What Is Sociology?

Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Unit 1.1 Intro to Sociology

What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Sudhir Venkatesh studied the social life of a public housing
project in Chicago.
Discovered that the community sustained itself off the
books and that it had its own set of rules and behavior.
Became closely involved with a gang leader of the
project and used this closeness to further study the rules
of the community.
His book Off the Books: The Underground Economy of
the Urban Poor presented poverty in a more realistic
light than previous studies.
Case Study: Street Science

What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Sociology and Other Social Sciences
The social sciences are disciplines that study human
social behavior or institutions and the functions of human
society in a scientific manner.
Main Idea
Sociology is a social science that looks at human society.
The sociological perspective enables scientists to see beyond
commonly held beliefs to the hidden meanings behind human
actions.
Ex: Instead of exclaiming Thats racist!, ask How do I know that?
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Sociological Perspective
Looking at social life in a
scientific, systematic way
Looking beyond commonly held
beliefs
Trying to find patterns
Sociological Imagination
Ability to see the connection
between the larger world and
your personal life
Seeing the relations between
impersonal and intimate
features of human life


Thinking Like a Sociologist
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Macrosociology
The study of large-scale systems or societies as a whole
The study of long-term problems
Microsociology
The study of small-group settings
The study of everyday interactions among group members
Globalization
A process of creating a world-wide system of interactions, larger
than any one society
Levels of Analysis
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Economic Changes
The Industrial Revolution in Western Europe and United
States throughout early-mid 1800s
Migration from rural areas to living in cities
Farming to manufacturing
Needs-based to money-based
The Development of Sociology
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Social Changes
Urbanization leads to overcrowding
Competition for resources such as food, water, shelter,
sewer, and money
Little to no social bonds or shared beliefs
Crime and pollution increase
The Development of Sociology
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Political Changes
Focus on individual rights and equality
Frustration with monarchy and elite rulers
Political revolutions in United States and France, later
Russia
The Development of Sociology
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
How could society function with so much change?
Scholars aimed to explain this by studying society using
scientific methods
The Development of Sociology
What Is Sociology?
Original Content Copyright Holt McDougal. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Draw Conclusions
Why do you think social upheaval
encouraged scholars to analyze society?
Reading Check