SOC 312: American Society

Section 1: What is Sociology?

What is Sociology?

• a discipline

• a profession

• a field of study

• a department– in college of liberal arts– in the social sciences

Sociology versus Other Social and Behavioral Sciences

• anthropology

• political science

• economics

• psychology

Max Weber: the topic

• behavior subjectively meaningful– not instinctual– not impulsive– not biologically or psychologically determined

• social action: takes others into account– social psychological: face to face, group– organizational and institutional

Levels of Analysis

• Macro– institutions: relatively enduring organizations– organizations: deliberately created positions

and relationships

• Micro– groups: individuals with routine access to

each other– categories of individuals: men and women,

blacks and whites, students and teachers

Bridging Levels of Analysis

• Most interesting questions– what types of orgs are institutionalized?

• How? Why? So what?

– what types of groups become organized?• How? Why? So what?

– what categories of individuals form groups?• How? Why? So what?

Realms of Social Action

• Culture (traditional focus of Anthropology)– passed down or diffused

• Economy (Economics)– produce and distribute necessities of life

• Politics (Political Science)– power:ability to get what you want despite

resistance

• Society (Sociology)– acted out

Sociological MapRealms

Levels of Analysis

Cultural Social Economic Political

Institution denominations

public schools

cities

neighborhoods

banking

collective bargaining

elections

bipartisanship

Organization local church

local school

Lions Club

Neighborhood Watch

firm

union

Young Republicans

NOW

Group discussion group

lunch friends

neighbors chatting

kids playing

co-workers at coffee break

Labor Day picnickers

meeting

Category Baptists

students

Residents

immigrants

Workers

Managers

Republicans

Democrats

What is in the Boxes?

• - social action

• - stuff that sociologists study

• - Why impose the structure?– - descriptive– - heuristic

- So what?

- can our map help us understand the world?

- what is missing?

Why Do People Smoke?

• because they are nervous

• because they feel anxiety differently

• because they are neurotic

• because their friends smoke

• because smoking is fun

• because smoking has become a habit

Psychology Social Psychology

More Macro Political Economy

• Organizations promote smoking for profit– tobacco companies– mass media

• Organizations that combat smoking– medical industrial complex: monopolize legal

drugs and crush the competition– government: determines legality and

regulates drugs (Why?)

Why Are We Losing the War on Drugs?

• Drugs provide jobs for poor people– hippies/college students– ghetto residents

• Drugs provide cash crop for poor nations– Colombia Drug Cartel– Taliban in Afghanistan

ConclusionThere are many different ways to explain social action.

Psychologists reduce it to individual/personality disorders (e.g., neurotic).

Social psychologists tend to focus on the social aspect—subjective meaning for individual entails taking others into account: e.g., smoking is cool

More macro orientation looks at organizations and institutions (e.g., republicancapitalism and political economy of drugs)

Macro orientation might focus on any realm (or set of realms)—cultural analysis of smoking as religious ritual for Native Americans and its commercialization by the colonizers.

Sociological analysis answers question but generates more questions: e.g., What isthe interest of government in regulation? Why are poor people the criminals?