Professional Documents
Culture Documents
WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?
The intent of this lesson is to offer a brief introduction to sociology. We will talk about some basic ideas
about what sociology is and what it is not. We will deal briefly with the social forces which triggered the
new science of sociology. And we will discuss some basic assumptions about the nature of man. There is
no better way to begin to discover what sociology is all about than to summarize what Alex Inkeles wrote
almost 50 years ago.
An Alex Inkeles Summary
In a book called What is Sociology?, Alex Inkeles suggested three ways to answer the question. First, he
said, let’s take a historical approach. “In other words, we ask: ‘What did the founding fathers say?’ ” A
second approach is to ask: “What are contemporary sociologists doing?” Finally, he suggests what he
calls an analytical approach. In other words, we ask “What does reason suggest?” So, lets take a brief
look at each of these approaches as a way of beginning to close in on an understanding of what sociology
is all about.
The Founding Fathers Approach
Inkeles says, and I think most sociologists would agree, that four men - Auguste Comte, Emile
Durkheim, Max Weber, and Herbert Spencer, are “the central figures in the development of modern
sociology.” A brief look at what these four men said will give us a beginning understanding of what
sociology is all about.
Auguste Comte. A native of France, Comte was born in 1798 and died in 1857. He is credited with being
the first person to use the term sociology. His importance, in very brief form, is that he laid out what he
considered to be the subject matter of sociology and his belief that sociology should be scientific. Comte
divided the subject matter of sociology into two parts: social statics and social dynamics.3 Social statics,
according to Comte, meant the study of the major parts of a society - what we call social institutions - and
their interrelationships. Social dynamics is the study of whole societies and their changes over time.
Before Comte created the word sociology he called the new discipline “positive philosophy” to stress the
notion that we should study societies scientifically.
Emile Durkheim. Also a native of France, Durkheim was born in 1858 and died in 1917. We will be
coming back to Durkheim later but for now three things about Durkheim’s work are of interest. First, he,
along with Comte and others, was concerned with the study of societies and the relationships between
social institutions. Second, he suggested several special fields of study that should be included in the
science of sociology. Among them were: sociology of religion, marriage and family, crime and deviance,
and demography. As we will see in a little while, these are some of the same topics which sociologists
specialize in today.
Also, he suggested that sociologists should study what he called social facts as a way of understanding
and explaining social phenomena. He defines a social fact this way: “a social fact is every way of acting,
fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint; or again, every way of
acting which is general throughout a given society, while at the same time existing in its own right
independent of its individual manifestations.” (The Rules of Sociological Method, p. 13.) This needs a
little explaining. What he means is that in every society, or in every group, or in every kind of social
organization, there are certain customary ways of doing things. And we are expected to do things the
same way. It’s those social expectations, which are “out there” in the society, that constrain us and guide
our behavior. So, the task of sociology is to uncover those social expectations in order to understand why
we do what we do.
Herbert Spencer. Herbert Spencer was born in England in 1820 and died in 1903. The fields of sociology
according to Spencer are: the family, politics, religion, social control, and industry or work. He also
stressed the obligation of sociology to deal with the interrelations between the different elements of
society, to give an account of how the parts influence the whole. Also, “... to accept the whole society as
its unit for analysis.”
Max Weber. Max Weber was a German sociologist who was born in 1864 and died in 1920. Here is his
definition of sociology. “Sociology is a science concerning itself with the interpretive understanding of
social action and thereby with a causal explanation of its course and consequences.” Let’s break that
down. First, Weber, like the other founding fathers we have discussed, wanted sociology to be a science.
Second, the focus of sociology should be on social action which Weber defined as the behavior of
individuals based on the subjective meanings which they bring to social situations. Third, Weber was
concerned to identify causes for social action. In other words, sociologists want to know why people do
what they do. Finally, Weber’s method of figuring out why people do what they do involves some kind of
“interpretive understanding” of social action. (The German word is verstehen.) (When I was in graduate
school and was first introduced to the concept of verstehen the word was defined as a “sympathetic
understanding” of social action.) In other words, the sociologist should put himself in the other person’s
place in order to understand his behavior.
So, what are the common themes that these four founding fathers have said are the essence of sociology?
First, the proper subject matter for sociology is the study of societies, the study of social institutions and
the relationships between them, and the study of social relationships of all kinds. And, all these areas of
concern should be studied scientifically.
The “What are Sociologists Doing?” Approach
As Inkeles points out, whether we look at what topics sociology textbooks include, or what special topics
sociologists are interested and feel competent in, or what topics sociologists are publishing articles about
in the various sociological journals, there is a very consistent pattern. The same kinds of sociological
topics appear. A partial list of special sociological topics or areas of concern and interest follows.
Culture and society
Groups
Communities
Demography (population growth and trends)
Social Institutions
Social stratification
Deviance and control
Social change
Racial and ethnic relations
Social conflict
Socialization and personality
Sociological research and methodology
The “What Does Reason Suggest?” Approach
Before we get to Inkeles a really quick look at the history of knowledge seems in order. “Back in the
day” thinkers were free to think about, talk about, and write about whatever happened to interest them at
the time. And their interests could change from one kind of topic to another whenever the mood happened
to strike them. So, for example, a person could spend a lot of time wondering and hypothesizing about
why people get sick and then begin to wonder about what seemed to be a pattern in the movement of the
stars. And then he might begin to wonder about why we have wars or famines or whatever. In other
words, there was little or no specialization in the development of knowledge.
But, beginning in the 1700’s, particularly in England, France, and Germany, thinkers began to specialize.
We began to see a division of labor in the “thinking” business. Some became what were called natural
philosophers and they began to specialize in things like math, statistics, astronomy, biology, medicine,
physics, and so on. Other thinkers became what were called social philosophers. They began to specialize
in things like history, economics, politics, psychology, and religion. We’ll come back to this topic later.
Inkeles says that sociology is a residual science. Essentially his argument is that all the other social
sciences got there first. History, economics. and political science, for example, got there first and staked
out their claims. But there was a lot of stuff left over and so folks like Comte and Durkheim and Weber
came along and claimed a lot of that stuff and called it sociology. What was it that was left over that is
now part of the science of sociology? Well, see the list above. Nobody had claimed any of those topics for
a new science and so sociologists essentially said “We’ll take it.”
Inkeles goes on to say that even if a lot of the topics in the list above became distinct disciplines in their
own right (for example, demography, crime and deviance, communities) there are three areas of concern
that would remain distinctively sociological. They are the study of societies, the study of institutions, and
the study of social relationships. We’ll come back to this later also.
What Sociology Is, And Is Not
Sociology can be described as either a social science or a behavioral science. Social because we are
interested in the relationships between social units. For example, we are interested in the relationships
between the institutions of a society or the relationships between the members of a social group.
Behavioral because we are interested in why people do what they do.
Here at Del Mar College the Social Sciences Department includes history, geography, government,
psychology, anthropology, and sociology. Sometimes economics is included in the list of social sciences.
Some sociologists, in trying to define the boundaries of sociology, spend a lot of time “comparing and
contrasting” sociology and the other social sciences. All we need to say here is that sociology is not the
other social sciences because we look at different kinds of things with a different perspective.
So, what is this “sociological perspective?” Well, it turns out that there are at least three sociological
(theoretical) perspectives, which we’ll get to later. But for now we can say this. There are social reasons
that explain the relationships between the institutions of a society and why we do what we do. We live in
a society. We interact with others in groups. We work and go to church and school in social
organizations. And each of these kinds of social entities has established certain sets of social expectations
for our behavior. And our behavior is “structured” or guided or influenced by these sets of social
expectations. So, sociologists try to understand human societies and human behavior by looking for and at
the underlying structure. We would hope that you would, after taking this course, have some insights into
your own life situation and understand the world a little better based on the knowledge you have gained.
More in a minute.
