the discipline of sociology Lecture 1 the discipline of sociology

The Sociological Imagination Defined as: “...the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society” (Mills, 1959) Defining “society” social group geographical territory same political authority and cultural expectations

Importance of Global Interdependence Where we live shapes the lives we lead Societies are increasingly interconnected Many social problems in Canada are more serious elsewhere Macionis and Gerber, 2011:8

The Discipline of Sociology Industrial economy Growth of cities Political change

Early Thinkers Auguste Comte (1798-1857) coined the term sociology..and considered the founder He believed that societies contained: Social Statics Social Dynamics Natural science applied to society Positivism Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 5

Early Thinkers Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) Made Comte’s work more accessible She was an active sociologist studying social customs and consequences of industrialism and capitalism Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 6

Early Thinkers Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) Believed that people are a product of the social environment Society are built of social facts Anomie - a condition when social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of shared values and a sense of purpose in society Scientific approach to studying social facts Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 7

What do these thinkers have in common?

Questioning the status quo Karl Marx (1818-1883) Conflict (especially class conflict) was necessary Bourgeoisie and proletariat Capitalist system made poverty Capitalist class controls and exploits the masses of struggling workers Results in Alienation Marx predicted that the workers would becomes aware of its exploitation and overthrow the capitalists, creating a free and classless society

Just one more… Max Weber (1864-1920) Value-free sociology conducted in a scientific manner Verstehen – see the world as others see it Bureaucracies and organization

Development in North America United States Canada First department Canadian Review of Sociology founded in 1965 Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 11

Theoretical Perspectives Theory Perspective A basic image of society that helps us think about social issues and guide social research

Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives Functionalist (or structural-functionalist) Conflict Feminist Symbolic Interactionist Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 13

Functionalist Perspectives Assumption that society is a stable, orderly system The parts of society work together to promote solidarity and stability Everything in a society (institutions, customs, interactions) function to keep the society going Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 14

Types of functions Manifest Latent Dysfunctions R. K. Merton (1910-2003) Attempted to classify functions Manifest Latent Dysfunctions Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 15

Conflict Perspectives Assumption that groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources Social patterns and relations benefit some individuals while hurting others Emphasize factors such as social class, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and age Conflict can also lead to social change Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 16

Feminist Perspectives Assumption that gender is necessary category to understand and to explain inequalities in the household, paid labour force, politics, law and culture There is no single unified approach. Focus on patriarchy : a hierarchical system of power in which males possess greater economic and social privilege than females Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 17

Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives Assumption that society is a sum of the interactions of individuals and groups Focuses on micro-level of analysis Symbolic interactionists attempt to examine people’s day-to-day interactions and their behaviour in groups This perspective examines: Interaction Symbol Each person has a subjective interpretation of a given situation Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 18

Theory guides our research! Research is the process of systematically collecting information for the purposes of testing an existing theory or generating a new one But not all sociologists collect research in the same manner

The Sociological Research Process With quantitative research, the goal is scientific objectivity, and the focus is on data that can be measured numerically Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 20

The Sociological Research Process With Qualitative Research, the use of interpretative description (words) rather than statistics (numbers) are used to analyze the underlying meanings and patterns of social relationships Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 21

Research Methods Research methods: strategies or techniques for systematically conducting research Surveys Secondary Analysis of Existing Data Field Research Experiments Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 22

Surveys Survey: a poll in which the researcher gathers facts or attempts to determine the relationship among facts Respondents: people who provide data for analysis through interviews or questionnaires Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 23

Types of Surveys Personal and direct contact Face to face Respondents Interview Personal and direct contact Face to face Respondents Problems: Major cost and time Telephone More honest and less threatening Greater control over the data Problems: Some not accessible to researchers Self Administered Questionnaires Simple and inexpensive Respondents are anonymous Problems: low response rates Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 24

Surveys Sampling Considerations: Survey research involves some type of sampling From a population (those persons we want to find out about) Sample Representative Sample Random Sample Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 25

Secondary Analysis Using data that has already been gathered by someone else One kind: content analysis: the systematic examination of cultural artifacts or various forms of communication to extract thematic data and draw conclusions about social life Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 26

Field Research Field research is the study of social life in its natural setting: observing and interviewing people where they live, work and play Use of qualitative data Varieties of observation: Participant observation Ethnography Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 27

Experiments Defined: a carefully designed situation in which the researcher studies the impact of certain variables on subjects’ attitudes or behaviour. experimental group control group Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 28

Experiments Process: After persons are selected with very similar characteristics into these two groups, then: Both groups are pre-tested Exposed to a stimulus representing the independent variable Post-tested: to see if the independent variable had an effect on the dependent variable Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 29

Ethical Issues in Sociological Research Elements of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association: Participation must be voluntary No harm to research subjects (physically, psychologically, or personally) To protect confidentiality and anonymity Copyright © 2012 Nelson Education Limited 30

To summarize Sociology involves using different theoretical perspectives to systematically study the social world Different perspectives can be used to interpret the same issues/topics in different ways These different perspectives allow us to deconstruct the “taken-for-granted” ways of thinking