Ch.1 The Sociological Perspective

1. Ch.1 The Sociological Perspective

2. Key People • AugusteCompte (p.5-6) • Herbert Spencer (p.6) • Karl Marx (p.6-7) • Emile Durkheim (p.7) • Max Weber (p.7-8) • Harriet Martineau (p.8) • Albion Small (p.9) • Jane Addams (p.9) • W.E.B. DuBois (p.9-10) • Talcott Parsons (p.11) • C. Wright Mills (p.11) • George Herbert Meade (p.13-15) • Robert Merton (p.15-17) • Mario Brajuha (p.29-30) • Laud Humphreys (p.30)

3. Research Methods(aka Research Design) • Surveys • Participant observation • Secondary analysis • Documents • experiments • Unobtrusive measures

4. What is Sociology? • Think about the different rules & procedures each teacher presented to you. What was different? What was similar? Do those rules alter your behavior in each setting? • Now broaden the scope – What are unique behaviors here at Hempfield?

5. What do sociologists do? • They examine how groups influence people, especially how people are influenced by their society(vocab. sheet) • Sociologists look at social location (vocab. sheet) • Sociologists look at how jobs, income, education, gender, age, and race-ethnicity affect people’s ideas and behavior. • Conclusions: • C. Wright Mills – The society in which we grow up and our particular location in that society lie at the center of what we do and what we think. • The way you look at the world is the result of your exposure to specific human groups. THEREFORE: SOCIOLOGYIS…THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF SOCIETY AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/sociologists.htm

6. What Sociologist Do • Application Activity: Think & list reasons why people commit suicide. • What assumptions do you have about gender and suicide? Which age group do you suspect as having the highest rates of suicide? • Where do you believe suicide rates are more prevalent in the country?

7. U.S.A. Suicide: 2011 Official Final Data • Look at the data in front of you. • What conclusions could you draw about gender and suicide? • What conclusions could you draw about age and suicide? • Why do you think more people commit suicide in the western part of U.S. Compared to eastern? • Why is the rate of suicide (compared to population) so high in states like Alaska, Wyoming, or Montana?

8. COMPARING OVER TIME…

9. INTERNAL FACTORS vs. EXTERNAL FACTORS People commit suicide because they are unhappy… • This is NOT a sociological theory. • Feelings (unhappiness) are internal factors that relate solely to individual / Non-sociological…psychological Sociological: • EXTERNAL factors (e.g. state/location, gender, age, income, race, or education) that affect behavior are sociologic • Suicides Rise In Middle-Aged Men, And Older Men Remain At Risk • by ALISON BRUZEK • September 10, 2014 http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/09/10/347386843/suicides-rise-in-middle-aged-men-and-older-men-remain-at-risk

10. Sociological Perspective: understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context • Remember : • Sociologists look at how jobs, income, education, gender, age, and race-ethnicity affect people’s ideas and behavior. • Could we analyze data on crimes in the same way as we did the suicide data? • Pregnancy? • Unemployment rates? • Homelessness? • Outreach programs?

11. Thinking Sociologically: Is who you are a result of where you are? The Solomon Asch Social Conformity Experiment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA

12. Stanford Prison Experiment Read “Tipping Point”

13. 'Lucifer Effect' Asks Why Good People Go Bad http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9940824 http://www.zimbardo.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jdOoxnr7AI (6:54) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0jYx8nwjFQ (6:48)

14. The Unresponsive Bystander By Bibb Latane & John Darley What Really Happened to Kitty Genovese: http://www.npr.org/2014/03/03/284002294/what-really-happened-the-night-kitty-genovese-was-murdered (8:09)

15. Investigate the Key Sociologists • Some of you were given a card with a number and name/names of sociologists and a page number. You are to select your team (no more than 3 to a team), read about, and report out to the rest of the class their contributions to sociology.

