sociological imagination

• Society


  A group of people usually with a common spatial or social territory who are typically involved in persistent social interaction, are subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations
• Sociological Imagination


  Thinking critically about how society affects our everyday behaviour, even the personal decisions that we make
• Societies


  • Characterized by patterns of relationships referred to as "social relations" between individuals who share a distinctive culture and social institutions
  • Construct patterns of behaviour by deeming certain actions or concepts as acceptable or unacceptable
• Reasons for choosing a college/university

  • "I wanted to stay close to home"
  • "This university has a high world ranking"
  • "My friends are going to this university"
  • "I wasn't able to go to the university I really wanted to go to"
  • "What else is there to do? I just drifted here"
• Culture


  • The symbolic-expressive dimension of social life
  • Includes the beliefs people hold about reality, the norms that guide their behaviours, the values that orient their moral commitments, or the symbols through which these beliefs, norms and values are communicated
  • Also includes things that we produce: such as tools and technology
  • Shared by members of a society and also changes over time: it does not remain static
• Such individual responses are grounded in reality, but may not tell the whole story
• Thinking sociologically, many people in the world do not have the opportunity to go to university. Social forces such as age, financial resources, socio-economic background, gender and even religion may have a lot to do with who gets to pursue a higher education
• Social institutions


  • Established practice, something established by law, custom, or everyday practice
  • Organized patterns of behaviour that are centred on meeting basic social needs or functions – such as government, economy, education, family, health care and religion
• The sociological perspective often challenges common sense by revealing human behaviour to be not as individualistic as we think
• Social structure


  • Macro-level social forces including social institutions and institutionalized relationships
  • The distinctive, stable arrangement of institutions whereby individuals in a society interact and live together
  • An organized set of social institutions and patterns of relationships that together compose society
  • Both a product of social interaction and directly determines it
  • Not directly visible to the untrained observer, but present and affect all dimensions of human experience in society
• Durkheim's study of Suicide


  Shows how a deeply personal act is shaped by society
• Social Groups


  • Two or more people who identify and interact with one another
  • Can transcend local borders
  • Interaction means actors orient behaviour towards each other
  • Most interaction is patterned/organized (predictable and stable) leading to reciprocal expectations
  • Building blocks of society – Throughout life we will belong to a variety of groups, each with different degrees of importance, influences, views of ourselves and world views
• Durkheim's findings


  • Men, Protestants, wealthy people and unmarried people had higher suicide rates when compared to women, Roman Catholics and Jews, poor people, and married people
  • These differences corresponded to people's degree of social integration – common at times of massive change and social breakdown
  • Low suicide rates characterized groups of people with strong social ties
  • Higher rates of suicide were found among those who were more isolated and individualistic
• Sociological Imagination


  Encourages us to see seemingly private matters as public ones
• Group Characteristics


  • A distinctive set of social relations among members
  • Mutual awareness of other members
  • Interdependence among various people
  • Feeling that the behaviour of each member is relevant to other members (responsiveness to members)
  • Sense of membership – "we" feeling (shared loyalties, interests, experiences)
• Many of our personal experiences are not random – they are shaped by social structure, which is an organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions which form the basis of society
• Group Distinctions


  • Primary Groups
  • Secondary Groups
  • Reference Group
  • In-Group (us)
  • Out-Group (them)
• How social categories influence life experiences

  • Male/female, wealthy/poor
• Primary Groups


  Personal orientation; tend to be long-term; strong personal ties; typically family and close circles of friends
• Using the sociological imagination reveals general patterns in what would otherwise be thought of as personal events and circumstances
• Secondary Groups


  Goal orientation; tend to be variable or short term; weaker personal ties; typically include co-workers, political organizations, facebook friends
• Comparative approach


  Comparing gender relations in the past to gender relations today; or comparing younger people with older people; or comparing one society with another type of society
• Crowds and Categories


  • Temporary grouping of individuals who may or may not interact in close proximity to each other, with the potential to be transformed into a group
  • Persons who have common characteristics, share at least one socially relevant characteristic (age, marital status, beliefs, trauma) that allow them to be classified together, but with no implication of interaction or physical proximity among them
• Empirical approach


  A method that answers questions through systematic collection and analysis of data
• Social Categories


  • Persons in the categories may share certain attitudes and characteristics
  • They are often the basis on which social groups are formed
  • Often the basis on which social policy is formulated and targeted
• On average 46% of women in Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced at least one form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime (UN Women)
• Organizations


  • Planned, coordinated and purposeful action of human beings to construct or compile a common tangible or intangible product
  • Usually framed by formal membership in a defined group and institutional rules
  • Formal organizations such as businesses and government organizations are highly bureaucratized
• Sociological research can help people to understand the dynamics of violence, revealing information about the incidence, predictors, social factors associated with violence, and the experience of violence
• Empirical research


  The carrying out of systematic research on a social phenomena over a period of time
• Types of Organizations


  • Normative organizations (voluntary organizations, based on shared interests)
  • Coercive organizations (groups that one must be coerced, or pushed to join)
  • Utilitarian organizations (joined because of the need for a specific material reward)
• Empirical research sometimes challenges our common sense
• Statements contradicted by empirical research


  • Poor people are more likely than rich people to break the law
  • Differences in the behaviour of females and males reflect "human nature"
  • Most people marry because they are in love
• Ways of gathering empirical evidence in the social sciences

  • Quantitative Studies (focus on data that can be measured numerically)
  • Qualitative Studies (focus on narrative description with words rather than numbers, focusing on underlying meanings)
  • Visual Sociology (using film, video and photographs to document social life and social situations)
• Culture includes language, religion, art, music, literature, and other aspects that shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
• The term "society" refers to groups of people who interact with one another based on shared norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors.
• Sociology is the scientific study of society, social relationships, culture, and human behavior.
• Socialization is the process through which individuals acquire the values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors necessary to function as members of society.
• Socialization is the process through which individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values necessary to function within their particular societies.
• Empirical research involves collecting and analyzing data from real-world observations and experiences.
• Sociologists use various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, experiments, and content analysis to gather information about human behavior and social phenomena.