Soc. 101 rw ch. 1

SOCIOLOGY AND
THE
REAL WORLD
CHAPTER 1

Chapter 1 Outline
 Society
 Social Science
 What is sociology?
 Microsociology vs. Macrosociology
 The sociological Perspective
 Sociology and Everyday Life
 The U.S. in Global Perspective
 The Mass Media and Popular Culture

Reality T.V. and Society
 Reality T.V. - the issues that are dealt with
reveal social dynamics of the real world
 Why do we watch it? Are the issues reflective
of our world? We see some aspect of social life,
no matter how contrived it may be
 Society – a group of people who shape their
lives in aggregated and patterned ways that
distinguish their group from other groups.
 Sui generis? What can we actually see?
 Working, playing, eating, driving, etc…

Sociology’s Development
 Sociology developed out of modern science
discoveries in 17th &18th centuries, new forms of
knowledge and practices were established
 During 19th century, the concept of social
science emerged
 Social Sciences – use scientific method to
study social world (natural sciences look at
physical world)
 Sociology is a social science
 Overlaps bits of other social science fields

What is Sociology?
 Sociology – scientific study of human society
and social behavior from large institutions &
mass culture to small groups & individual
interactions
 Becker- “The study of people doing things together”
 As sociologists, we need to learn to question everything
 Neither society nor the individual exists in
isolation-each is dependent and intertwined with
the other

Food and Eating
 Food & Eating – biological or social?
 What, when, where and with whom we eat, and
how we feel about eating- socially constructed
 Meaning is not inherent (McDonalds Vs. Spago)
 Eating and family (women)
 Eating and dating
 The values, hierarchies, and institutions of our
society have all intervened in our drive to seek
nourishment

Microsociology and Macrosociology
 Microsociology – study face to face & small
group interactions – how they affect society
 Like a zoom lens-see details

 Pam Fishman-(pg. 12) recorded/analyzed
heterosexual couples conversations in
homes
 Women ask 3x as many questions as men

 Macro-level phenomena like gender and
power are manifested in everyday
interactions

Microsociology vs. Macrosociology
 Macrosociology - study large scale social
structures – how they affect groups/individuals
 Like a wide-angle lens- “big picture”

 Christine Williams-(pg. 14) studied sex
segregation in the workplace: glass
ceiling vs. glass escalator
 Men in female-dominated jobs advance
more quickly
 Large-scale structures create constraints
by which we experience success or failure

The Macro-Micro Continuum
 Society
 Culture
 Social Institutions
 Social Inequality
 Groups
 Roles
 Socialization
 Interaction
 Self

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Sociology
 The use of either quantitative or qualitative
methods depends on the question asked of
research
 Quantitative-translates social world into
numbers that can be treated mathematically
 Tries to find cause/effect relationships
 Qualitative-works with non-numerical data
(texts, interviews, photos, recordings)
 Goal to find how people make sense of their world

The Sociological Perspective
 Sociological Perspective – understand the
relationship between our particular situation in
life and what is happening at a social level
 Sociological Imagination – ability to
understand intersection between history &
biography
 C. Wright Mills
 We normally think of our problems as being of a
private matter, but they are connected to our
cultural and historical context
 Unemployment-personal or social problem?

Sociological Imagination
 We look at what is going on in society and how
that affects people
 Ex. – Columbine (pg. 18)
 Understand time and place (Soc. Imagination)
 Harris & Klebold shaped by their environment
 American adolescents exposed to violence through
entertainment (movies to video games; guns available
 Sociological Imagination-gives broader context
for understanding people and situations

Culture Shock and Beginner’s Mind
 Culture Shock – disorientation when you enter
a radically new social or cultural environment
 Sociologists try to create this effect in our own culture
 We try to put ourselves in position of “the Other”
 Beginner’s Mind – approach world without
preconceptions to see things in a new way
 Lose bias to understand the social world – live in the
present moment
 Opposite of expert’s mind
 Sociology is not just common sense – we
investigate common wisdom or knowledge

Starting Our Sociological Journey
 There is a difference between an everyday actor
and a social analyst
 Everyday actor-one who has practical
knowledge needed to get you through daily life,
but not necessarily scientific knowledge
 Social analyst-must place in question everything
that seems unquestionable to everyday actor
 Tries to act as a stranger in the social world, without
biases or assumptions about it
 Only makes conclusions after investigation or evidence

America as a Place and Ideal
 America is both a real place and an ideal
concept with a meaningful cultural and historical
context
 Tocqueville-admired American ideals of freedom,
equality, individuality, tolerance, democracy and
enterprise
 Troubled by slavery, lack of universal suffrage, the
exploitation of workers, tyranny of majority, materialism
 America & multiculturalism in large cities

The U.S. in Global Perspective
 We are closely linked to others around the world
 Open society means mutual flow of goods,
services, information, ideas, and people
 Macro-trade agreements, multinational corp.
 Micro-my way of life is influenced by…
 “Global Village”-Term coined by Marshall
McLuhan to describe how media create new
kinds of social bonds
 Bring together as if belonged to the same small tribe

Soc. 101 rw ch. 1

Soc. 101 rw ch. 1

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Soc. 101 rw ch. 1