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Notes
Sociology is the study of human society.
- This encompasses a lot since the social world is broad: for example: social
interactions, social groups, social institutions and social stratification, among other
things.
- While society is a pretty broad thing to study, sociologists typically focus on just
one segment or “slice” of society
Example of a slice of the modern world: Culture (ex:songs, music
genres),Neighborhoods(population change and gentrification), Inequality( housing
market exploitation)
-Qualitative data: Not numbers lol
-To think like a sociologist means to reconsider assumptions about society and
question what is taken for granted
-THE GOAL is to better understand the world around you
-C.Wright Mills: The sociological imagination : Encourages the questioning and
making the familiar strange
-Sociological concept describes an ability to connect the most basic aspects of
life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces
-Important to think about individuals as embedded in a particular social context
Notes 1
, APPLYING THE SOCIOLOGICAL LENS TO WHY WE GO TO COLLEGE
A few reasons include:
1. To gain access to higher status,higher paying jobs ( what sociologists refer to
as the college wage premium)
2. For the challenge & accomplishment
3. To be part of college social life among friends
4. To learn from new and different perspectives
What are the true costs and returns of college?
We can assess the economic returns to college using Census data and other
sources
College graduates earn about $1,500,000 more over their lifetimes than people
with only a highschool education
Why does college matter?
-There are large informal mechanisms such as networks with alumni by which
universities protect their status
-Formal mechanisms like accreditation bodies, by which universities restrict who
is legally considered a college graduate
-Social forces make it difficult to fake having a degree, and also highlight
how college is not solely about classwork, but also based on social networks and
social status related to attending college
-The higher education system is considered a social institution
The concept of social institution describes a complex group of interdependent
positions that,together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over
time
The legal system
The labor market
The educational system
The military
Notes 2
, The family
Social Structures make up college in the US
The legal system
The primary and secondary educational systems
Accreditation bodies
The Educational Testing Service and ACT
The wage labor market
The English language
HISTORY OF SOCIOLOGY
Auguste Comte
-believed that the way to understand society was by determining the logic or laws
governing human behavior which he called social physics
-founder of positivism in sciences
Positivist sociology-
-This approach to sociology emphasizes the scientific method for studying and
measuring the observable behavior of individuals
-Measuring things irrespective of the meanings those actions have for the
subjects themselves
Harriet Martineau
-Martineau was the first person to translate Comteʼs written works into English and
one of the earliest feminist social scientists.
-She addressed topics ranging from the education of children to the relationship
between the federal and state governments.
Karl Marx
-Marx proposed the theory of historical materialism, which identifies class conflict
as the primary cause of social change.
-From his surname the term Marxism (an ideological alternative to capitalism)
derives, and his writings provided the theoretical basis for Socialism.
Notes 3
Notes
Sociology is the study of human society.
- This encompasses a lot since the social world is broad: for example: social
interactions, social groups, social institutions and social stratification, among other
things.
- While society is a pretty broad thing to study, sociologists typically focus on just
one segment or “slice” of society
Example of a slice of the modern world: Culture (ex:songs, music
genres),Neighborhoods(population change and gentrification), Inequality( housing
market exploitation)
-Qualitative data: Not numbers lol
-To think like a sociologist means to reconsider assumptions about society and
question what is taken for granted
-THE GOAL is to better understand the world around you
-C.Wright Mills: The sociological imagination : Encourages the questioning and
making the familiar strange
-Sociological concept describes an ability to connect the most basic aspects of
life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces
-Important to think about individuals as embedded in a particular social context
Notes 1
, APPLYING THE SOCIOLOGICAL LENS TO WHY WE GO TO COLLEGE
A few reasons include:
1. To gain access to higher status,higher paying jobs ( what sociologists refer to
as the college wage premium)
2. For the challenge & accomplishment
3. To be part of college social life among friends
4. To learn from new and different perspectives
What are the true costs and returns of college?
We can assess the economic returns to college using Census data and other
sources
College graduates earn about $1,500,000 more over their lifetimes than people
with only a highschool education
Why does college matter?
-There are large informal mechanisms such as networks with alumni by which
universities protect their status
-Formal mechanisms like accreditation bodies, by which universities restrict who
is legally considered a college graduate
-Social forces make it difficult to fake having a degree, and also highlight
how college is not solely about classwork, but also based on social networks and
social status related to attending college
-The higher education system is considered a social institution
The concept of social institution describes a complex group of interdependent
positions that,together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over
time
The legal system
The labor market
The educational system
The military
Notes 2
, The family
Social Structures make up college in the US
The legal system
The primary and secondary educational systems
Accreditation bodies
The Educational Testing Service and ACT
The wage labor market
The English language
HISTORY OF SOCIOLOGY
Auguste Comte
-believed that the way to understand society was by determining the logic or laws
governing human behavior which he called social physics
-founder of positivism in sciences
Positivist sociology-
-This approach to sociology emphasizes the scientific method for studying and
measuring the observable behavior of individuals
-Measuring things irrespective of the meanings those actions have for the
subjects themselves
Harriet Martineau
-Martineau was the first person to translate Comteʼs written works into English and
one of the earliest feminist social scientists.
-She addressed topics ranging from the education of children to the relationship
between the federal and state governments.
Karl Marx
-Marx proposed the theory of historical materialism, which identifies class conflict
as the primary cause of social change.
-From his surname the term Marxism (an ideological alternative to capitalism)
derives, and his writings provided the theoretical basis for Socialism.
Notes 3
