Sociological Imagination

Coined by C. Wright Mills (1959) and means an awareness of the relationship between an individual
and the wider society. A key element in the sociological imagination is the ability to view our society
as an outsider might, rather than relying on our individual perspective, which is shaped by our
cultural biases.

Key Components of Sociology


 Systematic Study
 The Individual
 Society
 The Consequences of Difference

The Brajuha Research

Durkheim’s Theory of Suicide

Functionalism

Conflict Perspectives
Symbolic Interactionism
George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) posited that language allows us to become self-conscious beings,
and able to see ourselves from the outside as others see others.

AugusteComte
 Social statics-The principles by which societies hold together and order is maintained.
 Social dynamics-The factors that bring about change and shape the nature and direction of
that change

Theological, metaphysical and positive stages.

Emile Durkheim
Rather than studying individuals, sociologists should examine social facts. Social facts are
‘external’ to individuals and exert ‘coercive power’ on individuals.

Anomie-The loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has
become ineffective
Karl Marx
Marx identified two main elements within capitalist enterprises-capital and wage-labor.

The relationship between classes is exploitative one since workers have little or no control
over their labor and employers are able to generate profit by appropriating the product of
workers’ labor

Max Weber
Social status-In which people obey others out of respect for their social position and
prestige, and organize resources, in which members of a group gain power through their
ability to organize to accomplish some specific goal by maximizing their available resources.

 Rationalization
 Disenchantment

Five Steps in Sociological Research

 Defining the problem.

 Reviewing the literature.
 Formulating the hypothesis.
 Collecting and analyzing data.
 Developing the conclusion.

Defining the Problem

Identifying the concepts and defining the nature of relationships that might exist between
the concepts.

Reviewing the Literature

Investigating the previous research regarding the concepts that the researcher wishes to
study.

Formulating the Hypothesis

 Independent variable
 Dependent variable
 Causal logic
 Correlation
  Spurious Correlation
 Control Variable

Collecting and Analyzing Data

 Sample
 Representative Sample
 Random sample
 Validity
 Reliability

TIME

 Cross-sectional Study
 Longitudinal Study

Ethnography-
The study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation.

 Advantages of Ethnography:

1. Provides richer information about social life than most other research methods
2. It provides for more flexibility

 Disadvantages of Ethnography:

1. Only small groups and communities can be studied

2. Much depends on the ethnographer to gain confidence of the participants
3. Too much acceptability may lead to bias

Experiments
 Experimental group
 Control group
Surveys
>Quantitative research

>Qualitative research

Secondary Sources
 Content Analysis
 Secondary Analysis