Chapter One Class Notes

Class Notes
Principles of Sociology
Professor Henry Schissler
Chapter One



What is Sociology?

The sociological perspective stresses the social contexts in which people live. It examines how these contexts influence people’s lives. At the center of the sociological perspective is the question of how groups influence people, especially how people are influenced by society – a group of people who share a culture and a territory.

To find out why people do what they do, sociologists look at social location, the corners of life that people occupy because of where they are located in society. Sociologists look at how jobs, income, education, gender, age, and race-ethnicity affect people’s ideas and behavior.

Consider, for example, how being identified with a group called females or with a group called males when we are growing up shapes our ideas of who we are, what our aspirations are, and how we feel about ourselves.
- James Henslin, Sociology: Core Concepts. Chapter 1, pp 2-5

• Non-Material Culture – a group’s way of thinking, including its values (generalized beliefs), and other assumptions about the world; and, doing, its common pattern of norms (expected behaviors)

• Material Culture – objects that distinguish a group of people and that the group has given meaning to, such as their art, buildings, weapons, clothing, media, and jewelry

In attempting to understand social behavior, we rely on a type of critical thinking called the Sociological Imagination.

Sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916 – 1962) put it this way: “The sociological imagination (or perspective) enables us to grasp the connection between history and biography.” By history, Mills meant that each society is located in a broad stream of events. Because of this, each society has specific characteristics – such as its ideas of the proper roles of men and women. By biography, Mills referred to the individual’s specific experiences. (Henslin)

Your Sociological Imagination is your ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.



Common Sense Knowledge

Our theories and opinions about issues come from “common sense knowledge” – from our experiences and conversations, from what we read, see on TV, read on the Internet, and so forth.

“Common sense knowledge” is not always accurate because it comes from commonly held beliefs rather than from the systematic analysis of facts. Urban Legends are examples of this. Other examples are...

• It is “common sense knowledge” that single moms with kids are primarily African American and Latino.

• In fact, most are white.

• It is “common sense knowledge” that boys are more proficient than girls in math and science.

• In fact, all educational research shows no difference in aptitude between the sexes.

• It was once “common sense knowledge” that the world was flat.

• In fact, scientific research shows that it is round.


“Common Sense knowledge” often leads to overgeneralizations, assumptions, and stereotypes. Our Sociological Imagination critically analyzes the “common sense knowledge” of culture to help us challenge these inaccuracies.

Debunking – the “unmasking tendency” in sociology to look behind the facades of everyday life, and beyond the overgeneralizations, assumptions, and stereotypes, and see patterns and processes that shape attitude, belief systems, and behavior; to ferret out false or misleading information and replace it with facts

Sociological Theory – a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior

It can help us to see relationships among seemingly isolated phenomena. (Example: credit card debt and free market economic systems)

It can help us to understand how social change happens and how one type of change leads to others. (Example: Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 requiring equal opportunity/ access for women in educational environments)


Critical Thinking – the ability to ask any questions, no matter how difficult; to be open to any answer that is supported by reason and evidence; and to openly confront our biases and prejudices when they got in the way.

Bias – a favorable or unfavorable opinion that is based on some direct or indirect experience.

Prejudice – a preconceived belief about a group that is not based on experience and not subject to change when new evidence is presented.


Sociological Research

The term science refers to the body of knowledge obtained by methods based on systematic observation. Sociology engages in organized, systematic study of human behavior.


The Scientific Method includes five steps:
1. defining the problem;
2. reviewing the literature;
3. formulating the hypothesis;
4. selecting the research design & collecting and analyzing data;
5. developing a conclusion.

Steps in Sociological Research

(1) Developing Theories

Research questions sociologists attempt to answer are derived from theories, broad explanations and predictions of phenomena of interest.

Research theories are based on a systematic and orderly integration of prior sociological findings and theorizing.

Theories provide a guide to the collection of observations and suggest the direction in which research should move.

(2) Formulating Hypotheses

A hypothesis is a prediction, derived from a theory, stated in a way that permits the prediction to be tested.

Not all hypotheses are derived from theory. But without a theoretical base, it will do little to advance our understanding of social behavior.

