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THE SOCIOLOGICALTHE SOCIOLOGICAL
APPROACHAPPROACH
11
LEARNING OBJECTIVESLEARNING OBJECTIVES to define sociology
to understand the uniqueness of thesubject matter of sociology
to explain how is society studied usingthe theory of Positivism
Practise Quiz 1
to identify the main sociologicalperspectives
- Interpretivism
- Consensus/ Structural functionalism
- Conflict/ Marxist
To apply the concept of sociology to theCaribbean ( society now)
SocietySociety
a large complex of human relationships,or a system of interaction. A societyconsists of a complex of social events
It is the longest, enduring and mostembracing social organisation,Mustapha, 2007
The concept of society begins withindividuals who interact with one another
and through interaction develops patterns
of behaviour.
If we could not predict one anothersbehaviour with a very high degree ofaccuracy, social relationships would beimpossible, and human life would besolitary, poor, nasty, brutish and shortThomas Hobbes, 1651
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Because we usually can anticipate how otherswill respond to our actions, it is possible forus to have families and friends, each one ofus would be forced to sleep alone in a secrethiding place if we couldnt accurately predictthat our relatives wont try to kill us
We are like social scientist: to observe, tointerpret,to predict
An OverviewAn Overview
Sociology offers us a distinction andenlightening perspective of humanbehaviour.
SGY is
the study of the development ofknowledge of ways people interact witheach other.
It discovers the general laws whichgovern interaction.
Sociology does not diminish the realitiesof personal experiences but gives agreater understanding of thoseindividual characteristics. Ex: familyrelationships
WHAT IS SOCIOLOGYWHAT IS SOCIOLOGY
a systematic study of human socialinteraction, social life, groups andsocieties, Giddens (2004)
a study of human behaviour in thesociety, Anderson and Taylor(2004)
the study of human behaviour as shapedby collective life, Hess et al (1998)
Sociology is the study of individuals ingroups in a systematic way, which grew
out of the search for understanding
associations with the industrial and
scientific revolutions of the 18th and 19th
centuries Lawson and Garrod, 1996
Sociology is not a practice but anattempt to understand human behaviour.Some students studied SGY to be ableto deal with people and to understandpeople as is the case of social work orto get an A or to be better citizens.
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It is more than this, it allows thestudent the opportunity to apply theirunderstanding to social phenomena andto the wider society.
Sociologists observe social phenomenaand see recurrent patterns ofbehaviour, they are able to predictbehaviour based on past evidence
Sociologists also look at
- the way a society evolves and changes
with time (social process)
- how it creates and maintain its culture
- and how groups and institutions influence
human behaviour (social structure)
Sociological ImaginationSociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills(1959), an American
Sociologist coined the term, SI
it requires us to think ourselves away from
the familiar routines of our daily lives in order
to look at them anew.
The ability to see the link between incidentsin the lives of individuals and large socialforces. Mills argued no matter how private orpersonal our actions we can understandourselves and our intimates much better ifwe place ourselves within the wider largerframework,
Ex couples decision to have a child
ACTIVITY 1ACTIVITY 1
Would the following students please stand
Those students whose parents are
divorce
Those students whose parents are still
married
Sociological imagination allows us to seethat many events that seem to concernonly the individual actually reflectlarger issues. Example: Suicide, Divorce,World Cup Barbados
Divorce- Single parenting/ female-headed households- day care- childsupport (law courts/ welfare)
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It allows sociologists to see beyond their
own personal troubles and to consider the
wider social issues.
Society can be seen objectively, free from
prejudices, cultural values and attitudes
(non-judgmental approach)
Social world surrounding the individual
Sociologists are not statisticians, theyapply the statistics to gain a greaterunderstanding of the social world.(Peter Berger, Invitation to SGY)
Humans are distinct from animals. Theyare socialised. Socialisation allowspersons to develop a culture and theability to learn the acceptable andunacceptable behaviour of the specificsociety. Ex: national symbols
Developmental theorist like PeterWorsley believed that babies are bornwith blank slates that have to bewritten on for the child to function insociety.
What do sociologists studyWhat do sociologists study
Sociologists study social problems andsociological problems. A sociologicalproblem is how the system works andhow is it held together.
Crime for example may be considered asa social problem but the law would bethe sociological problem. A problem inone society may not be the sameproblem in another society, ex:Kidnapping in Trinidad, Drug Use andAbuse in St. Vincent and Barbados,Murders in Jamaica
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And more importantly, sociologicalproblems in one social system may bethe norm and for another. To the policecrime is a problem but for the criminalsit is the norm.
Sociologists therefore must engaged in
triangulation.
How is society viewed?How is society viewed?
Social structure
the orderly way that people and groupsinteract with each other. It occurs withtwo or more people..
It is usually short term or long term asin the case of a mother/father andtheir children, teachers and students.When the interaction becomes morestablised a social relationship is formed
In a social structure therefore one canfind many social relationships. These areindividual to individual, individual togroup and individual to socialinstitutions,
Can one person be a social relationship?