In my opinion, here is the most accurate and true statement that a sociologist can make. Most people,
most of the time, do, more or less, what they think they are supposed to. And since that is true, we can
usually count on there being some kind of order in our lives. But, that statement also means that some
people, some of the time, do something else. So, social life is not always orderly. Inkeles says that “...
sociology is the study of social order, meaning thereby the underlying regularity of human social
behavior.” He also says we need to look at “departures” from order.
The “Sociological Imagination”
Now that we sort of know what sociology is we need to spend a little time talking about the sociological
imagination. The sociological imagination is an idea first proposed by C. Wright Mills in a book titled,
surprise surprise, The Sociological Imagination. It was first published in 1969. The book was written, in
part, as a critique of functionalism and of an extreme methodological focus. But that’s not what’s
important right now.
What is important is his notion of the sociological imagination. Here’s what Mills says in the opening
pages of his book. “The facts of contemporary history are also facts about the success and the failure of
individual men and women. - - - Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be
understood without understanding both. - - - Yet men do not usually define the troubles that they endure
in terms of historical change and institutional contradiction. The well-being they enjoy, they do not
usually impute to the to the big ups and downs of the societies in which they live. Seldom aware of the
intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history, ordinary men
do not usually know what this connection means for the kinds of men they are becoming… They do not
possess the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of man and society, of biography and history,
of self and world. - - - What they need, and what they feel they need, is a quality of mind that will help
them to use information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on
in the world and of what may be happening within themselves. It is this quality … that journalists and
scholars, artists and publics, scientists and editors are coming to expect of what may be called the
sociological imagination.The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger
historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of
individuals.”
So what does this mean for us? What Mills is saying is that we tend to go through life worrying about our
own troubles without realizing that at least some of our troubles are rooted in the ways in which our
society is structured. Or, to put it in another way, there are things going on in our society which have
consequences for us and we don’t realize it. I think what Mills is trying to tell us is that, as sociologists,
we should do meaningful research which does connect the history of our society (what is going on) with
the biography of individuals (our own particular situations) and as instructors of sociology that we should
try to make at least some of those connections clear to students. That is the primary purpose of this
course.
Some Things to Think About
From time to time you might hear on TV or public radio an interview with a medical doctor or some kind
of “scientist” in which he or she will say something like this. “If I could study a person’s brain waves I
could understand why he or she committed that crime.” Or, “If I could understand a person’s brain
chemistry I would know why he or she behaves in certain ways.” Well obviously, when you get right
down to it, ultimately it is brain waves or brain chemistry that makes us do what we do. But that kind of
thinking is called reductionism. It’s a process of reducing all explanations of human behavior to biology.
If sociologists wanted to accept those kinds of explanations we would have majored in biology.
Or, you may have taken a psychology course in which the instructor spent a lot of time talking about the
process of operant conditioning. And, it is true that we can be conditioned to behave in certain ways. For
example, if every time a young boy gets snapped at by his father for some particular kind of behavior
pretty soon the boy will stop that behavior. If you go to any major university and go to the basement of
the building where the psychology department is housed I would be willing to bet that you would find
there a whole room full of rats and other lab animals. And I would be willing to bet that you would find
psychologists doing experiments with these animals. For what purpose? Are psychologists who are
focusing on this kind of psychology really interested in rats? No, they are studying rats to make
generalizations about human behavior.
Or, you might think that human behavior is essentially instinctive. For example, you might say that it is
instinctive for a mother to protect her baby. Or that it is instinctive for a person to try to escape danger. Or
that it is instinctive for a person, when he or she sees some kind of flying object coming at their head, to
duck. Well, the ducking is reflexive. Let’s talk about the other “instincts.” But first, let’s talk about what
an instinct is. An instinct is an inborn, genetic pattern for behavior peculiar to an animal species. It’s part
of our DNA. So, that means that if one human has an instinct we all have it. Now, let’s look at the
examples of instincts mentioned above. If it is instinctive for a mother to protect her baby why do some
mothers abuse their babies? If it instinctive for a person to try to escape danger why do some people put
themselves in harm’s way? Why do soldiers jump on hand grenades to save their buddies? You won’t
find the answers in brain waves or rats or instincts. You’ll find them by looking at the social factors
which influence human behavior.
All this leads us to one more topic to deal with before we move on. And that is the question of what kind
of an animal we are. There are two ways to answer this question. One is to say that we are different in
degree from other animals. That is, we are like other animals except that we are just a little more
complex. We are different only to some degree of complexity. The psychologists who do their thing with
rats obviously buy into this way of looking at the nature of man. We are, in their way of thinking, just
complex rats.
The other way of looking at the nature of man is the difference in kind approach. That is, man is a
different kind of animal all together. We are not just complex rats, we are something different. Not just
more complex than other animals but we have something that other animals don’t. And this difference is
critical.
What is it that we have that other animals don’t? What makes us a different kind of animal? The answer is
that humans have a mind. A lot of people have spent a lot of time for a lot of years thinking about just
what the mind is. and there are many answers. For now, let’s just say that the mind is that intangible
“thing” that allows us to do things like fall in love, grieve for a lost partner, think about the past and the
future, be aware of ourselves as a person, feel such emotions as pride or shame, create and understand
moral and social codes, and so on. The mind is not the same as the brain but it’s in the brain. One
psychologist has suggested that the difference between the brain and the mind can be understood by
looking at the difference between a book and the information in it. The brain is analogous to a book and
the mind is similar to the information it contains. We’ll come back to the mind later.
Now we need to look at the final piece of the picture. What is it that makes it possible for man to have a
mind? And the answer is that we have a language. And most sociologists would agree that man is the
only animal that does. It’s obvious that other animals communicate but we communicate with symbols.
That is, we have the ability to develop all sorts of sounds and gestures that have meaning to us. A crude,
and not necessarily scientifically accurate, example might go like this: Way back in our evolutionary past
man-like creatures were jumping around in the trees, jabbering away with all kinds of noises. But some
kind of mutation happened and somehow some of these creatures became able to sit down and agree that
a certain combination of noises meant “Here comes the lion.” And another combination of noises meant
“She’s mine, keep your hands off.” In other words, they were developing a language - a system of
artificial, socially derived, sounds that convey social meanings.
So, the bottom line is this. Sociologists are interested in societies, the institutions of societies and their
relationships, and the various kinds of social organizations and groups. We want to understand why folks
do what they do in these kinds of social units. So, we start with the understanding that societies and
institutions and groups could not exist without man’s ability to communicate with language. We could not
understand why folks do what they do without the understanding that human beings have minds and that
minds are developed based on social meanings. We’ll come back to all of this later.
Our Historical Roots
The development of the science of sociology starts with three major events in the history of Western
civilization. One is what is called The Age of Enlightenment, another is the Industrial Revolution, which
brought about a shift from a rural, agricultural society to an urban, industrial society. Also, major political
events such as the French Revolution created a great deal of social unrest. These events, which occurred
at basically the same time - the 1700’s and into the 1800’s - in Europe and England, combined to trigger a
great deal of thought about the nature of societies and their problems.
The Age of Enlightenment
Early Greek philosophers, as far as I know, were the first to break out of the box of traditional, magical,
religious explanations for things. They stressed two things: rational/mathematical/logical proof and
observation and experimentation. So, for example, we have important advances in thinking such as
Euclidean geometry.
In primitive societies and throughout what were called the Dark Ages in Europe, events in the lives of
people were explained by or guided by tradition and magic and religion. Whatever advances in rational
thought that were made by the Greek philosophers were essentially lost during the Dark Ages and what
new knowledge was developed was buried. Galileo, for example, who was thinking outside the box of
religious thought, was forced by the Church to recant his scientific findings. What knowledge existed was
in the hands of religious monks in monasteries throughout Europe. And that knowledge was limited to
what was acceptable to the Catholic Church.
