SOCIOLOGY: Perspective, Theory, and Method
SOCIOLOGY: The scientific study of human social activity.
PPT Slide
Auguste Comte
Sociological Thinking Stimulated by:
Theory
Theoretical Paradigm
3 Major Sociological Paradigms: Each looks at social issues from a different viewpoint, asks it’s own set of questions. Each focuses on a different aspect of reality.
Sociological Paradigms
Structural-Functional Paradigm
Structural Functional Paradigm
Structural Functional Paradigm How does the automobile promote the functioning of society?
Social Conflict Paradigm
How do cars promote inequality in society?
Symbolic Interaction Paradigm
Symbolic - Interaction Paradigm
Symbolic - Interaction Paradigm Shared Symbols
Man is an active creator of his own social reality. What does this car symbolize? How does it effect social interaction?
Research Method
Research Methods
Ten Steps in Sociological Investigation 1. Define the topic 2. Find existing information 3. Assess the requirements 4. Specify the question (hypothesis)
Hypothesis
Ten Steps (continued) 5. Consider the ethical issues 6. Choose the research method -Experiment -Survey or -Participant Observation
Ten Steps (continued) 7. Gather your data from a sample 8. Interpret the findings. 9. Write out your conclusions (Theory if applicable) 10. Share your results with class.
Scientific Investigation can be like the game of twenty questions. Everything builds from the first question. The answers we arrive at are often dependent on the questions that are asked.
“Until the lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” --African Proverb
COUNTRY PAY Turkey 99 cents El Salvador 95 cents Sweden 90 cents USA 76 cents Brazil 54 cents Bangladesh 50 cents U.N Statistics Division, salary averages for 1992-98
Women in Turkey earn 99 cents to a man’s dollar according to a United Nations report of manufacturing wages in 39 countries. Of course, numbers don’t tell the whole story. “Women in these countries may have access only to manufacturing jobs - they may not have any professional opportunities at all,” points out U.N. statistician Laura Mourino. Sweden, which enforces its equity laws, also placed high on the list.
To think sociologically is to realize that what we experience as personal problems are often widely shared by others like ourselves. Thus many personal problems are actually social issues.
Email: caspercu@fvtc.edu
Home Page: http://its.fvtc.edu/sociol1/Presentations.htm