Sociology Notes 1 PDF

Introduction All human life is social: All human life is shaped largely by “social forces” Society the Basics 1.1 - 1.4 - Sociology is the systematic study of human society. Society refers to people who interact in a defined territory and share culture. At the heart of this discipline...

Introduction All human life is social: All human life is shaped largely by “social forces” Society the Basics 1.1 - 1.4 - Sociology is the systematic study of human society. Society refers to people who interact in a defined territory and share culture. At the heart of this discipline is a special point of view called the sociological perspective. - Sociologists look for the general patterns in the behavior of particular people - Power of society shows how the social world guides the kind of household's people in Canada form. - One person households increasing norm - Sociological perspective reveals to us the initially strange idea that society shapes what we think and do in patterned ways. Global events can alter our lives, Example Covid pandemic. A nation's level of economic development has a lot to do with women's birth rates. - Sociological perspective looks for general patterns in the behavior of particular people - Global perspective: The study of the larger world and our society's place in it - High income countries are the nations with highest overall standards of living - Middle income countries are the nations with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole - Low-income countries, nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor Comparing Canada to other nations for 5 reasons 1. Where we live shapes the lives we lead To understand ourselves, and appreciate how others live, we must understand how countries differ 2. Societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected 300,000 immigrants come to Canada per year, bringing different cultures and diversity. 3. What happens in the rest of the world affect life here in Canada Trade across national boundaries has created global economy 4. Many social problems that we face in Canada are more serious elsewhere 5. Thinking globally helps us learn more about ourselves We cannot walk the streets of a distant city without thinking about what it means to live in Canada. Sociology and Personal growth - The sociological perspective helps us assess the truth Must understand how countries differ - The sociological perspective helps us see the opportunities and constraints in other lives - The sociological perspective empowers us to be active participants in our society - The sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse world Science + sociology Comte’s 3 stages of society Theological Stage – The church in the Middle Ages Metaphysical stage – The enlightenment and the ideas of Hobbs, Locke and Rousseau Scientific stage – Modern physics, chemistry, sociology Sociality: Marginality and Crisis - Living on the edge - Racism - Race, and class can create disadvantages Periods of crisis - Using the sociological approach instead of panicking in times of crisis - Sociological Imagination Turning personal problems into public issues - The power of the sociological perspective lies in making sense of our individual lives Mills sees at as rather than looking at a problem on an individual level it is better to raise it to the public scale. Like what happened to Mike, he lost a job due to a company's cost cut, but rather than looking at it alone he realized that he had multiple coworkers that are in the same situation, and together they realize the problem. Globalization of the economy. The Importance of Global perspective - Logical extension of the sociological perspective - Society shapes our life experiences - High income countries are the nations with the highest overall standards of living  - Middle income countries are nations with a standard of living average for the world as whole - Low-income countries are nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor The origins of Sociology - Sociology itself is the result of powerful social forces. - Sociology emerged during the 19th century in Europe The Growth in Cities - Across Europe Landowners took part in what historians call the enclosure movement - During the Middle Ages, Europeans views society as an expression of God’s will. - Writing of Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679), John Locke (1632-1704) and Adam smith (1723-1790) shifted the focus of moral obligation Applying the Sociological Perspective - Sociology is at work guiding the many of the laws and policies that shape our lives. - On an individual level, making use of the sociological perspective leads to important personal growth and expanded awareness Sociology and public policy - Sociologists have helped shape public policy - Canadian Researcher Robin Bagelys work on sex led to the 1988 enactment of section 212 of the Criminal code, which prohibits attempt to purchase sex from persons under 18 years of age Sociology and personal growth 1. The sociological perspective helps us asses the truth of “common sense” Sociology 1001 Lecture 1 Professor Deborah White Exploring what sociology is about Sociology as a way of knowing - Vs direct knowledge, conventional wisdom aesthetics/art, religious knowledge - Differs based on its methods and perspectives The sociological perspective - Two key assumptions: social beings and social patterns - Don’t think of sociology as a concrete body of knowledge rather think of it as a way of knowing. - Its an approach to an understanding, a way of knowing the social world in which we live Ways of knowing Direct experience/Knowledge: We know things through our direct experiences and our direct knowledge. Our experiences tell us certain things about the world and shape our experiences. Conventional Wisdom: Example: competition is good for individuals and society Generally learned through our parents Common Sense Much of it can be valuable but can also be inaccurate Art/Aesthetics: The creative ideas and thoughts of artists are often very illuminating to our social life Songs about Racism Meaningful paintings about religion or important events Painters can provide us visual of the social world Dance Film makers Example: (Wolf of Wall Street) Religious Knowledge: Based on traditional wisdom and faith To know in a religious does mean you need scientific proof Religious facts can’t always be proven Its about knowing the world through faith - Example: Many believe our lives are in god’s hands Each of these ways of knowing the world can be valuable ways of guiding us through our lives. These forms of knowledge are all partial and somewhat limited forms of knowledge. SOCIOLOGY as one ‘way of knowing’ Sociology is about getting beyond one person’s direct experience It might be about determining the extent of which an artist’s insights Sociological inquiry is different from other forms of thinking The key to thinking sociologically is “Context” (Contextualizing phenomena, individuals, events, etc) The sociological ‘way of knowing’ differs from other ways of knowing in two main respects 6. Methods 7. Perspective Sociological Perspective - Different topics, questions, theories, methods - Some will take a macro-level approach (Looking at big institutions) - Some Will take micro- level approach (Looking at smaller groups or individuals) All sociological inquiry is based on discerning and explaining — the patterns that underlie social life Patterns and behaviors exist, we can understand and explain them (The concern of sociology) When we speak about social patterns were talking about the ways in which humans interact socially in a regularized way An assumption that is fundamental to a sociological perspective: All Human life is social (Human Life is social Life) We are all born helpless, undeveloped, and unlike other animals we have long dependency periods. Therefore, we need some sort of social interaction to survive. Humanity was not raised in isolation it was raised in a social environment We’re putting something in context Approach to ‘seeing the general in the particular’ is to analyze the event or social behavior using ‘social categories or concepts’ that reflect established social patterns. Example: Social class Gender Race Age Education/occupation Sexual Orientation These social categories are the concepts or tools that sociologists use to tune into different situations. Sociology makes the connection between individuals and particular events Three Key founders of sociology Emile Durkheim: — He suggested that suicide could be seen from a sociological perspective. What we wanted to do as show that this very personal act could be viewed sociologically. He got access to government records on death reports and begins noting. He founds that me, protestants and unmarried people have higher suicide rates. Women, Jewish/Catholic and married people have lower suicide rate Low social integrations vs High social integrations (Were people strongly integrated with others or weakly?) It was the degree of social integration on which Durkheim related suicide rates Max Weber: Karl Marx “Seeing the strange in the familiar” CONTEXT as key to ‘seeing the strange in the familiar’ We see behaviors, actions and social patterns differently when we take them out of context. Seeing our own social patterns - To observe our ‘taken for granted worlds, we try to approximate being on the ‘margins’ looking - One of the most effective ways to understand our own social world is through a: Comparative approach (Either cross culturally or historically) Looking at things comparatively makes our structures and patterns more important How did the social patterns we live out every day become ‘normal’? Why those behaviors/patterns and not others? Who benefits from them and who may not Missed point! Peter Berger 1929-2017 (American Sociologist) “Invitation to sociology” C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) (American Sociologist) He believed that for society to move forward in a string, productive and fair way, people needed to develop a certain “Quality of mind” That ‘Quality of Mind was what called: “The sociological Imagination” To his mind people had to understand what was going in there personal worlds and on the wider range of society He said we needed to develop a “Quality of Mind” To grasp social life and change (Sociological imagination). He believed for that the good of society people had to have a sociological imagination. The ‘sociological imagination’ is about recognizing the pervasiveness of social influences in understanding human behaviour and social problems Seeing that our lives shapes in great part by ‘Social forces’ This ‘Quality of mind’ is a way of thinking that situates individual lives in broader ‘contexts’ In order to make sense of these biographies we have to see them in these contexts. The ’sociological imagination’ C. Wright Mills The ‘Sociological imagination’ makes connections between: - The personal troubles of mileau - The public issues of ‘Social structure’ Sociological imagination Intersects: - Biography (your own personal story) - Social Structure (our surroundings0 - History’ Initial “Key Concepts’ for the study of sociology Social Structure (Social Order ) Social Change Social Structure: