Sociology: Perspective and Theory: Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Chapter 1
SOCIOLOGY: PERSPECTIVE
AND THEORY
Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Sociology: Perspective and Theory
Learning Objectives
• LO 1.1 Explain how the sociological perspective differs
from common sense.
• LO 1.2 State several reasons that a global perspective is
important in today's world.
• LO 1.3 Identify the advantages of sociological thinking
for developing public policy, for encouraging personal
growth, and for advancing in a career.
• LO 1.4 Link the origins of sociology to historical social
changes.
• LO 1.5 Summarize sociology's major theoretical
approaches.
• LO 1.6 Apply sociology's major theoretical approaches to
the topic of sports.

“Sociology shows us the
power of society to
guide all our life
decisions in much the
same way that the
seasons influence our
choice of clothing.”

The Sociological Perspective:
What Is…?
LO 1.1: Explain how the

sociological perspective
differs from common sense.
The Sociological Perspective

How does the power of society guide marriage
partner selection?
Stay tuned!
We will revisit this topic at

the end of the chapter.
How does the power of society influence
private decisions throughout the world?
Is childbearing simply a matter of personal choice?

The Sociological Perspective: Durkheim's
Study of Suicide

The Sociological Perspective: Contemporary
Suicide Statistics
A century later Durkheim's
analysis hold true.
Suicide rates are higher for

white people than they are for
black people and Hispanic
people.
Within each category, suicide

rates are higher for men than
for women.
Rates indicate the number of

deaths by suicide for every
100,000 people in each
category for 2010.

What situations help people see clearly how
society shapes individual lives?
Seeing
sociologically
• Marginality; living on the edge
• Social crisis; turning personal

problems into public issues

What is the sociological imagination?
• Society, not people,

is main cause of
poverty and other
social problems.
• By turning personal
C. Wright Mills problems into public
issues, the
sociological
imagination is the key
to bringing people
together to create
needed change.

The Importance of a Global Perspective:
What Is…?
LO 1.2: State several reasons

that a global perspective is
important in today’s world.
In what way can nations be categorized by
their level of economic development?
Country categories
Low-income
• Nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor
• Forty-nine nations include most of Africa and part of Asia
Middle-income
• Nations with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole
• Seventy-two nations include many of the countries of Eastern Europe, some of
Africa, and almost all of Latin America and Asia
High-income
• Nations with the highest overall standards of living
• Seventy-four countries include the U.S. and Canada, Argentina, the nations of
Western Europe, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Australia

Why is it important to study comparisons
between the U.S. and other nations?

Importance of a Global Perspective
“In sum, in an increasingly interconnected world,

weWhat
can understand our way
then are the of life of
benefits and ourselves
applying
only to the
theextent that we understand
sociological perspective? others and
the societies in which they live.”

Applying the Sociological Perspective
• Sociology guides many of our

life-shaping laws and policies.
Usefulness • Using a sociological
of applying perspective leads to
the important personal growth
sociological and awareness.
perspective • Studying sociology aids in the
preparation for the world of
work.
LO 1.3: Identify the advantages of sociological thinking

for developing public policy, for encouraging personal
growth, and for advancing in a career.
Applying the Sociological Perspective:
Sociology and Public Policy

Sociology and Personal Growth
The sociological perspective

• Helps us assess truth of common sense
• Helps us see opportunities and constraints
• Empowers us to be active participants in

society
• Helps us live in a diverse world

Careers
The “sociological advantage”
Sociology is excellent preparation for

jobs in dozens of diverse fields
(American Sociological Association,
2002, 2011a, 2011b).

Origins of Sociology
• The birth of
sociology was itself
the result of
What are powerful social
the forces.
origins? • Let's take a closer
look at some of
these forces.
LO 1.4: Link the origins of sociology to historical

social changes.

What kinds of social change were especially
important in the development of sociology?

