SOC 001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: The Sociological Imagination, Social Forces, Empirical Research
Document Summary
Sociology: the scientific study of interactions and relations among human beings. Two larger points: questions like this (traffic light, why we stop at the red?) may be asked about everything we do, but they often aren"t. The sociological imagination: the ability to see the connection between personal troubles and public issues. Personal trouble: a difficulty an individual faces personally. Public issue of social structure : social forces operating in society. The connection between em: public issues cause private troubles, private troubles form public issues. Factors in the development of sociology as a discipline: enclosure, making (formerly) public grazing lands off limits to peasants, ended a way of life, drove people off land, to cities, industrial revolution, colonialism, political change. All 4 factors led to unprecedented social change. Unprecedented social change led to awareness that there are other ways to do things. Empirical: based on observation or experience (adj)
