Founder of Sociology

emphasized the study of society must be

scientific
urged sociologists to use systematic
observation, experimentation, and
comparative historical analysis as their
methods.

Aspects of social life that have to do with order, stability,

and social organization that allows society and groups to
hold together and endure.

Refers to those processes of social life that patter

institutional development and have to
do with social
change.

Feminist and Methodologist

Like Comte, she insisted that the study of
society represents a separate scientific
field.
Ardent defender of womens rights
Showed the similarities between the
position of women in western societies and
that of American slaves.

It shows how the basic moral

values of the young American
nation shaped its key institutional
arrangements.

 Compared society to a biological organism

and depicted it as a system, a whole
made up of interrelated parts.

Structural-functional theory
Spencer focused on the structures of
society as an organism and functional
contributions these factors make to its
survival.

 Spencer applied the concept of

survival of the fittest to the social
world.
People and social patterns that
were fit would survive and
those that were unfit would die
out.

Political Activist, Sociologist, Philosopher, Historian,

Economist and Political Scientist.

Science is not only a vehicle of

understanding society but also a tool for
transforming it.
Major figure in sociological theory.

Class Conflict
-Society is divided into those who own the means of

producing wealth and those who do not.

-patricians and plebeians; masters and slaves

Middle Ages

-guildmasters and journeymen; lords and serfs

Contemporary Western Societies

-oppressing capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and the

oppressed working class (proletariat)

Ancient Rome
derive their income through their ownership of
the means of production, primarily factories, which
allows them to exploit the labor of the workers.

Contemporary Western Societies

owns nothing except their labor power

 development depends on the clash of

contradictions and the subsequent creation of
new, more advanced structures.
The world is made up not of static structures but
of dynamic processes, a world becoming rather
than of being.

Slavery
Slavery
being
displaced
by
feudalism

Feaudalism

Feudali
sm by
capitali
sm

Capitalism
Capitali
sm by
socialis
m

Socialism
Socialis
m by
commu
nism
(the
highest
stage if
society)

Political ideologies
Religion
Family organization
Education
government

Economic Factors
whether one owns and
controls the means of
production are primary

Karl Marx is viewed by many

as an economic determinist.

 How does the society hold together

and endure?
Marx attributed too much importance to
economic factors and class struggle
and not enough to social solidarity and
that Marx did not recognize the
capacity of modern society to reform
itself.
Was the first sociologist to face up the
complex problems associated with the
discipline and rigorous empirical study of
social life.

 The density of social relationships,

literally the number of relationships
that exist among a collection of
people.
The more people are connected to
one another, the stronger and
more meaningful are the
sentiments that emerge out of
these relationships.

Social Solidarity the tendency of people to maintain

social relationships.

Mechanical Solidarity (Early Societies)

People derived a sense of oneness from being

so much alike.
Organic Solidarity (Modern Societies)
Society is held together by the interdependence
fostered by the differences among people.

Are aspects of
social life that
cannot be explained
in terms of the
biological or the
mental
characteristics of
the individual.

Include society itself, its major institutions, and

the various forms that underlie society.

Are social rules, principles of morality,

meanings of symbols, and the shared
consciousness.

Protestants than Catholics

unmarried than the married
soldiers than civilians
in times of peace than in
times of war and revolution
in times economic prosperity
and recession than in times of
economic stability

He is known not only for his

theoretical contributions but also for a
number of specific ideas that have
generated considerable interest and
research in their own right.
His sociological work covered a wide
range of topics, including politics,
organization, social stratification, law,
religion, capitalism, music, the city, and
cross-cultural comparison.

A critical focus for sociology is the study for

human subjectivity

Intention

Values

Beliefs

Attitude

understanding or insight
Sociologists mentally
attempt to place
themselves in the shoes
of other people and
identify what they think
and how they feel

Is a concept constructed by sociologists to

portray the principal characteristics of something
they want to study.

It is a tool that allows sociologists to generalize

and simplify data by ignoring minor differences in
order to accentuate major similarities.

Value-free Sociology
implies that a person does not take
sides on an issue
implies that one does not care
pursuit of scientifically verifiable
knowledge