Lecture 1 so 211

Welcome to INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

(SOC 211)John Bradford, Ph.D.

THIS WEEK’S

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define Sociology2. Explanations are comparisons3. Individual vs. Structural Explanations,4. Weak vs Strong Interaction

1. DEFINING SOCIOLOGY

What is Sociology?

• Definition #1: Sociology is the scientific study of interactions and relations among human beings (p. 3).– Socius (Latin) = ‘associate’; logy (Greek) = ‘study’

• Definition #2: Sociology explains the intended and unintended consequences of human influence.

What is Sociology?• Sociology studies the PATTERNS that people generate

as they interact, influence, and relate to one another. • In short:

THINK PATTERNS, NOT PEOPLE!(at least not individual people)

2. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO EXPLAIN SOMETHING?

What is an explanation?• An Explanation of anything is always:

1. An answer some Why-question, and2. A comparison (or contrast)– “Why is the sky blue and not orange?”– “Why does social inequality exist, instead of not

existing?”• Often this comparison is not stated explicitly

– {NOTE: In English we can express this contrast in a variety of ways. For example: Why A rather than B? Why A, as opposed to B? Why A instead of, or in contrast to B? }

What is an explanation?

Additional Vocabulary:• Explanandum (Latin) = the object of

explanation; whatever it is you are trying to explain

• Explanans (Latin) = the explanation; the thing that explains the explanandum.


• Example: “Why is it 85 degrees?”• Explanandum = 85 degrees.• Possible Explanations:

a) “Because we use the Fahrenheit scale instead of Celsius.”

b) “Because of our approximate distance from the sun.”

c) “Because it is summer time.”d) “Because the air conditioner is not working.”

What is an explanation?• The explanandum is really not an object at all, but a

comparison! • Example: “Why is it 85 degrees?”• Each explanation (explanans) of ‘85 degrees’ addresses a

different explanandum:a) 85 degrees (Fahrenheit, rather than Celsius)b) 85 degrees (on earth, as opposed to another planet or

without the sun)c) 85 degrees (in summer, in comparison to temperatures in

other seasons)d) 85 degrees (inside, instead of 72 in most buildings)

What is an explanation?• Why-Question: “Why do you rob banks?”• Willie Sutton: “Because that’s where the

money is!”

What is an explanation?• Intended Explanandum: The priest meant by his

question: ‘Why do you rob banks {vs not rob banks}?’• Reinterpreted Explanandum: ‘Why do you rob banks

{vs. rob some other place}?

What is an explanation?• Question: “Why do ducks fly south for the winter? “• Answer: “Because its too far to walk.”– Intended explanandum: Why do ducks fly south for the

winter {vs not migrate south for the winter}?– Reinterpreted explanandum: Why do ducks fly {vs walk}

south for the winter?

What is an explanation?• Detective asks the suspect:

“Why did the man die?”• Suspect answers: “Well, he

had to go sometime!”– Intended explanandum: Why

did the victim die now {vs. die at some other time}?

– Reinterpreted explanandum: Why did the victim die at all {vs. live forever}?

What is an explanation?• Making different comparisons has led to

scientific revolutions...• Physics:

– pre-Newtonian: Why does an object {move/not move}?

– Newton: Why does an object have a {given acceleration/ some other acceleration}?

• Biology:– Aristotle: Why does {this species/ some other

species} exist?– Darwin: Why did this species {survive/become

extinct}?


• In a nutshell, “Thinking without comparison is unthinkable.” (Swanson 1971: 145).

3. INDIVIDUAL VS STRUCTURAL EXPLANATIONS

Individual vs. Structural Explanations

Two Types of Explanations:1. Individual explanation– Explanandum = some characteristic or behavior

of an individual person.– Why does person A have property X?2. Structural explanation: – Explanandum = an overall pattern, distribution,

or ‘structure.’– Why does this structure (pattern) of properties

exist instead of some other?


• Individual explanations often presuppose that the properties of individuals being explained are isolated and independent of other individuals, when in fact they exist only in relation to (or ‘relative to’) other individuals.

• Very often what we think of as individual properties (e.g. whether you are employed, your GPA, etc.) are actually properties of social relationships.


Additional Vocabulary:• Structure = overall pattern (of non-

independent events)• Independence = no influence; one person

doing something does not increase or decrease the chance that someone else will.

Individualist Bias

• This assumption of independence called the individualist bias in your book.

• Individualist bias: our tendency to think that our own situations and circumstances are entirely a result of our own behavior.

Individualist Bias

GRADING ON A CURVE: one’s grade is relative to the performance of others

Individual question: Why did Mary receive an A? {vs. B, C, D, or F}• Possible answer: S/he wrote a very thoughtful

essay.

Individualist Bias

• Question: suppose everyone wrote a thoughtful essay, would everyone receive an A? -NO- WHY NOT?

• Mary’s grade (an A) is actually not a characteristic of Mary in isolation, but a characteristic describing a relation Mary has to other students!

Individualist Bias

• In other words, we cannot explain why Mary receives the grade that she does without taking into account everyone else in the class! Focusing on individual factors alone is inadequate. Context Matters!

• The question should be worded more clearly to avoid confusion: “Why, given that only one person (will earn an A) it was this person rather than another?”

Individualist Bias

• RULE OF THUMB: To know whether any given characteristic (X) of an individual is really independent of social context or not, ask: • Is it possible for everyone to have X? Or • Does my having X alter the chances of you

getting X?

Individualist Bias

• Example: Musical Chairs. Suppose everyone was very fast, would everyone get a chair? -NO- WHY NOT?

• Your chances of finding a seat are always dependent on whether other people find a seat!

4. WEAK VS STRONG INTERACTION

Human attributes

Non-SocialSocial

Weak Social Interaction(e.g. Golf)

Strong Social Interaction(e.g. Tennis)

Weak vs Strong Interaction

GOLF TENNIS

Compare two games: GOLF and TENNIS. How would you explain the winner of a golf or tennis tournament?


• Example: ‘Why did Tiger win the golf tournament (as opposed to somebody else?)’

• More precisely stated: “Given that only one person can win the golf tournament, why was it Tiger?”

Weak vs Strong Interaction• Notice that we cannot explain why

Tiger woods wins a tournament without presupposing a social context, namely, the tournament. Tiger Woods cannot win a ‘tournament’ without other people participating in the tournament, playing by the rules, sponsoring the event, etc.

• Nor did Tiger Woods invent golf…

What does social science explain?• The individual property of ‘being a golf

champion’ is actually a social relationship, i.e. an individual property relative to others:– Tiger trained harder (than others)– Tiger is specially talented (more so than

others).• Given this social context, however, we

can treat their golf scores as independent of (i.e. not influencing) each other.– My getting a hole in one does not prevent

you from getting a hole in one.

Weak vs Strong Interaction• Compare this to tennis…• Does it make sense to explain why

Serena Williams won the tennis match without talking about the performance of her opponent? -NO!-

• For these types of games, we cannot treat their scores as independent of one another. – My scoring on you necessarily means

you are not scoring on me!


GOLF= ‘WEAK SOCIAL INTERACTION’

TENNIS= STRONG SOCIAL

INTERACTION’

vs

Note: both types of games involve social interaction.

Individual and Society

• In this class, we will emphasize that SOCIETY AND THE INDIVIDUAL ARE INSEPARABLE, like two sides of the same coin.

“Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.”

Karl Marx

(1818-1883)

Lecture 1 so 211

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Transcript of Lecture 1 so 211