(BU) SO 100 Introduction to Sociology Midterm Exam 2024(BU) SO 100 Introduction to Sociology Midterm Exam 2024(BU) SO 100 Introduction to Sociology Midterm Exam 2024
SO 100
Introduction to Sociology
Midterm Exam
2024
Early Theorists
• Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
• Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
• Karl Marx (1818-1883)
• Max Weber (1864-1920)
• Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
• W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
• George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)
• Talcott Parsons
(1902-1979) Comte
• French. Invented the word, sociology
• Believe this new field would produce a knowledge of society based on
scientific evidence
• Thought sociology would contribute to the welfare of humanity by using science
to understand the therefore predict and control human behavior
Durkheim
• Goal = establish sociology on a scientific basis.
• Suicide is a vital work because it is the first effective combination of
sociological theory and empiricism to explain a social phenomenon.
Interpretation
Durkheim:
• The main dynamic of modern development is the division of labor as a basis
for social cohesion and organic solidarity.
• Durkheim believed that sociology must study social facts as things, just as
science would analyze the natural world.
Marx
• Contrasts with Durkheim
• Viewpoint founded on what he called the materialist conception of history. “All
human history thus far is the history of class struggles.”
Interpretation, con’t.
Marx:
• The main dynamic of modern development is the expansion of capitalism.
• Marx believed that we must study the divisions within a society that are
derived from the economic inequalities of capitalism.
Weber
• Study of bureaucracy
• Analyzed the distinctiveness of major civilizations
• More cautious in proclaiming sociology a science
• Considered race and gender issues when studying class struggles and
differences Interpretation, con’t.
,Weber:
• The main dynamic of modern development is the rationalization of social
and economic life.
• Weber focused on why Western societies developed so differently from
other societies.
Theoretical Approaches
Auguste Comte---Emile Durkheim---Functionalism
Karl Marx---Marxism
George Herbert Mead---Symbolic Interactionism--- Max Weber
, Talcott Parsons
• Functionalist
• Heavily Influenced by Durkheim
• Parsons posits that the most empirically significant sociological theory must
be concerned with complex systems, that is, systems composed of many
subsystems.
Talcott Parsons, con’t.
• The primary empirical type-reference is to society, which is highly complex.
• Empirically, social systems are conceived as open systems, engaged in
complicated processes of interchange with environing systems.
Parsons, con’t.
• L - The function of pattern maintenance.
• G - The function of
goal-attainment. Parsons, con’t.
• A - The function of adaptation. I - The function of integration.
Parsons, con’t.
• Categories of Social StructureParsons thought of social interaction as a
structured affair. He provides a series of structural categories, given in
ascending order as role, collectivity, norm, and value. These roughly cover the
social structure from individual to social system.
• Role is the essential starting point for individual interaction ( 2 or more people )
which occurs in such a way as to constitute an interdependent system (as
distinguished from a social system). IN order for interaction to be stable, roles and
actions must have meanings and be governed by understood, shared rules.
Rules define goals and the consequences of ant given move by one player for the
situation in which the other must make his choice. Thus, there is a temporal
element to interaction.
Applying the Sociological Perspective
• Microsociology: study of everyday behavior in situations of face to face interaction
• Macrosociology: the analysis of large-scale social systems, like the political
system or the economic order
The two are interconnected
Is Sociology a Science?
• Is sociology merely a restatement of the obvious?
Daily Sociology
• Awareness of Cultural Differences
• Assessing the Effects of Policies
• Self-Enlightenment
• The Sociologist’s Role
• The question of the importance of Action Research
• Policy implications
Sociological Questions – asking and answering
• The Research Process
• Understanding Cause and Effect
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