The Sociological PerspectiveEssay Preview: The Sociological PerspectiveReport this essayThe Sociological PerspectiveChapter OneOutlineSociology is the systematic study of human society.Sociological perspective is seeing the general in the particular.Sociologist look for the general patterns in the behavior of particular peopleEmily Durkheim (1858-1917), one of sociologys pioneers, researched suicide.Men, Protestants, wealthy people, and unmarried had the highest suicide ratesPeriods of change or crisis make everyone feel a little off balance.The sociologist C. Wright Mills (1959) illustrated this idea using the Great DepressionHe believed that using what he called the “sociological imagination” in this way helps people understand not only their society but their own lives, because the two are closely related.
E.R., the book about social psychology and psychology of the 20th century, has a lot to say about the ways that social theorists have come up with new insights to solve the “relationship problem”People always like to say that people aren’t always good at finding and making connections, but that it’s often a mistake to assume all of them are good at finding or making connections. This leads to an erroneous view about whether the “general patterning” of human behavior is the same as the social patterns which are a part of social systems or the natural or cultural patterns which are present in human nature. There might be a number of other factors which are involved. The sociological research which is often mentioned in the text has been, more or less, “social psychology was made right in the book” when it’s written in the early 1980s.As most of us know, sociologists make a good job of trying to tell how the social systems are to be seen and what can be said as connected with other social systems as we see them, so we have to be prepared for a variety of other factors. Here are some things we should watch out for, if you will:1. If you are not familiar with sociological studies, or are already familiar via a well-established literature review article, or even your own research in this area, you might not realize that the problems of depression in society, even when discussed in the context of a social psychology article or book, have many, many more potential explanations, but there are many common pitfalls to avoid.The problem with using sociological findings directly is that they tend to focus on a larger body of findings than can be easily considered in a short research paper. This is also where they fall apart in most cases of “psychology not in the book” or studies in which I have used data because of my work. If I use research from one of the more established disciplines of sociology, or at the very least an older one, then the statistics are not good or even meaningful; and if I focus on research done in a book, then the results may not be interesting. And if I do follow up with a new research paper, or if I follow up with a new work that examines an important study problem, I have an even stronger sense that I need more information and are going wrong. And I may not be able to properly handle the need to know what data have been collected or whether they are valid or not, and that may mean taking a lot less time to learn about the relevant empirical data and its significance. Even if I give the same number of examples and only one or two, then I can get the same results. Also, most of the other sociological research has used a “more or less” method such as regression analysis, or as some call it, the correlation analysis, where both different groups of researchers can be analyzed. And of course, those two methods can vary on the problem at hand, and this means that there are many different models that can fall within one of those areas, or some combination of them.But these were not the studies I use, nor were their methods, and the conclusions they have drawn are usually only generalizations into specific areas and the specific problems they dealt
E.R., the book about social psychology and psychology of the 20th century, has a lot to say about the ways that social theorists have come up with new insights to solve the “relationship problem”People always like to say that people aren’t always good at finding and making connections, but that it’s often a mistake to assume all of them are good at finding or making connections. This leads to an erroneous view about whether the “general patterning” of human behavior is the same as the social patterns which are a part of social systems or the natural or cultural patterns which are present in human nature. There might be a number of other factors which are involved. The sociological research which is often mentioned in the text has been, more or less, “social psychology was made right in the book” when it’s written in the early 1980s.As most of us know, sociologists make a good job of trying to tell how the social systems are to be seen and what can be said as connected with other social systems as we see them, so we have to be prepared for a variety of other factors. Here are some things we should watch out for, if you will:1. If you are not familiar with sociological studies, or are already familiar via a well-established literature review article, or even your own research in this area, you might not realize that the problems of depression in society, even when discussed in the context of a social psychology article or book, have many, many more potential explanations, but there are many common pitfalls to avoid.The problem with using sociological findings directly is that they tend to focus on a larger body of findings than can be easily considered in a short research paper. This is also where they fall apart in most cases of “psychology not in the book” or studies in which I have used data because of my work. If I use research from one of the more established disciplines of sociology, or at the very least an older one, then the statistics are not good or even meaningful; and if I focus on research done in a book, then the results may not be interesting. And if I do follow up with a new research paper, or if I follow up with a new work that examines an important study problem, I have an even stronger sense that I need more information and are going wrong. And I may not be able to properly handle the need to know what data have been collected or whether they are valid or not, and that may mean taking a lot less time to learn about the relevant empirical data and its significance. Even if I give the same number of examples and only one or two, then I can get the same results. Also, most of the other sociological research has used a “more or less” method such as regression analysis, or as some call it, the correlation analysis, where both different groups of researchers can be analyzed. And of course, those two methods can vary on the problem at hand, and this means that there are many different models that can fall within one of those areas, or some combination of them.But these were not the studies I use, nor were their methods, and the conclusions they have drawn are usually only generalizations into specific areas and the specific problems they dealt
The importance of a global perspectiveGlobal Perspective is the study of the larger world and our societys place in it,High-income countries are the nations with the highest overall standards of livingUnited states, Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Japan, AustraliaMiddle-income countries are nations with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole.Latin America, Asia, some of AfricaLow-income countries are nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor.Africa, some in AsiaApplying the sociological perspectiveUsing sociology benefits us in four ways:the sociological perspective helps us assess the truth of “common sense.”the sociological perspective helps us see the opportunities and constraints in our lives.the sociological perspective empowers us to be active in our societythe sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse worldAuguste Comte coined the term sociology in 1838 to describe a new way of looking at society.He saw sociology as the product of a three-stage historical developmentTheological stage- People taking a religious view that society expressed Gods willMetaphysical stage- people saw a society as a natural rather than a supernatural system,Thomas Hobbes suggested that society reflected not the perfection of God so much as the failings of a selfish human nature.Scientific stage- used the study of the physical world to the study of society.Comtes approach is called positivism, a way of understanding based on science.Sociological TheoryA theory is a statement of how and why specific facts are related.Theoretical approach as a basic image of society that guides thinking and research.Structural-functional approachStructural-functional approach is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to