Introduction to Sociology - Lecture Notes | SOC 101, Study notes of Introduction to Sociology

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The Sociologist’s Word  Sociology is the study of o Social phenomenon o Social interaction and social structure o Human social life in all its variations  Sociologists o Look for social patterns o Emphasis on groups not individuals o Acknowledges individual variations (agency of free will)  Young Discipline o Humans have always asked sociological questions o Most early sociologists were trained historians, philosophers, or economists
Auguste Comte 1798-1857  Considered the founder of modern sociology  Encouraged the scientific method to be applied to social phenomena  Trained as a philosopher and still tended to “act” that way
Emile Durkheim 1858-1917  An independent discipline  First academic appointment as a sociologist (university of Bordeaux 1887)  Edited the first journal of sociological research  Lasting legacy o Conducted rigorous empirical scientific research o Wrote extensively about proper scientific method “Rules of the Sociological Method, 1895” o Research on suicide still holds relevance o Theoretical contributions are cornerstones of sociology
Beyond “Common Sense”  Tend to not be systematic in our investigation of the social world o Authority- what we are taught/told o Experience o Intuition/insight o Reason  Generally works well enough on an individual level
Most of the time unaware  Alfred Schutz “the world taken for granted”  Natural attitude  Sociology challenges this notion of the world taken for granted
Sociologists do not stand outside of the social world and do not occupy an elite position within society
Sociologists use science to conduct research and theory as a lens to guide and interpret the findings. This allows them to achieve objectivity and yet understanding the subjectivity of human social life.

Science is  A system of discovering knowledge  An old French word derived from the latin, scientia “knowledge”  A process of inquiry o Can be thought of as a “dialogue” because it is subject to revision and rejection as well as acceptance o Intended to reduce the errors of everyday perception
Theory is  A well substantiated explanation of social phenomena (or any natural phenomena)  An organizing body of knowledge accepted as valid due to repeated testing and research supporting it as fact  A lens from which one can view the world o Reveals different aspects of human life o A sociological perspective will help us to see society’s and culture’s influences on the individual  Science in place of tradition  Emphasis on observation and empirical results  Human rights
Industrial revolution  Massive social upheaval and demographic shift  gave rise to progressive movement  emphasis on praxis  most of the early American sociologists were ministers or children of ministers
Even the discipline of sociology  Is a product of social forces o Didn’t arise spontaneously o No discipline (or organization, or social structure or…) arises spontaneously  Sociology is not immune from its own research gaze 01/21/2010
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