SOC 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Symbolic Interactionism, Auguste Comte, Macrosociology

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 111
• Professor: Jean Golden

Document Summary

Either support the existing society/order or emphasize change. Tricky because sociologists and their theories are influenced by their social location. Biological determinism: your biology decides your destiny. Tru(cid:272)tural fu(cid:374)(cid:272)tio(cid:374)alis(cid:373): all parts of the so(cid:272)ietal stru(cid:272)ture (cid:272)o(cid:374)tri(cid:271)ute to the so(cid:272)iet(cid:455)"s goals a(cid:374)d functions. Feminist theories: patriarchy creates inequalities in society that need to be changed. Symbolic interactionism: understanding others through symbols and role-taking. Microsociology: patterns of thought and behaviour in small groups (ie, symbolic interactionism) Macrosociology: patterns of thought and behaviour on a large scale (ie, structural functionalism) Basic assumptions (ie, your biology determines everything you can be) Range of phenomena (micro and macro scale, the different reactions people have to different stimuli, range of experiences people with different social locations face) Objectivity is absolute; what you see is what it is. Ignores the idea that the meaning and function of objects are different in different societies. Symbolic interactionism chicago school of sociology.