Chapter 2 Thinking About and Researching the Social World Classical Sociological Theory • What is a theory? • Theory: “A set of interrelated ideas that have a wide range of application, deal with centrally important issues, and have stood the test of time” (Ritzer, 2016). ▫ Theories condense concepts in order to organize the social world ▫ Sociologists use theories in order to identify and frame ideas Influences on the Emergence of Sociological Theory • The Industrial Revolution • Political revolutions (French and American revolutions) • The rise of socialism • The civil/women’s rights movements • The growth of science, the replacement of faith by science Early Theorists • Auguste Comte (1798-1857) ▫ French philosopher  Originally termed his studies “social physics” he eventually coined the term “sociology” to distinguish his work from others.  He believed sociology could use science to understand, predict, and control human behavior for the welfare of humanity.  The “Religion of Humanity”  Tenets: altruism, order, progress, introduction, admission, destination, marriage, retirement, separation, incorporation Early Theorists • Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) ▫ Born and Educated in England  Credited with bringing sociology to England  Argued that sociologists must focus on all aspects of society  Including women  First to look at issues such as marriage, children, domestic and religious life as well as issues of race  Argued that sociologists must do more than just observe, but should also act in ways that benefit society  Was active in the women's rights and emancipation movements  Wrote Society in America after extensive travels in the 1830’s Early Theorists • Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) ▫ Primarily interested in the root cause of social change, specifically evolution in the physical, intellectual, and social domains. ▫ Was a polymath  Philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, and political theorist ▫ Coined the term “survival of the fittest”  Believed privileged members of society earned their status and thus a higher quality of life  Government should not interfere with improving life chances of individuals – against the natural order The Big Three • Karl Marx (1818-1883) ▫ German – born to the middle class ▫ Macro-theorist who focused on the structure of capitalist society ▫ Defined capitalism as an economic system based on the bourgeoisie (the owners of the means of production) exploiting the proletariat (the workers).  Wrote in conjunction with Fredric Engles  The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital The Big Three • Karl Marx (1818-1883) • Concepts from Marx ▫ Capitalism as a system based on exploitation ▫ Workers also experience alienation on the job ▫ False consciousness – an erroneous set of beliefs ▫ Class consciousness – a set of beliefs about an individual’s soci.

1. Chapter 2
Thinking About and Researching the Social World
Classical Sociological Theory
• What is a theory?
• Theory: “A set of interrelated ideas that have a wide range of
application, deal with centrally important issues, and have stood
the
test of time” (Ritzer, 2016).
▫ Theories condense concepts in order to organize the social
world
▫ Sociologists use theories in order to identify and frame ideas
Influences on the Emergence of Sociological Theory
• The Industrial Revolution
• Political revolutions (French and American revolutions)

2. • The rise of socialism
• The civil/women’s rights movements
• The growth of science, the replacement of faith by science
Early Theorists
• Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
▫ French philosopher
coined the term
“sociology” to distinguish his work from others.
science to
understand, predict, and control human behavior for
the welfare of humanity.
admission, destination, marriage, retirement, separation,
incorporation

3. Early Theorists
• Harriet Martineau (1802–1876)
▫ Born and Educated in England
riage, children, domestic
and
religious life as well as issues of race
should also act in ways that benefit society
movements
e Society in America after extensive travels in the
1830’s
Early Theorists
• Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)
▫ Primarily interested in the root cause of social change,
specifically evolution in
the physical, intellectual, and social domains.

4. ▫ Was a polymath
▫ Coined the term “survival of the fittest”
and
thus a higher quality of life
re with improving life chances
of individuals – against the natural order
The Big Three
• Karl Marx (1818-1883)
▫ German – born to the middle class
▫ Macro-theorist who focused on the structure of capitalist
society
▫ Defined capitalism as an economic system based on the
bourgeoisie (the owners of the means of production)
exploiting the proletariat (the workers).
The Big Three
• Karl Marx (1818-1883)

5. • Concepts from Marx
▫ Capitalism as a system based on exploitation
▫ Workers also experience alienation on the job
▫ False consciousness – an erroneous set of beliefs
▫ Class consciousness – a set of beliefs about an individual’s
social positioning
• Theorists have built on his work and others have created
theories opposing his work
The Big Three
• Max Weber (1864-1920)
▫ German born
▫ His principal work is The Protestant Work Ethic and the
Spirit of Capitalism written in 1905
ones
▫ For Weber, rationalization has negative consequences as
well; particularly creating what he called an “iron cage.”
ency rather than ethics

6. The Big Three
• Emile Durkheim (1858–1917)
▫ French born
▫ Macro-theorist whose major concern was social facts, such as
social structures and cultural norms and values, that impose
themselves on people
▫ Called the shared beliefs of a society the collective
conscience.
▫ Wrote the book Suicide in which he stated that the cause
of suicide was not to be found within individuals, but
rather in social facts.
Early Theorists
• W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963)
▫ American born – Grew up in Massachusetts
• Pioneering researcher who was crucial to the later focus
of sociology on race
▫ Wrote The Souls of Black Folk and Black Reconstruction in
America
▫ Popularized the idea of the “color line”
▫ Also espoused the idea of African Americans having a
double consciousness.

