C HAPTER 1: T HE S OCIOLOGICAL P ERSPECTIVE

W HAT IS S OCIOLOGY ? The systematic study of social and human groups Mainly social relationships, attitudes, and society as a whole. Society is a large grouping sharing the same territory and political authority, as well as cultural expectations. C. Wright Mills- The sociological imagination Mill’s term for relationship between individual’s and society’s experiences. (personal vs. public)

T HE G LOBAL S OCIOLOGICAL A PPROACH High, Middle, and Low income countries High represents technologically advanced, with relatively high levels of personal income. United States, Japan, Western Europe Middle represents growing industry and moderate income levels. Brazil, Mexico, Latin America, arguably China Low corresponds to agrarian nations with little to no industrialization or income. Parts of Africa, Asia, India

Race and Ethnicity Race is, used by people, to specify people by skin color or physical characteristics, no true “pure” racial type. Whereas Ethnicity refers to cultural heritage based on language or country of origin. Class Location of a person or group based on income, prestige, or power. Sex and Gender Sex is biological and anatomical Gender is meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with sex differences G LOBAL D IVERSITY

I MPORTANT I NDIVIDUALS IN S OCIOLOGY This is mostly all of Chapter 1, so there are others. However these are perhaps the core founders of modern sociology and therefore important to know. Feel free to switch between this and the next slide to “quiz” yourself on what these individuals did, or contributed. 1) Plato, Aristotle 2) Auguste Comte 3) Harriet Martineau 4) Herbert Spencer 5) Emile Durkheim 6) Karl Marx 7) Max Weber 8) Georg Simmel 9) W.E.B. Dubois 10) Robert E. Park 11) Erving Goffman 12) C. Wright Mills 13) Talcott Parsons/ Robert Merton 14) George H. Mead

More precise definitions and examples are listed in the chapter index of the book. 1) Speculation on what an ideal society was 2) Coined “sociology,” and the ideas of knowledge Theological, Metaphysical, Scientific/ Positive 3) Condensed Comte’s work, believed society would benefit most from equal treatment of sexes 4) Social Darwinism, argued society like an organism 5) Father of Sociology, social facts (patterned ways of acting outside individuals, but effects each person) Anomie 6) Class conflict, between bourgeoisie and proletariat 7) Verstehen, sight of the world as others see it 8) Social interactions, group communication, thoughts on money and how it molds society 9) Dual heritage creates double consciousness, conflicting values/ identities 10) Head of first Sociology department at Chicago 11) Dramaturgical Analysis, “world is a stage” 12) Sociological Imagination 13) Functionalist perspective, latent and manifest functions 14) Symbolic-Interactionist perspective

T HE M AJOR T HEORETICAL P ERSPECTIVES Macro-level Functionalist Society is a stable ordered system See homeostasis Conflict Society’s groups in continuous power struggle Neo-Marxist, Racial- Ethnic, and Feminist (gender) Micro-level Symbolic-Interactionist Society’s day to day behaviors, interactions, communications/ symbolism Postmodernist Micro and Macro-level Characterized by industry, information exchange, and shift from production to consumption

S OCIOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES Anthropology Though like Sociology in studying human behavior, Anthropology is more concerned with geographic and evolutionary existence of humanity over time Psychology A systematic study of behavior and mental processes as a function of the individual’s mind, as opposed to the group’s Economics Focuses mainly on the economy of a society, though the macro and micro theories are directly dependent on a group’s, as well as an individual’s actions (or inactions…) Political Science The study of the political institution in society, power, policies, laws and ethics.

R EFERENCES AND A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS o Sociology In Our Times (Seventh Edition) o By: Diana Kendall o Notes incorporated o By: James V. Thomas, NIU Professor (Emeritus) o Formatted By: Jacob R. Kalnins, NIU student o Pictures Incorporated o Clip Art (PowerPoint: 2007) o Google Images: Sociology In Our Times