Refers to the enduring, orderly and patterned relationship between elements of a society. You can think of it as the stable or social order part of our life. It Shapes the opportunities and the limitations that people will confro nt in life. Social structure is not a static thing. When talking about social structure we’re talking about patterns. Social structure has real life implications Our choices in life are constrained by social structures. *The watch analogy Pieces of a watch doesn’t make it a watch, the way you put it together is what makes it a watch. Societies are created by the parts Social order and Social change go hand in hand. Despite ‘Social order’ and ‘social structure’ Social change has historically proven to be inevitable. Social change: Has historically proven to be inevitable. Social conscious activity and action can alter and transform social structures. There are social forces (people with interest) in changing social structures. Reading 1.4 - Chapter 1 Three ways to do sociology - All sociologists want to learn about the social world - Sociologist Favour research orientation - Positivist, Interpretive, and critical sociology Positivist Sociology - Study of society based on scientific observation of social behavior - Also knows as empirical sociology because it is based on empirical evidence - “Common Sense” Examples of false “Common Sense” 1. Poor people are far more likely than rich people to break the law. (Not True) 2. Canada is a middle-class society in which most people are more or less equal. False 3. Most Poor people don't want to work. False  4. Differences in the behavior of women or girls and men or boys are just “human nature’ 5. People change as they grow old, losing many interests as they focus more and more on their health 6. Most people marry because they are in love - We need to evaluate more critically, what we see, read and hear. - “Concept” a metal construct that represents some of the world in a simplified form - “Variable” is a concept whose value change from case to case - Social class – upper, middle and working class - “measurement”-- a procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case - “Operationalize a variable” -- specifying exactly what is to be measured before assigning a value to a variable Statistics - Sociologists face problem with dealing with large numbers of people - “Descriptive statistics” -- to state the “average” for a large population Reliability and Validity - Reliability refers to consistency in measurement - Validity, which is measuring exactly what you intend to measure - Valid measurement can be tricky – peer pressure can cause validation issues - Sociological research depends on careful measurement Examples 1. Your GPA is an example of an average. It is a mean, because it is calculated by adding the numbers of grade points and dividing by the number of credits 2. Median is used in sociology because it is not affected by any extreme numbers. The median is the middle case, the value that occurs midway in a series of numbers arranged from lowest to highest 3. Quick calculation for numbers 1,2,5,6,6 – Mode = 6, Median = 5, mean = 4 Correlation and Cause - Correlation means a relationship in which two (or more) variables change togethers - The scientific idea is to determine “cause and effect” -- a relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another - Variable that causes change is the “independent variable - Variable that changes is the “dependent variable” - Two variables change together does not necessarily mean a cause and effect – For example: The marriage rate in Canada falls to its lowest point in January, which also happens to be the month when the national death rate is the highest.  - When 2 variables change together but neither one causes the other, this is called “spurious correlation” -- an apparent but false relationship between two (or more) variables that is the result of some other variable The ideal of Objectivity - Objectivity – personal neutrality in conducting research - Carefully observing the rules of scientific research will maximize objectivity - German sociologist Max Weber noted that people usually choose “value relevant ‘research topics”—topics they care about - Researchers must stay open minded, and must except whatever results come from their work - Sociologists point out that we can never be completely value free - Sociologists are not “average” people: Most are white, highly educated, and much more politically liberal than the population as a whole - Critical sociology: - Critical sociology, is the study of society that that focuses on inequality and the need for social change The importance of change Critical sociologists as normative and political questions, such as “should society exist in its present form?” Society should not remain as it is and that we should pursue social justice by making our world more socially equal Critical sociology does reject the positivist claim that researchers should try to be objective and limit their work in studying the status quo Researchers should be value free and instead should be social activists in pursuit of greater social equality Sociology as politics - Positivist sociologists object to taking sides in this way - Critical sociology replies that all research is political or biased - Critical sociology is an activist orientation that ties knowledge to action. ISSUES AFFECTING SOCIOLOGICAL RESARCH - Both gender and ethics play important parts in sociological investigation Gender Androcentricity: Refers to approaching an issue from a male perspective Overgeneralizing: This problem occurs when researchers use data drawn from people of only one gender Gender blindness: Failing to consider gender at all. The lives of men and women differ in countless ways Double standards. Researchers must be careful not to distort what they study by judging men and women differently Interference: Another way gender can distort a study is if a subject reacts to the sex of the researcher, interfering with the research operation “Heteronormativity-- the assumption that heterosexuality is the natural way in which gender itself is organized. Research Ethics - Sociologists must be aware that their research can harm as well as help research participants or communities - (CSA) - Sociologists must try to be skillful, and fair minded in their work - Disclose all research findings without omitting significant data - Must make sure that people taking part in a research project are not harmed - Sociologists must include their published results all sources of financial support - Accepting money from a source can cause conflict of interest - Federal government plays part in research ethics - The Thinking about diversity box offers tips on the sensitivity outsiders should apply when studying Indigenous communities in Canada Research with first Nations, Inuit and Metis Peoples of Canada - Researchers must meaningfully engage indigenous communitas that their research is likely to affect, by, for example, inviting elders to participate in research design and executions - First Nations, Inuit and Metis representatives should be invited to join ethical review boards and to provide project oversight, where appropriate - Researchers must ensure that the research is relevant to community priorities and that it has real benefits for and that the results are widely distributed to the participating community Research Methods: - A research method is a systematic plan for doing research - Four common methods of sociological investigation are experiments, surveys, participant observation, and the use of existing data - Researchers select a method or mix several methods according to whom they want to study and what they want to learn Testing a Hypothesis: The Experiment - An experiment is a research method for investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions - Experiments closely follow the logic of science - Hypothesis- a statement of a possible relationship between two or more variables - A hypothesis takes the form of an if-then statement - Successful experiments depend on careful control of all Favors that might affect what the experiment is trying to measure Four steps In an Experiment 1. State which variable is the independent variable and which dependent variable (2) Measure the initial value of the dependent variable. (3) Expose the  dependent variable to the independent variable. (4) Measure the dependent variable again to see what change, if any, took place. ZIMBARDO STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT Survey: - A survey is a research method in which participants respond to a series of statements or questions on a questionnaire or an interview - A survey targets some population, Ex- single mothers - Resarchers study a sample – much smaller number of participants - Populations share three main characteristics 1. There is no known list of the members of population 2. Acknowledging to the belonging of a group is threatening because membership involves fear or prosecution 3. Members are distrustful or nonmembers, do whatever they can to avoid revealing their identities, and likely refuse to cooperate with outsiders Longitudinal research design Respondent-driven sampling Why is statistical data an efficient way of conveying a lot of information? Statistical data is an efficient of conveying information because it gathers real life situations from real people to create accurate data. This data then shows researchers the answers they were looking for, and the more accurate statistics of what type of situations occur in their society. Participant Observation - A research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities - Let's researchers study everyday social life in any natural setting, from a nightclub to a religious seminary - Calling this method fieldwork and ethnography - Try to gain entry in a setting without disturbing the routine behavior of others - Must become participants in the setting - “Breaking in requires patience” - “Key informant” Examples of when you would use research methods - Experiment: A prison experiment, or when studying the psychological effects on a person in a specific setting, White room experiments etc. - Survey: When you are trying to find accurate statistics. Ex- Suicide rates in men in certain societies. by checking the mental state of men through surveys in different  locations, you can then develop accurate statistics on why these problems or situations occur. - Participant observation: Trying to figure out why a student isn’t motivated at school or seeing what causes drug use in adolescence or in teenage years. Using available data: Existing sources - Using available info saves time and money - Gives us representations of human beings constitute an important source of data Stereotype: - Is a simplified description applied to every person in some category. Ex- Indians smell bad - Sociologists shape their generalizations to available facts 1.1 The sociological perspective reveals the power of society to shape individual lives - C. Wright Mills called this point of view “sociological imagination” which transforms personal troubles into public issues - Being an outsider or experiencing social crisis encourages use of the sociological perspective