SOC 1101 Lecture 2: Explaining the Social
15 Sep 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Explaining the Social
May 3, 2018
9:00 AM
Theory and our Everyday Life
Theory - set of interrelated propositions, constructed and fitting together logically, which claims to
explain one or more aspects of the world around us
We try to make sense of the world by figuring out why something occurs
Why is theory important?
Explanations can be described as the stories we tell each other in attempts to produce some order
in our lives
Theories outline paths that lead to particular outcomes. They allows us to feel that we know WHY
something happened, and whether or not under what conditions, its likely to occur again
Aspects of a Good Theory
Logically sound
A must lead to B to C to D
Conflicting positions
Eg. 2 friends have a conflict, can you make sense of their conflicting sides?
Sensitizing ability
What has been ignored?
Popularity
Popularity does not mean validity
Some theories go dormant and come back later when more relevant
Eg. Theory is much like fashion
How do we evaluate a theory?
Scope
The range of phenomena that a theory can explain
Wider scope means better theory
Accuracy
Does the theory match empirical reality
Eg.
You cant say deviance only occurs during a full moon. It does not match empirical reality
Parsimony
The simplest explanation is the most correct explanation
It’s the simplest explanation with the FEWEST leaps of logic
Can the theory be falsified?
*This is where we connect theory with methodology*
When you run into circular reasoning, its faulty
Why falsify?
We don’t want it to be a tautology (a universal truth in formal logic)
Strengthens your hypothesis
Refine your theory later on in conclusion
Birth of Sociology
Term sociology coined by Auguste Comte (1798-1857) in 1838
Conservatives challenge the enlightenment, believing that society is not the product of individuals,
rather an entity in itself
1. Society exists on its own
2. Society produces the individual
3. Individuals simply fill positions
4. Smallest unit of social analysis is family
Or couple
5. Parts of society are interrelated and interdependent
6. Change is a threat
7. Social institutions are beneficial
Government, universities
8. Modern social changes create fear and anxiety
Eg. Dropping phones
9. Emphasis on seemingly irrational factors
10. Return to social hierarchies and healthy competition
Functionalism - what is the function of society?
Social world is a dynamic system of interrelated and interdependent parts
Eg. Courtship leads to marriage leads to kids leads to grandparents…
Social structures exist to help people fulfill their wants and desires
Human society is similar to an organism, when it fails to work together the "system" will fail
Society must meet the needs of the majority
Does not meet minority of individuals
Was the dominant theoretical paradigm between late 1920s and early 1960s
Functionalist Theories
Herbert Spencer
Survival of the fittest justifies why only the strong should survive
Societies evolve b/c they need to change in order to survive (in the modern era)
Environmental pressures allow beneficial traits to be passed on to future generations
Social Darwinism draws upon Darwin's idea of natural selection; asserts that societies evolve
according to the same principles as biological organisms
Lots of societies don’t need nuclear weapons, theyre doing just fine
Laissez-faire approach (opposes regulation of or interference with natural processes)
Emile Durkheim
One of the founders of modern sociology
Human action originates in the collective rather than in the individual
People put pressure on us to do something
Behaviour is driven by the collective conscience
Social Facts are general social features that exist on their own and are independent of individual
manifestations
Anomie is a state of normlessness that results from the lack of clear goals and creates feelings of
confusion that may ultimately result in higher suicide rates
Mechanic solidarity describes early societies based on similarities and independence
Organic solidarity describes later societies organized around interdependence and the increasing
division of labour