A major step toward thinking outside the box of religious dogma occurred when Martin Luther, in 1517,
challenged the authority of the Catholic Church and triggered the Protestant Reformation. However, the
real push against traditional, magical, and religious explanations for social and historical events - The Age
of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment - began in the 1600’s and continued through the 1700’s
primarily in England, Scotland, France, and Germany. We could spend weeks and whole semesters
talking about all this. But essentially, the Age of Enlightenment was a time in which tradition, magic ,and
religion were rejected as explanations for events and a time in which great advances were made in math,
statistics, medicine, physics, astronomy, and so on, based on reason and logic and on observation and
experimentation.
The age of enlightenment was also a time in which social philosophers began to talk about such concepts
as freedom, equality, liberty, happiness, and the rights of man. The ultimate question was How can we
assure these God-given rights in the face of despotic kings, oppressive governments, and the grinding
poverty of the lower classes brought on by the changing economy.
The Industrial Revolution
During the Middle Ages in Europe and England most people lived on small farms or in small villages.
Consumer goods were made by craftsmen who worked in small shops. For example, a village might have
a blacksmith shop or a shoemaker’s shop and so on. The industrial revolution changed all that. Beginning
with inventions such as the steam engine powered by coal, the production of goods shifted from small
shops to large factories located in large urban centers. What happened was that there was a major change
from rural to urban population and a major shift from an agricultural to an industrial society. These major
changes created a lot of social problems. In cities like London and Paris the poor lived in horrible
conditions - raw sewage running down the open gutters, disease epidemics, rat infestations, high rates of
crime, and so on. Horrible working conditions in the “modern” factories had a serious impact on the
human spirit. All of these issues were of concern to early social thinkers.
The French Revolution
The French Revolution began in 1789 and lasted for maybe five or six years and it was followed for
several more years by the Napoleanic wars, primarily between France and England. There were two
primary causes of the revolution. One was “the spirit of the enlightenment.” The French people were very
aware of the enlightenment’s ideas of freedom, democracy, human rights and so on. The other was the
bankruptcy of the French government. Living conditions were horrible, there was not enough food, the
King and the government were not able to deal with the problems. What resulted was called “The Terror.”
Thousands of people were killed. In 1794, in about a six week period, 1285 people were guillotined in
Paris. That’s about 25 to 30 people a day. The whole established political and social order of France was
destroyed and replaced.
The Result
The point of all this is that the combination of the increasing focus on science, the trend toward
industrialization, and political, economic, and social unrest caused some folks to begin thinking about
developing a science of society. The idea was that if stuff like the movements of the stars could be studied
scientifically then so could societies. And if we can understand societies better maybe we could correct
the social problems which exist. So, folks like Comte began to propose a new science of society with
which we could study and understand the nature of societies for the purpose of fixing all the social
problems which existed. The underlying perspective of the founding fathers, particularly Comte and
Spencer, has been called by Don Martindale positivistic organicism. What this means is that the
founding fathers insisted that societies should be studied scientifically (positivism) and that societies were
like living organisms made up of interrelated parts with each part having a function or purpose.
Early American Sociology
The first American sociologist was Lester Frank Ward. He was trained as a paleontologist and spent
most of his career working for the Federal Government. He became interested in sociology and wrote
several books and is known as the father of American sociology. He stressed two dimensions for
sociology, pure (scientific) sociology and applied (for social reform) sociology, and his sociological
theories fit into the positivistic organicism theoretical approach.
The Chicago School
What has been called “The Chicago School” of sociology began at the University of Chicago in 1892
when the department of sociology was founded. The department’s founder was Albion W. Small. Small is
important not so much for his theoretical contributions but primarily for the development of what was at
the time the dominant department of sociology in the country. He founded the American Journal of
Sociology which is one of the most important sociology journals in the world. He was also a co-founder
of the American Sociological Society. (later the name was changed to the American Sociological
Association because some of the members didn’t like the initials of the organization.)
The Chicago School stressed the importance of sociology as a science and also the importance of social
reform. Many of the sociologists at Chicago were either Christian ministers or sons of ministers. Their
emphasis on social reform has been called melioristic intervention.
The Chicago School was known for two important theoretical directions. One was the focus on urban
(human) ecology, which was initiated by Robert Park. Urban ecology is, essentially, “an attempt to
investigate (1) the processes by which the biotic balance and the social equilibrium are maintained once
they are achieved and (2) the processes by which, when the biotic balance and the social equilibrium are
disturbed, the transition is made from one relatively stable order to another.” (Park, American Journal of
Sociology 62, no. 1) What that means, in plainer language, is that sociologists who do this kind of
sociological research are interested in how different groups within a community are interrelated and what
social, economic, and political forces impact the lives of the population. For Park, the social processes in
a community depend on competition but competition limited by custom and culture. “The changes in
which (human/urban) ecology is interested are the movements of population and artifacts (commodities)
and changes in location and occupation - any sort of change, in fact, which affects an existing division of
labor or the relation of the population to the soil.” The outcome of this ecological approach was a series of
studies done in Chicago which dealt with all kinds of social issues such as crime, issues of the urban
slums, and so on. The most significant of these studies was The Polish Peasant in Europe and America
done by W. I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, a study of the social adjustment of Polish immigrants.
We’ll talk a little more about Thomas later.
The other theoretical direction taken in the Chicago School was what is called symbolic
interaction. Essentially, symbolic interaction is a perspective which deals with symbols, language, and
meanings which we use to construct our social worlds and which guide our behavior. At Chicago the
leading people were Thomas, Charles Cooley (although he was at Michigan) and, most of all, George
Herbert Mead. We will talk a lot more about this later.
The Harvard School.
The Chicago School began to lose its influence in the 1930’s and was beginning to be overshadowed by
Eastern sociologists, most importantly at Harvard. The “Harvard School” began in the early 1930’s and
was dominated by Talcott Parsons and what is called Structural Functionalism. We will talk about
functionalism later. What is important about the Harvard School is that Parsons and many of his graduate
students went on to publish important stuff in the functionalist tradition. Again, more later. The Harvard
School, and functionalism, continued to be extremely influential into the 1960’s but gradually began to
lose influence.
So, we are at the end of the section on early American sociology and here endeth this lesson.
© Cengage Learning. Photos, left to right: John Berry/Syracuse Newspapers/The Image Works;
Gable/Alamy; philipbigg/Alamy.
The world’s high-income countries are nations with highly industrialized
economies; technologically advanced industrial, administrative, and service
occupations; and relatively high levels of national and personal income.
Examples include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and
the countries of Western Europe.
As compared with other nations of the world, many high-income nations have a
high standard of living and a lower death rate because of advances in nutrition and
medical technology. However, everyone living in a so-called high-income country
does not necessarily have these advantages. In contrast, middle-income countries
are nations with industrializing economies, particularly in urban areas, and
moderate levels of national and personal income. Examples of middle-income
countries include the nations of Eastern Europe and many Latin American
countries.
Low-income countries are primarily agrarian nations with little
industrialization and low levels of national and personal income. Examples of
low-income countries include many of the nations of Africa and Asia, particularly
the People’s Republic of China and India, where people typically work the land and
are among the poorest in the world. However, generalizations are difficult to make
because there are wide differences in income and standards of living within many
nations (see Chapter 8, “Global Stratification ”). Throughout this text, we will
continue to develop our sociological imaginations by examining social life here and
in other nations. The future of our nation is deeply intertwined with the future of all
other nations of the world on economic, political, environmental, and humanitarian
levels.
Whatever your race/ethnicity, class, sex, or age, are you able to include in your
thinking the perspectives of people who are quite dissimilar in experiences and
points of view? Before you answer this question, a few definitions are in order.
