This document provides an overview of sociology and related concepts. It discusses key sociological thinkers like Marx, Durkheim and Weber. It also summarizes different sociological perspectives like functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. Finally, it outlines what sociologists study - how and why people interact in groups, societies and institutions.

1. Society and Culture Session 2

3. Please send me by email the following information about you: Last name, First Name Email address Course and Year Hobbies Do you work? If so, where and how many hours a week

4. What are your educational goals? What do you hope to gain from this course?

5. Study Tips Helpful tips to improve reading comprehension Review study questions Read module, view power point presentations and actively searching concepts and ideas discussed in study questions, outline and review 3. Answer study questions 4. Take the quiz online

6. Sociology Sociology is the systematic study of how people interact in social groups.

7. Human Interaction & Communication Exchange Cooperation Competition Conflict

8. Social Groups Social groups are created through interaction and serve specific functions in society and for individuals. Within social groups we each have a certain role to play based on our status within the group. Social groups are the “building blocks” of society and provide structure and organization.

9. Sociology Sociology can help us to better understand social problems . Sociology can help us to predict and understand social change .

11. The Sociological Imagination

12. What is Sociology? Sociology is the systematic study of the relationship between the individual and society and of the consequences of difference.

13. Key Components of Sociology Systematic Study Individual Agency Society The consequences of difference Social Inequality

14. The Sociological Imagination The Sociological Imagination – an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. C. Wright Mills 1916-1962

15. The Sociological Imagination Mills set forth his own conception of how a social scientist should undertake the work. He conveys a sense of what it means to be an intellectual who concentrates on the social nature of man and who seeks that which is significant.

16. First of all, a good scholar does not split work from life. Both are part of a seriously accepted unity.

17. Second , a good scholar must keep a file.This file is a compendium of personal, professional, and intellectual experiences .

18. Third, a good intellectual engages in continual review of thoughts and experiences.

19. Fourth , a good intellectual may find a truly bad book as intellectually stimulating and conducive to thinking as a good book.

20. Fifth, there must be an attitude of playfulness toward phrases, words, and ideas. Along with this attitude one must have a fierce drive to make sense out of the world.

21. Sixth, the imagination is stimulated by assuming a willingness to view the world from the perspective of others.

22. Seventh, one should not be afraid ,in the preliminary stages of speculation, to think in terms of imaginative extremes.

23. Eighth, one should not hesitate to express ideas in language which is as simple and direct as one can make it. Ideas are affected by the manner of their expression. An imagination which is encased in deadening language will be a deadened imagination.

24. Sociology and the Social Sciences Natural science : study of physical features of nature and the ways they interact and change Social science : study of social features of humans and the ways they interact and change Science: body of knowledge obtained by methods based on systematic observation

25. Sociology and Common Sense Sociologists do not accept something as fact because “everyone knows it” Findings are tested by researchers, analyzed in relation to other data, and evaluated with sociological theory

26. Auguste Comte (1798-1857) French philosopher Coined the term “sociology” Argued that the scientific method could be used to understand social stability and social change

27. Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) Social critic and reformer Analyzed working conditions in England and the US Translated Comte’s works from French to English Only recently recognized in the field of Sociology

28. The Founders of Sociology Karl Marx Emile Durkheim Max Weber

29. Karl Marx (1818-1883) Alienation Exploitation Social Class Bourgeoisie Proletariat Capitalism

30. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) Social Solidarity - Individualism - Collectivism Objectivity Social order Functionalism Anomie

31. Max Weber (1864-1920) Social organization and institutions - Societies - Governments - Bureaucracies

32. The Rise of Modern Sociology At the turn of the twentieth century there was tremendous social change occurring in the United States

33. Immigration Population growth Industrialization Urbanization Race riots Labor strikes

34. Early American Sociologists W.E.B. DuBois Jane Addams

35. W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) The Social Survey Exposed racial discrimination in Philadelphia Social Darwinism

36. Jane Addams (1860-1935) Hull House Chicago Worked to improve the lives of newly arrived immigrants

37. What Is Sociological Theory? Theory : a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior

38. The Functionalist Perspective Functionalism : a sociological approach that emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. Society includes social structures or institutions: - family - education - government - religion - economy

39. The Conflict Perspective A sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation.

40. The Interactionist Perspective A sociological approach that generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole.

41. To conclude: Sociologists want to know: Why people behave the way they do Why they form groups Why they go to war Why they worship, marry, vote and all such things that happen when people interact with one another

42. That: Humans are Self aware Social Behavior shaped by groups

43. Society: System of interaction: individuals, groups, institutions. Human Beings "oriented" towards one another: Shared understandings, Meaningful interaction The Social as an "emergent reality" : - Peter Berger

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