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Lecture Summary A. This introduction to sociology includes a definition and explanation of the term. B. The chapter delves into the use of sociology to explain certain phenomena such as the benefits and disadvantages of attending college. C. Social institutions are also defined in the chapter and main players in the field of sociology are introduced, including Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. D. The paradigms within the field of sociology are introduced and briefly explained. The chapter concludes by comparing and contrasting sociology with other fields. Introduction A. Sociology 1) Sociology is the study of human society, which includes the sociology of sports, of religion, of music, of medicine, and even the sociology of sociologists. 2) Sociologists make the familiar strange. Sociological Imagination A. Sociological Imagination 1) In the mid-twentieth century, sociologist C. Wright Mills argued that we need to use our sociological imagination to think critically about the social world around us. a. The sociological imagination is the ability to connect one's personal experiences to society at large and greater historical forces. B. Credentialism Social Institutions A. A social institution is a group of social positions, connected by social relations, that perform a social role. B. Social institutions include the family, religion, education, the economy, and government. C. Social Identity 1) Is how individuals define themselves in relationship to groups they are a part of (or in relationship to groups they choose not to be a part of). Sociology of Sociology A. Dead Sociologists 1) Auguste Comte a. Founder of what he called "social physics" or "positivism" b. Postivism c. Comtes 3 Epistemological Stages

2) Harriet Martineau a. The first to translate Comte's written works to English B. Still Dead Sociologists Classical Sociological Theory 1) Karl Marx a. Historical materialism, a theory developed by Marx, identifies class conflict as the primary cause of social change. 2) Max Weber a. Interpretive sociology: the study of social meaning. 3) Emile Durkheim a. Wrote The Division of Labor in Society. It refers to the degree to which jobs are specialized (for example, hunters and gatherers). 4) George Simmel a. He established what is today referred to as formal sociology, or a sociology of pure numbers. C. American Sociology Chicago School, Dubois, & Adams i. Chicago School a. The Chicago School focused on empirical research with the belief that people's behaviors and personalities are shaped by their social and physical environments. b. Few Chicago School Sociologists i. Robert Park ii. Charles Horton Cooley iii. George Herbert Mead ii. W.E.B. DuBois a. Analyzed the social stratification among Philadelphias black population. iii. Jane Addams a. Considered a marginal member of the Chicago School D. Modern Sociological Theories 1) Functionalism a. Drawn from the work of Durkheim and developed by Talcott Parsons. 2) Conflict Theory a. States that inequality exists as a result of political struggles among different groups in a particular society. 3) Feminist Theory a. Interested in how power relationships are defined, shaped, and reproduced on the basis of gender differences.

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4) Symbolic Interactionism a. Emerged in the 60s as a theory moving away from the macro grand theories of society to a micro approach focusing on how face-to-face interactions create the social world. 5) Postmodernism a. Postmodernism is the notion that shared meanings have eroded; no one version of history is correct. 6) Midrange Theory a. Is neither macro (doesnt try to explain all of society) nor micro. Divisions within Sociology A. Interpretive vs Postivist 1) Interpretive sociology 2) Positivist sociology B. Macro vs Macro 1) Microsociology seeks to understand local interactional contexts 2) Macrosociology generally looks at social dynamics across whole societies