Chapter 1

• Putting Social Life into Perspective• The Social Imagination

Putting Social Life into Perspective

• Sociology – the systematic study of human society and social interaction

•Sociologists use theoretical perspectives and research methods to examine social behaviour•Sociology provides important insight on pressing social issues in contemporary society (eg. Suicide, homelessness, etc.)

The Sociological Imagination

• The sociological imagination gives us the ability to see the relationship between the individual experience and the larger society. It allows us to distinguish between personal and public issues.

The Sociological Imagination

• Public Issues (eg. Widespread unemployment, suicide, homelessness, etc.)

•Often seen as personal issues, BUT there is no private solution•Developing a global sociological imagination requires that we take into account perspectives and studies other than those developed in North America, and would include accounts from peoples from diverse backgrounds.

The Sociological Imagination• People in Canada differ by race and ethnicity

•Race refers to specific groups of people distinguished by physical characteristics such as skin colour

•Ethnicity refers to the cultural heritage of a group based upon factors such as language or country of origin

The Sociological Imagination• People are also different based on class and gender

•Class refers to the relative position of a person or group within a larger society based upon wealth, power, prestige or other valued resources

•Gender refers to the meanings, beliefs and practices associated with sex differences

The Sociological Imagination

• The sociological imagination can help us to understand the links between individual acts of violence (eg. rape) and collective acts of violence (eg. war)

Why study sociology?

• Sociology helps us to see the complex connections between our own lives and the larger recurring patterns of society and the world in which we live

Why study sociology?

• Society – a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations

Why study sociology?

• Global interdependence – a relationship in which the lives of all people are intertwined closely and any one nation’s problems are part of a larger global problem

Why study sociology?

• Sociologists strive to use scientific standards (not myth or hearsay) in studying society and social interaction•Some sociologists argue that sociology must be objective, while others do not believe that to be so

•Objective – free from distorted bias, either personal or emotional

Why study sociology?

• Sociologists attempt to discover patterns of commonalities in human behaviour

•Eg. In studying suicide, sociologists look for recurring patterns of behaviour, even though individual people usually commit the acts, and other individuals suffer because of these actions