Chapter 1

Sociological Perspectives and

Sociological Research

Chapter Outline• What is Sociology?• The Significance of Diversity• The Development of Sociological Theory • Doing Sociological Research• The Tools of Sociological Research• Research Ethics: Is Sociology Value

Free?

What Is Sociology?• The study of human behavior in society.• A scientific way to think about society and

its influence on humans.• Includes the study of social behavior and

social change.

Social Location• A person’s place in society establishes the

limits and possibilities of a life. • Consider the following consequences of

social locations in society:• The pay gap has recently increased

between college-educated women and men.

• 1/3 one-third of employed Americans work on Saturday, Sunday, or both.

What is Sociology?• Sociology is the study of human

behavior in society.• All human behavior occurs in a

context that shapes what people do and think.

• Sociology is a scientific way of thinking about society and its influence on human groups.

The Sociological Perspective• The ability to see societal patterns that

influence individual and group life. • C. Wright Mills was one of the first to write

about the sociological perspective in his book, The Sociological Imagination.

• He wrote that the task of sociology was to understand the relationship between individuals and the society in which they live.

Sociology

• Sociology is the study of human behavior, including the significance of diversity.

Troubles and Issues• Troubles are private problems in an

individual’s life.• Issues affect large numbers of people• Issues shape the context within which

troubles arise.

Personal troubles• Personal troubles are

felt by individuals who are experiencing problems.

• Social issues arise when large numbers of people experience problems rooted in the social structure of society.

Sociology Is Empirical• The empirical approach requires that

conclusions be based on systematic observations, not on assumptions.

• For empirical observations to be useful, they must be gathered and recorded rigorously.

• The empirical basis of sociology distinguishes it from other forms of social commentary.

Cultural Practices

• Cultural practices that seem bizarre to outsiders may be taken for granted or defined as appropriate by insiders.

Debunking• Studying the patterns and processes that

shape behavior.• Questioning actions and ideas that are

usually taken for granted.• Acting as “an outsider within.”

Social Structure• The organized pattern of social

relationships and social institutions that together constitute society.

• Refers to the fact that social forces guide and shape human behavior.

Social Institutions• Established and organized systems of social

behavior with a recognized purpose. • The family, religion, marriage, government, and

the economy are examples of social institutions. • Social institutions confront individuals at birth

and they transcend individual experience— but still influence individual behavior.

Social Change• The alteration of society over time.• Sociologists view society as stable but

constantly changing.

Social Interaction• Behavior between two or more people

that is given meaning. • Through social interaction, people react

and change, depending on the actions and reactions of others.

Understanding Diversity• Diversity includes:

• Shaping of social institutions by different social factors.

• Formation of group and individual identity.

• The process of social change.

Share of Minorities in the U.S. Population

• By 2050 the U.S. population is projected to be half non-Hispanic Whites.

• How will this affect your life?

Globalization• Globalization brings

diverse cultures together, but it is also a process by which Western markets have penetrated much of the world.

Influence of the Enlightenment• Auguste Comte, a French philosopher

who coined the term sociology, believed sociology could discover the laws of human social behavior and help solve society’s problems. • This approach is called positivism, a

system of thought, in which scientific observation is considered the highest form of knowledge.

Emile Durkheim• Emile Durkheim

established the significance of society as something larger than the sum of its parts.

Classical SociologicalTheory: Marx

• Karl Marx analyzed capitalism as an economic system with implications for how society is organized, in particular how inequality between groups stems from the economic organization of society.

Classical SociologicalTheory: Weber

• Max Weber interpreted the economic, cultural, and political organization of society as together shaping social institutions and social change.

Charles Darwin• British scholar who identified the process

of evolution, by which species are created through survival of the fittest.

• Social Darwinists conceived of society as an organism that evolved in a process of adaptation to the environment.

• They believed evolution always led toward perfection, and assumed the current arrangements in society were inevitable.

The Chicago School• Characterized by thinkers who were

interested in how society shaped the mind and identity of people.

• They thought of society as a human laboratory where they could observe and understand human behavior to be better able to address human needs, and they used the city in which they lived as a living laboratory.

Robert Park• From the University of Chicago, Park was

interested how racial groups interacted. • He was fascinated by the sociological

design of cities, noting that cities were sets of concentric circles. • At the time, the very rich and the very

poor lived in the middle, ringed by slums and low-income neighborhoods.

Jane Addams• The only sociologist to

win the Nobel Peace Prize, Addams used sociology to try to improve people’s lives.

• The settlement house movement provided social services to groups in need as well as a social laboratory in which to observe problems.

Social Order• Sociologists find

social order even when it seems that there is just mass movement.

• One of the goals of sociological research is to discover the processes involved in creating such order.

Doing Sociological Research• Sociological research is a tool

sociologists use to answer questions. • The method of research used

depends on the kind of question you ask.

Research Process• Develop a research question.• Create a research design.• Gather data.• Analyze data.• Reach conclusions and report results.

Research Process

The Research Process• The research process

involves several operations that can be performed on the computer, such as entering data in numerical form and writing the research report.

Replication Study• Research that is repeated exactly, but on a

different group of people or in a different time or place, is a replication study.

• A replication study can tell you what changes have occurred since the original study and may also refine the results of the earlier work.

