)Research MethodsResearch and theory, defining research methods, approaches to research, causality vs correlations, variables, hypothesis, research, data collection, ethics, flaws Research & Theory- The scientific method provides a systematic, organized series of steps that insures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem. o Provides a shared basis for discussion and analysis, and helps promote reliability and validityDefining research methods- Quantitative methods—seek to obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form- Qualitative methods—attempt to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form- Deductive approach—starts with a theory, forms a hypothesis, makes empirical observations and then works to form a theory- Inductive approach—starts with empirical observations then works to form a theoryCausality vs Correlation- Causality—a change in one factor results in a corresponding change in another factoro To prove causation, correlation and time order are established and alternative explanations are ruled out- Correlation—variables related to each other, but perhaps only indirectlyo i.e. death rates are higher for people who have recently seen a doctor, but seeinga doctor does not cause death rates to rise- Reverse causality—researchers believe A causes B, when in fact B causes AVariables- Dependent variables—outcome that a researcher is trying to explain- Independent variable—measured factor that the researcher believes has a causal impact on the dependent variableHypothesis- Proposed relationship between two variables, represented by either the null hypothesis oran alternative hypothesis- Hypotheses—statements about what one expects to find in their research—can not be proven or disproven—they can only be accepted or rejectedo Research proves nothing—It only demonstrates that a relationship may exist between two factors at some levelResearch- Research should have:o Validity—the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measureo Reliability—likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measureo Generalizability—the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about agroup larger than the one we studiedData Collection- Participant observation—qualitative research method that seeks to uncover the meanings people give their behavior by observing social actions in practice- Interviews—collect qualitative data- Survey research—ordered series of question intended to elicit information form respondents- Comparative research—two or more entities which are similar in many dimensions but differ on one question- Experimentation—seek to alter the social landscape in a very specific way for a given sample of individuals- Content analysis—systematic