SOCIOL 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Great Barrington, Massachusetts, American Sociological Association, Nobel Peace Prize
30 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
• Sociology in America
• W.E.B. Du Bois: born: Great Barrington, MA; book based on his research: "The Philidelphia
Negro": based on personal interviews with African Americans Living in the inner city of
Philidelphia; he was able to uncover the degree of prejudice, discrimination, and
economic hardship faced by African Americans; co-founder of NAACP; also wrote "The
Souls of Black Folk" pointed out African Americans were judged primarily by the color of
their skin no matter their role
• Lester Ward: union soldier; went to George Washington University where he became
interested in sociology; believed in using the principles of sociolgy to help real social
problems; opposed the ideas of laissez faire "hands-off gov." became a sociology
professor at Brown University; and the first president of the American Sociology
Association; stressed the importance of teaching sociology as an academic discipline
• Jane Addams; learned the importance of reaching out to the poor and providing
resources to help them enhance their chances for upward mobility; she co-founded the
Hull House (a place where newly arriving immigrants could find resources and relief); she
is the first to use applied sociology: (using the principle findings of sociology to help
those suffering from social problems)
o Born to prosperous family; father urged her to still attend college; her father was
friends with Abraham Lincoln
o Hull house; coffee, gym, pool, meetings, over 2000 people every week
o Supported NAACP; first woman to receive Nobel peace prize in 1931
• Sociological Theory
• Sociological theory: a set of statements that seek to describe, explain, or predict social
events
• Theory: not an opinion, but based on extensive research; usually established after
extensive research has uncovered that a pattern of relationships exist between two or
more variables
• Variable: ANYTHING THAT CAN BE MEASURED
• Theoretical Perspectives
• Overall viewpoint; certain way of viewing society
• Classic Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology
1. Functionalism
2. Conflict Theory
3. Symbolic Interaction
Perspective
Functionalism
Conflict Theory
Symbolic Interaction
Level
Macro
Macro
Micro
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