Social institutions
an established pattern of behaviour that deals with major social interests.SGY seeks to examine the elements ofsociety: education, family, religion,political institutions and legal system bystudying the social relationships withinthem.
Human Social Interaction ChartHuman Social Interaction Chart
Recreation,
Sports
Economics
Politics Family
Religion
Legal System
Education
Man
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Social process
This refers to social change. It can be
revolutionary or evolutionary.Evolutionary change occurs when oneinstitution change results in the changeof another institution to allow harmonyand continuity of the system.
WHERE DID IT COME FROMWHERE DID IT COME FROM
Social sciences emerged as a family ofdisciplines yet each discipline has somespecific focus at the level of analysis:
- Psychology (human mind)- Anthropology (human cultures)
- Political Science (administration of society)
- Economics (production and distribution ofgoods and services)
- History (events of the past)
GROUPSGROUPS
Group/organization (micro-sociology,small groups and focus on patterns offace-face interaction) Group for thesociologist is any set of two or morepersons who maintain a stable patternof social relations over a period of time,this concept ignores gender, race, age
and those identifying characteristicswhich persons will classify as a group.
Group is said to be the fundamentalsubject matter of sociology,Stark(2007). The size of the group alsovaries, from small (couple) to large(Muslims). Some level of social relationsmust take place.
The significance of the group isimportant:
- primary (family, cricket teams) or
- secondary (school, business clubs)Interestingly, primary groups areformed from secondary groups.
Can sociology be appliedCan sociology be applied
SGY explains the social realities as theyrelate to social action, it restores ourconsciousness of the human element ininstitutions and it justifies the positionof various groups in society, ex. TheDisabled, The Elderly, Coloured Womenthrough social research.
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How is society studiedHow is society studied
it must be objective, the sociologists
must conceal his/ her personalpreferences
it must serve to understand society byadopting the appropriate methodology
all terminologies must be clearly definedand understood, ex: avoid jargonssociological language
Theoretical PerspectivesTheoretical Perspectives
POSITIVISM
Pos. makes two basic assumptions,scientific investigation is the onlysource of knowledge and all sciencesshare a unified method.
Pos. has many advocates: Comte, A;
Durkheim, E; Merton, R; Parsons, T
What is scienceWhat is science
They adopt mathematical measures totest sociological theories and theystressed the importance of objectivity.
Giddens (1986) states science is theuse of systematic methods of researchand investigation and the logical analysisof the arguments in order to develop an
understanding of a particular subjectmatter
The scientist/sgist remains neutral intheir position, not influenced in theirapproach to studying society.
ObjectivityObjectivity
Objectivity is achieved throughscientific methodologies whetherqualitatively or quantitatively. Postivismwas demonstrated by Auguste Comteand Emile Durkheim.
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WHO WERE THE EARLYWHO WERE THE EARLY
ADVOCATESADVOCATES
Auguste Comte
The founding father of SGY. He developed
sociology at a scientific time. To investigatesocial influences he used scientific methodology
to distinguish knowledge gained from common
sense which is subjective to knowledge gained
through objective means that were scientific.
Emile Durkheim
He described the methods to be used in the
study of sociology and what exactly in societyshould be studied. For him, they were the
social facts. A social reality constituting a
collective reality of society. Ex: fashion Social
facts are culture specific and time specific.
Karl Popper
Studies can either be deductive or inductive.
Ex: Alcohol use among UWI Students
One counter observation to the general law
proves it false. The scientist begins with a
theory and seeks evidence to support it,
questionnaires to UWI Students.
Induction means the scientist/sgist moves
from a specific to the general, by examining
case by case and build on each observation
to make a general law/ theory of society.
Sociologist spends time at the Guild on
Friday Nights observing the Beer Limes
METHODOLOGY OF SOCIALMETHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL
SCIENCESSCIENCES
How is the Scientific Method/researchapplied? Deductive/ Quantitatively
a problem statement
data gathering on the statement
data recording
data analysis
conclusions and recommendations basedon findings
Characteristics of ScienceCharacteristics of ScienceSociology share these:
1. Empirical (evidence from objective procedures)
2. Theoretical (research formulates theory,
Suicide (Durkheim)
3. Cumulative (builds on others, what is already
known)
4. Objectivity (unbiased, dispassionate)
5. Value-Free
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So what!So what! Sociology attempts to study the social
forces that impact on the lives of the
people in a society.that is also our lives.
In its attempts it has embrace a number ofdifferent theoretical perspectives and have
arrived at different models of human social
reality known as sociological perspectives:
Functionalism, Conflict and Interactionalist
Perspectives
NextNext--classclass
Sociological Perspectives
1. Interactionalist Perspective
2. Functionalist Perspective
3. Conflict Perspective
Come prepared to discuss these models
Learning objectivesLearning objectives
To explain an alternative view ofunderstanding human behaviour
To adopt a micro-level/approachperspective of society
To explore the concept of culture tosocial reality
Culture Culture of a society is the way of life of
its members ; collection of ideas andhabits which they learn, share andtransmit from generation to generation(Ralph Linton)
Design for living held by members of a
particular society. Culture is learned and it is shared
It defines ways of behaving formembers of a particular society.Example: Dress (Pink), Conversationsbetween adults and children, teacherenters the classroom,
It is the values, norms and customs In Australia, Haralambos reference of
Female infanticide and geronticide toreduce the population
We are producers and products of ourculture
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INTERPRETAVISMINTERPRETAVISM
In. sgists oppose the views of thepositivists. They advocate qualitativemethods of analysis over quantitativemethods.