Global awareness is an important part of the sociological perspective because: ☺ Where we live shapes the lives we lead ☺ Societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected ☺ What happens in the rest of the world affects life in Canada ☺ Many social problems that we face in Canada are far worse elsewhere ☺ Thinking globally helps us learn more about ourselves Rapid social change helped trigger development of sociology ♦ Rise of industrial economy ♦ Explosive growth of cities ♦ New political ideas Auguste Comte named the discipline of sociology in 1838 Early philosophers had tried to describe the idea society, but comte wanted to understand society is it really is Karl Mark and many later sociologists used sociology to try to make society better 1.2 The sociological perspective: - Used by government agencies when developing laws and regulation that guide how people in communities live and work - Helps us understand the barriers and opportunities in our lives - Is an advantage for anyone with a job that involves working with people Sociological Theory: - Macro level o The structural functional approach explores how social structures work together to help society operate Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, and Herbert Spencer helped develop the structural- functional approach The social conflict approach explains how inequality creates conflict and causes change - Two important types of conflict analysis are gender conflict theory, which is also called feminist theory, and critical race theory - Micro Level - The symbolic interaction approach studies how people, in everyday interaction, construct reality - Max Weber and George Herbert Mead helped develop social interaction approach Three ways to Do sociology Positivist sociology: - Uses the logic of science - Tries to establish cause and effect - Is loosely linked to structural functional theory Interpretive sociology  - It focuses in the meanings people attach to behavior - Sees reality as constructed by people during their Everday lives - Includes Webers Verstetheb: learning how people understand their world - Is linked to symboic interaction theory Critical sociology - Uses research to bring about social change - Focuses on inequality - Rejects the principle of objectivity, claiming that all research is political - Is linked to social conflict theory Issues Affecting sociological research 1.5: - Gender can affect sociological research if a researcher fails to avoid problems of androcentricity, overgeneralizing, gender blindness, double standards, or interference - Sociologists must ensure that participants in a research project are not harmed and must include their published results all sources of financial support Research methods: - The experiment allows researchers to study cause and effect between two or more variables in a controlled setting - Surveys research uses question are or interviews to gather participants’ responses to a series of questions - Through participant observations, researchers join with people in a social setting for an extended period - Researchers use data collected by others from existing sources to save time and money How do we know? From common sense to a scientific approach Sociologists try to critically investigate social claims (Positivistic)Scientific approach: - The method primarily used in sociological way of knowing - The scientific approach. In sociology involves the process of attempting to take scientific principles and apply them to the study of the social world. Trying to uncover what is really going on - It is how social scientists study the social world - Most commonly used in sociological investigations 6 Key premises of science Empirical: - Learning about something tangible - Sense that the world is empirical - It can be learned and verified through the senses - Separates science from religion, you have to be able to verify observations 8. Logical and rational Causality: - Time order (cause must always occur before the effect) - Patterned change (as one thing changes, so does the other) - Rule out other explanations - Underlying assumption that one things causes another - Cause and effect - Often very difficult to establish cause and effect - Approximate causality - We need to understand logical assumptions behind cause and effect 9. Objective: - Notion that science is not about our values and judgements as the researchers 10. Information collected is systematic and public - These 2 things are interelated - Your work has to be public - Making it public so it can be duplicated if necessary - Other try to do what you did to see if they can get the same results - Must provide information needed for others to replicate studies 11. Science is skeptical: - Assumption that a finding is always only true until someone proves otherwise - Questioning everything all the time 12. Knowledge is Cumulative: - We keep building upon what went before - We tested to see if we got the same results - Now lets look at it at a different time - Sociologists are full time researchers - Always must be aware of what has already been done 6 premises constitute the basis of the ‘scientific approach’ Sociological research continuum: Positivism —— interpretive Sociological investigation is about both: - The assumptions of science  - The challenge of applying them to the study of the social world Obstacles to applying “science” to the study of social life Ethics: - Ethics to do with manipulation - We cannot bring physical harm to anyone that we are studying - Rigorous ethic protocols Costs: - Can be very expensive to conduct sociological research - Takes time and lots of money - Apply for grants Limited control over people: - Can’t always get people to cooperate with the research goals you have in mind Subjectivity: - What you see someone doing may not be what there thinking or how they are feeling Researcher presence may affect those studied Social science inquiry aims to determine the logical persistent patterns of regularity in social life. - Deal in ‘tendencies’ and ‘probabilistic patterns’ - Life is not totally chaotic or random - There are social structures and patterns - Social life is not as orderly as parts as the physical world - In the sociological world there aren’t certainty’s - Accept the notion that there is a certain degree of regularity - Don’t deal in laws - Dealing with probability of certain effects and patterns - This is what sociologists search for in their sociological investigation Paradigms: - A paradigm is a fundamental model or scheme that organizes our view of something - It refers to a general way of seeing the world, that dictates which questions to ask, what methods to best use, and what theories are acceptable - Its a way which dictates what kinds of sociological research should be done - Its a particular lens we are looking through when conducting research - Sociology is considered a multi paradigm 3 Major Paradigms Structural Functional: - View that society is a system made of connected parts, to keep stability for the overall society - Each part has a function to play - Ask how the different parts are related and how they work with each other - Emile Durkheim Social Conflict - The assumption that the dominant groups of people and there patterns basically shake the nature of the society that we live in - Society is rooted in division and conflicts - Social life is viewed as a struggle amongst different groups of people - How power gets distributed unequally and what are the consequences of that Symbolic interactions - Viewing social life as a process of interactions between individuals - They are focused on groups and individuals at the micro level - They see it as a process of symbolic communications (e.g as humans we all communicate symbolically) - Max Weber Theory and research are intertwined - What are the implications of what is going on Theory: - A systematic explanation for the observed fats and tendencies that relate to a particular aspect of life - It may also be understood as a set of statements specifying an explanatory relationship between two or more phenomena. Theory is essential to social research. It provides focus and direction and often explanation - Theory Guides our research - Can be an abstract and general phenomenon The research process - Hypotheses (from theory) - Conceptualization - Variables (dependent/independent - Operationalization - Some considerations of research design Methodology: - Content Analysis - Field research - Survey research - Experiments Analysis of Data (tie back to theory) Hypothesis: - Is a statement of a relationship between two or more concepts (variables). It is based on what you expect to observe in the empirical world (similar to prediction) - It is a specific statement, which is easier to ‘test’ in the real world than a theory - An unverified prediction - Can come from theories - Has within 2 or more concepts that are related to one another - If then statement - A more specific statement of what we expect to receive in the real world Ex: Older people have a greater tendency than younger people to initiate social interaction in a public situation” Paradigms — theories —- hypothesis Conceptualization: - Clearly stating in words what you mean by your concepts - Clearly spelling out or defining what you mean when you use a certain concept in your hypothesis Variables: - Variables are concentrating measures of concepts that have more than one value - Value is an attribute or quality that makes up a variable - Hypothesis is made up of variables - Concrete measures of concepts that have more than one value - Variable social class: Lower, Middle, and upper class The two key variables in hypothesis testing are: - Independent variable - Dependent variable - Independent variable comes before the dependent variable Operationalization: - The process of transforming abstract ideas into a set of concrete indicators that can be observed and measured - (Put your variables into operation) - Testing our variables Validity: - The quality of measuring precisely on what one intends to measure - Are variables social integration? Research design: 2 Key considerations: - Sampling - Time dimension (longitudinal vs cross sectional) — conducted over time to see what is changing Methodology: as a part of research design ‘Methodology’ refers to set of procedures and research activities (your ‘research method’ used to look for social patterns and regularities - There is reasoning behind which research method is selected Research method: - Resources - Access to subjects - Purpose of the research/types of questions (what questions are you trying to answer? Content analysis: Systematic examination of ‘social artifacts’ that reflect people’s actions, behaviors, ideas, and/or beliefs in order to disc ern patterns. - Observing people's social artifacts - Seeing what story particular people left behind  - Allows you to look at patterns over a long period of time - Can be valuable Field research: Is about capturing a detailed understanding of the world of small group in an in-depth manner (a more ‘interpretive’ research method) - It ranges from non - intrusive to intrusive: complete observation to ‘participant observation’ - Might be a complete observer - Could be a participant in the observation Survey