SOCIOLOGY – WHAT IS IT?

According to Allan Johnson, what does sociological practice offer?

What does Johnson say we must do before we can eliminate the unnecessary suffering in the world?

BELL WORK/NOTES – EXAMINING SOCIAL LIFE – 1/21/14This is your header! You should write it at the top of the page

WHAT DID YOU THINK?

THAT’S WHY:

Sociology

Psychology

History

Political ScienceEconomics

Anthropology

CAN YOU DEFINE…. Psychology?

The study of behavior and mental processes History?

The study of past events in human societies Economics?

The study of productions, distribution & consumption of goods and services

Anthropology? The comparative study of past and present culture

Sociology? The study of human social behavior from a group

perspective

NOTES – EXAMINING SOCIAL LIFE – 1/30/14

HOW DO YOU THINK SOCIOLOGICALLY? You have to ask the right questions,

sociologists are concerned with a variety of things, some examples? Race gender, Socioeconomic status (how much $$$ someone

makes) Age Occupation Political Preference Etc…

NOTES – EXAMINING SOCIAL LIFE – 1/30/14

WEEKEND ACTIVITY – DOING SOCIOLOGY – Over the weekend, your task is to

practice some sociology. You are to go to a public place and

simply observe & take notes for at least an hour

Take notes on the people you see Are they alone or with other people? Describe their behavior/how they are

communicating with others Take note on sources of mass media,

clothing, music etc.. BE SURE TO RECORD THE TIME OF EACH

OBSERVATION

SET UP YOUR NOTEBOOK Location:______________ Time Observations

Summary of observations – 1 paragraph

WEEKEND ACTIVITY – DOING SOCIOLOGY –

THINGS TO TAKE NOTE OF WHILE OBSERVING Different groups of or individual people Clothing, the way people carry themselves in

public Sources of mass media, music Race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic

status, age, occupation Activities people are engaged in Topics of conversation

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF FOLLOWING YOUR OBSERVATIONS

(1) What is the structure of this particular society as a whole? What are its essential components, and how are they related to one another? How does it differ from other varieties of social order? Within it, what is the meaning of any particular feature for its continuance and for its change?

(2) Where does this society stand in human history? What are the mechanics by which it is changing? What is its place within and its meaning for the development of humanity as a whole? How does any particular feature we are examining affect, and how is it affected by, the historical period in which it moves? And this period - what are its essential features? How does it differ from other periods? What are its characteristic ways of history-making?

(3) What varieties of men and women now prevail in this society and in this period? And what varieties are coming to prevail? In what ways are they selected and formed, liberated and repressed, made sensitive and blunted? What kinds of `human nature' are revealed in the conduct and character we observe in this society in this period? And what is the meaning for 'human nature' of each and every feature of the society we are examining?

Once you’ve reflected on your observations, write at least a paragraph and be prepared to share it with the class on Monday.

NOTES – THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY – 1/31/14 Sociology as an academic discipline began in the

1800s What was going on in the 1800s that could have led to

the development of sociology? Why sociology is a subject:

1. The industrial revolution Rapid growth of urban populations leads to many social

problems 2. American & French Revolutions

People could no longer question the effect of society on the individual

3. The Enlightenment/Renaissance Rejection of religious explanations & adoption of the

scientific method

EARLY EUROPEAN SOCIOLOGISTS

Auguste Comte 1798-1857) Sort of looks like Hannibal

LecterConsidered the father of

sociologyLived through the French

RevolutionFocused on two areas

Social order & Social changeAlso coined the term

“Sociology”

HARRIET MARTINEAU 1802-1876

British author Wrote Society in America

in 1837Looked at marriage. The

family, race relations, education and religion

Basically established the focus of sociological study

Argued that scholars should advocate change for the problems they studied

Spoke in favor of women’s rights, religious tolerance & abolition of slavery

HERBERT SPENCER 1820-1903 Thought of society as an

organism w/ a set of interdependent parts that worked to maintain the system over time

