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Sociology: Understanding Social Life and Society

This chapter introduces the key features of sociology, including its wide scope and three core themes: the social and the personal, the local and the global, and differences and divisions. It explores the roles of theorizing and research in developing sociological knowledge and highlights the various research methods and theories used in the field.

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Sociology: Understanding Social Life and Society

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  1. Chapter One The Sociological Imagination: Insights, Themes and Skills

  2. Objectives • To introduce some of the key features of sociology. • To introduce the three core themes that will be used throughout the book. • To discuss briefly the roles that theorising and research play in developing sociological knowledge.

  3. What is sociology? • Definition: • “Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is extremely wide...” (Giddens, 1997: 2) • Three key themes: • The social and the personal • The local and the global • Differences and divisions

  4. The social and the personal • Mills’s contrast between personal troubles and public issues • Link between personal life and public setting • Key points: • The strong and varied influence of social situations and meanings on our sense of personal belonging • The culturally variable ways in which ‘self and society’ are imagined in different groups or societies

  5. The local and the global • Sociologists are interested in connections between local and global worlds • Globalisation: • Highlights the way the social world is changing over time • We live in an increasingly interconnected world • For example, rationalisation and McDonaldisation

  6. Differences and divisions • Sociologists are interested in: • Social groups, their place in the social structure, their interrelationships and their particular experiences and self-images • How social differences frequently become social divisions • Gender, class, ethnicity, age, ability, sexuality etc.

  7. Sociological inquiry • Sociologists use a variety of research methods to explore the social world • Documentary analysis • Ethnography • Participant observation • Surveys • In-depth interviews

  8. Sociological inquiry • Sociologists use theories to attempt to explain why things happen as they do • All research is done within a framework of theoretical interpretation • Theorising is about abstraction • It involves developing concepts and arguments which answer ‘why’ questions

  9. Summary • Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies • Three key themes: • The social and the personal • The local and the global • Differences and divisions • Sociology involves a combination of research and theorising

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