THE SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH 1

to define sociology to understand the uniqueness of the subject matter of sociology to explain how is society studied using the theory of
Positivism

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Society
Practise Quiz 1

to identify the main sociological perspectives - Interpretivism - Consensus/ Structural functionalism - Conflict/ Marxist To apply the concept of sociology to the Caribbean ( society now)

a large complex of human relationships, or a system of interaction. A society consists of a complex of social events It is the longest, enduring and most embracing social organisation, Mustapha, 2007

The concept of society begins with individuals who interact with one another and through interaction develops patterns of behaviour.

If we could not predict one anothers

behaviour with a very high degree of accuracy, social relationships would be impossible, and human life would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short Thomas Hobbes, 1651

An Overview
Because we usually can anticipate how others

will respond to our actions, it is possible for us to have families and friends, each one of us would be forced to sleep alone in a secret hiding place if we couldnt accurately predict that our relatives wont try to kill us We are like social scientist: to observe, to interpret,to predict

Sociology offers us a distinction and enlightening perspective of human behaviour. SGY is the study of the development of knowledge of ways people interact with each other.

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY
It discovers the general laws which govern interaction. Sociology does not diminish the realities of personal experiences but gives a greater understanding of those individual characteristics. Ex: family relationships a systematic study of human social interaction, social life, groups and societies, Giddens (2004) a study of human behaviour in the society, Anderson and Taylor(2004) the study of human behaviour as shaped by collective life, Hess et al (1998)

Sociology is the study of individuals in groups in a systematic way, which grew out of the search for understanding associations with the industrial and scientific revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries Lawson and Garrod, 1996

Sociology is not a practice but an attempt to understand human behaviour. Some students studied SGY to be able to deal with people and to understand people as is the case of social work or to get an A or to be better citizens.

 It is more than this, it allows the student the opportunity to apply their understanding to social phenomena and to the wider society. Sociologists observe social phenomena and see recurrent patterns of behaviour, they are able to predict behaviour based on past evidence

Sociologists also look at - the way a society evolves and changes with time (social process) - how it creates and maintain its culture - and how groups and institutions influence human behaviour (social structure)

Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills(1959), an American Sociologist coined the term, SI it requires us to think ourselves away from The ability to see the link between incidents in the lives of individuals and large social forces. Mills argued no matter how private or personal our actions we can understand ourselves and our intimates much better if we place ourselves within the wider larger framework, Ex couples decision to have a child

the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to look at them anew.

ACTIVITY 1
Would the following students please stand Those students whose parents are divorce Those students whose parents are still married Sociological imagination allows us to see that many events that seem to concern only the individual actually reflect larger issues. Example: Suicide, Divorce, World Cup Barbados Divorce- Single parenting/ femaleheaded households- day care- child support (law courts/ welfare)

 It allows sociologists to see beyond their own personal troubles and to consider the wider social issues. Society can be seen objectively, free from prejudices, cultural values and attitudes (non-judgmental approach) Social world surrounding the individual

Sociologists are not statisticians, they apply the statistics to gain a greater understanding of the social world. (Peter Berger, Invitation to SGY)

Humans are distinct from animals. They are socialised. Socialisation allows persons to develop a culture and the ability to learn the acceptable and unacceptable behaviour of the specific society. Ex: national symbols

Developmental theorist like Peter Worsley believed that babies are born with blank slates that have to be written on for the child to function in society.

What do sociologists study

Sociologists study social problems and sociological problems. A sociological problem is how the system works and how is it held together. Crime for example may be considered as a social problem but the law would be the sociological problem. A problem in one society may not be the same problem in another society, ex: Kidnapping in Trinidad, Drug Use and Abuse in St. Vincent and Barbados, Murders in Jamaica

How is society viewed?

And more importantly, sociological problems in one social system may be the norm and for another. To the police crime is a problem but for the criminals it is the norm. Sociologists therefore must engaged in triangulation. Social structure the orderly way that people and groups interact with each other. It occurs with two or more people..

It is usually short term or long term as in the case of a mother/father and their children, teachers and students. When the interaction becomes more stablised a social relationship is formed

In a social structure therefore one can find many social relationships. These are individual to individual, individual to group and individual to social institutions, Can one person be a social relationship?