Race is a term used by many people to specify groups of people distinguished by
physical characteristics such as skin color. However, there are no “pure” racial
types, and the concept of race is considered by most sociologists to be a social
construction that people use to justify existing social inequalities. (When we say
that something is a “social construction,” we mean that race, ethnicity, class, and
gender do not really mean anything apart from the meanings that people in societies
give them.) When societies use these categories, the groupings privilege some
categories of people over others. Unfortunately, the result is that many people act
and respond as if these categories were a social reality rather than a construction.
Ethnicity refers to the cultural heritage or identity of a group and is based on factors
such as language or country of origin. Class is the relative location of a person or
group within the larger society, based on wealth, power, prestige, or other valued
resources. Sex refers to the biological and anatomical differences between females
and males. By contrast, gender refers to the meanings, beliefs, and practices
associated with sex differences, referred to as femininity and masculinity.
Auguste Comte (1798-1857) (oil on canvas), Etex, Louis Jules (1810-1889)/Temple de la Religion de
l’Humanite, Paris, France/The Bridgeman Art Library
Comte stressed that the methods of the natural sciences should be applied to the
objective study of society. He sought to unlock the secrets of society so that
intellectuals like him could become the new secular (as contrasted with religious)
“high priests” of society. For Comte, the best policies involved order and authority.
He envisioned that a new consensus would emerge on social issues and that the new
science of sociology would play a significant part in the reorganization of society.
Comte’s philosophy became known as positivism—a belief that the world can
best be understood through scientific inquiry. He believed that positivism had
two dimensions:
(1)
methodological—the application of scientific knowledge to both physical and
social phenomena—and
(2)
social and political—the use of such knowledge to predict the likely results of
different policies so that the best one could be chosen.
Social analysts have praised Comte for his advocacy of sociology and his insights
regarding linkages between the social structural elements of society (such as family,
religion, and government) and social thinking in specific historical periods.
However, a number of contemporary sociologists argue that Comte contributed to
an overemphasis on the “natural science model” and focused on the experiences of
a privileged few, to the exclusion of all others.
Harriet Martineau
Comte’s works were made more accessible for a wide variety of scholars through
the efforts of the British sociologist Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) (Figure 1.5).
Until recently, Martineau received no recognition in the field of sociology, partly
because she was a woman in a male-dominated discipline and society. Not only did
she translate and condense Comte’s works, but she was also an active sociologist in
her own right. Martineau studied the social customs of Britain and the United
States, analyzing the consequences of industrialization and capitalism. In Society in
America (1962/1837), she examined religion, politics, child rearing, slavery, and
immigration, paying special attention to social distinctions based on class, race, and
gender. Her works explore the status of women, children, and “sufferers” (persons
who are considered to be criminal, mentally ill, handicapped, poor, or alcoholic).
Martineau advocated racial and gender equality. She was also committed to
creating a science of society that would be grounded in empirical observations and
widely accessible to people. She argued that sociologists should be impartial in
their assessment of society but that it is entirely appropriate to compare the existing
state of society with the principles on which it was founded. Martineau believed
that a better society would emerge if women and men were treated equally,
enlightened reform occurred, and cooperation existed among people in all social
classes (but led by the middle class).
Herbert Spencer
Unlike Comte, who was strongly influenced by the upheavals of the French
Revolution, the British social theorist Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) was born in a
more peaceful and optimistic period in his country’s history (Figure 1.6). Spencer’s
major contribution to sociology was an evolutionary perspective on social order and
social change. Evolutionary theory helps to explain how organic and/or social
change occurs in societies. According to Spencer’s Theory of General Evolution,
society, like a biological organism, has various interdependent parts (such as the
family, the economy, and the government) that work to ensure the stability and
survival of the entire society.
Spencer believed that societies develop through a process of “struggle” (for
existence) and “fitness” (for survival), which he referred to as the “survival of the
fittest.” Because this phrase is often attributed to Charles Darwin, Spencer’s view
of society is known as social Darwinism—the belief that those species of
animals, including human beings, best adapted to their environment survive
and prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die out. Spencer equated this process
of natural selection with progress because only the “fittest” members of society
would survive the competition.
Critics believe that Spencer’s ideas are flawed because societies are not the same as
biological systems; people are able to create and transform the environment in
which they live. Moreover, the notion of the survival of the fittest can easily be
used to justify class, racial–ethnic, and gender inequalities.
Emile Durkheim
French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) stressed that people are the
product of their social environment and that behavior cannot be understood fully in
terms of individual biological and psychological traits. He believed that the limits
of human potential are socially based, not biologically based.
In his work The Rules of Sociological Method (1964a/1895), Durkheim set forth
one of his most important contributions to sociology: the idea that societies are built
on social facts. Social facts are patterned ways of acting, thinking, and feeling
that exist outside any one individual but that exert social control over each
person. Durkheim believed that social facts must be explained by other social
facts—by reference to the social structure rather than to individual attributes.
Durkheim observed that rapid social change and a more specialized division of
labor produce strains in society. These strains lead to a breakdown in traditional
organization, values, and authority and to a dramatic increase in anomie—a
condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of
shared values and of a sense of purpose in society. According to Durkheim,
anomie is most likely to occur during a period of rapid social change. In Suicide
(1964b/1897), he explored the relationship between anomic social conditions and
suicide, a concept that remains important in the twenty-first century (see
“Sociology Works!”).
Sociology Works!
Durkheim’s Classical Study of Suicide and Young People in India
Today
The bond attaching [people] to life slackens because the bond which attaches [them] to society is itself
slack.
—Emile Durkheim, Suicide (1964b/1897)
Although this statement describes social conditions accompanying the high rates of suicide found in late-
nineteenth-century France, Durkheim’s words ring true today as we look at contemporary suicide rates for
young people in cities such as New Delhi, India. Suicide rates in India are highest in the 15–29 age
category and are especially great among those living in the wealthier and more-educated regions of the
nation (NDTV.com, 2012; Lancet, 2012).
Doesn’t this seem unlikely? Many people think rural farmers facing poor harvests and high debt would
have the highest risk of suicide; however, this has not proven true in India. At first glance, we might think
that economic success and a good education would provide insurance against suicide because of the
greater happiness and job satisfaction among individuals in cities such as New Delhi, as these individuals
have gained new opportunities and higher salaries in recent years. However, this economic boom—
including the more-open markets of India in the past twenty years—has not only created new
opportunities for people; these changes have also contributed to rapid urbanization and weakened social
ties. The result? Intensified job anxiety, higher expectations, and more pressure for individual
achievement. Social bonds have been weakened or dissolved as people move away from their families
and their community; ironically, newer technologies such as cell phones and social networking sites have
contributed to the breakdown of traditional family units as communication has become more impersonal
and fragmented.
In addition, life in the cities moves at a much faster pace than in the rural areas, and many individuals
experience loneliness, sleep disorders, family discord, and major health risks such as heart disease and
depression. In the words of Ramachandra Guha (2004), a social historian residing in India, Durkheim’s
sociology of suicide remains highly relevant to finding new answers to this challenging problem: “The
rash of suicides in city and village is a qualitatively new development in our history. We sense that
tragedies are as much social as they are individual. But we know very little of what lies behind them.
What we now await, in sum, is an Indian Durkheim.”
Like the other social thinkers of his day, Simmel analyzed the impact of
industrialization and urbanization on people’s lives. He concluded that class
conflict was becoming more pronounced in modern industrial societies. He also
linked the increase in individualism, as opposed to concern for the group, to the fact
that people now had many cross-cutting “social spheres”—membership in a number
of organizations and voluntary associations—rather than the singular community
ties of the past.
Simmel’s contributions to sociology are significant. He wrote more than thirty
books and numerous essays on diverse topics, leading some critics to state that his
work is fragmentary and piecemeal. However, his thinking has influenced a wide
array of sociologists, including the members of the “Chicago School” in the United
States.
