intro to sociology

1. Introduction to
Sociology
Mr. Pedro Garcia BSs.
SPJC
17th January 2023

2. THE SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE

3. What is sociology?
Sociology is the systematic study of human
society.
At the heart of sociology is a distinctive point
of view called the sociological perspective.
Society refers to people who live in a defined
territory and share a way of life.

4. Auguste Comte(1838)
 Socious : companion or association
 Logos: word

6. Seeing the General in the
Particular
 Sociological perspective is defined as: seeing the general in the
particular (Berger, 1963).
 This tells us that sociologist look for general patterns in the behavior of
particular people.
 It is true that every individual is unique, but society shapes the lives of
people in various categories very differently.

7. What is a sociological
perspective?
 “The perspective of sociology involves seeing through the outside
appearances of people’s actions and organizations” (Berger, 1963).
 The sociological perspective is one that observes society through a lens
without personal opinions.
 It generalizes the causes and actions of individuals into patterns and
categories. However, it not only observes these patterns of society but also
tries to explain such patterns or behaviors.
 Sociologists are not concerned with personal characteristics; instead, they
aim to find common attitudes and features as well as hidden patterns in
those characteristics and behaviors across millions of people.

8.  One of the main objectives of the sociological perspective is
to find and understand patterns behind recurring features of
social interaction, as well as to examine the social impacts
of these.
 With this objective in mind, there have developed many
sociological perspectives but there are three major
perspectives that have gained popularity.
 These are- structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism,
and conflict theory.

10. What is Sociological
Imagination?
 You will begin to see the world sociologically when you start realizing how
the general categories into which we fall shape our particular life
experiences.
 To put it simply, sociological imagination is an ability to connect personal
challenges to larger social issues.
 However, a simple definition is not enough to explain a modestly complex
idea like sociological imagination.
 What kind of personal challenges or social issues? How do they connect?

11. Sociological Perspective Vs. Common
sense
 The sociological perspective reveals the power of society to shape
individual lives. What we commonly think of as personal choice-whether or
not to go to college, how many children we will have, even the decision to
end our own life-is affected by social forces.
 Peter Berger described the sociological perspective as "seeing the
general in the particular: C. Wright Mills called this point of view the
"sociological imagination;' claiming it transforms personal troubles into
public issues.
 The experience of being an outsider or of living through a social crisis can
encourage people to use the sociological perspective.

12.  The difference between sociology and common sense is based
on the aim, purpose, and characteristics.
 Sociology is more about understanding society through a logical
approach.
 Common sense stems from personal experiences and can only
be relevant to a particular section.
 Common sense states only the existing conditions in society.
 In some cases, sociology and common sense can work
together. For instance, common sense can indicate an existing
problem.
 And the sociological aspects can help us know what changes
can be made. Therefore, sociology and common sense may
sound the same, but they hold varied relevance in society.

13. Example
 A good example of this is the classic study by Lillian Rubin(1976) about
women’s hopes for their marriages.
 Rubin found that higher-income women typically expected the men they
married to be sensitive to others, to talk readily, and to share feelings and
experiences.
 Lower-income women had very different expectations and were looking
for men who did not drink too much, were not violent, and held steady jobs.

14. Examples
 To sum it up: what women expect in a marriage partner has a lot to do with
their social class position.
 The sociological perspective shows us that factors such as our sex, age,
race, and social class guide our selection of a partner.
 It also tells us that it might me more accurate if we see ‘love’ as a feeling
we have for others who match up with what society teaches us to want in a
life partner.

15.  Seeing the strange in the familiar
 It seems at first that by using the sociological perspective you will see the
strange in the familiar. The sociological perspective reveals to us the
initially strange idea that society shapes what we think and do in patterned
ways.


16.  Seeing Society in Our Everyday Lives
 The society which we live in have a lot of influence on our everyday
choices in food, clothing, music, schooling, jobs, and just about everything
else. Even the most personal decisions we make turn out to be shaped by
society. To see how influential society is consider the decision by women to
have children that is also governed by social patterns, or Durkheim’s
classical theory about suicide that shows that even here social forces are
at work.

18. Seeing Sociologically: Marginality and
Crisis
 Almost everyone can learn themselves to see the world through the
sociological perspective, but two situations help people to see clearly how
society shapes individuals' lives:
• Living on the margins of society ( The greater people’s social marginality,
the better they can use the sociological perspective).
• Living through a social crisis. (periods of rapid change or crisis make
everyone feel al little off balance that encourages us to use the sociological
perspective. C. Wright Mills (1959) illustrated this idea by using the Great
Depression of the 1930s.