research: Survey research involves administering a questionnaire and asking questions of a sample of a population - It is closer to ‘positivist’ approach, and typically more intrusive than say, ‘content analyses or complete observation - A research method that is common in the social sciences, and used extensively in governments, media research, private organizations and non-profits, etc. - Data collection method - Used for measuring public opinion - Measuring political opinions - Used in market research - Every organization uses survey research - Good way of getting data from a larger amount of people Experiments: controlled environments where the experimenter control and manipulates the independent and dependant variables - Less common in sociology - Represent very controlled environments Analysis: - Data is gathered an analyzed using an approach suitable to the research method choses for data collection - Here interpretations and conclusions are made, and the findings are tied back to the original theory - Making sense of all your notes - You can tie these notes back to your theory to develop a conclusion - Analysis depends on the type of research method you decide to use Reading CH 17.3-17.6, 5.1- 5.3 Modernity Central concept in the study of Social change Changes brought about the industrial revolution  Modernization is the process of social change begun by industrialization Peter Berger 4 Major characteristics The decline of small, traditional communities o “Progressive weakening” The expansion of personal choice o “Individualization” Increasing social diversity Orientation toward the future and an increasing awareness of time Tradition and Modernity: The History Of Jeans Sociologists like to contrast “tradition” and “modernity” Ferdniany Tonnies: The loss of Community German Sociologist Produces a lasting account of modernization in his theory of Geminschaft and Geselleshaft Viewed modernization as a progressive loss for human community Traditional spirit of Gemeinschaft meant that people were “essentially united in spite of all seperating factors. This is the world of Gesellshaft, where, especially in large cities, most people live among strangers and ignore the people they pass on the street Gemeinschaft meant that people were “essentially united in spite of all separating factors Emile Durkheum: The division of Labour French Sociologist Division of labour aka “specialized economic activity”  Modern society function by having people perform highly specific jobs Preindustrial societies are held together by ‘mechanical solidarity’, or shared moral sentiments With modernization division of labour (job specialization) becomes more and more pronounced Organic solidarity - mutual dependency between people engaged in specialized work Durkheim labelled modern society “organic”, arguing that modern society is no less natural then any other Traditional societies labeled as “Mechanical” because they are so regimented “Anomie”, a condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals. Max Weber: Rationalization For Max Weber, Modernity means replacing traditional worldview with a rational way of thinking Tradition acts as a constant brake on social change in preindustrial societies To modern people “Truth” is the result of rational calculation Modern people readily adopt new social patterns that allow them to achieve their goals Weber characterized modern society as “disenchanted” modern society turns away from gods just as it turns away from the past Karl Max: Capitalism For Karl Max, modern society was synonymous with capitalism Saw Industrial revolution as primarily as capitalist revolution Marx believed that the social conflict in capitalist societies would sow the seeds of revolutionary change, leading to an egalitarian socialism. Marx’s views on history and class inequality are still relevant today Argued that profit-seeking nature of capitalism would drive workers into greater poverty and polarize capitalist society into two hostile camps, the bourgeoisie and proletariat Theories of Modernity The rise of modernity is a complex process involving many dimensions of change Structural functional theory: Modernity as Mass society Emergence of a Mass society A mass society is a society in which prosperity and bureaucracy have weakened traditional social ties Mass society is Highly productive On Average people have more income than ever Marked by weak kinship and impersonal neighbourhoods The mass scale on modern life: o Such small communities tolerated little social diversity o Population increase, city growth, specialized economic activity driven by the Industrial revolution gradually altered this pattern o People looked on others as simply strangers o Face to face communication replaced by mass media The ever-expanding state: o Since confederation government has assumed responsibility for more areas of social life like schooling, regulating wages, and working conditions In a mass society, power resided in large bureaucracies, leaving people with little control over their lives Modern societies are prone to excessive bureaucracy and Anomie Social conflict Analysis: Modernity as Class society Modernity takes form of a class society Class society: a capitalist society with pronounced social stratification. Capitalism  Increasing scaled of social life in modern society has resulted from the growth and greed unleashed by capitalism Capitalist economy pursues ever greater profits, both production and consumption steadily increase According to Marx capitalism rests on “Naked self Interest” Capitalism is an ideology that justifies the status quo Persistent Inequality Real power lies in the hands of capitalists who control the economy A basic criticism of class society is that it overlooks the long-term increasing prosperity of modern societies and the fact that discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion and gender is now illegal and widely regarded as a social problem. Mass society: Problems of Identity Mass societies are socially diverse and rapidly changing “Option Paralysis” Giving up on making a choice whatsoever (Douglas Coupland) To David Riesman modernization brings changes in social character - personality patterns common to members of a particular society Preindustrial societies promote tradition - directness, rigid conformity to time - honoured ways of living. other directedness - openness to the latest trends and fashions, often expressed by imitating others. Class society: Problems of Powerlessness This approach maintains that persistent social inequality undermines society’s promise of Individual freedom Disadvantaged categories of the population experience powerlessness much more severely Modernity and Progress In modern societies, most people expect and applaud social change  Link Modernity to the Idea of Progress Modernity: Global variation The old and new often coexist in unexpected ways Postmodernity: postmodernity - the transformations caused by the Information revolution and the post - industrial economy Five themes of postmodernism 1. In important respects, modernity has failed. Twentieth century was not successful in solving poverty or racism 2. The bright light of “progress” is fading. 3. Science no longer holds the answers. Science has failed to solve many old problems and has even created new problems 4. Cultural Debates are intensifying. Ideas are taking on more importance 5. Social institutions are changing. Modernization and Our global Future People are likely to resist change (David Riesman) Today’s poor societies have little ability to modernize Dependency theory asserts that rich nations achieved by their modernization at the expense of poor ones by taking their valuable natural resources and exploiting their human labour Page overview 17.1: Social change is the transformation of culture and social institutions over time. societies change all the time, sometimes faster, sometimes more slowly. Social change often generates controversy causes of social change 17.2:  Culture - Invention produces new objects, ideas and social patterns. Discovery occurs when people take notice of existing elements of the world. Diffusion creates change as products, people, and information spread from one society to another Conflict - Karl Max claimed that class conflict between capitalists and workers drives society towards a socialist system of production. Social conflict arising from class, racial, and gender inequality has resulted in some improvement in the lives of working people, although economic inequality continues to increase. Ideas: Max Weber claimed that the fact that industrial capitalism developed first Areas of Western Europe where the Protestant work ethic was strong show the power of ideas to bring about change. Population patterns: the aging of Canadian society has resulted in changes to family life and the development of consumer products to meet the needs of the elderly. Migration within and between societies promotes change. Collective Behaviour crowds, in the form of political demonstrations and protest rallies, can bring about political change. Mobs and riots are types of crowds that are highly emotional and often violent; by threatening the status quo, they often result in social change RUMOUR thrives in a climate of uncertainty and can trigger the formation of crowds and direct their action. FASION, which reflects changes in cultural values, guides peoples taste in clothing music, and automobiles, as well as their political attitudes. FADS are social patterns that people embrace enthusiastically but for a very short period Types of social movements: Alterative social movements seek limited change in specific individuals. Redemptive social movements seek radical change in specific individuals. Reformative social movements seek limited change in the whole society. Revolutionary social movements seek radical change in the whole society. Explanations of social movements: Deprivation theory: Social movements arise among people who feel deprived of something, such as income, safe working conditions, or political rights. Mass society theory: social movements attract socially isolated people seeking a sense of identity and purpose. culture theory: social movements depend not only on money and resources but also on cultural symbols that motivate people. Resource mobilization theory: a moments success is linked to available resources, including money, labour, and the mass media, Political economy theory: social movements arise in opposition to the capitalist economic system, which fails to meet the needs of most people. New social movements theory: Social movements in post-industrial societies are typically leaderless and expressive, addressing a wide range of political, economic and social issues. Modernity (17.3) Modernity refers to the social consequences of industrialization: the decline of traditional communities, the expansion of personal choice, increasing social diversity, and a focus on the future Ferdinand Tonnies: described modernization as the transition from Gemeinschasft to Gesellschaft, characterized by the loss of traditional community and the rise of individualism Emile Durkheim: saw modernization as a societies expanding division of labour. Mechanical solidarity, based on shared