1. Introduction to Sociology
Week 2
8/29/08
Mike Klemp-North

2. Week 2 Class Outline For the Good of the Order
Attendance
New Enrollees
Blackboard Updates
s and Meebo
Syllabus Questions
Sociology Chapter 1and 2
Q and A

3. Competencies and Methodologies
Main Competencies Covered
1. Describe sociological perspectives
Methodologies
Lecture, Small Group Work, Discussion,

4. The Origins of Sociology
One of the youngest of academic disciplines, sociology has its origins in powerful social forces.
Social Change
Industrialization, urbanization, political revolution, and a new awareness of society
Science
3-Stages: theological, metaphysical & scientific
Positivism–A way of understanding based on science
Gender & Race
These important contributions have been pushed to the margins of society.

5. Sociological Theory
Theory: a statement of how and why facts are related
Explains social behavior to the real world
Theoretical paradigm: A set of fundamental assumptions that guides thinking
Structural-functional
Social-conflict
Symbolic-interaction

6. Structural-Functional Paradigm
The basics
A macro-level orientation, concerned with broad patterns that shape society as a whole
Views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability
Key elements:
Social structure refers to any relatively stable patterns of social behavior found in social institutions.
Social function refers to the consequences for the operation of society as a whole.

7. Who’s Who in the Structural-Functional Paradigm
Auguste Comte
Importance of social integration during times of rapid change
Emile Durkheim
Helped establish sociology as a discipline
Herbert Spencer
Compared society to the human body
Robert K. Merton
Manifest functions are recognized and intended consequences.
Latent functions are unrecognized and unintended consequences.
Social dysfunctions are undesirable consequences.

8. Structural – Functional Paradigm
Critique
Structural – Functional Paradigm

9. Social-Conflict Paradigm
The basics:
A macro-oriented paradigm
Views society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change
Key elements:
Society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the expense of the majority.
Factors such as race, sex, class, and age are linked to social inequality.
Dominant group vs. disadvantaged group relations

10. Who’s Who in the Social-Conflict Paradigm
Karl Marx
The importance of social class in inequality and social conflict
W.E.B. Du Bois
Race as the major problem facing the United States in the 20th century

11. Feminism and the Gender-Conflict Approach
A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men
Closely linked to feminism, the advocacy of social equality for women and men
Women important to the development of sociology: Harriet Martineau and Jane Addams

12. The Race-Conflict Approach
A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories
People of color important to the development of sociology: Ida Wells Barnett and W.E.B. Du Bois

13. Social Conflict Perspective
Critique
Social Conflict Perspective

14. Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm
The basics
A micro-level orientation, a close-up focus on social interactions in specific situations
Views society as the product of everyday interactions of individuals
Key elements
Society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they interact with one another.
Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic of subjective meanings.

15. Who’s Who in the Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm
Max Weber
Understanding a setting from the people in it
George Herbert Mead
How we build personalities from social experience
Erving Goffman
Dramaturgical analysis
George Homans & Peter Blau
Social-exchange analysis

16. Symbolic-Interaction
Critique
Symbolic-Interaction

17. Applying Theory Major Theoretical Approaches

18. Critical Evaluation Structural-Functional Social-Conflict
Too broad, ignores inequalities of social class, race & gender, focuses on stability at the expense of conflict
Social-Conflict
Too broad, ignores how shared values and mutual interdependence unify society, pursues political goals
Symbolic-Interaction
Ignores larger social structures, effects of culture, factors such as class, gender & race

19. Applying the Approaches
Sociology of Sports

20. Structural Functional
A structural-functional approach directs our attention to the ways in which sports help society operate
Sports have functional and dysfunctional consequences

21. Sports and Conflict
Social-conflict analysis points out that games people play reflect their social standing.
Sports have been oriented mostly toward males.
Big league sports excluded people of color for decades.
Sports in the United States are bound up with inequalities based on gender, race, and economic power.

22. Figure 1.2
“Stacking” in Professional Football

23. Sports as Interaction
Following the symbolic-interaction approach, sports are less a system than an ongoing process.

24. Is Sociology Nothing More than Stereotypes?

25. “sociology advocates no one political orientation”

26. C. Wright Mills
“The sociological imagination is not merely a fashion. It is a quality of mind that seems most dramatically to promise an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities.”

27. Walter Lippmann
The facts we see depend on where we are placed and the habits of our eyes.

28. Sociological Investigation
A logical system that derives knowledge
From direct, systematic observation

29. Common Sense vs. Scientific Evidence
“Poor people are far more likely than rich people to break the law.”
“The United States is a middle-class society in which most people are more or less equal.”
“Most poor people don’t want to work.”
“Differences in the behavior of females and males are just ‘human nature.’ ”
“People change as they grow old, losing many interests as they focus on their health.”
“Most people marry because they are in love.”

30. Three Frameworks for Sociological Investigation
Scientific sociology
The study of society based on systematic observation of social behavior
Empirical evidence–Information we can verify with our senses
Interpretive sociology
The study of society that focuses on the meanings people attach to their social world
Critical sociology
The study of society that focuses on the need for change

31. Scientific Sociology Terminology
Concepts–A mental construct that represents some part of the world in a simplified form
Variables–Concepts whose values change from case to case
Measurement–A procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case
Operationalizing a variable–Specifying exactly what is to be measured before assigning a value to a variable

32. Scientific Sociology Terminology
Reliability–Consistency in measurement
Does an instrument provide for a consistent measure of the subject matter?
Validity–Precision in measuring exactly what one intends to measure
Does an instrument actually measure what it sets out to measure?