Conflict Perspectives
According to conflict perspectives, groups in society are engaged in a
continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources. Conflict may take the
form of politics, litigation, negotiations, or family discussions about financial
matters. Simmel, Marx, and Weber contributed significantly to this perspective by
focusing on the inevitability of clashes between social groups. Today, advocates of
the conflict perspective view social life as a continuous power struggle among
competing social groups.
Max Weber and C. Wright Mills
As previously discussed, Karl Marx focused on the exploitation and oppression of
the proletariat by the bourgeoisie. Max Weber recognized the importance of
economic conditions in producing inequality and conflict in society, but he added
power and prestige as other sources of inequality. Weber (1968/1922) defined
power as the ability of a person within a social relationship to carry out his or her
own will despite resistance from others, and prestige as a positive or negative social
estimation of honor (Weber, 1968/1922) (Figure 1.13).
As one of the wealthiest and most-beloved entertainers in the world, Oprah Winfrey is an example of Max
Weber’s concept of prestige—a positive estimate of honor. In 2011 Ms. Winfrey moved beyond her very
popular television show and started a cable channel, OWN.
Postmodern Perspectives
According to postmodern perspectives, existing theories have been unsuccessful
in explaining social life in contemporary societies that are characterized by
postindustrialization, consumerism, and global communications. Postmodern
social theorists reject the theoretical perspectives we have previously discussed, as
well as how those theories were created (Ritzer, 2011).
Postmodern theories are based on the assumption that large-scale and rapid social
change, globalization, and technology are central features in the postmodern era.
Moreover, these conditions tend to have a harmful effect on people because they
often result in ambiguity and chaos. One evident change is a significant decline in
the influence of social institutions such as the family, religion, and education on
people’s lives. Those who live in postmodern societies typically pursue individual
freedom and do not want the structural constraints that are imposed by social
institutions. As social inequality and class differences increase, people are exposed
to higher levels of stress that produce depression, fear, and ambivalence. Problems
such as these are found in nations throughout the world.
Postmodern (or “postindustrial”) societies are characterized by an information
explosion and an economy in which large numbers of people either provide or
apply information, or are employed in professional occupations (such as attorneys
and physicians) or service jobs (such as fast-food servers and health care workers).
There is a corresponding rise of a consumer society and the emergence of a global
village in which people around the world instantly communicate with one another.
Jean Baudrillard, a well-known French social theorist, has extensively explored
how the shift from production of goods to consumption of information, services,
and products has created a new form of social control. According to Baudrillard’s
approach, capitalists strive to control people’s shopping habits, much like the
output of factory workers in industrial economies, to enhance their profits and to
keep everyday people from rebelling against social inequality (1998/1970). How
does this work? When consumers are encouraged to purchase more than they need
or can afford, they often sink deeper in debt and must keep working to meet their
monthly payments. Consumption comes to be based on factors such as our “wants”
and our need to distinguish ourselves from others. We will return to Baudrillard’s
general ideas on postmodern societies in Chapter 2 (“Culture”).
Postmodern theory opens up broad new avenues of inquiry by challenging existing
perspectives and questioning current belief systems. However, postmodern theory
has also been criticized for raising more questions than it answers.
Applying Postmodern Perspectives to Suicide
Although most postmodern social theorists have not addressed suicide as a social
issue, some sociologists believe that postmodern theory can help us because it
reminds us that social life is made up of real people with self-identities and lived
experiences to share with others. Behind the groups, organizations, classes, and
political parties that social scientists study are human beings who participate in the
social construction of everyday life.
Looked at from this perspective, the relationship between suicide and race is
important to consider. Although youths across ethnic categories share certain risk
factors for suicide, young African American and Native American males appear to
be at greater risk for suicide because people in this statistical category lack
educational and employment opportunities. This problem is combined with other
concerns, such as the systemic oppression that persons of color have experienced
throughout U.S. history. In other words, the personal biographies of individuals are
intertwined with the social worlds that they and others have helped create.
Each of the four sociological perspectives we have examined involves different
assumptions. Consequently, each leads us to ask different questions and to view the
world somewhat differently. Concept Quick Review 1 summarizes all four of these
perspectives. Throughout this book, we will be using these perspectives as lenses
through which to view our social world.
Concept Quick Review 1
The Major Theoretical Perspectives
Perspective Analysis Level View of Society
Symbolic Microlevel Society is the sum of the interactions of people and groups.
Interactionist Behavior is learned in interaction with other people; how people
define a situation becomes the foundation for how they behave.
LO7Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research, and identify the steps in each method.
Research models are tailored to the specific problem being investigated and the focus of the researcher. Both quantitative
research and qualitative research contribute to our knowledge of society and human social interaction, and involve a series
of steps, as shown in Figure 1.16. We will now trace
the steps in the “conventional” research model,
which focuses on quantitative research. Then we
will describe an alternative model that emphasizes
qualitative research.
Figure 1.16 Steps in Sociological
Research
1. Select and define the research problem. Sometimes, a specific experience such as knowing someone who
committed suicide can trigger your interest in a topic. Other times, you might select topics to fill gaps or
challenge misconceptions in existing research or to test a specific theory (Babbie, 2013). Emile Durkheim
selected suicide because he wanted to demonstrate the importance of society in situations that might appear to be
arbitrary acts by individuals. Suicide was a suitable topic because it was widely believed that suicide was a
uniquely individualistic act. However, Durkheim emphasized that suicide rates provide better explanations for
suicide than do individual acts of suicide. He reasoned that if suicide were purely an individual act, then the rate
of suicide (the number of people who kill themselves in a given year) should be the same for every group
regardless of culture and social structure. Moreover, Durkheim wanted to know why there were different rates of
suicide—whether factors such as religion, marital status, sex, and age had an effect on social cohesion.
2. Review previous research. Before beginning the research, it is important to analyze what others have written
about the topic. You should determine where gaps exist and note mistakes to avoid. When Durkheim began his
study, very little sociological literature existed to review; however, he studied the works of several moral
philosophers, including Henry Morselli (1975/1881).
3. Formulate the hypothesis (if applicable). You may formulate a hypothesishypothesisa statement of the
expected relationship between two or more variables. hypothesis a statement of the expected
between two or more variables. A variablevariableany concept with measurable traits or characteristics
that can change or vary from one person, time, situation, or society to another. variable any
concept with measurable traits or characteristics that can change or vary from one
person, time, situation, or society to another. is any concept with measurable traits or
characteristics that can change or vary from one person, time, situation, or society to another. The most
fundamental relationship in a hypothesis is between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables
(see Figure 1.17). The independent variableindependent variablein an experiment, the variable assumed to
be the cause of the relationship between variables. independent variable in an experiment, the
the cause of the relationship; the dependent variabledependent variablein an experiment, the variable
the independent variable(s) (Babbie, 2013). Durkheim’s hypothesis stated that the rate of suicide varies
inversely with the degree of social integration. In other words, a low degree of social integration (the independent
variable)
Figure may
1.17 “cause” or “be related
Hypothesized to” a high ratebetween
Relationships of suicide (the dependent variable).
Variables
A causal hypothesis connects one or more independent (causal) variables with a dependent (affected) variable.
The diagram illustrates three hypotheses about the causes of suicide. To test these hypotheses, social scientists
would need to operationalize the variables (define them in measurable terms) and then investigate whether the
data support the proposed explanation.
Not all social research uses hypotheses. If you plan to conduct an explanatory study (showing a cause-and-effect
relationship), you will likely want to formulate one or more hypotheses to test theories. If you plan to conduct a
descriptive study, however, you will be less likely to do so because you may desire only to describe social reality
or provide facts.
4. Develop the research design. You must determine the unit of analysis to be used in the study. A unit of analysis
is what or whom is being studied (Babbie, 2013). In social science research, individuals, social groups (such as
families, cities, or geographic regions), organizations (such as clubs, labor unions, or political parties), and social
artifacts (such as books, paintings, or weddings) may be units of analysis. As mentioned, Durkheim’s unit of
analysis was social groups, not individuals.
