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SOCIOLOGY
Sociology as Social Science
Sciencerefers to the body of knowledge obtained
by methods based on systematic
observation.
collect precise information through
methods of study that are as objective as
possible
Sociology as Social Science
Social science is the study of the social features of humans and the
ways in which they interact and change.
include sociology, anthropology,
economics, history, psychology, and political science.
Sociology as a social science
Sociologists study the:
influence that society has on people’s attitudes and behaviorthe ways in which people interact and shape society.social relationships of humans scientifically
■What are the areas/issues/topics studied by sociologists?
Altruism, Morality and Social Solidarity Evolution, Biology and Society Political SociologyAnimals and SocietyFamily PopulationAsia and Asian America Global and Transnational Sociology Race, Gender, and ClassBody and Embodiment History of Sociology Racial and Ethnic MinoritiesChildren and Youth Human Rights Rationality and SocietyCollective Behavior and
Social MovementsInternational MigrationReligionCommunication and Information Technologies Labor and Labor Movements Science, Knowledge, and TechnologyCommunity and Urban Sociology Latino/a Sociology Sex and GenderComparative and Historical SociologyLawSexualitiesCrime, Law, and Deviance Marxist Sociology
Social PsychologyCulture Mathematical Sociology Sociological Practice and Public SociologyDisability and Society Medical Sociology Teaching and LearningEconomic Sociology Mental Health TheoryEducation MethodologyEmotions Organizations, Occupations, and Work
Aging and the Life Course
Environment and
Technology
Peace, War, and
Social Conflict
Alcohol, Drugs,
and Tobacco
Ethno-methodolog
y and Conversation Analysis
Political Economy of the World-
System
HOW WOULD DIFFERENT SOCIAL
SCIENTISTS STUDY THE IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL
RECESSION THAT BEGAN IN 2008?
Studying the global recession that began in 2008Historians
stress the pattern of long-term fluctuations in world markets.
Economists discuss the
roles played by
government, the
private sector, and the world monetary system.
Psychologists
study individual cases of
emotional stress among
workers, investors,
and business owners.
Political scientists
study the degree of cooperation among
nations—or lack of it—in seeking economic solutions.
What about sociologists?Impact of recession in 2008
Marriage• the median age of first marriage has risen to 28.7 years for men and 26.7 years for women
• fewer people are making that trip to the altar than in the past
Education• private school enrolment from elementary through high school declined from 13.6 percent in 2006 to 12.8 percent in 2010 as families cut back on nonessential expenditures
Environment actions• carpools shrink and more people end up driving to work alone
Activity
■If you are a sociologist, what would be your focus on issue of people committing suicide?
SOCIOLOGY AND COMMON SENSE
Think about it..Why is the Mona
Lisa the most famous painting
in the world?
Why did J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter books sell over 300 million
copies?
Who is more chatty, men or
women?
Why is Madonna the most successful female musical
artist of all time?
…or COMMON SENSE, eh?
Sociology and Common Sense
■Several children’s publishers reject the initial Harry Potter manuscript
■No one pay much attention to the Mona Lisa for nearly 400 years
■Music critics dismiss the early Madonna as an attention seeker with limited talent
■Researchers have found little difference between the sexes in terms of their talkativeness– Over a five-year period researchers
placed ,unobtrusive microphones on 396 college students in various fields, at campuses in Mexico as well as the United States
– both men and women spoke about 16,000 words per day (Mehl et al. 2007)
■Why is common sense may sometimes be dangerous?
Sociology and common sense
In our daily lives, we rely on common sense to get us through many unfamiliar situations. It is not always reliable because it rests on commonly held beliefs rather than on systematic analysis of facts.Like other social scientists, sociologists do not accept something as a fact because “everyone knows it.”
Common sense
a hodge-podge of things, neither
coherent nor internally
self-consistent
Accum-ulated advice
Expe-riences
Aphorisms
NormsReceive
d wisdom
inherited
beliefs
Intros-pection
Common sense
■It is a common sense now that the earth is round– based on centuries of scientific work that
began with the breakthroughs made by Pythagoras and Aristotle
■Remember, it is common sense before that the earth was flat.
Remember this as well (from Duncan Watts)Birds of a feather flock together, but opposites also attract.Two minds are better than one, except when too many cooks spoil the broth. Does absence make the heart grow fonder, or is out of sight out of mind? At what point does try, try again turn into flogging a dead horse? And if experience is the best teacher, when should one also maintain a beginner’s mind?
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
Why do people commit suicide?
■Traditional commonsense answer:– people inherit the desire to kill themselves.
■Another common sense answer in 1900s:– sunspots drive people to take their lives
Why do people commit suicide?
■Sociologists– concerned with identifying the social forces
that systematically cause some people to take their own lives.
– In order to undertake this research, sociologists develop a theory that offers a general explanation of suicidal behavior.
Sociological Theory
Theorya set of
statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior.
An effective
theory may have both explanator
y and predictive
power.
helps to see the
relationships among
seemingly isolated
phenomena
helps to understand
how one type of
change in an
environment leads to
other changes.
not a final statement
about human
behavior.
On suicides
■The World Health Organization (2010) estimates that almost a million people die from suicide every year.
On suicides
Emile Durkheim
suicide, although it is a solitary act, is related to group lifepeople without religious
affiliations had a higher suicide rate than those who were affiliatedthe unmarried had much higher rates than married people
soldiers had a higher rate than civilians
On Suicide In Las Vegas, for example, sociologists have observed that the chances of dying by suicide are strikingly high—twice as high as in the United States as a wholeWhat happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas• but the sense of community
cohesiveness that the rest of the country enjoys may be lacking (Wray et al. 2008, 2011)
THANK YOU!