activities and beliefs, is gradually replaced by organic solidarity, in which specialization makes people interdependent Max Weber: Saw modernity as the decline of traditional worldview and the rise of rationality. Weber feared the dehumanizing effects of modern rational organization Karl Marx saw modernity as the triumph of capitalism over feudalism Theories of Modernity (17.4) Structural - Functional Theory: Modernity as Mass society According to mass society theory, modernity increases the scale of life, enlarging the role of government and other formal organization in carrying out tasks previously performed by families in local communities. Cultural diversity and rapid social change makes it difficult for people in modern societies to develop stable identities and to find meaning in their lives Social conflict Theory: Modernity as Class society According to class society theory, modernity involves the rise of capitalism into global economic system resulting in persistent social inequality, By concentrating wealth in the hands of a few, modern capitalist societies generate widespread feelings of alienation and powerlessness. Modernity and the Individual Mass society: problems of Identity - According to david Riesman, preindustrial societies exhibit tradition- directedness: Everyone in society draws on the same solid cultrual foundation, and people model their lives on those their ancestors. Modern societies exhibit other directedness: because their socialization occurs in societies that are  continuously in flux, other directed people develop fluid identities marked by superficiality, inconsistency and changed. Class society: Problems of powerlessness According to Herbert Marcuse, modern society is irrational because it fails to meet the needs of so many people. Technological advances further reduce peoples control over their own lives. People suffer because modern societies concentrate both wealth and power in the hands of a privileged few. Modernity and Progress The rising standards of living has made lives longer, and the conveniences brought us to by developments in science and tech have made our everyday lives more comfy Many people are stressed and have little time to relax; advancements in transportation and communications technology have weakened traditional attachments to hometowns and families; there have been no increases in measures of personal happiness over recent decades. Postmodernity (17.5) Postmodernity refers to the cultural traits of post-industrial societies. Postmodern criticism of society centres on the failure of modernity, and specifically science, to fulfill its promise of prosperity and well being Modernization and Our (17.6) global Future Modernization Theory links global poverty to the power of tradition. Rich nations can help poor countries develop their economies Dependency theory explains global poverty as the product of the world economic system. The operation of multinational corporations makes poor nations economically dependent on rich nations Groups and Organizations C5 Social Groups A social group is 2 or more people who identify with and interact with one another Members of social groups think of themselves as special “we” Primary and Secondary Groups  Primary group is a small social group whose members share personal and lasting relationships Secondary group is a large impersonal social group whose members pursue a specific goal or activity People in secondary groups have goal orientation Primary groups have personal orientation Group leadership “Instrumental Leadership” refers to group leadership that focuses on the completion of tasks “Expressive leadership, is group leadership that focuses on the groups well being Three leadership styles Authoritarian leadership focuses on instrumental concerns o A fast-acting authoritarian leader is appreciated in a crisis Democratic leadership is more expressive and makes a point of including everyone in the decision-making process o Democratic leaders draw on ideas of all members to develop creative solutions to problems Laissez - faire leadership allows the group to function more or less on its own. o Least effective in promoting group goals in hierarchal organizations o Well, suited to groups with members who are knowledgeable, passionate, and capable of working independently Group conformity Groups influence the behavior of their members by promoting conformity Group pressure can be unpleasant and dangerous Asch’s research Being seen as different even by people that we don’t know Milgram’s research How punishment affects one’s learning People are likely to follow the lead of not only legitimate authority figures but also groups of ordinary individuals, even when it means harming another person Janis’s Groupthink Experts also cave into group pressure groupthink - the tendency of group members to conform, resulting in a narrow view of some issue More likely to occur when members of a group have similar attitudes Reference groups reference group - a social group that serves as a point of reference in making evaluations and decisions Reference groups can be primary or secondary our need to conform can show how others ‘attitudes’ affect us anticipatory socialization Stouffers research In groups and out groups Each of us favour some groups over others, based on political outlook, social prestige, or even just manner of dress An in group is a social group toward which a member feels respect and loyalty An in groups exists in relation to an out group, a social group toward which a person feels a sense of competition or opposition These groups are based on the idea that “we” have valued traits “they” lack Group size Group size plays an important role on how group members interact  “channels” The Dyad o German sociologist Georg Simmel (1858 - 1918) studies social dynamics in the smallest social groups o Dyad (Greek for pair) to designate a social group with 2 members o Dyads are unstable o Both members must work to keep Dyad going The triad o A social group with 3 members which contains three relationships, each uniting two of the three people o Dyad acts as a mediator o As groups grow beyond three people, they become more stable and capable of withstanding the loss of one or more members Increase in group size can reduce the intense personal interaction possible only in the smallest groups Larger groups are based on formal rules and regulation not personal attachment Social diversity: Race, class and gender Race, ethnicity, class and gender each play a part in group dynamics 1. Large groups turn inward 1. The larger the group is the more likely its members are to have relationships just among themselves 2. Heterogenous groups turn outward 1. The more internally diverse a group is, the more likely its members are to interact with outsiders. 3. Physical boundaries create social boundaries  1. A social group is physically segregated from others, its members are less likely to interact with other people. Networks A network is a web of weak social ties group containing people who come into occasional contact but who lack a sense of boundaries and belonging Think of network as “social web” Internet is biggest network Network ties give us the sense that we live in a small world Network ties can be weak but a powerful resource who you know is often as important as what you know Networks are based on people’s educational institutions, clubs’ neighbourhoods, political affiliations, religious organizations, and personal interests People with denser social networks are connected to a larger share of the people living around them. Gender also shapes networks o women include more relatives (and more women) in their networks o Men include more coworkers (and more men) Social media and Networking Social media refers to media that allows people to communicate with one another Makes it significantly easier to socialize The covid 19 pandemic and Group Life Covid increased social isolation Formal Organizations Large secondary groups organized to achieve their goals efficiently Types of formal organizations Utilitarian organizations o Everyone who works for income belongs to this organization o Becoming part of this is a matter of individual choice Normative organizations o People join these organizations to pursue some goal they think is morally worthwhile o Sometimes called voluntary associations (Lions club, etc) Coercive organizations o Membership in this organization is involuntary o People are forced to join as form of punishment or treatment o Have special physical features o Supervised by security personal o isolate people It is possible for a single organization to fall into all three categories from the POV of different individuals. Origins of formal organizations Early organizations had 2 limitations o First, they lacked tech to transport people over large distances, to allow people to communicate quickly, and to gather and store more info o Second, the preindustrial societies in which they operated had traditional cultures Tradition according to (weber) consists of behavior, values, and beliefs passed from generation to generation Tradition makes society conservative Tradition limits an organizations productive efficiency and ability to change  (Weber) described modern worldview as based on rationality - a way of thinking that emphasizes deliberate, matter of fact calculation of the most efficient way to accomplish a particular task. Rational worldview pays little attention to the past and encourages productive efficiency (Weber) Rationalization of society, the historical change from tradition to rationality as the main type of Human thought. Characteristics of Bureaucracy Bureaucracy is an organizational model rationally designed to perform tasks efficiently Consider smartphone Max Weber 6 key elements of the ideal bureaucratic organization: 1. Specialization. Our ancestors spent more of their time performing the general task of looking for food and shelter. Bureaucracy, by contrast, assigns people highly specialized jobs 2. Hierarchy of positions. Bureaucracies arrange workers in a vertical ranking. Each person is supervised by someone “higher up” in the organization while in turn supervising others is lower positions. Usually, with few people at the top and many at the bottom, bureaucratic organizations take the form of a pyramid 3. Rules and regulations. Cultural tradition counts for little in a bureaucracy. Instead, rationally enacted rules and regulations guide a bureaucracy’s operation. Ideally, a bureaucracy operates in a completely predictable way 4. Technical competence. Bureaucratic officials have the technical competence to carry out their duties. Bureaucracies typically hire new members according to set standards and then monitor their performance. Such impersonal evaluation contrasts with the ancient custom of favouring relatives, whatever their talents, over strangers 5. Impersonality. Bureaucracy puts rules ahead personal whim so that both clients and workers are all treated in the same way. From this impersonal approach comes the commonplace image of the “faceless bureaucrat”. 