1. Perspectives and Paradigms
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Perspectives and Paradigms
Sociology department assessments make understanding the three perspectives introduced here very important
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

2. Perspectives and Paradigms
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Perspectives: Why?
Why?
Can’t see everything at once
Therefore, we focus and ignore
For example, portraits
Scientists can’t observe everything at once
DIGRESSION: science is both noun and verb
To non-scis, sci is body of knowledge
To scientists, science is activity to change body of knowledge
Doing science usually requires narrowing focus
It is impossible to observe all aspects of complex phenomena at one time
Therefore we focus on some things and ignore others
Most portraits are of our fronts, not our backs.
We don’t mind because we are more interested in the front, especially the face
Part of what Picasso and other painters did was try to show more at once
A practicing scientist can’t study everything at once. She must focus and ignore
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

3. Perspectives in Siam: A Fable
Three Blind Men and an Elephant
Whether or not you’ve heard this story before, you can be sure you will hear it in the future

4. Perspectives and Paradigms
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:sevitcepsreP So What?
So what?
What you see depends on
Where you observe
In front? In back?
How you observe
Telescope? Microscope?
What you are looking for
Depends on the color of your glasses
What’s actually there
Empirical!!!
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

5. Sociological Perspectives Based on Size and Focal Behavior
We will examine sociological perspectives that differ in:
Levels of analysis
Conceptions of what are the most important social phenomena

6. Perspectives and Paradigms
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Levels of Analysis
Microsociology
Mesosociology
Macrosociology
Often meso is considered a form of macro
We’ve already done this
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

7. Three Different Ideas About What’s Most Important I
Perspectives and Paradigms
Perspectives and Paradigms
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Three Different Ideas About What’s Most Important I
Creation and maintenance of social integration
Functionalist perspective
Structural functionalist
Individuals and groups trying to maximize interests
Conflict perspective
Sociology program at Auburn decided that among the most important things sociology majors should be able to do is apply these three perspectives to social phenomena
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

8. Three Different Ideas About What’s Most Important II
Active individual trying to make sense of a situation and give it meaning
Symbolic interactionism

9. What’s Most Important? Functionalist Perspective
Perspectives and Paradigms
Perspectives and Paradigms
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What’s Most Important? Functionalist Perspective
Consensus or Functionalist
“Officially” structural-functionalism
I also call the consensus perspective
The most important elements of social life are those that foster social integration
Hobbesian problem of order
How is society possible?
Interested in how parts of society (structure) work together
Harris reading reflects functionalism
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

10. What’s Most Important? Conflict Perspective
Social life is a constant battle between individuals or groups, each seeking to maximize their interests
Interests – outcomes that benefit the actor
One form of conflict: zero sum game

11. Conflict Perspective: Zero Sum Game
Perspectives and Paradigms
Perspectives and Paradigms
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Conflict Perspective: Zero Sum Game
Zero sum game - situation in which total amount of some “goody” is fixed. Only way one actor can get more is for one or more others to get less
If everyone has exactly one m&m, I can only get more if one of them gives me one (or I take it)
Conflict comes into play when actor is trying to maximize if that effort is going to interfere with others’ efforts to maximize
Conflict does not have to be ugly, but it often becomes such
Anderson’s “Code of the Street” sees status as zero-sum
Respect is a very important goody
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

12. What’s Most Important? Symbolic Interactionism
The most important aspect of social life is the active individual trying to make sense out of a situation and give it meaning
Also called interactionism
Seems to be the most difficult perspective for students to recognize

13. Symbolic Interactionism: Interaction and Symbols
Symbolic interactionism – because individual makes sense of situation largely through interactions with other people
Interactions at the time and in the past
Symbolic interactionism – because interactions and meanings depend on symbols

14. Symbolic Interactionism: Micro and Macro
Focus on interaction makes SI microsociological
That many symbols are widely shared brings in macro
Like social facts, symbols can be outside us

15. Symbolic Interactionism: Thomas Theorem
Perspectives and Paradigms
Perspectives and Paradigms
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Symbolic Interactionism: Thomas Theorem
If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences
W.I. Thomas & D.S. Thomas (1928)
More narrowly, People decide what to do next on the basis of what they think is going on now
This is the version I usually use on exams
When The Child in America was written in 1928, coauthored by W.I. Thomas and D.S. Thomas, they were not married. He did the writing, she did statistical work.
The Thomas Theorem is really W.I.’s idea, not D.S.’s
Seven years later they married, though he was 36 years older. She had sworn not to change her name when she married, and she didn’t
He was elected president of the American Sociological Association in She was elected president in 1952.
W.I. studied abroad in Germany
D.S. studied abroad at Mick Jagger’s alma mater, the London School of Economics (D.S. got a PhD; Jagger appears not to have graduated)
As to who actually penned the theorem, Robert Merton at great length supports the idea it was W.I. in “The Thomas Theorem and the Matthew Effect,” Social Forces 74(2): (1995), which can be accessed at This is vintage Merton, simultaneously scholarly and informal, much as he was in my two or three personal contacts with the man. He supports his position with a letter from D.S. herself.
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

16. The Two Questions Constantly Facing Each Actor
What’s going on?
What do I do now?
Answer to “What’s going on?” is the definition of the situation
Example of subjective reality
The answer to “What do I do now?” is actor’s actual behavior.
Example of objective reality

17. Two Questions II
The Thomas Theorem states that answer to “What do I do now?” depends on answer to “What is going on?"

18. Verstehen and the Thomas Theorem
Verstehen: to understand situation from actor’s point of view
Practical Uses of the Thomas Theorem: to understand or predict behavior of others
To use Thomas Theorem, need to know how actor sees situation. One way to find out is to use Verstehen.

19. Verstehen Is Useful
Verstehen probably most practically useful thing you will learn in this course

20. Review Levels of analysis (micro, meso, macro)
Three important perspectives based on what is considered most important
Central issue of functionalism
Hobbesian problem of order
Central issue for conflict
Zero-sum game

21. More Review Central issue in symbolic interactionism
Why interactionism?
Why symbolic?
Thomas theorem
Verstehen

22. Apply Perspectives to Football
Perspectives and Paradigms
Perspectives and Paradigms
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Apply Perspectives to Football
Functionalist is interested in agreement on rules, referees, splitting of attendance money, etc
Conflict is interested in efforts to win the game (only one winner – zero sum)
SI interested in how players and fans respond to the game, what it means to be a fan.
SI also interested in what it means to have 12 players on each side (hint: look at the team name at the 55 yard line)
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

23. Perspectives and Giddens et al Essentials of Sociology 3rd
Perspectives and Paradigms
Perspectives and Paradigms
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Perspectives and Giddens et al Essentials of Sociology 3rd
Our textbook identifies five perspectives instead of the three we covered
Symbolic interactionism
Same as in lecture
Functionalism
Marxism and class conflict
Considered part of the conflict perspective
Text also compresses micro-meso-macro into just micro (same as our micro) and macro (combines our meso and macro). This is actually more traditional than the micro-meso-macro that I favor
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

24. Perspectives and Giddens et al Essentials of Sociology 3rd (2)
Feminism and feminist theory
Considered mostly part of the conflict approach
5. Postmodernism
Hard to know where to put it. Somewhere between conflict and symbolic interactionism

25. Perspectives and Paradigms
Perspectives sometimes called paradigms
Paradigms help working scientists:
Help specify what problems are important
Help specify how to go about solving problems
In ways convincing to other scientists