Chapter 1 – IntroductionChapter 1 – Introduction

Sociological Imagination Sociological Imagination

•Sociologists are concerned with how Sociologists are concerned with how social conditionssocial conditions influence our influence our lives an individualslives an individuals

•The The sociological imaginationsociological imagination (C. Wright Mills) helps one to see the (C. Wright Mills) helps one to see the relationships between social conditions and one’s own situation in life.relationships between social conditions and one’s own situation in life.

Sociology, the Human Science

Sociology is the scientific study of human societies and human behavior in the many groups that make up society

A core idea of sociology is that individual choices is always determined to some extent by a person’s environment.

The term micro, macro, and middle refer to different levels of complexity in the subjects of social research

• The micro level of observation studies the implications of individuals behavior.

• The macro level is concerned with whole societies and by the way in which they are changing.

• The middle level studies the effect of communities and organizations on individual levels or behaviors.

From Social Thought to Social Science

• Like all sciences, sociology developed out of the human desire to understand and predict

• 18th century philosophers emphasized the idea of progress guided by human reason, rather than viewing the human condition as preordained and unchangeable.

• The American, French, and English Revolutions were social movements fueled by the concepts of egalitarianism, democracy, and self-government.

• The science of sociology emerged from the social ferment of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This was at the tail end of the Scientific Revolution.

• The early sociologists tended to think in terms of macro sociological terms; their writing dealt with whole societies.

Karl Marx believed that conflict between workers and owners of capital would cause major upheavals.

• The main dynamic of modern development is the expansion of capitalism. Rather than being cohesive, society is divided by class differences.

• Marx believed that we must study the divisions within a society that are derived from the economic inequalities of capitalism.

Emile Durkheim sought to explain social change as resulting from population growth and changes in the organization of work and community life.

1. The main dynamic of modern development is the division of labor as a basis for social cohesion and organic solidarity.

2. Durkheim believed that sociology must study social facts as things, just as science would analyze the natural world. His study of suicide led him to stress the importance of social factors, qulaities of society external to the individual, on a person’s actions. Durkheim argued that society exerts social constraints over our actions

Max Weber was the first to understand the importance of bureaucratic forms of social organization.

• The main dynamic of modern development is the rationalization of social and economic life.

• Weber focused on why Western societies developed so differently from other societies. He also emphasized the importance of cultural ideas and values on social change.

The Rise of Modern Sociology• North American sociology emphasized empirical investigation of

social issues. Empirical information permits sociologists to form conclusions backed up by systematic, measurable evidence.

• In the early years of the twentieth century social surveys were undertaken to gain empirical data about social conditions.

3. The “Chicago School” of sociology focused on the relationships between the individual and society. The term human ecology describes the relationships among social order, social disorganization, and population distribution.

Major Sociological Perspectives

• Interactionism is a sociological perspective that views social order and social change as resulting from repeated interactions among individuals and groups.

• Rational-choice or exchange models of behavior study what people seem to be getting out of their interactions and what they contribute in return.

• Symbolic Interactionism is the study of how social life is “constructed” through acts of social communication.

• Max Weber (1864-1920) & George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)

• The functionalist perspective is based on the idea that various social structures exist to fulfill vital functions of society.1. Auguste Comte (1798-1857)…..Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

• Conflict Theory explores the role of conflict and power in social change.1. Karl Marx (1818-1883)

• The ecological, interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspective can be used in combination to provide a multidimensional view of society and the world.