6. Formal, written communications. It is said that the heart of bureaucracy is not people but paperwork or, in today’s cyberworlds, computer files. Instead of the casual, face to face talk that characterizes interaction withing small groups, bureaucracy relies on formal written memos, reports and records, which adulate in vast files. Organizational Environment consists of factors an organization that affect its operation. Factors include (Page 209) o Tech o economic and political trends o current events o the available workforce o population patterns o other organizations Modern organizations are shaped by tech Economic and political trends affect organizations. Population patterns also affect organizations Current events have significant affect Other organizations also contribute to the organizational environment The informal side of bureaucracy Organizational informality reflects the distinctive personalities of leaders Authoritarian, democratic and laissez - faire types of leadership reflect individual personality as much as any organizational plan. In the real world “Leaders” tend to seek benefit personally by abusing organizational power Communication offers another example of organizational informality Using new info tech as well as age old human ingenuity, members or organizations often try to break free of rigid rules to personalize procedures and surroundings Problems of Bureaucracy Can dehumanize and manipulate us  Bureaucratic alienation o formal organizations can create alienation (Weber) Bureaucratic Inefficiency and Ritualism o Inefficiency, the failure of a formal organization to carry out the work it exists to perform, is a familiar problem o Inefficiency can be inevitable in any large-scale effort o Rober Merton (1968) bureaucratic ritualism - to describe a focus on rules and regulations to the point of undermining an organizations goal. Bureaucratic Inertia o Refers to the tendency of bureaucratic organizations to perpetuate themselves Oligarchy The rule of the many by the few Robert Michels (1876-1936) “Iron law of oligarchy” Weber believed that a strict hierarchy of responsibility resulted in high organizational efficiency Bureaucracy helps distance officials from the public Oligarchy, then, thrives in the hierarchal structure of bureaucracy and reduces leaders accountability to the people The Evolution of Formal Organizations Scientific management Frederick Winslow Taylor (1911) Scientific management is thus the application of the scientific principles to the operation of a business or other large organization Involves 3 steps:  o Managers carefully observe the Job performed by each worker o Second, analyze their data o Third, Management provides guidance and incentives for workers to perform and do their jobs more quickly The recent Trend: Outsourcing Policy that increases efficiency by contracting with other organizations or individuals to perform work done by in- house employees Outsourcing provides more benefit to the company not the employee Workplace power should reside with owners and executives The First Challenge: Diversity and Inclusion Organizations routinely excluded women and minorities 1960’s vast majority of Canadian managers were 90 percent men Refer to page 216 for graph Underrepresented people in organization often feel like socially isolated out- groups What passes for “merit” is an organization sometimes is simply being of the right social category The female advantage o women have greater “information focus” o men have “image focus” o women place greater value on communication skills o tend to be more democratic and flexible leaders o Tend to emphasize the interconnectedness of all organizational operations. o Provide greater support and encouragement to subordinates than men do The second challenge: Global Competition  Economic development in other global regions - especially Europe, Japan and South Korea - has supported expansion of manufacturing Technological breakthroughs — especially involving assembly lines — have benefited auto making in Germany as well as Japan. The Third Challenge: Changing Nature of work 1. Creative freedom. Many of today’s companies expect workers they hire to not be only productive but creative 1. Less micromanagement with the expectation that they generate innovation 2. Competitive work teams. Much creative work is best accomplished not by lone individuals, but by groups of employees 1. Reduces alienation found in conventional, bureaucratic organizations 3. A flatter organization. By spreading responsibility for creative problem solving throughout the workforce, organizations take on a flatter shape. 4. greater flexibility. The typical industrial age organization was a rigid structure guided from the top. 1. Flexible organization that both generates new ideas and adapts quickly to the rapidly changing global marketplace The “McDonalization of society Four Principles 1. Efficiency. McDonalds emphasis on bureaucratic efficiency is now central to our way of life. We tend to think that anything done quickly and uniformly is, for those reasons alone, good 2. Predictability. Efficient organizations want to make everything it does as predictable as possible 3. Uniformity. Results from a highly rational system that specifies every action and leaves nothing to chance. 4. Control. Can rationality be Irrational?  Karl Max points out that the growth of McDonalds chains is associated with not more food being available but, paradoxically, with the growth of food deserts — that is, urban and rural communities where finding fresh and affordable food is difficult Max Weber points to the increasing rationalization of the world Fearing formal organizations would cage our imaginations The Pandemic and Organizations Small businesses were the losers Social media was more used, and shopping online became more common Greatly expanded the power of the Government Government exercised more power to control our behaviour — example, closing boarders The Future of Organizations: Opposing Trends In our post-industrial society, many organizations are evolving toward a flatter, more flexible model that encourages worker creativity At the same time, other organizations that provide services are employing a larger share of the labour force to perform “McJobs” — low-wage, routine work. Lecture 3 Sociology as a discipline) emerged out of the transition to industrial urban based capitalism, to systematically begin make sense of the massive social changes occurring, and their possible implications. o People needed to understand what was happening and why o Sociology at the ‘Macro level’ Introduce a key analytical concept used to distinguish different types of society Present Distinguishing characteristics of “capitalist society” in particular Still talking about social life and relations between individuals and social groups Karl Max Emile Durkheim Max Weber  - First sociological thinkers to try and make sense of modern capitalist society - Writing at a massive turning point in Human history - There ideas are foundation building blocks Basis of the social Organization of a society Systems of: Production – distribution – consumption How these processes of production/distribution/consumption are socially organized determines, to a great extent, the macro structures of the society At the most basic level we understand society about how the things that are necessary to survive are, produced, shared and consumed A necessary starting point for human survival The fundamental point in which humans interact with one another and organize themselves Mode of production (Karl Max) Consists of the: ♦ Means of production (e.g., technologies, materials, property) ♦ Relations of Production (social relations: how people are organized around production) - The social relations of production - According to Karl Marx the belief system will be shaped in great part of the mode of production - The mode of production plays a big factor in shaping societies Capitalist Mode of Production (Karl Marx) ▪ Means of Production – (Advanced technologies, large – scale capital, private property) ▪ Relations of Production (means of production are privately owned by a few, collectively worked upon by a man for a wage – 2 centrals ‘social classes’) - These are the 2 main classes in a capitalist society ▪ In a Capitalist social system (Karl Max): - Relations of production are organized around the principle of private property - Commodities are produced based on exchange for a profit - The Process of commodification expands throughout the society - Capitalism is based on the production of commodities - Commodification is pervasive Division of Labour (Karl Max) The ‘division of labour’ in the theories by Karl Marx refers to work/ labour being subdivided into many specialized operations, to be performed by separate workers. o A complex division of Labour has always been seen as the most efficient way to work Division of Labour (Emile Durkheim) o For Emile Durkheim, the understanding of ‘division of labour’ was broader referring to the increasingly specialized roles people took on in modern capitalist society o It was tied to his concept of “anomie” o Anomie refers to a state of “normlessness’ or lack of social standards to regulate behavior o Related to poor ‘social integration’ o Looked to ‘functional interdependence’ (mechanical v organic solidarity) o Might lead to new forms of interaction Rationalization (Max Weber): ▪ Refers to the process in which every aspect of human action becomes subject to calculation, measurement and control – in the pursuit of efficiency ▪ Came to characterize our production systems Bureaucracy (Max Weber) ♦ Concerns the organization of people into hierarchical positions, each with its own area of jurisdiction, guided by a general set of rules ♦ The primary form of organizing people in our society ♦ Bureaucracies are everywhere ♦ About eliminating emotional non-rational arbitrary elements. ♦ System suited to capitalist production Authority (Max Weber) With modern industrial capitalism, there was a shift from: “traditional authority” to “legal- rational authority” Talking about leadership Rationally based Max Weber: Modern bureaucracy would create an: “Iron Cage” - Constrain people and turn them into cogs in a machine - formal rules and bureaucracies Alienation: as a central theme in the classical tradition ☺ Weber thought bureaucracy and rationality would alienate us ☺ Durkheim believed people would become alienated from each other and what they make and use Week 5 Readings Chapter 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 and 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 Social Experience the Key to Our Humanity (3.1): Sociologists use the term socialization to refer to the lifelong social experience to which people develop their human potential and learn culture. Social Experience is also the foundation of personality, a person’s Faily consistent patterns of acting, thinking and feeling. Without social experience personality hardly develops at all Human development nature and Nurture: Humans depend on others to provide the care and nurture needed not only for physical growth but also for personality to develop The Biological sciences: The role of Nature “Instinctive Human Competitiveness some people are “Born Criminals” women are “naturally” emotional men are “naturally” rational The social Sciences: The role of Nurture John B Watson “Behaviourism”, which holds that behaviour