Sociology Notes—Theories and Theorists



Sociology Notes—Theories and Theorists

Chapter 1

I. Sociology = study of groups/societies and the way they affect our behavior

II.

A. Social relationships (humans are social creatures)

1. sociological imagination = ability to see the connection between private troubles and social problems

2. examine social institutions: family, education, economy, government, religion—and how they influence individuals

a. also examine how these institutions stay the same and change

i. Families, schools, religion in everyday life

3. main lesson of sociology = structure of society affects people, molding both their attitudes and their behavior

B. Types of Sociology

1. macrosociology = examines large scale structures and processes

a. entire cultures or societies

b. Functionalism and Conflict theories

2. microsociology = looks at smaller groups or individuals

a. Symbolic Interactionism theory



3. Jobs/Uses

a. Sales – Marketing

b. Social Worker

c. Teaching

d. Dealing with Social Problems – politician, economist, minister

e. Anything dealing with PEOPLE

C. It is a science

1. Information is gained through observations based on scientific method

2. Part of social sciences: history, geography, economics, political science, anthropology, psychology, sociology

D. Early sociologists

1. Auguste Comte

a. first to define sociology

2. Karl Marx (and Frederick Engels)

a. Conflict perspective

3. Emile Durkheim

a. Functionalist

4. Max Weber

a. Symbolic Interactionism

b. Verstehen = understanding ( putting self in other’s shoes to understand perspective

5. Herbert Spencer

a. “Survival of Fittest”—societies should evolve naturally and solve own problems

III. Development in US

A. Industrial Revolution ( problems in cities = Social Issues

B. First Dept. of Soc. in 1893 at U of Chicago

C. 1940s study center shifted to Harvard and Columbia U

IV. Major Theories/Perspectives in Sociology

A. Evolutionary Theory = societies will progress thru more complex stages

1. Strongest will survive

2. Favored by countries/classes in power

B. Structural/Functionalism = views society as a set of interrelated parts that work together to produce a stable social system

1. Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim

2. social institutions are studied by their functions is society—positive

a. family, education, economy, government, religion

b. manifest function = intended consequence of some element of society

i. e.g. car for transportation

c. latent function = unintended consequence an element has on society

i. e.g. car as status symbol

d. dysfunction = negative consequence for the stability of the social system

e. If no function, dysfunctional or function does not have consensus, it is considered deviant.

i. Hermits, Criminals, Gay Marriage, respectively…

3. All institutions are interconnected

a. if one institution loses consensus, whole society is unstable

4. Society held together through consensus

5. Sociologists using Functionalist Perspective study: Church and State; economy; family

values; School performance and standards

C. Conflict Perspective = focuses on those forces in society that promote competition and change

1. Karl Marx & Frederick Engels

2. Interested in how those who possess more power in society exercise control over those with less power

3. Nonviolent competition as well as violent: sexes, races, age

4. Decision making in family, relationships among racial groups – controlled by dominant group (white male or eldest, strong male)

5. Labor disputes between workers and employers – employers have control; workers may feel exploited

6. * Competition over scarce resources is at the basis of social conflict*

a. resources such as power and wealth are in limited supply—competition

b. once people gain control they then establish rules that protect their interests at the expense of other groups

c. inequality leads to social conflict (less power fight back)—this leads to social change (inevitable feature in society)

7. Sociologists using Conflict Theory deal with: Labor disputes; Poverty and Welfare; Racism; Sexism; Gay Rights

D. Symbolic Interactionist = focuses on how individuals interact with one another in society

1. Max Weber, George Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley

2. how individuals respond to one another in everyday situations

3. meanings that individuals attach to their own actions and to the actions of others

4. * symbol = anything that stands for something else—members of society must agree on meaning (e.g. flag, eagle, peace)—use to communicate

5. we learn the meanings of these symbols through interacting with others

6. our idea of self is based on how we believe we are seen through other peoples eyes

7. interested in interaction between people that takes place through the use of symbols

8. Goffman compared life in society to theatre

a. Actors: each member of society has a “role” to play in relation to other members (e.g. husband, mother, etc.)

b. Script: just as stage actors follow a script so actors in society follow rules for acceptable behavior

c. Director: anyone who gives rules or direction; helps become who you are

d. Interpretation: actor’s interpretation depends on script, what is brought to the role, what other actors do, and how audience reacts

e. Bad Actors: those who stray too far from accepted roles = deviant

9. Specialties within Symbolic Interactionism

a. Ethnomethodology = study of routine—glue that holds society together—the subconscious rules followed

i. if a person does not respond to habitual greeting (Hi, how are you?) then the person will spend time wondering if they were snubbed or if something was wrong

ii. Liberals + Conservatives =Love??

b. sociolinguistics = study of how social factors influence speech patterns

i. use speech to communicate and locate self

ii. Southern speech vs. North-Eastern/City speech = crops growing vs. business world

iii. Bad words for women vs. Bad words for men

- shows men’s position of power = Conflict theory

10. Sociologists using Symbolic Interactionism study: child development, relationships within groups (businesses, schools, political parties), mate selection, birth order

The Nature of Ethnomethodology

11. The term ethnomethodology is defined as ology- study of;method –the methods used by; ethno-folk or people. For the ethnomethodologists emphasis is not on questions about the reliability and validity of investigator’s observation but on the methods used by scientific investigators and laypersons alike to construct, maintain and perhaps alter what each considers and believes to be a valid and reliable set of statements about order in the world. The methodology in the ethnomethodological perspective does not address questions about the proper, unbiased or truly scientific search for knowledge rather ethnomethodology is concerned with the common methods people employ whether scientists, housewives, insurance personnel to create a sense of order about the situations in which they interact.

12. Ethnomethodologists are interested in how members come to agree upon an impression that there are such things as rules, definitions and values. Just what type of methods do people go about seeing, describing and asserting that rules and definitions exist? How do people use their beliefs that definitions and rules exist to describe for each other the social order?

13. The methods of ethnomethodology do not refer to a new and improved technique on the part of scientific sociology for deriving a more accurate picture of people’s definitions of the situation and of the norms of social structure. For the ethnomethodologists emphasis is on the methods employed by those under study in creating, maintaining and altering their presumption that a social order actually exists out there in the real world.

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