SOC 12050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: The Sociological Imagination, Harriet Martineau, Auguste Comte

• School: Kent State University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 12050
• Professor: Allen Lowery

Document Summary

Defining the sociological perspective: the sociological imagination, sociology and common sense, sociology and science. Sociology is the scientific study of human society and social interactions. The sociological imagination: wright mills coined the term sociological imagination to refer to the vivid awareness of the relationship between private experience and the wider society. Common sense assumptions are usually based on very limited observation. Moreover, the premises on which common sense assumptions are seldom examined. Sociology seeks to: use a broad range of carefully selected observations; and theoretically understand and explain those observations. While sociological research might confirm common sense observation, its broader base and theoretical rational provide a stronger basis for conclusions. Science is a body of systematically arranged knowledge that shows the operation of general laws. As a science, sociology employs the scientific method. Sociology emerged as a separate discipline in the nineteenth century.