Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 Perspectives and Paradigms Sociology department assessments make understanding the three perspectives introduced here very important SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective, Dr. Backman ppt_perspectives

Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 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

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

Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 :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

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

Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 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

Three Different Ideas About What’s Most Important I Perspectives and Paradigms Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 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

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

What’s Most Important? Functionalist Perspective Perspectives and Paradigms Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 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

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

Conflict Perspective: Zero Sum Game Perspectives and Paradigms Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 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

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

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

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

Symbolic Interactionism: Thomas Theorem Perspectives and Paradigms Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 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 1927. 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):379-424 (1995), which can be accessed at http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/merton/thomastheorem.pdf. 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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Apply Perspectives to Football Perspectives and Paradigms Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 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

Perspectives and Giddens et al Essentials of Sociology 3rd Perspectives and Paradigms Perspectives and Paradigms 8/31/2011 9/11/20128/31/2011 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

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

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