Introduction to Sociology: Chapter 1

1. Introduction to Sociology
Chapter 1
Sociology: Perspective, Theory,
and Method

2. What is Sociology?
• Word origin
– Socius
– Logus
– Ology
• Definition
– Scientific study of patterns of human social
interactions, causes of those interactions, and
solutions to negative consequences

3. Origins of Sociology
• Rapid social change in the 18th and 19th
Centuries…
– European and North American Industrial
Revolution

4. Sociology as a Science
• Social Science
• Based on the use of the Scientific Method
– Patterned Regularity
– Empiricism
– Objectivity

5. • Patterned
Regularity

6. The Sociological Perspective
Seeing the “General in the Particular”
People often think they are
individuals who make unique
decisions, but people are
actually products of a
whirlwind of social forces!

7. The Sociological Imagination
• C. Wright Mills

8. The Sociological Imagination
Ability to see public issues (the general) in
personal troubles (the particular)…
PERSONAL
TROUBLES
Fixing personal troubles does
not solve public issues. PUBLIC
ISSUES
You must solve public issues to
solve personal troubles.

9. Likelihood of Embracing the
Sociological Perspective
• Social Marginality
– Racial/ethnic minorities
– Women
– Immigrants
– People with disabilities
– The elderly
– LGBTQ Community
– Etc…
 These
categories of
people are more
likely to accept
the Sociological
Perspective
because they
experience the
consequences

10. Major Areas of Sociology
MACRO: large groups, main focus
MICRO: individual levels and small groups
(also called Social Psychology)
Purposes of Sociology
Applied/Practicing
Pure/Basic/Academic

11. Theoretical Founders
and Grand Theory

12. August Comte (1798-1857)
• French Philosopher and father of
Sociology
– Coined “Sociology” in 1838
– Stages in understanding society
1. Theological
2. Metaphysical
3. Scientific
- positivism

13. Herbert Spencer (1820 – 1903)
• British Philosopher and Scientist
– First Sociology textbook in 1876
– Introduced “Social Evolution” (“Social
Darwinism”)
Good Adapters Bad Adapters

14. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)
• German Philosopher, Economist & Activist
• What determines poverty and other social
patterns?
– ECONOMIC DETERMINISM
– Based on two dimensions of society
• Infrastructure/Substructure
• Superstructure

15. Karl Marx: Economic Determinism
Superstructure
Infrastructure/
Substructure
Values
Family
Politics
Religion
Medicine
Etc…
ECONOMIC MODE
Everything up here 
depends on
whatever is
down here 

16. Karl Marx: Communism
• COMMUNISM
– Complete equality, no poverty
– Collective ownership of the means of
production
– Most advanced/sophisticated economic
system
– End of all further economic transition

17. Karl Marx: Social Evolution
• DIALECTICAL PROCESS (adapted from Georg Hegel)
– Hegel: Social change is the product of
conflicts among opposing views.
– Marx: Communism will be the product of
conflicts among opposing capitalist
classes.
Thesis  Antithesis  Synthesis
Thesis  Antithesis  Synthesis
Thesis  Antithesis  Synthesis…

18. Max Weber (1864 – 1920)
• German Economist, Philosopher & Historian
• What determines poverty and other social patterns?
– IDEOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
– E.g., “The Spirit of Modern
Capitalism”
–Based on Calvinism: thrift,
investment, hard work, etc…

19. Max Weber: Ideological Determinism
Superstructure
Infrastructure/
Substructure
Values
Family
Politics
Medicine
Economy
Etc…
IDEOLOGIES
Everything up here 
depends on
whatever is
DOWN HERE 

20. Max Weber: Social Evolution
• Rationalization of Society
– Transition from traditional to rational
– Pre-industrial societies: traditional
– Modern society: Rational

21. Emile Durkheim (1858 – 1917)
• French Sociologist
• What holds society together?
• Patterns of social solidarity
– Mechanical Solidarity: strong
sharing of beliefs, values, customs,
traditions, with a pressure to conform
– Organic Solidarity: Interdependence based on
a complex division of labor

22. William Edward Burghardt DuBois
(1868 – 1963)
• First African American to
receive Ph.D. from Harvard
• Heard Weber speak in
Berlin
• Founded NAACP
• Started 2nd Sociology
program in U.S. at Atlanta
University in 1897
• Studied race relations

23. Harriet Martineau (1802 – 1876)
• First female sociologist
• Born to prominent
family in England
• Never married
• Advocate for Voting
Rights, Higher
Education for Women,
Gender Equality

24. Jane Addams (1860 – 1935)
• Founder of Hull House
in Chicago
• Social Reform
• Research platform for
sociologists at
University of Chicago

25. Hull House

26. ForgottenSociologists

27. Grand Theory
Theory: a statement of logical ideas, facts, or
assumptions that explains a situation
GRAND Sociological Theories
1. Structural Functional
2. Social Conflict Symbolic
3. Interactionism

28. Structural Functionalism
• Talcott Parsons
• Assumption: Society is a system of
interdependent parts working together to
maintain stability
• Underpinning assumptions:
– Stability
– Harmony
– Slow Change

29. Structural Functionalism
• Functional Analysis developed by Robert Merton
Functions Dysfunctions
Manifest Manifest
Latent Latent

30. Conflict Theory
• Ralph Dahrendorf and Lewis Coser
• Assumption: Change and order are due to
dialectical forces
• Underpinning Assumptions:
– Social structures create
inequality
– Inequality causes activism
– Conflicts arise
– Change and
reorganization occur

31. Feminism and Gender-Conflict
• Feminist Theory: the study of society that
focuses on inequality and conflict between
women and men
• Linked to feminism: support for social
equality for men and women

32. Race-Conflict
• The study of society that focuses on
inequality and conflict between people of
different racial and ethnic categories
– Whites have social advantage over non-whites
• Higher incomes, more schooling, greater job
opportunities, better health, longer life
expectancies

33. Symbolic Interactionism
• George Mead, W.I. Thomas, Charles Cooley
• Assumption: Human behaviors and social
expectations are subjectively determined
through symbolic interactions…

34. Symbolic Interactionism
• Underpinning Assumptions:
– Human interactions are based on symbols
– We share meaning for symbols
– Shared meaning determines social reality
• W.I. Thomas: “The Definition of the
Situation”
– Social reality determines social expectation
and behavior

35. Doing Sociological Research
1. Select a topic
2. Define the
problem
3. Review the
literature
4. Formulate a
hypothesis
5. Choose a
research method
6. Collect the
data
7. Analyze results
8. Share the
results

36. Research
• Surveys
– Population
– Sample
– Random
Sample
– Stratified
Random
Sample

37. Research
• Participant Observation
– Fieldwork
• Case Studies
• Secondary Analysis
• Experiments
– Cause and effect
– Independent Variable
– Dependent Variable

38. Research Ethics
• Stanford Prison Experiment
• Milgram Experiment
• Humphreys’ Tea Room Trade