1. 1 The Sociological Perspective Peter Berger Seeing the general in the particular Durkheim’s Study of suicide Lack of social integration Eg. Wealthy,unmarried Protestant male

2. 2 The Sociological Imagination C. Wright Mills How changes in society effect us individually

3. 3 How did Sociology get started? From France, Germany & England August Comte (France) –Coined the tern “Sociology” –Behavior more complex than natural phenomena Becomes an academic discipline in U.S. around 1900

4. 4 How does Sociology look at the world Theory –How & why specific facts are related –Confirmed, modified, or rejected through research

5. 5 Theoretical paradigms –Help decide what kinds of questions to ask. Structural Functionalism Conflict Symbolic interaction

6. 6 Structural Functionalism Society promotes solidarity and stability Manifest functions –Recognized or intended consequences Latent functions –Unrecognized and unintended consequences Social dysfunction

7. 7 Conflict Theory Karl marx –The point of studying society is to produce changes –Social patterns benefit some people while depriving others

8. 8 Symbolic Interaction Society operates on the subjective meanings of symbols