Whatissociology
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This chapter introduces sociology as the systematic study of human societies and social groups. It discusses early sociological thinkers like Comte, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber and how they helped develop sociological perspectives. It also summarizes different modern theoretical approaches in sociology like symbolic interactionism, functionalism, Marxism, and feminism. Finally, it addresses whether sociology qualifies as a science and how understanding sociology can help people in their lives.
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Whatissociology
- 1. Chapter 1: What is Sociology?
- 5. Social World Human behavior & thinking Structuration
- 7. Scope of Sociology The scope of sociology: studying all human relationships, groups, institutions, and societies. E.g., romantic love & marriage, gay family & marriage….(continued)
- 24. Fig. 1.1
Editor's Notes
- Social structure The patterns in our social behavior On an individual level, divorce & unemployment are experienced as personal troubles. However, in the U.S., divorce & unemployment have touched millions of lives and are, thus, public issues. When we make the perceptual shift from personal troubles to public issues, we are exercising our sociological imagination and making the social structure apparent.
- Structuration - two-way process by which we shape our social world through our individual actions and by which we are shaped by society. - We are constantly engaged in the process of structuration.
- Merton’s Micro and Macro Approaches to the Study of Society Macrosociology: large-scale phenomena (e.g., entire civilizations, groups, institutions, social patterns) Microsociology : Stresses the study of individual characteristics, social interactions, use of symbols (e.g., language).
- Sociology was born in an attempt to explain the social changes resulting from the Industrial Revolution. Sociological perspective will help us to understand this world and the future it is likely to hold for us. Developing a sociological perspective requires looking beyond surface explanations for social phenomena; it requires the use of imagination. The sociological imagination refers to our ability to break free from our particular circumstances and see our social world in a new light. Developing a global perspective has great importance for sociology. It opens our eyes to the fact that our interdependence with other societies means that our actions have consequences for others and that the world’s problems affect us.
- Microsociology - the study of everyday behavior in situations of face-to-face interaction. Macrosociology - the analysis of large-scale social systems. The two are closely connected.
- Emile Durkheim - social change is based upon the development of division of labor. Durkheim emphasized that sociology must study social facts, aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals. For a study to have a continuing existence over time, its specialized institutions must work in harmony with one another and function as an integrated whole (organic solidarity).
- “ All human history thus far is the history of class struggles.” The main sources of social change come primarily from economic influences. Capitalism, he argued, divided societies into conflicting classes where the ruling class exploited the working class and the working class struggled to overcome that exploitation. Marx believed that we must study the divisions within a society that derive from these economic inequalities if we want to understand the forces shaping that society. He believed that capitalism would be replaced by an economic system in which society would have no classes.
- His approach gave significance back to Durkheim's emphasis on social values and ideas. He sought to show how values and ideas, such as those of religion and science, can shape a society. He argued that the main dynamic of modern development is the rationalization of social and economic life. Rationalization means the organization of social, economic, and cultural life according to principles of efficiency, on the basis of technical knowledge. Lastly, Weber made major contributions to the sociology of religion.
- The unbroken lines indicate direct influence, the dotted line an indirect connection. Mead is not indebted to Weber, but Weber’s views—stressing the meaningful, purposive nature of human action—have affinities with the themes of symbolic interactionism.
- But it cannot be modeled directly upon the natural sciences, because studying human behavior is different from studying the world of nature.