Social Change and Sociology: A New
Industrial Economy
Middle Ages:
• Farming and small-scale
manufacturing
End of Eighteenth Century

• New energy sources
• Large, anonymous work forces
• Large scale production; movement
of system of production
• Weakening of community influence

Social Change and Sociology: Growth of
Cities
Enclosure
Urban migrant movement:
problems: Reduction in
Pollution, tenet access
crimes, and and movement
homelessness to city

Social Change and Sociology: Political
Change
Middle Ages: Shift to self-

Society is an interest: Personal
expression of liberty and
God's will individual rights
Gradual attack of French

tradition: Thomas Revolution:
Hobbes (1588– Greater break with
1679), John Locke politics and social
(1632–1704), and tradition:
Adam Smith Tocqueville
(1723–1790) (1805–1859)

Social Change and Sociology: A New
Awareness of Society
What changes combined to make people

more aware of their surroundings?
• Huge factories
• Exploding cities
Do you know why?
• New spirit of individualism
The new discipline of sociology was born in England,

France, and Germany.

Science and Sociology
Ancient civilizations
• Thought about nature of
society
• K'ung Fu-tzu, Confucius,
Plato, Aristotle
Medieval period
• Imagined ideal study society
• Marcus Aurelius, Aquinas,
Pisan, Shakespeare

Science and Sociology: A New View
• Coined term “sociology” in 1838
• Saw sociology as product of a

three-stage historical
development
• Theoretical stage (Church in
the Middle Age
• Metaphysical stage
Comte (Enlightenment and the ideas
of Hobbes, Locke, and
Rousseau)
• Scientific stage (Modern
physics, chemistry, sociology,
and the work of Copernicus,
Galileo, and Newton)

Science and Sociology: A Closer Look at
Comte
• Used scientific approach to the

study of society in positivism
• Believed that society operates

according to its own laws,
much as the physical world
Comte operates according to gravity
(continued)
and other laws of nature
• Disputed by modern
sociologists who posit a more
complex view of human
behavior, including that related
to social injustice

Sociological Theory: What Is…?
LO 1.5: Summarize
sociology’s major theoretical
approaches.

Structural-Functional Approach
Macro-level orientation is concerned

The basics
with broad patterns that shape

society as a whole.
Society is viewed as a complex

system; parts work together to
promote solidarity and stability.

Structural-Functional Approach
Key elements
Social structure: Any

relatively stable patterns
of social behavior found
in social institutions
Manifest functions:
Recognized and intended
consequences of any
social pattern
Social function:
Consequences for the
operation of society as a
whole
Latent functions:
Unrecognized and
unintended
consequences of any
social pattern
Who's Who in the Structural-Functional
Approach
Auguste • Importance of social integration

during times of rapid change
Comte
• Helped establish sociology as a

Emile discipline
Durkheim
Herbert • Compared society to the human

Spencer body

Who's Who in the Structural-Functional
Approach
• Manifest functions are

recognized and intended
consequences
Robert K. • Latent functions are

unrecognized and
Merton unintended consequences
• Social dysfunctions are

undesirable
consequences

Evaluation of the Structural-Functional
Approach

Social Conflict Approach: What Is…?

Social Conflict Approach: What Is…?

Social-Conflict Approach
The basics
• Factors such as race, sex,
class, and age are linked to
social inequality
• Dominant group vs. approach points out patterns
The social-conflict
of inequality
disadvantaged in everyday
group life. The TV series
relations
Keeping Up with the Kardashians takes a close-
up look at the lives of extremely affluent women.
In what ways do they depend on the work of
people of lower social position?

Key elements
Rejects the idea that social structure

promotes the operation of society as a whole
Suggests society is structured in ways to

benefit a few at the expense of the majority


Who's Who in the Social-Conflict Approach
Karl • Focus on importance of

social class in inequality
Marx and social conflict
W.E.B. • Focus on race as the major

Du Bois problem facing the U.S. in the
20th century

Gender-Conflict Approach and Feminism
Gender-conflict theory: Focuses on

The basics
inequality and conflict between
women and men
Feminism: Advocacy of social

equality for women and men linked
to gender-conflict theory

Who's Who In Feminism and the Gender-
Conflict Approach
• First woman sociologist
• Translated Comte's work

from French to English
Harriet • Documented the evils of
Martineau slavery, argued for laws
to protect factory
workers, and fought for
changes in education
policy for women

Who's Who In Feminism and the Gender-
Conflict Approach
Jane Addams
We can use the sociological perspective to look at
sociology itself. All Dealt
of the with
most widely recognized
Was a
pioneers of the discipline issues
were men. This is because
sociological Wonof Nobel
involving
in the nineteenth century, it was all but unheard
pioneer whoto be college professors, and fewPeace
for women women Prize
immigration
helped found took a central role in public life. (1931)
and the pursuit
Hull House
of peace

The Race-Conflict Approach
The basics
Focus on inequality and conflict

between people of different
racial and ethnic categories

The Race-Conflict Approach
Focuses on inequality and

The basics
conflict between people of
different racial and ethnic
categories
Suggests racial conflict is still

an issue in U.S.