Human Social Interaction Chart

Social institutions an established pattern of behaviour that deals with major social interests. SGY seeks to examine the elements of society: education, family, religion, political institutions and legal system by studying the social relationships within them.
Education

Recreation, Sports

Legal System

Man Economics Religion

Politics

Family

WHERE DID IT COME FROM

Social process This refers to social change. It can be revolutionary or evolutionary. Evolutionary change occurs when one institution change results in the change of another institution to allow harmony and continuity of the system.
Social sciences emerged as a family of disciplines yet each discipline has some specific focus at the level of analysis: - Psychology (human mind) - Anthropology (human cultures) - Political Science (administration of society) - Economics (production and distribution of goods and services) - History (events of the past)

GROUPS
Group/organization (micro-sociology, small groups and focus on patterns of face-face interaction) Group for the sociologist is any set of two or more persons who maintain a stable pattern of social relations over a period of time, this concept ignores gender, race, age and those identifying characteristics which persons will classify as a group. Group is said to be the fundamental subject matter of sociology, Stark(2007). The size of the group also varies, from small (couple) to large (Muslims). Some level of social relations must take place.

Can sociology be applied

The significance of the group is important: - primary (family, cricket teams) or - secondary (school, business clubs) Interestingly, primary groups are formed from secondary groups. SGY explains the social realities as they relate to social action, it restores our consciousness of the human element in institutions and it justifies the position of various groups in society, ex. The Disabled, The Elderly, Coloured Women through social research.

How is society studied

it must be objective, the sociologists must conceal his/ her personal preferences it must serve to understand society by adopting the appropriate methodology all terminologies must be clearly defined and understood, ex: avoid jargons sociological language

Theoretical Perspectives
POSITIVISM Pos. makes two basic assumptions, scientific investigation is the only source of knowledge and all sciences share a unified method. Pos. has many advocates: Comte, A; Durkheim, E; Merton, R; Parsons, T

What is science
They adopt mathematical measures to test sociological theories and they stressed the importance of objectivity. Giddens (1986) states science is the use of systematic methods of research and investigation and the logical analysis of the arguments in order to develop an understanding of a particular subject matter

Objectivity
The scientist/sgist remains neutral in their position, not influenced in their approach to studying society. Objectivity is achieved through scientific methodologies whether qualitatively or quantitatively. Postivism was demonstrated by Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim.

WHO WERE THE EARLY ADVOCATES

Auguste Comte Emile Durkheim

The founding father of SGY. He developed sociology at a scientific time. To investigate social influences he used scientific methodology to distinguish knowledge gained from common sense which is subjective to knowledge gained through objective means that were scientific.

He described the methods to be used in the study of sociology and what exactly in society should be studied. For him, they were the social facts. A social reality constituting a collective reality of society. Ex: fashion Social facts are culture specific and time specific.

Karl Popper

Studies can either be deductive or inductive. Ex: Alcohol use among UWI Students One counter observation to the general law proves it false. The scientist begins with a theory and seeks evidence to support it, questionnaires to UWI Students.

Induction means the scientist/sgist moves from a specific to the general, by examining case by case and build on each observation to make a general law/ theory of society. Sociologist spends time at the Guild on Friday Nights observing the Beer Limes

METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

How is the Scientific Method/research applied? Deductive/ Quantitatively a problem statement data gathering on the statement data recording data analysis conclusions and recommendations based on findings

Characteristics of Science
Sociology share these: 1. Empirical (evidence from objective procedures) 2. Theoretical (research formulates theory, Suicide (Durkheim) 3. Cumulative (builds on others, what is already known) 4. Objectivity (unbiased, dispassionate) 5. Value-Free

So what!
Sociology attempts to study the social forces that impact on the lives of the people in a society.that is also our lives. In its attempts it has embrace a number of different theoretical perspectives and have arrived at different models of human social reality known as sociological perspectives: Functionalism, Conflict and Interactionalist Perspectives

Next-class
Sociological Perspectives 1. Interactionalist Perspective 2. Functionalist Perspective 3. Conflict Perspective Come prepared to discuss these models

