1. the discipline of sociology
Lecture 1
the discipline of sociology

2. 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

3. 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

4. The Discipline of Sociology
Industrial economy
Growth of cities
Political change

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. What do these thinkers have in common?

9. Questioning the status quo
Karl Marx ( )
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

10. 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

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

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

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

14. 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

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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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