7. Contemporary Sociological Theory
• Structural/Functional Theories
▫ Examines both social structures and their functions.
▫ The dominant view is that if certain structures exist they
provide a
function.
• Manifest functions
▫ Positive consequences that are purposely brought about.
• Latent functions
▫ Unintended positive consequences.
• Dysfunctions
▫ Negatively affect the ability of a given system to survive.
Contemporary Sociological Theory
• Structuralism
▫ Focuses on structures but is not concerned with their
functions.
▫ Interested in the social impact of hidden or underlying
structures (for
example, gender relations).
▫ Value of products comes not from supply and demand but

8. from the labor
that goes into the products that come entirely from the workers.
▫ Was Marx a structuralist?
Contemporary Sociological Theory
• Conflict Theory
▫ Focus is on what is negative about society.
▫ Society is held together by coercion.
▫ Ralph Dahrendorf: emphasizes the ever-present possibility of
social change
– authority resides not in individuals but in positions and
various
associations of people.
Contemporary Sociological Theory
• Critical Theory
▫ Feminist Theory

9. differences are socially
constructed (not biologically determined).
inequality, so
extraordinary solutions are necessary.
eflects the
experiences and
perspectives of white women while ignoring those of women of
color.
Contemporary Sociological Theory
• Critical Theory
▫ Queer Theory
that determine
who we are.
understood without
critiquing modern definitions of homosexuality and
heterosexuality.

10. between
heterosexuals and homosexuals.
genders, using the
term queergender to connote a third gender.
as all genders.
Contemporary Sociological Theory
• Critical Theory
▫ Critical Race and Racism
color
racial minorities
and that color blindness is the new racism.
ersectionality is the idea that racism cannot be considered
in isolation.
person, a black person, or
a lesbian

11. The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Empiricism
▫ Sociologists use their senses to gather information in order to
test it
through the scientific method
• The Scientific Method
▫ A structured way of finding answers about the world
▫ A systematic search attempting to find a thorough
understanding of the
world.
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Steps in the Scientific Method
▫ Uncover questions in need of answers.
▫ Review the relevant literature.
▫ Develop hypotheses (tentative statements about the
relationship between
two or more variables).
▫ Choose a research method.

12. ▫ Collect data.
▫ Analyze the data
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Qualitative and Quantitative
• Qualitative Research
▫ A scientific method that does not require statistical methods
for collecting
and reporting data.
▫ Observation and open-ended questions are two examples.
▫ Capture descriptive information
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Qualitative and Quantitative
• Quantitative Research
▫ Involves the analysis of numerical data typically obtained
from the

13. administration of surveys and experiments.
▫ Can help us describe and understand observable social
realities.
al statistics rely on data from small groups to
speculate on the behavior
of larger groups.
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Observational Research
▫ The most common observational methods used by sociologists
are
participant and nonparticipant observations and ethnography
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Observational Research
▫ What are some of the issues with observational research?

14. e
being observed.
those being observed.
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Observational Research
▫ Participant and nonparticipant observation
group or setting
being observed.
role in what is
being observed.

15. The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Observational Research
• Ethnography
▫ The creation of an account of what a group of people do and
the way they
live.
▫ Entails much more intensive and lengthy periods of
observation.
▫ Global ethnography: a type of ethnographic grounding in
understanding
globalization.
▫ Netnography is using the internet and social networking places
and events
as the evaluative space of study.
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Types of Instruments in social research

16. ▫ Interviews
series of questions.
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Types of Instruments in social research
▫ Surveys
-administered, written sets of
questions.

17. The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Key Terms
▫ Population = The entire group of individuals or objects the
researcher is
interested in.
▫ Sample = a sample is a representative portion of the overall
population.
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Experiments
▫ Involves the manipulation of one or more characteristics of an
independent

18. variable in order to examine the effect of that manipulation.
▫ So what are variables?
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Experiments
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies

19. • Experiments
▫ Types of experiments
ontrol over the variables
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Experiments
▫ Reliability
same results time
after time.

20. ▫ Validity
claims to be.
Concern is with accuracy
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Research Ethics
▫ Ethics is concerned with issues of right and wrong, the choices
that people
make, and how they justify them.
▫ Research ethics is a balance of potential knowledge – the goal
is to increase
knowledge – and potential harm – the goal is to minimize or
eliminate
harm.
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Research Ethics

21. ▫ Physical and Psychological Harm
an unintended consequence of
sociological research.
about sensitive
issues.
▫ Illegal Acts
illegal acts during the
course of his/her research.
▫ Violation of Trust
respondents even though
they were promised anonymity or confidentiality.
The Scientific Method in Sociological Studies
• Objectivity
▫ Objectivity refers to suppressing personal bias and/or value
judgments from
entering research.
-free sociology refers to the ability of the researcher to

22. prevent all personal
values from impacting all phases of the research process.