STRONGLY influenced by Charles Darwin

Came up with Social Darwinism – coined the term “survival of the fittest”

KARL MARX 1818-1883 Father of Socialism Divided society into two

parts The bourgeoisie (boozh-

wah-ZEE) They own the means of

production & the Proletariat or

workers Believed that the

majority of social issues were an outcome of the conflict between these two groups

EMILE DURKHEIM 1858-1917 Like Comte, Durkheim was

concerned with social order Like Spencer, he saw

society as a set of interdependent parts that served different functions

Particularly interested in religion – he believed that shared beliefs were the glue that held society together

Wrote one of the 1st true sociological studies – Suicide

MAX WEBER 1864-1920

Interested in separate groups within society rather than society as a whole

Thought that sociologists should go beyond observable facts and work to uncover peoples feelings and thoughts by using the principle of VERSTEHEN (fer-SHTAY-en)

Verstehen involves an attempt to understand the meanings individuals attach to their actions

BELL WORK & NOTES MODERN PERSPECTIVES – 2/3/14 What is VERSTEHEN & how does it apply to

what you guys did over the weekend?

Once you’ve answered the question, go over your observations & be prepared to share what you saw with the class

Take 5 minutes to answer these questions in your notebook 1. What do you see in this picture? 2. How does this picture tell you about the society

that these individuals are a part of? 3. What types of questions do you think sociologists

would ask upon seeing a picture like this?

What sociologists see: An orderly world where all involved are fulfilling a role. The young people are

preforming their role- that of a student & the school is performing its task of preparing students to be productive citizens in society

Others would see a setting where there is competition for resources, they would be curious about the power relationships involved in this picture and how those relationships affected the distribution of resources

Still others would see a setting made up of small groups. They would have to know how relationships among these groups affect what foes on in school

NOTES MODERN PERSPECTIVES – 2/3/14

Major Theoretical Perspectives Sociologists develop theories or explanations of

relationships among particular phenomena to better understand the world

There are 3 major Theoretical Perspectives, or schools of thought in sociology

Each one is a lens that presents a slightly different image of society or focuses on different aspects

FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE Society is a set of interrelated parts that

work together to produce a social system.

Primarily focuses on the functions of things like, family, religion, education and economy

To functionalists society is best compared to the human body – a variety of systems work together to ensure the bodies survival

FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE Realizing that not everything

element of society is functional functionalists are also concerned with Dysfunction or the negative

consequence an element has for the stability of society

Functions can be either positive or negative, they can also either be a Manifest function – the

intended and recognized consequence of some element in society

Or Latent function – unintended or

unrecognized consequence of an element of society

BELL WORK & CONTINUED PERSPECTIVE NOTES – 2/4/14 Identify something in your life (other than

school or a car) that you interact with on a daily basis and describe its manifest & latent functions

Identify and describe the two groups the conflict perspective primarily concerned with

CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE Focuses on the forces in society

that promote competition and change

Particularly interested in the family, racial groups, gender & the relationship between the workers and employers

The basis of social conflict is the competition over scarce resources

When a group obtains those resources they generally protect them through laws, social programs or violence

Examples?

HOW WOULD A CONFLICT THEORIST BREAK DOWN THIS STORY?

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE Focus on small groups and how

individuals interact with one another in society

Interested in the ways individuals respond to one another in everyday situations

Interested also in the symbols (a symbol is anything that represents anything else) that play a part in our daily lives

3 basic parts of symbolic interactionism Meaning Language Thought

LEVELS OF ANALYSIS Microsociology- small group settings and the

everyday face to face interactions Macrosociology – study of large scale

systems or society as a whole

Globalization – the development of economic political sand social relationships that stretch world wide

PERSPECTIVES PRACTICE Use your notes, your neighbor and a book if

necessary, to complete the sociological perspectives worksheet.