5. Collect and analyze the data. You must decide what population will be observed or questioned and then carefully
select a sample. A sample is the people who are selected from the population to be studied; the sample should
accurately represent the larger population. A representative sample is a selection from a larger population that
has the essential characteristics of the total population. For example, if you interviewed five students selected
haphazardly from your sociology class, they would not be representative of your school’s student body. By
contrast, if you selected five students from the student body by a random sample, they would be closer to being
representative (although a random sample of five students would be too small to yield much useful data).
Validity and reliability may be problems in research. ValidityValiditythe extent to which a study or research
instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure. Validity the extent to which a
extent to which a study or research instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure. A
recurring issue in studies that analyze the relationship between religious beliefs and suicide is whether “church
membership” is a valid indicator of a person’s religious beliefs. In fact, one person may be very religious yet not
belong to a specific church, whereas another person may be a member of a church yet not hold very deep
religious beliefs. ReliabilityReliabilitythe extent to which a study or research instrument yields consistent
results when applied to different individuals at one time or to the same individuals over
time. Reliability the extent to which a study or research instrument yields consistent
results when applied to different individuals at one time or to the same individuals over
time. is the extent to which a study or research instrument yields consistent results when applied to
different individuals at one time or to the same individuals over time. Sociologists have found that different
interviewers get different answers from the people being interviewed. For example, how might the interviewers
themselves influence interviews with college students who have contemplated suicide?
Once you have collected your data, the data must be analyzed. Analysis is the process through which data are
organized so that comparisons can be made and conclusions drawn. Sociologists use many techniques to analyze
data. For his study of suicide, Durkheim collected data from vital statistics for approximately 26,000 suicides. He
classified them separately according to age, sex, marital status, presence or absence of children in the family,
religion, geographic location, calendar date, method of suicide, and a number of other variables. As Durkheim
analyzed his data, four distinct categories of suicide emerged: egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic. Egoistic
suicide occurs among people who are isolated from any social group. For example, Durkheim concluded that
suicide rates were relatively high in Protestant countries in Europe because Protestants believed in individualism
and were more loosely tied to the church than were Catholics. Single people had proportionately higher suicide
rates than married persons because they had a low degree of social integration, which contributed to their
loneliness. In contrast, altruistic suicide occurs among individuals who are excessively integrated into society.
An example is military leaders who kill themselves after defeat in battle because they have so strongly identified
themselves with their cause that they believe they cannot live with defeat. Today, other factors such as extended
periods of military service or lengthy wars may also contribute to relatively high rates of suicide among U.S.
military personnel (see “Sociology and Social Policy”). According to Durkheim, people are more likely to
commit suicide when social cohesion is either very weak or very strong, and/or when nations experience rapid
social change.
Grandpa, I just wanted to give you my thanks for being a great influence in my life.
—Marine Corporal Daniel O’Brien, who completed two tours of duty in Iraq, sent a note containing this statement to his
grandfather prior to taking his own life (qtd. in Roberts, 2011).
We think that we are seeing a societal problem [in regard to suicides by military personnel], and frankly the
Army is the canary in the mine shaft here.
—General Ray Carpenter, commander of the Army National Guard, discussing how the incidence of suicide has continued to
be a problem in most branches of the U.S. military (qtd. in Roberts, 2011)
Suicide is a problem nationwide, but it has grown as a special problem in the military, where it is now the
number-two cause of death (after combat) of U.S. service members (Bumiller, 2012). Pentagon figures show that
suicides among troops occur on average once a day and that there have been increases among active-duty
members in all the services except the Navy. It is estimated that since 2001, more than 2,500 active-duty service
members have taken their own lives (Zoroya, 2012).
Shocked by relatively high rates of both suicide and suicide attempts among military service members, the U.S.
Department of Defense and the executive branch of the U.S. government have encouraged all branches of the
military to learn more about the sociological causes of suicide and to develop comprehensive suicide-prevention
initiatives to help reduce the problem and support military service members around the globe. A 2012 executive
order, “Improving Access to Mental Health for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families,” set forth
initiatives designed to improve mental health resources and intervention tools, such as increasing the number of
crisis lines, peer-to-peer counselors, and mental health professionals available to service members and veterans.
More recently, Facebook has become a tool for helping with posttraumatic stress, depression, and mental illness.
The Durkheim Project (named for sociologist Emile Durkheim) combines Facebook, the Department of Defense,
and the Department of Veterans Affairs in an effort to help veterans in distress. Those who voluntarily install an
app on their digital devices get help from other military personnel if they post messages containing expressions
of hopelessness, sleeplessness, or feelings of isolation (Basu, 2013).
What unique social conditions do military personnel face that might contribute to suicide or other conditions
such as depression and alcoholism?
Clearly, a variety of sociological issues are central in dealing with suicidal ideation and behavior in the military.
In the words of a U.S. Army (2012: 51) report,
Each potential suicide or attempted suicide is different with respect to contributing factors and triggering events.
Each victim responds differently to pre-suicide stressors based on protective factors such as personal resilience,
coping skills, and whether or not they are help-seeking.…
Studies are being conducted to gain a better understanding of why suicides are happening and what might be
done to prevent this pressing problem. Although no single cause can be identified for suicide, factors such as
financial worries, relationship issues, legal trouble, substance abuse, medical problems, and posttraumatic stress
are all thought to be associated with suicidal behavior among military personnel. Perhaps greater awareness and
new social policies being implemented by the military will help reduce this problem in the future.
Reporting the findings is the final stage. The report generally includes a review of each step taken in the research
process in order to make the study available for replication—the repetition of the investigation in substantially
the same way that it was originally conducted. Social scientists generally present their findings in papers at
professional meetings and publish them in technical journals and books. In reporting his findings in Suicide
(1964b/1897), Durkheim concluded that the suicide rate of a group is a social fact that cannot be explained in
terms of the personality traits of individuals. Instead, his findings suggested that social conditions in a society are
a more significant influence on rates of suicide.
We have traced the steps in the “conventional” research process (based on deduction and quantitative research). But what
steps might be taken in an alternative approach based on induction and qualitative research?
Survey Research
A survey is a poll in which the researcher gathers facts or attempts to
determine the relationships among facts. Surveys are the most widely used
research method in the social sciences because they make it possible to study things
that are not directly observable—such as people’s attitudes and beliefs—and to
describe a population too large to observe directly (Babbie, 2013) (Figure 1.18).
Researchers frequently select a representative sample from a larger population to
answer questions about attitudes, opinions, or behavior. Respondents are people
who provide data for analysis through interviews or questionnaires. The Gallup and
Harris polls are among the most widely known large-scale surveys; however,
government agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau conduct a variety of surveys
as well.
Conducting surveys and polls is an important means of gathering data from respondents. Some surveys
take place on street corners; increasingly, however, such surveys are done by telephone, Internet, and
other means.
Unlike many polls that use various methods of gaining a representative sample of
the larger population, the Census Bureau attempts to gain information from all
persons in the United States. The decennial census occurs every 10 years, in the
years ending in “0.” The purpose of this census is to count the population and
housing units of the entire nation. The population count determines how seats in the
U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned; however, census figures are also
used in formulating public policy and in planning and decision making in the
private sector. The Census Bureau attempts to survey the entire U.S. population by
using two forms—a “short form” of questions asked of all respondents, and a “long
form” that contains additional questions asked of a representative sample of about
one in six respondents. Statistics from the Census Bureau provide information that
sociologists use in their research. An example is shown in the Census Profiles
feature: “How People in the United States Self-Identify Regarding Race .” Note
that because of recent changes in the methods used to collect data by the Census
Bureau, information on race from the 2010 census is not directly comparable with
data from earlier censuses.
