Chapter 1

The Sociological Perspective

Quick Start Question

CHAPTER 1 The Sociological Perspective
Quick-start question: Do you use credit cards to pay for things? If so, how do you think the
amount of credit card debt you have compares to that of other students?
Additional quick-start questions:
 If you do not use credit cards, what is your reason for not using them?
How, if at all, has the recession affected your spending (or saving) habits?

BRIEF CHAPTER OUTLINE

Putting Social Life into Perspective
Why Should You Study Sociology?
The Sociological Imagination
The Importance of a Global Sociological Imagination
The Origins of Sociological Thinking
Sociology and the Age of Enlightenment
Sociology and the Age of Revolution, Industrialization and Urbanization
The Development of Modern Sociology
Early Thinkers: A Concern with Social Order and Stability
Differing Views on the Status Quo: Stability versus Change
The Beginnings of Sociology in the United States
Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives
Functionalist Perspectives
Conflict Perspectives
Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives
Postmodernist Perspectives

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES

LO1: Explain what sociology can contribute to our understanding of social life.
LO2: Identify what is meant by the sociological imagination.
LO3: Explain how we can develop a global sociological imagination.
LO4: Describe the historical context in which sociological thinking developed.
LO5: Discuss why early social thinkers were concerned with social order and stability.
LO6: Identify reasons why many later social thinkers were concerned with social change.
LO7: Discuss how industrialization and urbanization influenced theorists such as Weber and
Simmel.
 The Sociological Perspective

LO8: Describe key differences in contemporary functionalist and conflict perspectives on social
life
LO9: Identify key differences in contemporary symbolic interactionism and postmodernist
perspectives on social life.

KEY TERMS: Defined at page number shown and in glossary

anomie, 16 positivism, 13
conflict perspectives, 25 postmodern perspectives, 29
functionalist perspectives, 23 social Darwinism, 14
high-income countries, 8 social facts, 15
industrialization, 12 society, 6
latent functions, 23 sociological imagination, 7
low-income countries, 9 sociology, 5
macrolevel analysis, 26 symbolic interactionist perspectives, 28
manifest functions, 23 theory, 22
microlevel analysis, 28 urbanization, 12
middle-income countries, 29

CHAPTER LECTURE OUTLINE

1. PUTTING SOCIAL LIFE INTO PERSPECTIVE
LEARNING
A) Sociology is the systematic study of human society and social OBJECTIVE:
interaction. Explain what
i) Systematic study involves theory and research. sociology can
contribute to our
ii) Sociologists try to develop theories about the understanding of
interrelationship between group life and the individual. social life.
iii) Sociological studies range in size from focus on entire
nations or organizations to analyses of small groups or
individual interactions.
iv) Anthropology, in contrast, primarily concentrates on human
existence over geographic space and evolutionary time.
v) Unlike psychology, sociology examines the individual in
relation to external factors, while psychology focuses on
internal factors.
B) Why should you study sociology?
i) Sociology helps us gain a better understanding of ourselves
and our social world, and to see how behavior is shaped by
the groups to which we belong and the society in which we
live.
ii) Sociology provides us with tools to help in daily life, and
gives insight into interaction with others.
iii) A society is a large social grouping that shares the same
geographical territory and is subject to the same political
authority and dominant cultural expectations.
iv) An examination of the world order leads to an awareness of
global interdependence―a relationship in which the lives of
all people are intertwined closely and any one nation's
Chapter 1

problems are part of larger global problems.

v) Commonsense knowledge guides ordinary conduct in
everyday life, and yet many commonsense notions are
actually myths (popular but false notions).
vi) Sociology relies on systematic procedures to understand
human behavior, rather than myths or commonsense
knowledge that guides conduct in everyday life.
C) Sociology and everyday life: How much do you know about
consumption and credit cards? (self-quiz) LEARNING
D) The sociological imagination OBJECTIVE:
Identify what is
i) C. Wright Mills defined the sociological imagination as meant by the
the ability to see the relationship between individual sociological
experience and the larger society. imagination.
ii) The sociological imagination enables us to distinguish
between personal troubles, which must be solved by the
individual, and public issues, which require societal
solutions.
iii) Overspending is an example of something that can be seen
as a personal problem and a public issue.
E) Sociology and everyday life: ANSWERS to the sociology quiz
on consumption and credit cards LEARNING
2. THE IMPORTANCE OF A GLOBAL SOCIOLOGICAL OBJECTIVE:
Explain how we
IMAGINATION can develop a
A) A global sociological imagination enables us to distinguish global
between the world's high-, middle- and low-income countries. sociological
imagination.
i) High-income countries, such as the United States, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the countries of
Western Europe, have highly industrialized economies,
technologically advanced industrial, administrative, and
service occupations, and relatively high levels of national
and personal income.
ii) Middle-income countries, like the nations of Eastern
Europe and many Latin American countries, have currently
industrializing economies and moderate levels of national
and personal income.
iii) Low-income countries, like many in Africa and Asia, are
primarily agrarian, with little industrialization and low
levels of national and personal income.
B) Developing our understanding of diversity among people is
important to our personal, social, and economic well-being.
i) People differ by race, or physical characteristics such as
skin color.
ii) People differ by ethnicity, or cultural heritage and identity,
based on factors such as language or country of origin.
iii) People differ by class, or their relative location within the
larger society, based on wealth, power, prestige, or other
valued resources.
 The Sociological Perspective

