SOCIOL 1 Lecture Notes - Incest Taboo, Harold Garfinkel, Ethnomethodology
Intro to Sociology Lecture Notes Week 1 Thurs 10/5
Objectives of Course:
• To think sociologically:
o See how much of human behavior is shaped by the needs of groups
▪ Ex: Incest taboo (known as a cultural universal – cultural aspect shared by
all human society)
• If you violate incest taboo, it will result in the weakening of the
structure of the family (Sociological Reasoning)
o Destroys structural integrity of the family organization
• To learn new facts:
o Top 1% of the population has 39% of the country’s wealth
o The next 9% of the population has 38.2% of the country’s wealth
o The bottom 90% of the population has just 22.8% of the country’s wealth
• To think critically:
o Out of all the groups of mammals, which has the greatest running ability?
▪ Depends on the definition of “greatest”
• Cheetah has greatest speed, humans have greatest endurance
What is Sociology
• Sociology: the study of who does what to whom
Why do we have sociology?
• Sociology is needed to figure out how to prevent rebellions, how to manage the masses of
people, and solve the unequal distribution of wealth throughout social classes
How do we do Sociological Research?
• Observation → we watch (behavior that is related to the question being asked)
• Interviews →we ask (surveys, questionnaires, etc.)
• Study of documents →we read (people produce records regarding their behavior and the
behaviors of others – diaries, office records, newspapers, etc.)
o The three methods above are the most popular
• Experiments →we manipulate
o Less common in social science → too difficult to do
o Ethnomethodology (Harold Garfinkel): Study of how people reconstruct social
order after it’s been disturbed or disrupted
▪ Tic-Tac-Toe Experiment
o Whatever kind of research you do, you may find a pattern and then must develop
an explanation for that pattern
Difficulties in doing Sociological Research:
• Problem of Human Reaction to Observation:
o People change their behavior when they’re aware that they’re being observed
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Intro to sociology lecture notes week 1 thurs 10/5. Objectives of course: to think sociologically, see how much of human behavior is shaped by the needs of groups, ex: incest taboo (known as a cultural universal cultural aspect shared by all human society) What is sociology: sociology: the study of who does what to whom. Why do we have sociology: sociology is needed to figure out how to prevent rebellions, how to manage the masses of people, and solve the unequal distribution of wealth throughout social classes. How do we do sociological research: observation we watch (behavior that is related to the question being asked, study of documents we read (people produce records regarding their behavior and the. Difficulties in doing sociological research: problem of human reaction to observation, people change their behavior when they"re aware that they"re being observed.
