Lecture Introduction to Sociology A sociological perspective Course

Lecture: Introduction to Sociology. A sociological perspective Course: Sociology

Plan of lecture: • 1. What is Sociology? • 2. The sociological perspective • 3. The sociological imagination • 4. Sociology as a science

1. What is Sociology? • Some discipline are best defined by their subject matter. • Examples: Botanists study plants, political scientists study government. • The traditional focuses of sociology include: • Social stratification and Social inequality, Social groups and classes, Socialization, Social interaction and relationships, Social institutes: Family, Education, Religion, Work, Market, etc.

What makes this field distinctive? Primarily its perspective: It is less a set of finding than a type of consciousness. Sociology is an interpretation of social experience and is thus a part of the reality that the practitioners of the discipline attempt to observe and explain.

Defining of Sociology • Sociology is the systematic and scientific study of human social behavior. • Sociology begins with the observation that social life displays certain basic regularities. • Sociology is the study of human social behavior and its origins, development, organizations, and institutions.

2. The sociological perspective • Sociologists focus on how • assumes that individual behavior is social factors – shaped by factors such as rather then the influence of groups to biological or which we are located (age, psychological gender, race/ethnic group, ones – are especially useful social class, and others), in explaining the and how we are taught to behave by those with regularities in whom we interact. the way people act

The sociological perspective • Does not focus on individuals in isolation, but rather on the impact of social forces on human behavior. • Sociologists study collectivities such as groups, organizations, and whole societies.

What do gender differences mean? Give the examples

3. The sociological imagination C. Wright Mills, 1959 He defined it as an awareness of “intersection between history and biography” • He meant an understanding of the relationship between larger social factors and peoples’ personal lives

The sociological imagination • The application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions. • Someone using it “thinks himself away” from the familiar routines of daily life.

The sociological imagination Personal troubles Result from individual failings Social issues Caused by larger social factors • Earlier divorce was quite uncommon • Caused by individualistic factors such as adultery • Required counseling or therapy • Today it is widespread • Although personal factors • Divorce has also influenced by social trends (availability of jobs to women, acceptance of divorce)

Dorthea Lange, Migrant workers during the Great Depression What other examples can you think of to illustrate the differences between “personal troubles” and “public issues”?

4. Sociology as a science • Sociologists base their claims on systematic, scientific research, • Not on casual observation, stereotypes, hearsay, or tradition. • They collect information following a set of research procedures.

The structure of sociological science • 1. Theoretical level – Sociological theories • A theory is an explanation of the relationship between specific facts. • Based on empirical research. • The ultimate aim of sociological theory is to be able to make accurate predictions about people’s behavior in the future.

The structure of sociological science • 2. Empirical level – Sociological studies • Relies on the careful, systematic, and repeated observation of empirical reality • (can be apprehended directly by senses) • Study a number of cases so the findings can be extended or generalized

Origin of Sociology • The word sociology (or "sociologie") is derived from both Latin and Greek origins. • The Latin word: socius, "companion"; the suffix -logy, "the study of" from Greek, lógos, "word", "knowledge". • Sociology was defined by the French philosopher, August Comte (1798– 1857), in 1838. • Comte used this term to describe a new way of looking at society.

Public sociology S How do we make sociological data and insights part of the public discourse? How can we use sociological knowledge to influence the decisions we make on a personal and collective level?