SOC 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Social Stratification, Auguste Comte
Document Summary
Suicide , by emile durkheim, showed that most personal decisions are profoundly influenced by societal forces. Durkheim"s theory: who you are determines how likely you are to commit suicide. Durkheim theorized that people embedded in a supporting social network would be less likely to commit suicide than those who are independent. Social research is autobiographical- dealing with the writer"s own life. It is indignified for scientists to guess at something. Durkheim"s theory of suicide led to the strange hypothesis that those with more freedom and autonomy would commit suicide more often. His study supported his theory in every case and today, evidence continues to support it. A good group name increases solidarity by: A good name says this is who you are and you wish you could be one of us . Auguste comte named the study of society- sociology. Positivism: the philosophical idea that a real world exists and that science can accurately describe it.