Introduction to Sociological Thinking

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Thinking from a sociological perspective should allow people to...1. View familiar things from a different point of viewEx. Why do doctors perform surgeries?

Cataract procedures were at an all time high in the 1990s. They were quick and Medicare would reimburse them $1,700 each. When Medicare slashed reimbursement levels to around $450 per procedure, surgeries fell substantially. -- Michael

Lewis

It can allow individuals to gain a 2. Heightened perception of social life.

Sometimes, you have to know what you are looking for to see something...

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/optical-illusion-brick-wall-really-annoying-people/

Broader social context by looking at individual’s 3. Social location—jobs, income, education, gender, race-ethnicity, Master Status, and age

How do all of these characteristics impact and define my role in society and the way that I am treated by others: Teacher, $75,000-$100,000, Master’s degree in History, Bachelor of Arts in Education, White, Irish, Male, Husband/Parent of 4, 40-45 years old.

Continued: Many elements of Social Location evolve over time. How can that change how one is viewed and how an individual interacts with others?

Teacher, $25,000 - $30,000, Bachelor of Arts in Education, White, Irish, Male, 25-30 years old.

Long standing patterns of social organization inc.:

Family,

Religion,

Political Organization

Economic Organization

Educational System

… long established … 4. Social institutions

Looking at the intersection of 5.History and Biography Can help individuals who feel 6. Trapped

H

B I OGRAPHY

S

T

O

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Sociology emerged about the middle of the

7. 1800’s

The social upheaval in Europe as a result of the 8. Industrial

Revolution,

c

The 9. political revolutions in America and France which encouraged people to rethink their ideas about monarchies, democracies, and social life...

...created a desire to apply10. scientific Methods to find answers to questions beingasked about thesocial world

...the popularity of 11. Enlightenment thinking

12. Auguste Comte coined the term “sociology” and believed that applying the scientific method to the social world

could lead to an understanding about social life so thorough that conclusions could be taken

as 13. social laws

14. Herbert Spencer. viewed societies as evolutionary ...

coined the term the 15. Survival of the Fittest

Spencer traveled the Western World and his ideas became 16. Well Known

...whose ideas about social classes and class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat 17.

Karl Marx

Marx ideas became the

foundation of the 18. conflict Perspective

19. Class Conflict was the key to human history.

20. Emile Durkheim played an important role in the development of sociology. 1. He fulfilled one of his primary goals to get sociology recognized as a separate academic discipline

his findings were very well supported through ... 21.

ResearchHis primary focus was on understanding the 22. Social Forces/Facts that influence individual behavior.

23. Max Weber was another influential sociologist, raising issues that remain controversial even today

… was more interested than most others on focusing on … 24. understand and interpret motivations of individuals.