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Sociological Perspectives. Goal 1. Auguste Comte. Father of Sociology Intrigued by the causes of the French Revolution Social Statics-Processes which hold society together Social Dynamics-Processes in which society changes. Herbert Spencer. Comes up with “Social Darwinism”
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Sociological Perspectives Goal 1
Auguste Comte • Father of Sociology • Intrigued by the causes of the French Revolution • Social Statics-Processes which hold society together • Social Dynamics-Processes in which society changes
Herbert Spencer • Comes up with “Social Darwinism” • Very Political-Despises early welfare programs • Dislikes the lower class, thinks those who will not prosper will eventually “die out”
Karl Marx • Most of his ideas and intellect were not recognized until after his death • Communist (Writes Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts-Foundation for Communism) • Social change is needed for a better society
Karl Marx and Conflict Theory • Social Change Necessary! • History is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces • Economics is more important! • Class conflict between capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and the working class (proletariat) • We need a Classless Society in order to succeed!
Emile Durkheim • France’s first Sociology Professor • Concerned with Social Order • “Shared beliefs are the glue that hold society together”
Durkheim and Functionalist Perspective • Society has different parts that are all related. • Each part has some sort of control over another, which is their function. • Functions are the purposes of each part, contribute to the success of the society • “Dysfunctionals” try to throw off the balance • Durkheim focused on factors such as religion.
Max Weber • “Put yourself in my shoes”. • How would that make you feel? • “Verstehen”-Understanding individuals and their actions • “Ideal Type”-Parts of society that contribute to its success
Symbolic Interactionist • Examines people’s day-to-day interactions with each other • Society is the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups • Subjective Reality • Each person’s interpretation or definition of a given situation (shared or not shared symbols) • Symbols: What people use to study societies
Society Today • Existing theories have not successfully explained social life in a contemporary society • Society focused on a shift from production to consumption • Postmodern Society • Information explosion • Rise of a consumer society • Global Village
Research Methods • Historical: • Examining sources from past that relate to the study • Content Analysis: • Counting the number of times a particular word, phrase, idea, event, symbol, etc. appears in a context. • Survey • Questionnaires and Interviews • Observation • Detached (distance) vs. Participant (directly involved)
Continued… • Case Study • Intensive Analysis of a person, group, event, or problem. • Statistical Analysis • Analyzing data to determine the relationship strength of 2 or more variables