(3) Choosing a Research Strategy to Test the Validity of the Hypothesis

There are two major classes of research strategies.

Experimental research is designed to discover causal relationships between various factors. The investigator deliberately introduces a change in a situation in order to observe its effects.
Comparisons can also be made between a treatment group and a control group. By using a control group, researchers can isolate the true cause of their results and can thereby draw inferences about the cause-effect relationship.

Correlational research identifies associations (relationships) between two factors within the treatment group. This class of research is not favored because of its narrow focus and, therefore, limited area from which to draw conclusions.

(4) Choosing a Research Setting

There are two basic kinds: a laboratory study conducted in a controlled setting; or, a field study carried out in a naturally occurring setting. Both are used frequently and are viewed as valid ways to prove or disprove the hypothesis and draw conclusion.

(5) Data Analysis and Developing Conclusions

The process by which sociologists organize collected data to discover the patterns and uniformities that the data reveal. Analysis may be statistical or qualitative.

Key Concepts

Operationalization is the process of translating the hypothesis into specific testable procedures that can be observed and measured.

A concept is any abstract characteristic or attribute that can be potentially measured.

Knowing that people are being studied may cause them to change their behavior. This is known as The Hawthorne Effect in social research.

Unobtrusive Measures are those designed so that people being studied cannot react because they are unaware that they are being studied.

Variables are behaviors, events, or other characteristics that can change, or vary, in some way.

Experiments have two major classes of variables.

The independent variable is the variable that is deliberately manipulated by the researcher.

The dependent variable is the variable that is measured and is expected to change as a function of manipulating independent variable.

Quantitative Research uses scientific methods and provides data to draw conclusions from.

Qualitative Research is interpretive, including observing human interactions & drawing conclusions from them.

Sociological studies are, frequently, a combination of the two.

In Cross-Sectional Study, something is studied at a single point in time.

In Longitudinal-Study, something is studied from two or more points in time. The role of history in understanding the here-and-now is typically crucial when drawing conclusions.

Policy Research is intended to give social policy recommendations.

Evaluation Research assesses effects of policies & programs on people in society.

(Note: When using Internet resources, we ought to make sure that research we draw from is reputable.)


Theoretical Frameworks in Sociology

1. Functionalist Theory – Each part of society contributes to the stability of the whole. Society is, therefore, more than the sum of its component parts. These different parts are the institutions of society.

Social Institutions – established and organized systems of social behavior with a recognized purpose.

Functionalist framework emphasizes the consensus and order that exists in society, focusing on social stability and shared public values.

When one part of society is not working (disorganization), it affects all the other parts and creates social problems.

Such change can also be positive when, for example, there is a breakdown in a social institution (and its shared values) because it no longer meets the needs of people.

If an aspect of social life does not contribute to a society’s stability or survival – if it does not serve some identifiably useful function or promote value consensus among members of society – it will not be passed on from one generation to the next.

2. Conflict Theory – emphasizes the role of coercion and power, a person’s or group’s ability to exercise influence and control over others, in producing social order.

Conflict Theory emphasizes strife and friction. It sees society as fragmented into groups that compete for social and economic resources.

Social order is maintained not by consensus, but by domination (social controls), with power in the hands of those with the greatest political, economic, and social resources.

Power (dominance) extends to the point of shaping the beliefs of other members of the society, by controlling public information (media), and having major influence over institutions such as education (the society’s history) and religion.

Inequality exists because those in control actively defend their advantages.

Groups and individuals advance their own interests, struggling over control of societal resources.

Those with the most resources exercise power over the others; inequality and power struggles are the result. In power struggles, there are winners and there are losers.

Power struggles between conflicting groups are the source for social change.

Class, race, and gender are the most pertinent and enduring struggles in society.


3. Symbolic Interactionist Theory – immediate social interaction is the place where “society” exists; we give meaning to our behavior, and we impose subjective meaning on objects, events, and behaviors.

Society is socially constructed through human interpretation; we behave based on what we believe, not necessarily on what is objectively true.

This is microsociology, whereas functionalism and conflict theory are more (but not entirely) macrosociology.