Chapter 1, Sociological Perspectives and Sociological Research

1. Chapter 1, Sociological Perspectives and Sociological Research • What is Sociology? • The Significance of Diversity • The Development of Sociological Theory • Doing Sociological Research • The Tools of Sociological Research • Prediction and Sampling • Research and Ethics: Is Sociology Value-Free?

2. What Is Sociology? • Study of human behavior viewed in society. • A scientific way of thinking about society and its influence on human groups. • Topics include social behavior and social change.

3. Disciplines of Sociology • Psychology • Anthropology • Political Science • Economics • Social Work

4. Debunking • Looking at behind-the-scenes patterns and processes that shape behavior. • Questioning actions and ideas that are usually taken for granted. • Acting as “an outsider within.”

5. Sociology and the Enlightenment • Characterized by faith in the ability of human reason to solve society’s problems. • Belief that natural laws and processes in society could be discovered and used for the general good.

6. Influence of the Enlightenment • Positivists believed that society could be studied using the techniques of the natural sciences. • Humanitarianism is based on the belief that human reason can successfully direct social change for the betterment of society.

7. Development of Sociology in Europe • Comte coined the term sociology and elaborated the positivist basis of sociology. • Tocqueville described the U.S. in the sociological treatise, Democracy in America. • Martineau wrote one of the first methods books on participant observation.

8. Classical Sociological Theory • Durkheim identified social facts as a pattern of behavior that can be explained external to individuals. • Marx devoted his work to explaining how capitalism shaped society. • Weber developed the concept of verstehen, seeing things from others point of view.

9. The Developmentof American Sociology • American sociologists believed sociology could be used to solve social problems. • The Chicago School was characterized by concern with the relationship of individual to society and the use of society as a human laboratory.

10. Theoretical Frameworks in Society • Functionalism - emphasizes order and views disorganization as the impetus for change. • Conflict Theory - emphasizes the role of coercion and power in producing social order. • Symbolic Interaction -considers social interaction to be the place where “society” exists.

11. Sociological Research • Derives from the scientific method. • Research differs in how strictly it adheres to the scientific method. • Both quantitative and qualitative studies are used in modern sociology.

12. The Research Process • Develop a research question. • Create a research design. • Gather data. • Analyze data. • Reach conclusions and report results.

13. Tools of Sociological Research • Survey: Polls, Questionnaires, and Interviews • Participant Observation • Controlled Experiments • Content Analysis • Historical Research • Evaluation Research