SOCIOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

1. The development of sociology as a science.
1. Historical background.
1. The Renaissance and Protestant Reformation.
2. The Enlightenment.
3. Developments in other sciences.
4. World exploration.
5. Political revolution.
6. Industrialization and urbanization.
2. Sociology grew out of a desire to understand what was going on in the world politically, economically, and socially during the mid to late 1800s.


2. Early sociologists.
1. Auguste Comte (1798-1857).
1. Founder of sociology, coined the term.
2. Wanted develop a science of society by applying scientific principles to its study.
3. His goal was to gain knowledge about society in order to improve it.
4. Emphasized social statics and dynamics.
2. Karl Marx (1818-1883).
1. Saw social organization as necessary for survival.  Humans "worked together" in order to survive.  Thus, Marxed argued that social organization was based on work and the economy.
2. Marx’s theory of history.
1. Early hunting and gathering societies.
2. Militarism, empires, and slave ownership.
3. Feudalism and land ownership.
4. Capitalism and the ownership of capital.
5. The emergence of modern communism.
   
3. Social class and class conflict.
1. As technology improved and people produced more than they consumed, those who owned the means of production got wealthy by keeping the surplus for themselves.  Those who did all the work got just enought to survive.  This created a two class system of "haves" and "have nots."
   
2. As  technology and the mode of economic production changed, so did the social classes.  Those who owned the new means of production became the new dominant group exploiting the labor of the rest.
3. Human history has been dominiated by class conflict and struggle, with one group dominating and exploiting another.  This can only be resolved through the establishment of a new communist society.
4. Why didn't communist revolutions happen all over Europe?
   
1. Dominant classes use their power to create social systems and structures to keep the subordinate classes under their control and make it difficult for them to organize and rebel.
   
2. Governments, laws, education systems, religious systems, etc. are created by and support the dominant class.
3. Ideologies and belief systems are created that justify and legitimate the current system, leading to "false consciousness".
   
4. Workers are kept alienated and isolated to prevent them from seeing their common interests and organizing in opposition to the dominant group.  For example, racism is fostered to keep the workers fighting among themselves rather than joining together to fight the dominant class.
5. The best and brightest workers are "bought off" offering them better jobs and better pay if they will support the dominant class, thus creating the middle class.
6. Marx as an economic determinist.  The infrastructure (economic structures and relationships) determine suprastructure (everything else-government, laws, religion, family, values, norms, etc.).
   
5. Why hasn't communism been terribly successful where revolutions did occur?
1. True communism has not been achieved, only socialism.
2. Communism as a two-class system.
   
3. History suggests Marx had an overly optimistic view of human nature.
   
6. Marx and conflict theory.
3. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903).
   1. Compared society to a living organism.
   2. Focused on the various systems and structures that make up a social system.
   3. Saw societies as evolving, becoming more complex and diversified as they moved from simple hunting/gathering societies to modern industrial societies.
   4. Importance of his emphasis on systems and structures.
4. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917).
1. The problem of order.
2. The division of labor and the shift from mechanic to organic solidarity.
3. The importance of shared beliefs and values.
4. Religion, ritual, and solidarity.
5. Emphasis on structures and their functions.
6. Durkheim’s sociological analysis of suicide.
7. Durkheim and structural-functionalism.
5. Max Weber (1864-1920).
   1. The importance of ideas.
   2. The Enlightenment, rationalization, and modernization.
   3. Protestantism and capitalism.
   4. Bureaucracy and the nature of modern society.
   5. Ideal types.
   6. The importance of verstehen.
   7. The importance of objectivity in sociology.
   8. Weber's legacy.
6. George Mead (1863-1931).
   1. American sociology at the University of Chicago.
      1. Albion Small, Robert Park, and Ernest Burgess
      2. The influence of Simmel.
      3. Individualism and pragmatism.
      4. Social reform and activism.
      5. Sociology at Chicago was more specific, applied, practical, and problem based.
   2. Mead and behavioral psychology.
   3. Humans as symbol users living in symbolic worlds.
   4. The social nature of symbols.
   5. Interaction, meaning assignment, and behavior.
   6. The self as a social entity.
   7. Social order as collective agreement.
   8. Mead and symbolic interactionism.
7. Early contributions of women and minorities.
1. Harriet Martineau (1802-1876).
1. Translating Comte into English
2. Society in America
2. Jane Adams (1860-1935).
1. Hull-House.
2. Poverty and inequality.
3. Social justice and social activism.
3. W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963).
1. Racism and the black experience.
2. The Philadelphia Negro and The Souls of Black Folk.
3. NAACP


3. Contemporary sociological theory.
1. The big three.
1. Structural-functionalism.
1. Society as organized and stable.
2. Structures and functions.
3. Manifest and latent functions.
4. Dysfunctions and change.
2. Conflict theory.
1. Conflict, competition, struggle and change.
2. Competing classes and groups.
3. Power, exploitation and oppression.
4. Social structure and ideology.
3. Symbolic interactionism.
1. Humans as symbol users living in symbolic worlds.
2. Interaction, meaning assignment, and behavior.
3. The self as a social entity.
4. Social order as collective agreement.
2. Variants and combinations.
1. Macro-structuralism.
2. Exchange theory.
3. Dramaturgy.
4. Social phenomenology and ethnomethodology.
5. Critical, feminist, and post-modern theory.


4. Research in contemporary sociology.
1. Science, knowledge, and research.
       1.  Personal knowledge, experience, and common sense.
       2.  Problems with personal knowledge, experience, and common sense.
       3.  The scientific method.
                 a.  Empirical
                 b.  Systematic.
                 c.  Objective.
                 d.  Logical.
                 e.  Skeptical and critical.
2. What is research?
3. The relationship between research and theory.
4. Sociological research methods.
1. Quantitative methods--Social phenomena are quantified and measured numerically then analyzed statistically to test hypotheses derived from theory.
1. Deductive logic and hypothesis testing.
2. Methods of data collection that produce quantitative data.
1. Surveys.
2. Experiments.
3. Analysis of existing statistical data.
4. Content analysis.
2. Qualitative methods--Data are coded categorically, often with categories emerging from data analysis and being used to generate theory rather than test hypotheses.
1. Inductive logic and theory building.
2. Methods of data collection that produce qualitative data.
1. Ethnographic field research.
2. In depth interviewing.
3. Biographical methods and case studies.
4. Content analysis.
5. Historical/comparative analysis.
3. Ethics in sociological research.
       a.  Research should not harm subjects.
       b.  Participation should be voluntary.
       c.  Researchers should be objective and honest in conducting research and reporting results.
5. The importance of sociological research.
1. Basic research, theory, and understanding how society works.
   
2. Applied research, social policy, and social progams.
3. Sociological research helps us understand how society works so we can use that knowledge to develop informed social policies and programs.