16. Auguste Comteand positivism (p.5) • Positivism – the application of the scientific approach to the social world • What creates social order? What causes society to change? (French Revolution) • Sociology – “the study of society “ • logos – “study of” • socius – “companion” or “being with others” • The founder of sociology

17. Herbert Spencerand Social Darwinism (pg.6) • From “barbarian” to “civilized” • The “fittest” survive while the less capable die out – “The survival of the fittest” • Social Darwinism

18. Karl Marx and Class Conflict (p.6-7) • Believed the demise of society was “class conflict” - bourgeoisie (capitalists) vs. proletariat (the mass of workers) • Classless society – people work according to their abilities & receive goods and services according to their needs • NOT the same as communism!

19. Emile Durkheim and Social Integration (p.7) • Wanted to show how social forces affect people’s behavior. • Compared rates of suicide in differing European countries • Unmarried, Protestant, males • Concluded that social factors underlie suicide • social integration – the degree to which people are tied to their social group • People who are less socially integrated have higher rates of suicide

20. Max Weberand the Protestant Ethic (p.7-8) • Religion, not economics (Marx) is the central force in social change. • Roman Catholic = tradition Protestant = change • Accumulated wealth & the frugal life lead to salvation • The spirit of capitalism

21. Harriet Martineau and Early Social Research (p.8) • “Hidden writings” • Preceded Durkheim & Weber • Society in America – customs, family, race, gender, politics, & religion • Was mostly ignored because she was, well, a woman

22. Jane Addamsand Social Reform (p.9) • Social reformer • Hull House in Chicago founded in 1889 • Helped immigrants, the sick, elderly, & poor • Recognized the gap between powerful and powerless • Working conditions • 8hr day • Child labor • Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 (only sociologist to win the award)

23. W.E.B. DuBoisand Race Relations (p.9-10) • First A.A. to earn a doctorate @ Harvard • Wrote extensively on racial relations • Founded the NAACP • Disillusioned, he left the country for Ghana at age 93

24. Talcott Parsons & C.Wright MillsTheory Versus Reform (p.11) • Parsons examined how the parts of society work together • Mills warned of the power elite’s threat to freedom

25. Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology(pgs.13-18) • Symbolic Interactionism (vocab. #12) – society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, & communicate with one another • Functional Analysis (vocab. #13) – society is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society’s equilibrium • Conflict Theory (vocab. #14) – society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources Examine Table 1.1 Major Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology

26. Model of Research(p.19-22) Your task: Get as many of your group members to remember the 8 basic steps in sociological research in order! Two people will judge for correctness. 8. Share 7. Analyze 6. Collect 5.Choose 4. Formulate 3. Review 2. Define 1. Select Reading: Doing Social Research

27. HANDOUT: 8 Steps of the Research Model & related, application questions • Reading – Doing Social Research • Durkheim & suicide • Suicides Rise In Middle-Aged Men, And Older Men Remain At Risk - http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/09/10/347386843/suicides-rise-in-middle-aged-men-and-older-men-remain-at-risk • Humphreys • Latane & Darley – Unresponsive Bystander

28. 6 Research Methods(p.22-29) • Surveys • population, sample, random sample, respondents, closed-ended & open-ended questions, • Participant Observation • fieldwork • Secondary Analysis • Documents • Experiments • experimental & control group, independent & dependent variables • Unobtrusive Measures

29. Ray Rice Video Sets Off a Barrage of Conversations:http://www.npr.org/2014/09/10/347305854/ray-rice-video-sets-off-barrage-of-twitter-conversations

30. Ethics in Sociological Research(p.29-31) ARTICLE: Historical cases of Unethical Research by Marsden & Melander • Brajuha • FIRE!!!! – You thought your notebook was important? • Humphreys • “Tea for two” Max Weber stresses value free, but….! …which is why replication is important. A FINAL NOTE-THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO, HMMMMMM!!: Please read the paragraph REVIEWING THE TENSION IN SOCIOLOGY (p.31).