Types of Surveys
Survey data are collected by using self-administered questionnaires, face-to-face
interviews, and telephone or computer surveys. A questionnaire is a printed
research instrument containing a series of items to which subjects respond.
Items are often in the form of statements with which the respondent is asked to
“agree” or “disagree.” Questionnaires may be administered by interviewers in face-
to-face encounters or by telephone, but the most commonly used technique is the
self-administered questionnaire, which is either mailed to the respondent’s home or
administered to groups of respondents gathered at the same place at the same time.
For example, in a now-classic study of suicide, race, and religion, the sociologist
Kevin E. Early (1992) used survey data collected through questionnaires to test his
hypothesis that suicide rates are lower among African Americans than among white
Americans because of the influence of black churches. Data from questionnaires
filled out by members of six African American churches in Florida supported
Early’s hypothesis that the church buffers some African Americans against harsh
social forces—such as racism—that might otherwise lead to suicide.
Survey data may also be collected by interviews. An interview is a data-collection
encounter in which an interviewer asks the respondent questions and records
the answers. Survey research often uses structured interviews, in which the
interviewer asks questions from a standardized questionnaire. Structured interviews
tend to produce uniform or replicable data that can be elicited time after time by
different interviews. For example, in addition to surveying congregation members,
Early (1992) conducted interviews with pastors of African American churches to
determine the pastors’ opinions about the extent to which African American
churches reinforce values and beliefs that discourage suicide.
Interviews have specific advantages such as being more effective in dealing with
complicated issues and providing an opportunity for face-to-face communication
between the interviewer and the respondent. Although interviews provide a wide
variety of useful information, a major disadvantage is the cost and time involved in
conducting the interviews and analyzing the results.
A quicker method of administering questionnaires is the telephone or computer
survey. Telephone and computer surveys give greater control over data collection
and provide greater personal safety for respondents and researchers than do
personal encounters (Figure 1.19). In computer-assisted telephone interviewing
(sometimes called CATI), the interviewer uses a computer to dial random telephone
numbers, reads the questions shown on the video monitor to the respondent, and
then types the responses into the computer terminal. The answers are immediately
stored in the central computer, which automatically prepares them for data analysis.
However, the respondent must answer the phone before the interview can take
place, and many people screen their phone calls. In the past few years, online
survey research has increased dramatically as software packages and online survey
services have made this type of research easier to conduct. Online research makes it
possible to study virtual communities, online relationships, and other types of
computer-mediated communications networks around the world.
Computer-assisted telephone interviewing is an easy and cost-efficient method of conducting research.
However, the widespread use of answering machines, voice mail, and caller ID may make this form of
research more difficult in the twenty-first century.
Census Profiles
How People in the United States Self-Identify Regarding Race
Beginning with Census 2000 and continuing with Census 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau has made it
possible for people responding to census questions regarding their race to mark more than one racial
category. Although the vast majority of respondents select only one category (see below), the Census
Bureau reports that in 2003, approximately 4.3 million people (1.48 percent of the population) in the
United States self-identified as being of more than one race. As a result, if you look at the figures set forth
below, they total more than 100 percent of the total population. How can this be? Simply stated, some
individuals are counted at least twice, based on the number of racial categories they listed.
Race Percentage
of Total
Population
Field Research
Field research is the study of social life in its natural setting: observing and
interviewing people where they live, work, and play. Some kinds of behavior can
be best studied by “being there”; a fuller understanding can be developed through
observations, face-to-face discussions, and participation in events. Researchers use
these methods to generate qualitative data: observations that are best described
verbally rather than numerically.
Sociologists who are interested in observing social interaction as it occurs may use
participant observation—the process of collecting systematic observations
while being part of the activities of the group that the researcher is studying.
Participant observation generates more “inside” information than simply asking
questions or observing from the outside. For example, to learn more about how
coroners make a ruling of “suicide” in connection with a death and to analyze what
(if any) effect such a ruling has on the accuracy of “official” suicide statistics, the
sociologist Steve Taylor (1982) engaged in participant observation at a coroner’s
office over a six-month period. As he followed a number of cases from the initial
report of death through the various stages of investigation, Taylor learned that it
was important to “be around” so that he could listen to discussions and ask the
coroners questions because intuition and guesswork play a large part in some
decisions to rule a death as a suicide.
Another approach to field research is the ethnography—a detailed study of the
life and activities of a group of people by researchers who may live with that
group over a period of years. Unlike participant observation, ethnographic studies
usually take place over a longer period of time. For example, the sociologist Sudhir
Venkatesh (2013) conducted more than a decade of research on New York City’s
underground economy before writing his book Floating City: A Rogue Sociologist
Lost and Found in New York’s Underground Economy (Figure 1.21 and Figure
1.22). He observed and interviewed a wide array of people, many of whom were
involved in illegal transactions. Among his participants were poor immigrants, drug
bosses and dealers, prostitutes, businesspeople, socialites, and academics, all of
whom had their own stories to tell. Based on his extensive ethnographic research,
Venkatesh was able to describe in great detail how a vast underground economy
serves to unite the wealthy and poor in New York and other large cities.
Suicide in the Media
Reporting on Bullying and Suicide: A Cause-and-Effect Relationship?
The media offer us different vantage points from which to view a given social event based on how they
frame the information they provide to their audience. The term media framing refers to the process by
which information and entertainment are packaged by the mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio and
television stations and networks, the Internet, and various social media networks). For example, recurring
media stories about suicides among young people have focused on individuals such as Rebecca Ann
Sedwick (mentioned at the beginning of this chapter); Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old girl who moved to
Massachusetts from Ireland and killed herself after being bullied by high school classmates; and Amanda
Cummings, another 15-year-old who committed suicide after what her family referred to as relentless
bullying in New York. In the aftermath of these supposedly bullying-related suicides, media personnel
often have framed extensive—and sometimes sensationalized—stories based on what they consider to be
the “cause-and-effect” relationship between being bullied and committing suicide, especially among
young people.
However, a question has been raised by mental health professionals and suicide-prevention workers: Is
this the best way to inform media audiences about suicide, or is the framing of these stories far too
simplistic? According to one specialist at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, “Bullying is
so at the top of our consciousness that we’re bending over backwards to get it into the story. Years and
years of research has taught us that the overwhelming number of people who die by suicide had a
diagnosable mental disorder at the time of their death” (qtd. in Bindley, 2012). From this perspective,
other contributing factors, such as depression, family life, and the ending of a relationship, must also be
considered when writing about suicidal behavior. Sometimes bullying becomes the “easy” answer, and
we turn to it quickly because it is easy to understand, particularly when it is so often the focus of media
reports on suicide by young people.
Thinking sociologically, what problems exist in how the media frame stories about a social issue such as
bullying and suicide? As discussed in this chapter, the early sociologist Emile Durkheim believed that we
should view even seemingly individual actions—such as suicide—from a sociological perspective that
focuses on the part that social groups and societies play in patterns of behavior rather than focusing on
individuals. If we use a sociological approach to analyzing how the media frame stories about suicide,
here are three questions to consider:
Do television and newspaper reports of suicides simplify the reasons for the suicide? The media often
report a final precipitating situation (such as a fight with a boyfriend or girlfriend, losing one’s job, or
being bullied) that distressed the individual prior to suicide but do not inform audiences that this was not
the only cause of this suicide.
Are readers and viewers provided with repetitive, ongoing, and excessive reporting on a suicide?
Repeated sensationalistic framing of stories about suicide may contribute to suicide contagion. Some
people are more at risk because of age, stress, and/or other personal problems. For example, suicide
clusters (suicides occurring close together in time and location) are most common among people 15 to 24
years of age who may have learned details from the media. Do the media use dramatic photographs (such
as of the person committing suicide or of friends and family weeping and showing great emotion at the
victim’s funeral) primarily to sell papers or increase viewer ratings? Photographs and other sensational
material are potentially most damaging for people who have long-standing mental health problems or who
have limited social networks to provide them with hope, encouragement, and guidance.
