1. Chapter 1: The Sociological Point of View
 Sociology- social science that studies human society and social behavior
 Social sciences-disciplines that study human social behavior or
institutions and functions of human society in a scientific matter
 Social interaction- how people relate to one another and influence each
other’s behavior
 Social phenomena- observable facts or event that involve human society
1. The sociological perspective
i. Sociological perspective- ability to look beyond commonly held beliefs
to the hidden meanings behind human actions
ii. Sociological imagination-the capacity to range from the most
impersonal and remote ideal to the most intimate features of the
human self
2. Sociology’s place in the social sciences
i. Anthropology-comparative study of past and present cultures
ii. Psychology-deals with the behavior and thinking organisms
iii. Social psychology-how the social environment affects an individual’s
behavior and personality
iv. Economics-the study of the choices people make in an effort to satisfy
their wants and needs
v. Political science-examination of the organization and operation of
governments is the focus
vi. History- study of past events
3. The early years
a. Auguste Comte
i. Founder of sociology as a distinct subject
b. Herbert Spencer
i. Social Darwinism
c. Karl Marx
i. Believed that the structure of a society is influenced by how its
economy is organized

2. d. Emile Durkheim
i. Function- consequence that an element of society produces for the
maintenance of its own social system
e. Max Weber
i. Verstehen-involves the attempt to understand the meanings
individuals attach to their actions
ii. Ideal type-description comprised of the essential characteristics of a
feature of society
4. Current perspectives
i. Theory-explanation of the relationships among particular phenomena
ii. Theoretical perspectives- provide a foundation for their inquires
b. Functionalist perspective
i. Functionalist personality-based on the ideas of Comte, Spencer,
Durkheim.
ii. Dysfunctional-negative consequence an element has for the stability
of the social system
iii. Manifest function-intended and recognized consequences of some
element of society
iv. Latent function-unintended and unrecognized consequence of an
element of society
c. Conflict perspective
i. Conflict perspective- focuses on the forces in society that promote
competition and change
d. Interactionist perspective
i. Interactionist perspective- focuses on how individuals interact with
one another in society
ii. Symbol- anything that represents something else
iii. Symbolic interaction-interactions focus on how people use symbols
when interacting