is not instinctive but learned. Whether you developed your inherited potential depends on how you are raised. Nurture matter more in shaping human behaviour as human beings, nurture is our nature Social Isolation Monkey experiment Harry and Margaret Harlow (1962) “Total social deprivation” Isolation caused irreversible emotional damage (Monkey experiment) Children that were isolated and abused at young ages developed issues with gaining intelligence or socializing Agents of Socialization (3.3) Family, school, peer group and media The family family affects socialization in many ways May be the most important socialization agent to some Nurture In early childhood Children also learn from the type of environment adults create in the home. What happens to children in early years is important to lifelong health and wellbeing Ethnicity race and class:  Race affects how we see ourselves and others Socio economic status plays a large part in shaping a child’s personality lower SES parents are far more likely than High SES parents to point “obedience” as a key trait in a child people of lower social standing usually have limited education and perform routine jobs under close supervision Social class also affects how long the process of growing up takes The school: enlarges children's social world to include people with backgrounds different from their own. when encountering people different than themselves children understand importance of race and social position teach children how to think about differences involving race and class Gender: (School) boys more engaged into physical activities boys spend more time outside at school girls are likely to help teachers with housekeeping chores Boys more likely to get in trouble today girls better behaved What children learn: (School) “Hidden Curriculum how society divides population into “winners” and “losers” School is first experience with bureaucracy The peer group: A social group whose members have interests, social position, and age in common Among peers, children learn how to form relationships on their own peer groups have great influence on attitude and habits During adolescence, parental influence remains strong “Anticipatory socialization”, learning that helps a person achieve a desired position Mass Media and Social Media: Mass media refers to the means for transmitting information from a single source to a vast audience Mass media transmits info in a single direction from a central force (e.g, newspaper) Mass media and social media introduce people to ideas and images that reflect the larger society and the entire world The Extent of Media Exposure Older and lower income people spend more time watching TV Rise of children using technology tv and internet surfing part of children’s routine before basic academic skills use of internet or screens too many lowers cognitive development Media and Politics Racial and ethnic diversity is more evident on tv today conservatives charge that tv and film are dominated by liberal culture Conservatives argue that media leans more towards liberal end of politics, advancing liberal causes, eg feminism and other stupid shit Social media is prone to the narrowing range of political discourse Television and Violence Arguments that media violence was harmful to health 2/3 of tv contains violence Socialization and the life course (3.4) Childhood: Child labour countries like China work carries risk to child’s physical and mental health Child labour is most common in Africa and Asia During Middle Ages children ages 4-5 were treated like adults concept of childhood is not in biology but culture “Hurried child syndrome” results in things like high divorce rates etc kids today have higher levels of stress and anxiety than kids 50 years ago Adolescence link adolescence, roughly corresponding to the teen years adolescence is a time of social contradictions Adulthood: Time when most persons accomplishments take place Early adulthood learn to manage day to day affairs for themselves women try to “do it all” Middle Adulthood ages 40-65 people sense life circumstances are well set awareness of fragility of health women spent many years making families find middle adulthood emotionally trying Old age Final stage of life Elderly population growing in Canada Many seniors remain in the workforce gerontology - the study of aging and the elderly Aging and biology as time goes by life expectancy for seniors will continue to increase Aging and culture Culture shapes how we understand growing old  Low-income countries, old age gives influence and respect because elders control most the land “gerontocracy” - a form of social organization in which the elderly have the most wealth, power and prestige Industrialization lessens the social standing of the elderly Aging and Income Reaching old age means living with less income poverty amongst elders has declined in Canada More than half of all government spending goes to elderly programs recent economic downturn has cancelled out many advantages today some workers not receiving pension at all from 1976-2014 income of senior families increased by 66.7 percent Death and Dying: Elisabeth Kubler - Ross (1969) described process of dying in 5 different stages o First is Denial, perhaps out of fear o Anger, person sees it as a gross injustice o Third, Negotiation or trying to bargain with a divine being o Resignation, accompanied with psychological depression o Acceptance, adjustment to death More couples today prepare for death with legal and financial planning The life course: Patterns and variations Life course is largely a social construction Society organizes the life course according Class, race, ethnicity and gender, also shape people’s lives life experiences depend on when the history of the society, they were born. A cohort is a category of people with something in common, usually their age. Resocialization: Total Institutions Erving Goffman (1961), total institutions have three important characteristics o First, staff members supervise all aspects of daily life o Second, life in a total institution is controlled and standardized o Third, formal rules dictate when, where, and how inmates perform their daily routines Five types of total institutions 1. Institutions that care for “incapable or “harmless” members. Long term care homes and orphanages 2. Institutions that care for those who pose an unintended threat to the community. Asylums or psychiatric wards 3. Institutions that protect the community against those who intend to threaten it. jails, prisoners or war camps 4. Institutions that purse instrumental tasks. Boarding schools, work camps, and army barracks 5. Institutions that purse normative tasks. Religious monasteries and concerns act as “retreats from the world” Resocialization, radically changing an inmate’s personality by carefully controlling the environment Total institutions are places involuntary resocialization occurs Total institutions are also places where voluntary resocialization occurs when we embark on careers, become parents etc much voluntary resocialization occurs In total institutions resocialization is a 2 part process 1st part o Staff breaks down the new inmates existing identity o Provide standard clothing so everyone looks alike o staff subjects’ inmates to “mortifications of self” o individuals also give up privacy 2nd part o Staff tries to build new self in inmate with systems of awards and punishments Living in a rigidly controlled environment can leave some people institutionalized The politically liberal response is that liberals are not free of society George Herber Meads analysis of socialization Reading Summary: 3.1: Socialization develops our humanity as well as our personalities The importance of socialization is seen in the fact that extended periods of social isolation result in permanent damage Socialization is a matter of nurture rather than nature A century ago, most people thought human behaviour resulted from biological instinct For us human beings, it is our nature to nurture 3.3 agent of socialization: The family is usually the first setting of socialization Family has the greatest impact on attitudes and behavior A family’s social position, including race and social class, shapes a child’s personality Schools give most children their first experience with bureaucracy and impersonal evaluation Schools teach knowledge and skills needed for later life Schools expose children to greater social diversity Schools reinforce ideas about gender The peer group helps shape attitudes and behaviour The peer group takes on great importance during adolescence The peer group frees young people from adult supervisions  Mass media and social media have huge impact on socialization in modern, high-income societies Social media now plays a major part in socialization and in transmitting messages about race, class, and gender The average Canadian child spends as much time watching tv and videos as attending school and interacting with parents Mass media often reinforce stereotypes about race Mass media expose people to a great deal of violence Socialization and the Life Course The concept of childhood is grounded not in biology but in culture, In high income countries, childhood is extended The emotional and social turmoil of adolescence results from cultural inconsistency in defining people who are not children but not yet adults. Adolescence varies by social class. Adulthood is the stage of life when most accomplishments take place. Although personality is now formed, it continues to change with new life experiences Old age is defined as much by culture as biology Traditional societies give power and respect to elders Industrial societies define elders as unimportant and out of torch The “greying of Canada” means that the average age of our nation’s population is going up Acceptance of death and dying is part of socialization for the elderly. This process typically involves five stages: denial, anger, negotiation, resignation, and acceptance 3.5 Resocialization - Total institutions: Total institutions include orphanages, psychiatric wards, prisons, boarding schools and monasteries. Staff members supervise all aspects of life Life is standardized, with all inmates following set rules and routines Resocialization is a two-part process: Breaking down inmates’ existing identity Building a new self through a system of rewards and punishments Social Structure: A guide to everyday Living (4.1-4.5) Members of every society rely on social structure to make sense of everyday situations. Status: Status is a social position that a person holds Status is part of our social identity Status helps define our relationship to others Georg Simmel one of the founders of sociology, pointed out that before we deal with anyone, we need to know who the person is Status set:  Status set refers to all the statuses a person holds at a given time Status sets change over the life course Ascribed and Achieved Status An ascribed status is a social position a person receives at birth or takes on involuntarily later in life Achieved status refers to a social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects personally ability and effort Most statues involve a combination of ascription and achievement Master Status a master status