SOC 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Talcott Parsons, Consumerism, Symbolic Interactionism

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 1101
• Professor: Stephan Larose

Document Summary

A conceptual overview of the way something works. A set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and (occasionally) predict social events. Social theorizing: the task of weaving isolated observations or facts into an understanding of human society and behaviour. An overall approach or viewpoint toward some subject; a basic image of society that guides thinking and research ( road map , paradigm) Each perspective interprets reality and explains data in a different way. Society as a system made up of interrelated parts, each of which performs one or several important social functions or meets vital social needs. Parts/subsystems: social institutions: economy, family, education, religion, government, medicine, science, etc. Institutions provide the rules governing behaviours, and a set of common values that bind people together. Manifest functions: recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern. Latent functions: consequences that are largely unrecognized and unintended. Dysfunctions: undesirable consequences of any social pattern for the operation of society.