Chapter 1

• The sociological perspective


  seeing the general patterns of behaviour of particular people. Although people are all unique, society shapes the lives of all people in different categories

  i.e (men and women, children and adults, the rich and the poor)

  1. The sociological perspective helps us assess the truth of "common sense.
  2. The sociological perspective helps us see the opportunities and constraints in our lives.
  3. The sociological perspective empowers us to be active participants in our society
  4. The sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse world.
• Durkheim's views on suicide


  Emile Durkheim (1858–1917)

  • categories of people were more likely than others to take their own lives
  • freedom weakens social ties and, therefore, increases the risk of suicide
  • social integration: Categories of people with strong social ties have have lower rates of suicide, while people with weaker social ties have higher rates of suicide
• August Comte (1798-1857)

  three stages of historical development:

  Theological stage: a religious view people took explaining that society expressed God's will.

  Metaphysical stage: natural rather than a supernatural phenomenon

  Scientific stage (positivism): a scientific approach to knowledge based on "positive" facts as opposed to speculation; society works according to laws such as gravity and laws of nature, not traditional and metaphysical views
• Social Structure


  any relative pattern of social behaviour
• Structural-Functional Approach

  a framework for building theories that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.

  social functions: the consequences of a social pattern for the operation of society as a whole

  social dysfunction: any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society

  Organic Analogy: society is like a body, the way organisms rely on organs, humans rely on their society.
• Structural-Functional Approach (pt.2)


  manifest functions: the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern.

  latent functions: the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern.

  i.e Douglas college is a place people go to be education and work towards a specific career (manifest), but it is also a place people build relationships, might end up finding the person their gonna marry (latent).
• Social-conflict Approach

  a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change:

  • highlights how factors such as race, class, ethnicity, gender, and age are linked to inequality in terms of money, power, education, and social prestige
  • promotes the operation of a society as a whole
• Gender-conflict theory

  the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men
• Race-conflict theory (SCA)


  the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories
• Gender conflict theory (feminist theory)(SCA)

  support of social equality for women and men, in opposition or patriarchy and sexism

  The study of society that focuses on inequality and conflit between men and women
• Social Interaction Approach


  a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals

  founders of Social Interaction Approach: C. H Cooley, E. Goffman
• Micro-level Orientation (SIA)


  a close-up focus on social interactions in specific situations
• Positivist Sociology, Interpretive Sociology, Critical Sociology


  positivist: the study of society based on scientific observations of social behaviour

  Interpretive Sociology: the study of sociology that focuses on discovering the meaning people attach to their social world

  Critical Sociology: the study of society that focuses on the need for social change
• Correlation, Cause and effect, Spurious correlation

  Correlation: a relationship in which two (or more) variables change together

  cause and effect: a relationship in which the change of one variable causes a change in the other (IV and DV)

  Spurious Correlation: an apparent but false relationship between two (or more) variables that is caused by some other variable