Summary Sociology Hopcroft

Summary Sociology
Chapter 1 | What do sociologists do?

Sociologists = the study of people in groups using the scientific method.

Society is made up of (level of analysis, piramid):
 The individual (lowest level of analysis)
 Two people – Dyad
 Organizations and businesses
 States and countries
 World

The invisible hand: we need 3 people to make a society.

We know that people expect us to behave is a certain way. We know we can never escape
this  it is meaningless who we are without others.

Humans are biased, but the scientific method can help us!

The scientific method consists of following the steps in the wheel of science:




Theories = explanations of particular social phenomena.

Propositions = give the relationship between two factors or characteristics that vary from
case to case. Can be general of specific (if specific it must be testable!).

Positivism
Positivism is the view that social phenomena can be studies like any other phenomena.

, Sociological research must be:
- Objective: the conclusions arrived at as the result of inquiry and investigation are
independent of the predispositions of the investigator.
- Ethically neutral: the scientist, in his or her professional capacity, does not take
sides on issues of moral or ethical significance.

Therefore Sociologist should:
- Testable Hypotheses
- Systematic Collection of Data
- Openness to peer critique
- New Research
- New Theories



Hypothesis vs. Belief
Theories are made up of several propositions. The most specific proposition becomes the
hypothesis.
- The hypothesis can be tested.
- If the hypothesis cannot be tested with data, it is called a belief.

Social psychological theories = theories about individuals in small groups.

Characteristics of theories:
- Generate testable hypotheses
- Theories at different kind of levels of analysis should be compatible with each other.

Methods:
- Experimental methods = used to test hypotheses.
 Experimental manipulation = one group undergoes the manipulation, the
other.
 Micro sociological research = research that has individuals and small
groups as the units of analysis.
- A field research or ethnographic research (larger groups) = a research in which a
researcher visits the group under study and physically observes what goes on in the
group.
 Particularly popular in the early years of sociology
- Survey research = a research in which a researcher surveys a group to find answers
to a variety of questions and then analyses the results.
- Analysis of existing data = from existing records is another way to study very large
groups of people.

At the end phase sociologists determine whether the data support their hypotheses. Based
on this, the theory may need to be revises. New hypotheses can be made and the whole
process will begin again.

,Pitfalls in sociology
Pitfalls in sociology:
- Researchers do not see what is actually there because they see what they want to
see. This happens consciously and or unconsciously (e.g. because they don't want to
offend people).
- Try to deceive the person they research
- People can avoid being studied
- Ethical restraints

Postmodernism critique
Postmodernism suggests that because researchers are embedded in a particular culture
(their own), complete objectivity is impossible.
- Complete objectivity is impossible.
- Our independent standpoint makes it impossible to see our, or any society, as it
really is (we are part of society).
- Being ethically neutral is impossible.
- There are no truly objective facts ( deconstruction is the name given to the
process in which a biased point of view of one particular group appeared).  There is
only situational truth (Bauman)

Critique to postmodernism
- Without objective facts the entire scientific world would break down completely.
- No approach can reveal the truth, including postmodernism.

Solution: comparative research
Comparative research van overcome the pitfalls of the postmodern critique.

Comparative research = a way for the individual researcher to uncover his or her own
culturally based assumptions. Research comparing different societies an help us understand
what is common and what is not common in human societies and discover the patterns and
trends in human societies.

However there are other pitfalls
- Reactivity = we ourselves change the social processes we are studying; what we report
would not have happened if we wouldn't have studied it (Hawtorne effect!).
- Unobtrusive methods are methods that are chosen to limit or eliminate reactivity.
o Collecting information on behavior that has already happened.
o Watching subjects without their awareness (ethical constraints!).
- Values and effects of social research = Some hypotheses are not tested because of
the fear to have a negative result, such as sex differences. Critique:

o The danger t findings will be misused or have negative outcomes
o The principles of free speech and academic freedom
- Ethics and social research = e.g. anonymous surveys

Why study sociology?

Why study sociology? --> Sociological imagination = the process of understanding
ourselves better by understanding how we are influenced by our social setting. The
sociological imagination is the ability to understand how private troubles reflect public issues.

Sociology helps us understand our own actions, as well as the actions of others.

, The ‘essence of the sociological perspective’ is to examine people as situated in a social
context and understanding their actions and behaviors as a result of that social context. The
social context is made out of:
- Position in social network
- Culture, religion, group, institutional setting
- Demography of the society

The social setting influences:
- The biological (the brain)
- The biological affects the social (mate selection for example).