The media frequently employ images when covering suicide. Do such images affect the way that you
perceive the event?
In our mass-mediated culture, many sociologists agree that the media do much more than simply mirror
society: The media help shape our society and our cultural perceptions on many issues, including
seemingly individual behavior such as suicide.
Experiments
An experiment is a carefully designed situation in which the researcher studies
the impact of certain variables on subjects’ attitudes or behavior. Experiments
are designed to create “real-life” situations, ideally under controlled circumstances,
in which the influence of different variables can be modified and measured.
Conventional experiments require that subjects be divided into two groups: an
experimental group and a control group. The experimental group contains the
subjects who are exposed to an independent variable (the experimental
condition) to study its effect on them. The control group contains the subjects
who are not exposed to the independent variable. For example, the sociologist
Arturo Biblarz and colleagues (1991) examined the effects of media violence and
depictions of suicide on attitudes toward suicide by showing one group of subjects
(an experimental group) a film about suicide, while a second (another experimental
group) saw a film about violence, and a third (the control group) saw a film
containing neither suicide nor violence. The research found some evidence that
people exposed to suicidal acts or violence in the media may be more likely to
demonstrate an emotional state favorable to suicidal behavior, particularly if they
are already “at risk” for suicide. If we were able to replicate this study today, do
you believe that we would find similar results? Why or why not?
Researchers may use experiments when they want to demonstrate that a cause-and-
effect relationship exists between variables, such as whether violent video games
cause an increase in violent tendencies in people who use them (Figure 1.23). In
order to show that a change in one variable causes a change in another, three
conditions must be satisfied:
(1)
a correlation between the two variables must be shown to exist (correlation exists
when two variables are associated more frequently than could be expected by
chance),
(2)
the independent variable must have occurred prior to the dependent variable, and
(3)
any change in the dependent variable must not have been due to an extraneous
variable—one outside the stated hypothesis.
Do extremely violent video games cause an increase in violent tendencies in their users? Experiments are
one way to test a researcher’s hypothesis about this relationship.
Replication possible,
except for natural
experiments
Multivariate analysis Data that are not always “hard facts” presented as such in
possible statistical analyses
Research Strengths Weaknesses
Method
Secondary Data often readily Difficulty in determining accuracy of some of the data
analysis of available, inexpensive to
existing data collect
(existing
statistics,
content
analysis)
Documentation of need
for social reform
Chapter Review
LO1 What is sociology, and how can it help us understand others and ourselves?
o Sociology is the systematic study of human society and social interaction. We study sociology to
understand how human behavior is shaped by group life and, in turn, how individuals affect group life.
Our culture tends to emphasize individualism, and sociology pushes us to consider more-complex
connections between our personal lives and the larger world.
LO2 What is meant by the sociological imagination, and how can we develop a global sociological
imagination?
o According to C. Wright Mills, the sociological imagination helps us understand how seemingly personal
troubles, such as suicide, are actually related to larger social forces. It is the ability to see the relationship
between individual experiences and the larger society. To develop a global sociological imagination, we
must reach beyond past studies that have focused primarily on the United States and seek to develop a
more comprehensive global approach. It is important to have a global sociological imagination because
the future of this nation is deeply intertwined with the future of all nations of the world on economic,
political, and humanitarian levels.
LO3 What was the historical context in which sociological thinking developed, and why were many early
social thinkers concerned with social order and stability?
o The origins of sociological thinking as we know it today can be traced to the scientific revolution in the
late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and to the Age of Enlightenment. Industrialization and
urbanization increased rapidly in the late eighteenth century, and social thinkers began to examine the
consequences of these powerful forces. As a result of rapid social change in societies, early thinkers—
such as Auguste Comte, Harriet Martineau, Herbert Spencer, and Emile Durkheim—focused on social
order and stability, and many of their ideas had a dramatic influence on modern sociology. Comte coined
the term sociology to describe a new science that would engage in the study of society. Comte’s works
were made more accessible for a wide variety of scholars through the efforts of Martineau. Spencer’s
major contribution to sociology was an evolutionary perspective on social order and social change.
Durkheim argued that rapid social change produces strains in society and that the loss of shared values
and purpose can lead to a condition of anomie.
LO4 Why were many later social thinkers concerned with social change?
o In sharp contrast to Durkheim’s focus on the stability of society, German economist and philosopher Karl
Marx stressed that history is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces. He believed that
conflict—especially class conflict—is necessary in order to produce social change and a better society.
Although he disagreed with Marx’s idea that economics is the central force in social change, German
social scientist Max Weber acknowledged that economic interests are important in shaping human action.
Weber was particularly concerned with changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution and the
influences these changes had on human behavior. In particular, Weber was concerned that large-scale
organizations were becoming increasingly oriented toward routine administration and a specialized
division of labor, which he believed were destructive to human vitality and freedom. Whereas other
sociologists primarily focused on society as a whole, Simmel explored small social groups and argued
that society was best seen as a web of patterned interactions among people.
LO5 What are key differences in functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionist, and postmodern
perspectives on contemporary social life?
o Functionalist perspectives assume that society is a stable, orderly system characterized by societal
consensus. Conflict perspectives argue that society is a continuous power struggle among competing
groups, often based on class, race, ethnicity, or gender. Symbolic interactionist perspectives focus on how
people make sense of their everyday social interactions. From an alternative perspective, postmodern
theorists believe that entirely new ways of examining social life are needed and that it is time to move
beyond functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist approaches.
LO6 Why is sociological research necessary, and how does it challenge our commonsense beliefs about
pressing social issues such as suicide?
o Sociological research provides a factual and objective counterpoint to commonsense knowledge and ill-
informed sources of information. It is based on an empirical approach that answers questions through a
direct, systematic collection and analysis of data.
LO7 How does quantitative research differ from qualitative research? What steps are involved in each
method?
o Quantitative research focuses on data that can be measured numerically (comparing rates of suicide, for
example). Qualitative research focuses on interpretive description (words) rather than statistics to analyze
underlying meanings and patterns of social relationships. Key steps in the quantitative research process
include
(1)
selecting and defining the research problem;
(2)
reviewing previous research;
(3)
formulating the hypothesis, which involves constructing variables;
(4)
developing the research design;
(5)
collecting and analyzing the data; and
(6)
drawing conclusions and reporting the findings.
o By contrast, key steps in the qualitative approach often include
(1)
reviewing the literature and formulating the problem to be studied instead of creating a hypothesis,
(2)
collecting and analyzing the data, and
(3)
reporting the results.
LO8 What is survey research, and what are the three types of surveys?
o The main types of research methods are surveys, secondary analysis of existing data, field research, and
experiments. Surveys are polls used to gather facts about people’s attitudes, opinions, or behaviors; a
representative sample of respondents provides data through questionnaires or interviews. Survey data are
collected by using self-administered questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, and telephone or computer
surveys.
LO9 How do the following research methods compare: surveys, secondary analysis of existing data, field
research, and experiments?
o Surveys are polls used to gather facts about people’s attitudes, opinions, or behaviors; a representative
sample of respondents provides data through questionnaires or interviews. In secondary analysis,
researchers analyze existing data, such as a government census, or cultural artifacts, such as a diary. In
field research, sociologists study social life in its natural setting through participant observation, case
studies, unstructured interviews, and ethnography. Through experiments, researchers study the impact of
certain variables on their subjects.
LO10 What ethical issues are involved in sociological research, and what professional codes protect
research participants?
o Because sociology involves the study of people (“human subjects”), researchers are required to obtain the
informed consent of the people they study; however, in some instances what constitutes “informed
consent” may be difficult to determine. The American Sociological Association (ASA) Code of Ethics
(1999) sets forth certain basic standards that sociologists must follow in conducting research.