Sociology and the Real World Chapter 1 Sociology and the Real World

Chapter Study Outline The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

What Does Society Look Like? While the idea of society is familiar, describing it can be difficult. Ultimately society is made up of many different components, such as culture, race, family, education, social class, and people’s interactions. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

What Does Society Look Like? (cont’d) People actively and collectively shape their own lives, organizing their social interactions and relationships into a meaningful world. Sociologists study this social behavior by seeking out its patterns. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

What Does Society Look Like? (cont’d) Society is a group of people who shape their lives in aggregated and patterned ways that distinguish their group from other groups. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Asking the Big Questions People have long sought out an understanding of the meaning of life, their place in society, and their social world. While early explanations were based on tradition, superstition, and myth, the emergence of the social sciences during the nineteenth century began to allow a more complete understanding of the social world. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Asking the Big Questions (con’t) Social Sciences are the disciplines that use the scientific method to examine the social world, in contrast to the natural sciences, which examine the physical world. Examples of social sciences include economics, psychology, geography, communication studies, anthropology, history, and political science. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

What is Sociology? Sociology is the systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

What is Sociology? (cont’d) Howard Becker defined sociology as the study of people “doing things together.” This reminds us that society and the individual are inherently connected, and each depends on the other. Sociologists study this link: how society affects the individual and how the individual affects society. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Levels of Analysis Microsociology is the level of analysis that studies face-to-face and small-group interactions in order to understand how they affect the larger patterns and institutions of society. Microsociology focuses on small-scale issues. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Levels of Analysis (cont’d) Macrosociology is the level of analysis that studies large-scale social structures in order to determine how they affect the lives of groups and individuals. Macrosociology focuses on large-scale issues. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Sociological Perspective The sociological perspective is a quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our particular situation in life and what is happening at a social level. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Sociological Perspective (cont’d) When using a sociological perspective, one focuses on the social context in which people live and how that social context has an impact on individuals’ lives. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Sociological Perspective (cont’d) C. Wright Mills used the term sociological imagination to describe the ability to look at issues from a sociological perspective. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Sociological Perspective (cont’d) One way to gain a sociological perspective is to attempt to create in ourselves a sense of culture shock, which is a sense of disorientation that occurs when one enters a radically new social or cultural environment. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Sociological Perspective (cont’d) Bernard McGrane suggests that people wanting to use a sociological perspective should utilize a beginner’s mind, which means approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things in a new way. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Starting Your Sociological Journey An important distinction can be made between the everyday actor, who has the practical knowledge needed to get through daily life, but not necessarily the scientific or technical knowledge of how things work, The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Starting Your Sociological Journey (cont’d) and the social analyst, who studies the social world in a systematic, comprehensive, coherent, clear, and consistent manner in the pursuit of scientific knowledge. Both approaches have strengths and weaknesses. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Starting Your Sociological Journey (cont’d) The United States is a useful focus for this text for several reasons: it has long fascinated worldly scholars, faces many of the same social problems seen elsewhere, shows features of multiculturalism, and has a tremendous impact on the modern world. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

In his book Understanding Media (1964), Marshall McLuhan coined the term global village to describe how radio and television create new kinds of social bonds by bringing people together as if they all belonged to the same tribe. The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Concept Quiz: 1. Which of the following is NOT an example of a social science? a. biology b. political science c. psychology d. economics ANS: A REF: Asking the Big Questions, p. 7 OBJ: Factual The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Concept Quiz 2. Sociology is defined as: a. the scientific study of humans. b. the study of ancient cultures and behavior. c. the study of how the brain works. d. the study of human society and social behavior. ANS: D REF: What is Sociology?, p. 8 OBJ: Vocabulary The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Concept Quiz 3. __________ is the level of analysis that studies face-to-face and small-group interactions in order to understand how those interactions affect the larger patterns and institutions of society. a. Microsociology b. Macrosociology c. Sociology d. Social science ANS: A REF: Micro- and Macrosociology, p. 12 OBJ: Vocabulary The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Concept Quiz 4. The glass escalator effect refers to the: a. limits on the advancement of women in the workplace. b. limits on the advancement of men in the workplace. c. rapid rate of upward mobility for women. d. rapid rate of upward mobility for men in female-dominated workplaces. ANS: D REF: Micro- and Macrosociology, p. 14 OBJ: Factual The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Concept Quiz 5. A sense of disorientation that occurs when you enter a radically new social or cultural environment is called: a. cultural mind. b. culture shakes. c. cultural fear. d. culture shock. ANS: D REF: Culture Shock, p. 19 OBJ: Vocabulary The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.