Lecture notes for Mr.

1. Sociology
The Nature of Sociology

2. Objectives
• Students will identify key terms of
sociological perspective.
• Students will discuss aspects of social
structure that exist in their lives.

3. Vocabulary
• perspective: a particular point of view.
• sociology: the scientific study of social structure
(human social behavior).
• sociological perspective: a view that looks at
behavior of groups, not individuals.
• social structure: the patterned interaction of people
in social relationships.
• sociological imagination: the ability to see the link
between society and self.

4. Through one’s own lens
• Individuals tend to view the world through their own
perspective.
• Babies are usually brighter and better looking to
their parents than they are to others.
• Our culture seems ‘normal’; others seem ‘foreign’

5. Sociology
• Sociology is the scientific study of human
behavior.
• However the focus is on groups rather
than on individuals
• This involves a sociological
perspective

6. Video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFdUtCAXAUM

7. The Social Sciences
• Sociology is part of a larger group of
sciences that deals with the study of human
behavior
• This includes:

8. Anthropology
• Investigation of culture,
the customary beliefs and
material traits of groups.

9. Psychology
• Investigates
human mental and
emotional
processes.

10. Economics
• Study of the
production,
distribution and
consumption of
goods and services.

11. Political Science
• Study of the
organization,
administration,
history and
theory of
government.

12. History
• Examines the past
events in human
societies.

13. Sociologist: Method
• Focus is not on behavior of individuals
• Patterns of behavior shared by members
of a group or society.
• Sociologists attempt to explain events
without relying on personal factors.
• Look for social, rather than personal
explanations

14. Importance of Patterns
• Patterns give clues to sociologists on what
to examine and to watch.
• Patterned interaction of people in social
relationships: social structure
• It is impossible to perfectly predict an
individuals behavior within a group. But
patterns can emerge.

15. http://onlineclassroom.tv/sociology/catalogue/
introducung_sociology/introducing_sociology/preview1

16. Conformity
• Groups come in many sizes - from a single family to
all of a given society.
• These groups can have enormous influence on how
members of a group think, behave and feel in similar
ways.
• Individual habits reflect group attitudes and beliefs.
• Reflect values of that group

17. Sociological Imagination
• Knowing how social forces affect our lives
can prevent us from being prisoners of
those forces.
• Ability to see the relationship between
events in their personal lives and events
in society.

18. Why is that important?
• Changes in the needs of a given society will
be reflected in the values of that society
and change the pressures.
• Challenges the notion of ‘conventional
social wisdom’ as time moves on.

19. Video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azWs-ESXZrk