Learning objectives
To explain an alternative view of understanding human behaviour To adopt a micro-level/approach perspective of society To explore the concept of culture to social reality Culture Culture of a society is the way of life of its members ; collection of ideas and habits which they learn, share and transmit from generation to generation (Ralph Linton) Design for living held by members of a particular society. Culture is learned and it is shared

It defines ways of behaving for members of a particular society. Example: Dress (Pink), Conversations between adults and children, teacher enters the classroom, It is the values, norms and customs In Australia, Haralambos reference of Female infanticide and geronticide to reduce the population

We are producers and products of our culture

INTERPRETAVISM
In. sgists oppose the views of the positivists. They advocate qualitative methods of analysis over quantitative methods. It focuses on small scale interaction rather than society as a whole. They do not support the claim of objectivity, for them it is impossible. They reject the use of scientific approaches to the study of human behaviour.

For them the use of words, symbols, meanings and an understanding and interpretation of social action is the approach to be used. Understanding the meanings and motives behind the action of people must be the first step.

They argue that it is only when a scientist/sgist immersed in the society and being subjective in their approach to social action can one truly understand society. They: Max Weber, George Herbert Mead, Erving Goffman

Human action has little meaning, it gets its meaning when its interpreted among people who share the same meaning. Example: role of Women in Islamic culture, Sister (Hospital)

Culture and cultural roles often determine how we define our social reality. All persons sharing the same culture will not have the same definitions. (Pink)

 Common sense is very important to the interpretivists. Other schools of sociology advocate this approach, namely: social action theory symbolic interaction ethnomethodology phenomenology

Structural Functionalism Society is ordered around harmony and agreement. Society is looked at as an organism with interrelated parts that operate together to make the organism function. Each part of the society must be examined in relation to its other parts.

Humans behave in expected ways based on roles, expectations, norms and values. Value consensus according to Durkheim exist in society, it keeps society together. Functional prerequisites are also important to the survival of a society.

For example: food, shelter, socialization and reproduction. Without these a society would cease to exist. Functionalists also recognized the importance of conflict in a society.

Conflict however is a temporary, disequilibrium. The process of change in society is slow. As changes occur in one institution, the others change to maintain equilibrium.

CONFLICT Karl Marx is the founder of conflict perspective. They are other theories on conflict, however in Marxs perspective, society is made up of two opposing groups..

 One group owns the means of production such as land, labour, capital (the property class) and the group offers only their labour and skill.They sell their labour to the property class. The bourgeoisie and the proletariat. A relationship of exploitation and oppression

Marxist theory examines conflict between opposing economic classes. For him society is a history of class struggles via a process of revolution. Marx therefore is an economic determinist; every thing has an economic origin. He calls this the infrastructure and the other institutions he called the superstructure.

Summary
Sociology is therefore about developing a critical understanding of society and the patterns of social relations developed over time. We as a people can better understand our social world and relationships. Recognising each theory was its merit.

Critical Social Science

It a new approach to studying society Founded on conflict theory/feminist theory The injustices and disparities of a society that needs to be change It criticises both interpretivism and positivism Empowerment Action research

References Many of us allow ourselves to be controlled, mislead and mistreated, we do not realise our true potential as change agents.
Giddens, A; Sociology Haralambos and Holborn; Sociology Themes and Perspectives Stark, R; Sociology Barrow, C and Reddock, R ; Caribbean Sociology Mustapha, N; Sociology for Caribbean Students

Exam Question

Quiz Time Next Class

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the interpretative perspective in Sociology? Illustrate how the interpretative perspective can be applied to the study of a named social institution in society.

The Response

Short Answer Question

Define and explain each of the following concepts using illustrations as applicable: Social structure Groups Culture Sociological imagination

A comprehensive understanding of interpretative sociology Origins and historical development of the perspective and an overview of its assumptions, basic concepts and the main theorist (s) associated with the perspective. Knowledge of the other perspectives: functionalism and Conflict

Examples of exam questions

The question of whether or not sociology is seen as a science depends as much on the definition of science as on the nature of sociology. Critically discuss. Discuss the extent to which SGY provides an adequate scientific methodology to study human social behaviour? Do all sociologists consider sociology to be truly objective?

The Response
This short answer question tests your knowledge on some of the key concepts used in sociological study of society. Definitions not needed Describe and explain the concept with illustrations as far as possible Where specific individuals have been associated with a concept they should be named