is a status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a person’s entire life. Master status can be negative as well as positive Role: role is the behaviour expected of someone who holds a particular status In every society, actual role performance varies with an individual’s unique personality, and some societies, such as Canada. Role Set Robert Merton (1968) introduced the term “role set” to identify several roles attached to a single status the roles people use to structure their lives differ from society to society Role set role conflict is conflict between the roles connected to two or more statuses role strain refers to the tension between the roles connected to a single status Role exit The process by which people disengage from important social roles Process begins as people come to doubt their ability to continue with a certain role The Social construction of Reality: The social construction of reality is the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction Idea introduced by Peter L Berger and Thoman Luckman Social interaction is a complex negotiation that builds reality Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello, wrote play about Angelo Baldovino “Street Smarts” Piri Thomas The Thomas Theorem: Applied to social interaction the Thomas theorem means that although reality is initially “soft” as it is being shaped it can become “hard” in its effects Ethnomethodology: Harold Garfinkel (1967) Ethnomethodology the study of the way people makes sense of their everyday surroundings Reality Building: Socio - economic status and Culture People build reality from the surrounding culture The increasing importance of social media: Face to face interaction today is more likely to involve computer tech rise of social media has connected people in new ways but weakened social ties among people who share physical space Dramaturgical Analysis: The “Presentation of Self” Erving Goffman (1922 - 1982) was another sociologist who analyzed social interaction dramaturgical analysis, the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance Dramaturgical analysis offers a fresh look at the concepts of status and role Goffman described each individual’s performance as the “presentation of self”, a person’s efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others. Performances Our performance includes how we dress, the objects we carry, and our tone. In theatrical terms it would be costume, props and our demeanour An application: The doctors office “Front region and back region” Non-verbal Communication Novelist William Sansom - Mr preedy anaology Non-verbal communication, communication using body movements, gestures, and facial expressions rather than speech Body language Eye Contact Hand gestures Summary: 4.1 Social structure refers to social patterns that guide our behaviour in everyday life. The building blocks of social structure are status and role Status 4.2 Status is a social position that is part of our social identity and that defines our relationships to others. A status can be either an Ascribed status, which is involuntary (for example, being a teenage, an orphan, or a French Canadian Ascribed status, which is earned (for example being an honour student, a pilot or a thief) A master status, which can be either ascribed or achieved, has special importance for a person’s identity (for example, being blind, a doctor, or a Trudeau aka retard) Role 4.3 Role is behaviour expected of someone who holds a particular status Role conflict results from tension among roles linked to two or more statuses Role strain results from tension among roles linked to a single status (for example, the professor who enjoys personal interaction with students but at the same time knows that social distance is necessary to evaluate students fairly). Construction of reality 4.4: Through social interaction, we construct the reality we experience For example, two people interacting both try to shape the reality of their situation The Thomas Theorem says that the reality people construct in their interactions has real consequences for the future For example, a teacher who believes a certain student to be intellectually gifted may well encourage exceptional academic performance Ethnomethodology is a strategy to reveal the assumptions people have about their social world We can expose the assumptions by intentionally breaking the rules of social interaction and observing the reactions of other people. Both culture and social class shape the reality people construct For example, a “short walk” for a Torontonian is a few city blocks, but for people in the Andes Mountains of Peru, it could be a few miles The expansion of social media has dramatically changed how people interact The social construction of reality no longer requires people to have face-to-face interaction Dramaturgical Analysis: The “presentation of self” 4.5 Dramaturgical analysis explores social interaction in terms of theatrical performance: A status operates as a part in a play, and a role is a script Performances are the way we present ourselves to others Performances are both conscious (intentional action) and unconscious (non-verbal communication) Performances include costume (the way we dress) props (objects we carry) and demeanour (tone of voice and the way we carry ourselves) Gender affects performances because men typically have greater social power than women. Gender differences involve, demeanour, use of space, and smiling, staring, touching Demeanour - With greater social power, men have more freedom in how they act Use of space - Men typically command more space than women Staring and touching are generally done by men to women Smiling, to please another, is more commonly done by women Idealization of performances mean we try to convince others that our actions reflect ideal culture rather than selfish motives Embarrassment is “loss of face” in a performance. people use tact to help others “save face” Lecture 4 Self, Society and Socialization: The Micro Level Perspective Norms Roles Social relations have a remarkable stability to them Structuralist perspective (role expectations) Interactionalist perspective (role enactment - 4 steps) Socialization Socialization process is universal/content varies (a complex process) ‘Primary Socialization’ Charles Horton Cooley: ‘the looking-glass self’ Gender socialization (a sub-type of socialization) ‘Secondary Socialization’ Anticipatory Socialization/Resocialization Norms: A norm is an established rule or standard that governs our conduct in the social situations in which we participate. In all societies people generally have social relations with others, this is because of norms. Almost all social behaviour involves such standards. Societal expectations - to which we are expected to conform. Ceremonies, customs, etiquette, are all things that are part of norms It’s a way of doing things, it’s part of what is called normative behavior It’s extremely to have norms that regulate our conduct and behaviour to maintain the status quo, and our society. Many of the norms we have are also laws, shows that they are significant 2 perspective of roles structuralist and Interactionalist Roles: (Structuralist perspective) Roles are prescribed patterns of behaviour expected of a person in each situation, by virtue of their position in their transaction That is, roles are socially defined attributes and expectation associated with social positions When people occupy social position, their behaviour is determined mainly of what is expected of that position/role Role Expectations: (Structuralist perspective) A group or society’s definition of the way a specific role ‘ought’ to be played We do not realize how much we rely on these roles to predict others’ behaviors Roles: (Interactionalist perspective) We can’t just analyze social interaction by studying already determined roles  Instead, we need to look at how people live out their roles (perform social acts), how they perceive them, what conflicts they feel in living them out, etc. People’s meanings behind, or their understandings of roles Interested at looking at the performance of people in their roles… how does the person play the role? Four steps to ‘role enactment’ 1. Identification of the role with ‘self’ 2. Behave in a manner appropriate to this identification 3. Use the behaviour of others as cues 4. Evaluation of our performance Idea is that we learn Socialization: The complex learning process through which individuals develop selfhood and acquire the knowledge, skills and motivations required for participation in social life Essential process linking the individual and society - The process in which people essentially become human beings. - The process in which we internalize cultural norms Socialization is a universal process: But the nature/ content of it varies across cultures, place and time 2 stages to socialization: Primary and secondary Socialization begins at birth in the micro-world of the primary group/caregivers Primary socialization in childhood then continues as secondary socialization (a lifelong process) o Typically occurs in the microworld of primary groups Primary socialization: Developing a sense of ‘self’ in the process of social experience Charles Horton Cooley (American Sociologist) “The looking glass self” (1920) According to Cooley “the looking glass self” refers to the way in which a person’s sense of self is derived from others o At the earliest stage of life children are dependent on others around them, certain actions teach them that they require attention to get what they need. o In early life family is usually the most important looking glass Gender socialization: (A subset of general socialization) Involves the historic processes through which individuals ‘learn to become feminine and masculine, according to the (binary) expectations of many societies  The content of ‘gender socialization has historically involved culturally dominant and shared meanings of ‘femininity’ and masculinity’ Secondary Socialization: Anticipatory/Resocialization Anticipatory socialization The process by which knowledge and skills are learned for future roles Resocialization Occurs when a new role or a new situation requires a person to replace established patterns with new patterns to meet new role demands. o Voluntary and involuntary Resocialization Lecture 5 Stratification, Power and Inequality Stratification: A system in which a society rank orders categories of people in hierarchy In order to study any society you must be able to see the stratification Social Stratification is intertwined with social inequality Social Inequality: Refers to how certain attributes that are deemed to valuable are unevenly distributed across social groups Capitalism: Historically, the most profound divisions (stratification/inequality) have revolved around Social class Gender Race/Ethnicity These divisions both reflect, and shape, the nature of capitalist society Ascribed status: A social position generally confered at birth, over which we have little control (e.g., we do not earn them, they are not tied to our abilities) Relatively fixed social designations/categories which we all possess Achieved Status: Statuses which are earned (achieved) based on how well an individual performs a cert