1. BEGINNINGS OF SOCIOLOGY

2. SOCIOLOGY
Def: study of social structure—the patterned ways in which ppl interact in social relationships
Sociological Perspective: how we are influenced by society and culture

3. GROUP VS. INDIVIDUAL
Individuals make up groups but groups can not be predicted by individual’s characteristics
Groups encourage conformity

4. SOCIAL IMAGINATION
Def: ability to see the link between society and self
You must step out of your own beliefs and values and see the world through other perspectives

5. ORIGINS
Industrial and French Revolution shook the world

6. AUGUSTE COMTE Father of Sociology Wanted to improve society
Introduced Positivism: knowledge should be obtained through scientific observation
Distinguished btwn social statistics (study of social stability and order) and social dynamics (study of social change)

7. HARRIET MARTINEAU Mother of Sociology
Translated Comte’s work into English
Saw link btwn slavery and oppression of women
Inspired feminist theory

8. Herbert spencer Compared society to the human body
Introduced theory of social Darwinism

9. Karl marx Said industrialized societies would have 2 social classes:
1)Bourgeosie: those who own the means of production
2)Proletariat: working class
Class conflict would lead to a classless society (communism)
Believed capitalism would self- destruct

10. Émile durkheim
Believed society exists b/c of a broad consensus among members
Mechanical solidarity: social dependency based on widespread consensus of values and beliefs and dependence on family and tradition
Organic solidarity: social interdependency based on high degree of specialization of roles
Introduced use of statistics to soc.

11. MAX WEBER Wrote Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Believed humans act on the basis of their understanding of a situation
Sociologists must discover personal meanings, beliefs, and attitudes underlying social behavior

12. SOCIOLOGY IN AMERICA

13. Jane addams Focused on imbalance of power among social classes
Cofounded Hull House
1st sociologist to receive Nobel Peace Prize

14. W.E.B. Du bois
1st African-American to receive doctorate from Harvard (1895)
Studied racial discrimination and segregation
Fought for civil rights and racial equality

15. ROBERT EZRA PARK
Specialized in race relations and human ecology (relationship btwn individuals, social groups, and environment)
Wanted to know how groups are organized in different ways to enable them to compete and cooperated

16. GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
Believed our sense of self develops as we interact with our world
Laid foundation for symbolic interactionism

17. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
Def: a set of assumptions about an area of study accepted as true

18. 5 key concepts In all perspectives
1) Functional Integration: interdependence among parts
2) Social Structure: pattern of social behavior
3) Power: ability of one party to get other parties to do its will or that it will benefit from actions of other parties
4) Social Action: actions coordinated with environment
5)Culture

19. FUNCTIONALISM Emphasized contributions made by each part of society
Assumes:
a change in one part affects the other parts
societies seek stability
Consensus on values

20. Types of functions Manifest functions: intended and recognized
Latent functions: unintended and unrecognized

21. CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
Emphasizes role of conflict, competition, and constraint within a society
Assumes:
Groups compete and try to preserve and promote own values
Power is important
Central question is “Who gets what?”

22. Symbolic interactionism
Focus on interactions among ppl based on mutually understood symbols
Assumes:
We learn symbols through how we see others reacting to them
We base our behavior on our understanding of those symbols
We use meaning of symbols to imagine how others will respond to our behavior

23. DRAMATURGY Human interaction is theatrical performance
We have images of ourselves that we present to others
We play different roles
Front stage and back stage