It focuses on small scale interactionrather than society as a whole.
They do not support the claim ofobjectivity, for them it is impossible.They reject the use of scientificapproaches to the study of humanbehaviour.
For them the use of words, symbols,meanings and an understanding andinterpretation of social action is theapproach to be used. Understanding themeanings and motives behind the actionof people must be the first step.
They argue that it is only when ascientist/sgist immersed in the societyand being subjective in their approachto social action can one truly understandsociety.
They: Max Weber, George HerbertMead, Erving Goffman
Human action has little meaning, it getsits meaning when its interpreted amongpeople who share the same meaning.Example: role of Women in Islamicculture, Sister (Hospital)
Culture and cultural roles oftendetermine how we define our socialreality.
All persons sharing the same culture willnot have the same definitions. (Pink)
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Common sense is very important to theinterpretivists. Other schools ofsociology advocate this approach,namely:
social action theory
symbolic interaction
ethnomethodology
phenomenology
Structural Functionalism
Society is ordered around harmony and
agreement. Society is looked at as anorganism with interrelated parts thatoperate together to make the organismfunction. Each part of the society mustbe examined in relation to its otherparts.
Humans behave in expected ways basedon roles, expectations, norms and values.Value consensus according to Durkheimexist in society, it keeps societytogether. Functional prerequisites arealso important to the survival of asociety.
For example: food, shelter, socializationand reproduction. Without these asociety would cease to exist.Functionalists also recognized theimportance of conflict in a society.
Conflict however is a temporary,disequilibrium. The process of change insociety is slow. As changes occur in oneinstitution, the others change tomaintain equilibrium.
CONFLICT Karl Marx is the founder of conflict
perspective. They are other theories onconflict, however in Marxs perspective,society is made up of two opposinggroups..
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One group owns the means of productionsuch as land, labour, capital (theproperty class) and the group offersonly their labour and skill.They sell theirlabour to the property class. Thebourgeoisie and the proletariat. Arelationship of exploitation andoppression
Marxist theory examines conflictbetween opposing economic classes. Forhim society is a history of classstruggles via a process of revolution.
Marx therefore is an economicdeterminist; every thing has aneconomic origin. He calls this theinfrastructure and the otherinstitutions he called thesuperstructure.
SummarySummary Sociology is therefore about developing a
critical understanding of society and the
patterns of social relations developed over
time. We as a people can better
understand our social world and
relationships. Recognising each theory
was its merit.
Critical Social ScienceCritical Social Science
It a new approach to studying society
Founded on conflict theory/feminist theory
The injustices and disparities of a society
that needs to be change
It criticises both interpretivism and
positivism
Empowerment Action research
Many of us allow ourselves to becontrolled, mislead and mistreated, we
do not realise our true potential as
change agents.
ReferencesReferences Giddens, A; Sociology
Haralambos and Holborn; Sociology
Themes and Perspectives
Stark, R; Sociology
Barrow, C and Reddock, R ; Caribbean
Sociology
Mustapha, N; Sociology for Caribbean
Students
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Quiz Time Next ClassQuiz Time Next Class
Exam QuestionExam Question
What are the strengths and weaknesses of theWhat are the strengths and weaknesses of the
interpretative perspective in Sociology?interpretative perspective in Sociology?
Illustrate how the interpretative perspectiveIllustrate how the interpretative perspectivecan be applied to the study of a named socialcan be applied to the study of a named social
institution in society.institution in society.
The ResponseThe Response
A comprehensive understanding ofA comprehensive understanding ofinterpretative sociologyinterpretative sociology
Origins and historical development of theOrigins and historical development of theperspective and an overview of itsperspective and an overview of itsassumptions, basic concepts and the mainassumptions, basic concepts and the maintheorist (s) associated with the perspective.theorist (s) associated with the perspective.
Knowledge of the other perspectives:Knowledge of the other perspectives:
functionalism and Conflictfunctionalism and Conflict
Short Answer QuestionShort Answer Question
Define and explain each of the following
concepts using illustrations as applicable:
Social structure
Groups
Culture
Sociological imagination
Examples of exam questionsExamples of exam questions
The question of whether or not sociologyis seen as a science depends as much onthe definition of science as on the natureof sociology. Critically discuss.
Discuss the extent to which SGY providesan adequate scientific methodology tostudy human social behaviour?
Do all sociologists consider sociology tobe truly objective?
The ResponseThe Response
This short answer question tests yourknowledge on some of the key conceptsused in sociological study of society.
Definitions not needed
Describe and explain the concept withillustrations as far as possible
Where specific individuals have beenassociated with a concept they should benamed