1. Emile Durkheim developed sociological theory to explain individual suicide rates within a social context, arguing that suicide is related to the level of social integration and group life in society. 2. Robert Merton developed strain theory to explain deviant behavior as different ways individuals attempt to achieve socially agreed upon goals like success, when the legitimate means are blocked. 3. Modern sociologists emphasize bringing together macro-level and micro-level approaches to study how social forces shape individual behavior and vice versa.

1. What is Sociological
Theory?

2. On what is Theory…
is a set of statements that seeks to explain
problems, actions, or behavior.

3. An Effective Theory may
have…
 Explanatory power
 Predictive power

4. “ Why did Denmark have a comparatively high
rate of reported suicide?”

5. How E. Durkheim answered:
He focused on social factors, such as the
cohesiveness or lack of cohesiveness of
religious, social, and occupational group

6. His research suggested that suicide while a
solitary act, is related to group life.
He concluded that the suicide rates of society
reflected the extent to which people were or
were not integrated into the group life of
society.

7. So what?
 He developed a theory to explain how
individual behavior can be understood within
a social context.

8.  His theory has predictive power, since it
suggests that suicide rates will rise or fall in
conjunction with certain social and economic
changes.

9. The Development of
Sociology

10. The Early Thinkers

11. August Comte (1798-1857)
 A French theorist
 He believed that a
theoretical science of
society and systematic
investigation of
behavior were needed
to improve society.
 He coined the term
“Sociology” to apply to
the science of Human
behavior.

12. Harriet Martineau
 An English Sociologist
 Translated Comte’s work
in English
 Wrote “ Society in
America” ( 1837/1962)
which examines religion,
politics, child rearing, and
immigration in the young
nation

13.  Her writings emphasized the impact that
economy, law, trade, health, and population
could have on the social problems of
contemporary society.
 In her view, intellectuals and scholars should
not just offer explanation…they should act….

14. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
 A Victorian Englishman
 He merely hoped to
understand society
better
 He applied the concept
of evolution of the
species to societies in
order to explain how
they change, or evolve,
over time.

15.  He suggested that since society is bound to
change eventually, one need not be highly
critical of present social arrangements or
work actively for social change

16. Stop right here!

17. Emile Durkheim
 1858-1917

18.  His impressive academic reputation made
possible his appointment as one of the first
professors of Sociology in France
 He is remembered for his insistence that
behavior must be understood within a larger
societal context….

19.  His other interest was the consequences of
work in modern societies…he coined “
Anomie”
 The Anomic state is when people have lost
their sense of purpose or direction, often
during a time of profound change

20.  He was concerned that danger, alienation,
loneliness and isolation might pose for
modern industrialization.
 Like Comte, he believed that Sociology
should provide direction for social change,
ergo the creation of social groups

21. Max Weber
 1846-1920

22.  He studied legal and economic history and
later developed interest in sociology
 He taught his students “verstehen”, the
german word for understanding or insight
( understand behavior, we must learn
subjective meanings people attach to their
action )

23.  He is also credited for a the “ ideal type” as a
key conceptual tool
 The ideal type is a construct/made-up model
that serves as a measuring rod against which
actual cases can be evaluated. This was
applied in his study of bureaucracy.

24. Karl Marx
 1818-1883

25.  His interest were abstract philosophical
issues and concrete reality of everyday life…
he was specifically critical about existing
institutions….
 He formed friendship with friedrich Engels
( 1820-1895); they lived at a time when
Europe and North america was dominated by
factory….

26.  They joined the Communist League ( illegal
coalition of labor unions)….followed by the
creation of The Communist Manifesto
 The document argued that the masses that
has only their labor should unite and fight to
overthrow the capitalists.

27.  In Marx’s analysis, society was fundamentally
divided between classes that clash in pursuit
of their own class interest ( obvious in the
factory set-up of conflict between the
exploited and the exploiter )

28.  His writing later on inspired those who were
later to lead communist revolution in Russia,
China, Cuba, Vietnam, etc.
 Marx’s significance in Sociology is profound:
emphasis on group identifications and
associations that influence an individual’s
place in society ( focus of contemporary
sociology )

29. Stop right here!

30. Modern developments

31. Charles Horton Cooley
 (1861-1929)
 Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan
 Graduate training was Economics but later
became A Sociology Professor at the
University of Michigan

32.  Known for the use of sociological perspective
to look first at smaller units ( intimate, face-to-
face groups i.e. family, gangs, and friendship
networks)
 These smaller units are seedbeds of
society…they shape people’s ideals, beliefs,
values, and social nature

33. Jane Addams
 1860-1935
 An active member of the American
Sociological Society
 Co-founder of the famous Chicago
settlement, Hull House

34.  With other pioneering female sociologists,
she combined intellectual inquiry, social
service work, and political activism- all with
the goal of assisting the underprivileged and
creating a more egalitarian society

35.  Successfully prevented racial segregation in
Chicago public schools
 Worked for the establishment of juvenile
court system and women’s trade union

36. Robert Merton
 1910-2003
 Born to Slavic immigrant in Philadelphia
 Studied in Temple University and later Harvard
University
 Taught in University of Columbia
 Combined theory and research

37. Theory he produced (1968)
 One that explains a deviant behavior
 Noted different ways in which people attempt
to achieve success in life and some may
deviate from the socially agreed-on goal of
accumulating material goods….

38. So what?
 His explanation of crimes on individual
behavior helps account for high crime rates
among the nation’s poor, who may see no
hope in advancing themselves through
traditional roads of success

39. Further…
 Emphasized that sociology should strive to
bring together the “macro-level” and “micro-
level” approaches to the study of society
 Macrosociology vs. Microsociology