Who's Who in the Race-Conflict Approach
• Born to slave parents

but rose to become a
teacher and then a
journalist and
Ida Wells newspaper publisher
Barnett • Campaigned for
racial equality
throughout her life

Who's Who in the Race-Conflict Approach
• Earned the first doctorate

awarded by Harvard to a
person of color
W.E.B. • Founded the Atlanta

Sociological Laboratory
Du Bois
• Believed that sociologists
should not simply learn
about society's problems
but also try to solve them

Social-Conflict Theories

Symbolic-Interaction Approach
Presents a micro-level orientation

The basics
Offers a close-up focus on social

interactions in specific situations
Views society as the product of

everyday interactions of individuals

Symbolic-Interaction Approach
Key elements Society is a shared reality that

people construct as they interact
with one another.
Society is a complex, ever-

changing mosaic of subjective
meanings.

Who's Who in the Symbolic-Interaction
Approach
• Understanding a setting
Max Weber from the people in it
George
Herbert • How we build personalities from
Mead social experience

Who's Who in the Symbolic-Interaction
Approach
Erving • Dramaturgical
analysis
Goffman
George
Homans
• Social-exchange
and Peter analysis
Blau

Overall Evaluation

Applying the Approaches: The Sociology of
Sports
LO 1.6: Apply sociology’s major theoretical approaches to the

topic of sports.
The Sociology of Sports
A structural-
functional Sports have
approach directs functional and
our attention to dysfunctional
ways sports help consequences.
society operate.
Functions
of Sports

The Sociology of Sports
Social-conflict analysis points

out games people play reflect
their social standing.
Sports
and
conflict
Sports in the United States

Sports have been oriented
are bound up with
mostly toward males.
inequalities.

Do the Math!
Why is there a
high number of Athletic performance in
African Americans some sports can be
precisely measured and is
in some not influenced by racial
professional prejudice.
sports?

Is race is linked to stacking of the positions
athletes play on the field in baseball?
What do you see?

Sports as Interaction
Structural-functional,
Symbolic-interaction
social-conflict, and
approach
symbolic-interaction
• Posits sports are less a • Provide different

system than an ongoing insights into sports
process • No one is more correct
than the others

Is sociology nothing more than a
stereotype?
No!
• Generalizations are not applied to
everyone in a category.
• Generalizations square with the
available facts.
• Generalizations are offered fair-
mindedly, with an interest in getting
at the truth.
Is sociology nothing more than a
stereotype?
• A sociology classroom is a good place to get
at the truth behind common stereotypes.

Back to Marriage Partner Selection
True or False?
• All societies enforce various
rules that state who should or
should not marry whom.

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Chapter 1

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

LO 1.1: Explain how the

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

We will revisit this topic at

Is childbearing simply a matter of personal choice?

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Suicide rates are higher for

Within each category, suicide

Rates indicate the number of

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

• Marginality; living on the edge

• Social crisis; turning personal

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

• Society, not people,

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

LO 1.2: State several reasons

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

“In sum, in an increasingly interconnected world,

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

• Sociology guides many of our

LO 1.3: Identify the advantages of sociological thinking

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

The sociological perspective

• Helps us see opportunities and constraints

• Empowers us to be active participants in

• Helps us live in a diverse world

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

The “sociological advantage”

Sociology is excellent preparation for

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

LO 1.4: Link the origins of sociology to historical

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

End of Eighteenth Century

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Middle Ages: Shift to self-

Gradual attack of French

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

What changes combined to make people

The new discipline of sociology was born in England,

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

• Coined term “sociology” in 1838

• Saw sociology as product of a

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

• Used scientific approach to the

• Believed that society operates

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Macro-level orientation is concerned

with broad patterns that shape

Society is viewed as a complex

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Social structure: Any

Auguste • Importance of social integration

• Helped establish sociology as a

Herbert • Compared society to the human

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015