SOCI 1251 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Anomie, Bourgeoisie, Feminist Theory
Document Summary
Sociology: the scientific study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists study groups of all sizes: not really one person, dyads (e. g. , a romantic couple, small groups (e. g. , a family, large groups (e. g. , the auto industry, nations (e. g. , the u. s. , the global society. Underlying assumptions of sociology: people are social by nature, people live most of their lives in groups, interactions between people and groups are reciprocal: each influences the other. Individuals influence a group and groups influence an individual: groups feature recurrent social patterns, ordered behavior, shared expectations, and common understandings, conflict and change are inevitable. Not always going to be the same and this can cause conflicts. Sociology vs. common sense: common sense ideas seem sensible to any reasonable person. Rarely questioned: sociology uses scientific methods to test ideas, including common sense assumptions. Scientific methods involve analyzing evidence in a way that is planned, objective, systematic, and repeatable.