NOTE BOOK CHECKSTHE FOLLOWING SHOULD BE IN YOUR NOTEBOOK FOR TOMORROW Bell Work/Notes – Examining Social Life –

1/30/14 Weekend Activity – DOING Sociology – Notes – The development of Sociology –

1/31/14 Bell Work & Notes MODERN PERSPECTIVES –

2/3/14 Bell Work & continued Perspective notes –

2/4/14 Homework – Research Methods

SOCIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENTS

Objectives:I can describe the process of Sociological research and the scientific methodI can Apply the different types of Sociological research

BELL WORK Write down the steps of the scientific method!!

Can you think of a time when you have used the scientific method in your life? Discuss with a partner on a possible scenario where you have and report back to the class

- Debating what movie to see or where to eat - Figuring out how to act on dates “If I open the door for her and listen to her

stories, then the I will get another date” - If your TV gets fuzzy or Xbox won’t work, you

experiment with different knobs and buttons until it does!

Ask a Question

Background Research Hypothesis

Test Hypothesi

s

Analyze

Data

Draw Conclusion

SINCE THE FIRST STEP TO RESEARCH IS TO ASK A QUESTION…. Brainstorm 4 questions you have about human

behavior/ social interaction!

For Example: Mr. K wonders why the same students seem to be consistently late to class

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION A study method that involves covertly or

overtly watching subjects' behaviors in their natural environment, without intervention

CASE STUDIES Research method that

involves an intensive investigation of one or more participants

SURVEYS Research method in which information is

obtained by asking many individuals a fixed set of questions

LONGITUDINAL STUDIES Method of

research where data is collected about a group of participants over a number of years to asses how characteristics change or remain the same during development

CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY Method of research in which data is collected

from groups of participants of different ages and compared so that conclusions can be drawn about differences due to age

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS/ CORRELATIONAL STUDIES The measure of a relationship between two

variables or sets of data

How does time spent studying psychology correlate to a students’ final grade?

Time Spent Studying

Time Spent Brushing Teeth

Final

Gra

de in

Soc

iolo

gy

Final

Gra

de in

Soc

iolo

gy

Final

Gra

de in

Soc

iolo

gy

Days Absent

Correlation DOES NOT prove Causation!!!!

EXPERIMENTS Allow the researcher to control the situation

and reduce the influence of outside influence Hypothesis-educated guess about the

relationship of 2 variables Variable- any factor capable of change Experimental group-the group to which an

independent variable is applied Control group- the group that is treated the

same way as the experimental group except that the independent variable is not applied

 ACTIVITY With the person next to you try to match

your 8 questions (4 each) about human behavior to the method of study that would be most effective. Once you’ve matched them, talk to Mr. K and come to write your questions on the different pieces of paper around the room

WHICH PERSPECTIVE DOES THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTION, TOPICS, INDIVIDUALS OR TERMS APPLY TO? Weber

Interactionism When a group attains power over another group,

they will make laws and ruels to protect their position of power Conflict

Family, automobiles, education, crime Functionalism

Dating/marriage tradition, development of children, group relationships Interactionism

Interested in those who have power and those who do not conflict

This theorist was interested in groups and individuals within society and how they interacted with one another Weber

This theorist was interested in how different parts of society work together to create agreement Durkheim

This theorist believed society was created by competition for power and control of resources Marx

He was also interested in the jobs different groups performed and if the groups were functioning correctly Durkhiem

This theorist studied why thins in society stay the same and or change Comte

Marx stated that these people own nothing and work for those who own businesses Proletariat

the main or intended function of something Manifest function

The unintended function of something Latent function

How was Frankie's incident used by the Cuban American group as a way to gain attention Interactionism

How did the different people in the government work together to make the decision to send Frankie back to Cuba Functionalism

How did the newspapers, television etc. use frankies story to make more profit and communicate their political views Interactionism

How does a family with divorced parents like Frankie’s family influence society functionalism

BELL WORK – 2/12/14 – LUNCH TABLE ANALYSIS Take out your completed notes from when

you observed and analyzed your lunch table. Write a paragraph summary of what you

observed I’m going to be walking around to check in

your chapter 1 review, once you finish your paragraph discuss with a neighbor what you noticed at your lunch table