33. Causation Cause and effect Types of variables Correlation
A relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another
Types of variables
Independent: The variable that causes the change
Dependent: The variable that changes (its value depends upon the independent variable)
Correlation
A relationship by which two or more variables change together
Spurious correlation
An apparent, though false, relationship between two or more variables caused by some other variable

34. Correlation Does Not Mean Causation
Conditions for cause and effect to be considered
Existence of a correlation
The independent (causal) variable precedes the dependent variable in time.
No evidence suggests that a third variable is responsible for a spurious correlation between the two original variables.

35. Figure 2.1a Correlation and Cause: An Example Correlation is not the same as cause. Here’s why. (Continued on next slide.)

36. Figure 2.1b (cont.)

37. Does religion drive people to drink?

38. Three other terms - - Mean Median Mode Average of results
Middle result
Mode
Most frequent result

39. What are the three statistics from above?
1,2,2,3,4,4,5

40. The US Household income’s mean is 63,344 and median is 46,326.
No!
The US Household income’s mean is 63,344 and median is 46,326.

41. Scientific Sociology Terminology
Objectivity
A state of personal neutrality in conducting research
Value-free research
Weber said sociologists should strive to be dispassionate and detached.
Replication
Repetition of research by other investigators
Helps limit distortion caused by personal values

42. Limitations of Scientific Sociology
Human behavior is too complex to predict precisely any individual’s actions.
The mere presence of the researcher might affect the behavior being studied.
Social patterns change.
Sociologists are part of the world they study, making value- free research difficult.

43. Gender and Research Androcentricity Gynocentricity Overgeneralizing
Approaching the topic from a male-only perspective
Gynocentricity
Approaching the topic from a female-only perspective (less common than androcentricity)
Overgeneralizing
Using data collected from one sex and applying the findings to both sexes

44. Gender and Research Gender blindness Double standards Interference
The failure to consider the effect of gender at all
Double standards
Using different standards to judge males and females
Interference
This occurs when a subject reacts to the sex of the researcher, interfering with the research operation.

45. Summing Up Three Research Orientations

46. Ethical Guidelines for Research
Must strive to be technically competent & fair-minded
Must disclose findings in full without omitting significant data & be willing to share their data
Must protect the safety, rights, and privacy of subjects
Must obtain informed consent; subjects are aware of of risks and responsibilities and agree
Must disclose all sources of funding & avoid conflicts of interest
Must demonstrate cultural sensitivity

47. Sociological Research Methods A Systematic Plan for Conducting Research
Experiment–A research method for investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions
Hypothesis–An unverified statement of a relationship between variables (an educated guess)
Placebo–A treatment that seems to be the same but has no effect on the experiment
Hawthorne effect–A change in a subject's behavior caused by the awareness of being studied

48. Steps in the Ideal Experiment
Specify the dependent and independent variables.
Measure the dependent variable.
Expose dependent variable to independent variable.
Re-measure dependent variable to see if predicted change took place.
If no change, modify hypothesis & re-test

49. Control
To be certain that the change in the dependent variable was due to the exposure to the independent variable, the researcher must keep constant other factors that might intrude.
One method is to break group into experimental and control groups.
Experimental group is exposed to independent variable.
Control group is exposed to a placebo.

50. Survey Research A research method in which subjects respond to a series of statements or questions in a questionnaire or interview
Population
The people who are the focus of the research
Sample
The part of the population that represents the whole
Random Sample
Drawing a sample from a population so that every element of the population has an equal chance of being selected

51. $35,000 to $50,000
The Talented One Hundred: Lois Benjamin’s African American Elite Source: Adapted from Lois Benjamin, The Black Elite: Facing the Color Line in the Twilight of the 20th Century (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1991), p. 276)

52. Questionnaire A series of written questions that a researcher presents to subjects
Closed-ended
A series of fixed responses; easy to analyze but narrows range of responses
Open-ended
Free response; broadens range of responses but harder to analyze
Most surveys are self-administered; pre-testing can avoid costly problems.

53. Other Research Methods
Interview
A series of questions that a researcher administers in person
Participant observation
A research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining in their routine activities
Existing Data

54. Summing Up Four Research Methods

55. Interplay Between Theory and Method
Inductive logical thought
Reasoning that transforms specific observations into general theory
Induction “increases” from specific to general
Deductive logical thought
Reasoning that transforms general theory into specific hypotheses suitable for testing
Deduction “decreases” from general to specific

56. Figure 2.2
Deductive and Inductive Logical Thought Sociologists link theory and method through both inductive and deductive logic.

57. Ten Steps In Sociological Investigation
Select and define topic
Review the literature
Develop key questions to ask
Assess requirements for study
Consider ethical issues
Select a research methodology
Collect the data
Interpret the findings
State conclusions
Publish the findings

58. Lying with Statistics Data selection Data interpretation
Data might not be the whole truth.
Data interpretation
As if numbers can only mean one thing
Use of graphs to “spin” the truth
Manipulating timeframes on graphs
Using scale to inflate or deflate a trend

59. Controversy and Debate (cont.)