Understanding Social Behavior and Human Groups
Sociology: Key Concepts and Theories
Sociology, the scientific study of social behavior and human groups, focuses primarily on how social relationships influence people’s behavior and how societies develop and change. Sociological imagination is the awareness that allows people to comprehend the link between their immediate, personal social settings and the remote, impersonal social world. Emile Durkheim’s study of suicide related suicide rates to the extent to which people were integrated into the group life of society. In Karl Marx’s analysis, society was fundamentally divided between classes that clash in pursuit of their own interests.
The Scientific Method in Sociology
The scientific method is a series of steps that ensures objectivity and consistency in researching a problem. The five steps include:
- Defining the problem
- Reviewing the literature
- Formulating the hypothesis
- Selecting the research design, collecting and analyzing data
- Developing the conclusion
The Hawthorne effect is the phenomenon whereby subjects deviate from their typical behavior because they realize they are under observation. The code of ethics was developed by the American Sociological Association and includes maintaining confidentiality, objectivity, and integrity in research, and the protection of research subjects from personal harm. The feminist perspective posits that gender-related language reflects the traditional acceptance of men and women in certain occupations.
The Self and Social Interaction
The self is the distinct identity that sets us apart from others. According to Mead, the self develops in three stages:
- Preparatory Stage: Children imitate people around them.
- Play Stage: Children start communicating through symbols.
- Game Stage: Children around the age of 8 or 9 consider things simultaneously, such as relationships and actual tasks.
Erving Goffman is associated with the concepts of the dramaturgical approach, impression management, and face-work.
Alienation, Obedience, and Deviance
In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx charged that the capitalist system reduces workers to a mere “appendage of the machine,” which leads to extreme alienation. Obedience refers to compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure. In Durkheim’s view of deviance, the punishments established within a culture help to define acceptable behavior and thus contribute to social stability. Robert Merton developed a theory of deviance that suggests that members of a society may conform or deviate from the culturally prescribed goals and the means of attaining these goals. The most common adaptation in Merton’s anomie theory of deviance is conformity. By 2008, the number of female householders accounted for 51 percent of the poor in the US, which is known as the feminization of poverty.
Cultural and Social Capital
Cultural capital refers to noneconomic goods reflected in the knowledge of language and arts. Social capital is the collective benefit of social networks. Feminists share conflict theorists’ view that mass media stereotype and misrepresent social reality.