• Research findings should be reproducible; if research is sound, researchers who repeat a study should get the same results.

Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Qualitative Quantitative

Does not use statistical methods. Uses statistical methods.

More interpretive, shows more nuance.

Provides data to calculate averages and percents.

Hypothesis• A tentative assumption that one intends

to test. • Hypotheses are often formulated as if–

then statements. • Example: If a person’s parents are

racially prejudiced, then that person will, on average, be more prejudiced than a person whose parents are free of prejudice.

Variables• An independent variable is one

the researcher wants to test as the presumed cause of something else.

• The dependent variable is one on which there is a presumed effect. • Example: If X is the independent

variable, then X leads to Y, the dependent variable.

Validity• The validity of a measurement is the degree to

which it accurately measures a concept. • To ensure the validity of findings, researchers

usually use more than one measure for a particular concept.

• If two or more chosen measures of a concept give similar results, it is likely that the measurements are valid.

Reliability• A measurement is reliable if repeating the

measurement gives the same result. • Two ways to ensure reliability:

• Use measures that have proved sound in past studies.

• Have a variety of people gather the data to make certain results are not skewed by the tester’s appearance, personality, etc.

Samples and Populations• A sample is any subset of a population. • A population is a relatively large

collection of people (or other units) that a researcher studies and about which generalizations are made.

Percentage• The same as parts per hundred.

• To say that 22% of U.S. children are poor tells you that for every 100 children randomly selected from the population, approximately 22 will be poor.

Rate• The same as parts per some number,

such as per 10,000 or 100,000.• The homicide rate in 2005 was 5.6,

meaning for every 100,000 in the population, approximately 5.6 were murdered

Mean• The same as an average.

• Adding a list of fiffteen numbers and dividing by fifteen gives the mean.

Correlation• A a widely used technique for analyzing

the patterns of association, or correlation, between pairs of variables such as income and education. • A spurious correlation exists when

there is no meaningful causal connection between apparently associated effects.

Statistical Errors• Citing a correlation as a cause

• A correlation reveals an association between things, it does not necessarily indicate that one thing causes the other.

• Overgeneralizing• Statistical findings are limited by the

extent to which the sample group represents the population from which the sample was obtained.

Data Analysis• The process by which sociologists organize

collected data to discover the patterns and uniformities that the data reveal.

• The analysis may be statistical or qualitative.• When data analysis is complete conclusions

and generalizations can be made. • Generalization is the ability to draw conclusions

from specific data and to apply them to a broader population.

Human Development Index• An indicator developed by the United

Nations used to show the differing levels of well-being in nations around the world.

• The index is calculated using a number of measures, including:• Life expectancy• Educational attainment• Standard of living

Tools of Sociological Research• Questionnaires, Interviews• Participant Observation• Controlled Experiments• Content Analysis• Historical Research• Evaluation Research

The Interviews

• In closed-ended questions, people must reply from a list of possible answers, like a multiple-choice test.

• For open-ended questions, the respondent is allowed to elaborate on her or his answer.

Sampling• Often the groups sociologists want to study are

so large that research on the whole group is impossible.

• To construct a picture of the entire group, they take data from a subset.• A sample is any subset of a population.• A population is a large collection of people

that a researcher studies and about which generalizations are made.

Controlled Experiments• Highly focused ways of collecting data,

especially useful for determining a pattern of cause and effect.

• Two groups are created:• An experimental group is exposed to the

causal factor one is examining.• The control group is not.

• All other conditions are equal for both groups.

Violent Video Games• Playing a violent

video game often causes the player to be somewhat more aggressive afterward.

Quick Quiz

1. Sociology is the study of:a) personality typesb) political philosophyc) human behaviord) the distribution of goods and

services

Answer: c• Sociology is the study of human

behavior.

2. The ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life is referred to as:

a) commonsenseb) social speedupc) Wright's Theoremd) the sociological imagination

Answer: d• The ability to see the societal patterns

that influence individual and group life is referred to as the sociological imagination.

3. The sociologist that first coined the term sociology is:

a) Auguste Comteb) Emile Durkheimc) Karl Marxd) Harriet Martineau

Answer: a• The sociologist that first coined the term

sociology is Auguste Comte.

4. Symbolic interactionism emphasizes:a) the role of coercion and powerb) class strugglesc) face-to-face contactd) the interdependent parts of

society

Answer: c• Symbolic interactionism emphasizes

face-to-face contact.

5. The first step in sociological research is:a) to develop a research questionb) to collect the datac) to decide on a research designd) to analyze the data

Answer: a• The first step in sociological research is

to develop a research question.

6. According to the text, which of the following is not a step in the research process?

a) developing conclusionsb) analyzing the datac) duplicating the research designd) developing a research question

Answer: c • According to the text, duplicating the

research design is not a step in the research process.

7. In a controlled experiment, which of the following would not be exposed to the causal factor being examined?

a) the control groupb) the posttest groupc) the pretest groupd) the experimental group

Answer: a • In a controlled experiment the control

group would not be exposed to the causal factor being examined.

8. Research that assesses the effect of policies and programs on people in society is called:

a) comparative researchb) evaluation researchc) programmatic researchd) content analysis

Answer: b• Research that assesses the effect of

policies and programs on people in society is called evaluation research.