iv) People differ by gender, or the meanings, beliefs, and LEARNING

OBJECTIVE:
practices associated with sex differences. Describe the
3. THE ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGICAL THINKING historical
A) Sociology in global perspective: The global Wal-Mart effect, context in which
sociological
big box stores, and credit cards thinking
i) We are largely unaware of the extent to which Wal-Mart developed.
and other 'big box' stores are changing the face of the world
economy.
ii) Credit cards change how people shop and how they think
about spending money in emerging nations such as China.
iii) By encouraging people to spend rather than save,
corporations such as Wal-Mart that issue co-branded credit
cards manage the following:
a) People buy more goods and sales increase.
b) The corporation whose brand is on the card increases
earnings because of interest the buyer must pay on
credit purchases.
B) Sociology and the Age of Enlightenment
i) The Enlightenment emphasized the individual's possession
of critical thinking and was skeptical of religion.
ii) The Enlightenment was dominated by a group of thinkers
referred to as the philosophes.
iii) Women contributed to the movement through the salons, or
open houses, held to stimulate discussion and debate.
C) Sociology and the Age of Revolution, Industrialization, and
Urbanization
i) The Enlightenment led to intellectual, political, and
economic revolutions.
ii) The Industrial Revolution produced industrialization, or
the process by which societies are transformed from
dependence on agriculture and handmade products to an
emphasis on manufacturing and related industries.
iii) Urbanization is the process by which an increasing
proportion of a population lives in cities rather than rural
areas.
iv) New living and working conditions led to development of
new social problems, such as inadequate housing, crowding,
LEARNING
unsanitary conditions, poverty, pollution, and crime. OBJECTIVE:
v) As hazardous conditions became more visible, a new breed Discuss why
of social thinker came to the forefront to try to understand early social
thinkers were
social change. concerned with
4. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SOCIOLOGY social order and
A) Early thinkers were concerned with social order and stability. stability.
i) Auguste Comte
a) He is credited with coining the term sociology and
with stressing the importance of positivism, which
is the belief that scientific inquiry can be used to
understand the social world.
Chapter 1

b) He theorized about social statics, or forces for social

order and stability, and social dynamics, or forces
for conflict and change.
c) He believed that knowledge progresses through
theological and metaphysical stages before entering
a scientific stage.
d) According to Comte, shifts in the forms of
knowledge in societies were linked to changes in the
structural systems in societies.
ii) Harriet Martineau
a) Until recently, Martineau's contributions to
sociology went largely unnoticed, partly because she
was a woman in a male-dominated discipline and
society.
b) She analyzed the consequences of industrialization
and capitalism.
c) In Society in America, she paid special attention to
U.S. diversity based on race, class, and gender.
d) She was an advocate for racial and gender equality.
e) Some scholars have argued that she should be seen
as a founding member of the discipline of sociology.
f) Martineau not only analyzed large-scale social
structures in society, but also explored how these
factors influenced people's lives.
iii) Herbert Spencer
a) His major contribution was an evolutionary
perspective on social order and social change.
b) His Theory of General Evolution compared society
to a biological organism with interrelated parts that
work to ensure stability and survival of the entire
society.
c) He coined the term "survival of the fittest" to refer to
the struggle societies face for continued existence.
d) His views are often referred to as social Darwinism,
or the belief that those species of animals, including
humans, best adapted to their environment survive
and prosper, whereas the poorly adapted die out.
e) Spencer was opposed to social intervention because
it might favor the least worthy members of society.
f) Critics have pointed out flaws in Spencer's ideas,
including the fact that society cannot be said to
function like a biological organism, and the
tendency for social Darwinism to be used to
rationalize social inequality.
iv) Emile Durkheim
a) Durkheim stressed that people are the product of
their social environment and that behavior cannot be
fully understood based on biological and
 The Sociological Perspective

psychological traits.
b) According to Durkheim, societies are built on social
facts, or patterned ways of acting, thinking, and
feeling, that exist outside any one individual and
exert social control over each person.
c) A recurring question for Durkheim was, "How do
societies manage to hold together?"
d) His theory stressed the types of social bonds in
society that create stability.
e) He argued that anomie is a condition in which social
control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of
shared values and a sense of purpose in society.
f) Durkheim's contributions to sociology are so
valuable that some sociologists see him as the
crucial figure for the development of sociology as an
academic discipline. LEARNING
OBJECTIVE:
g) Durkheim would likely see credit cards as a type of Identify reasons
social glue that creates a sense of belonging to a why many later
group. social thinkers
were concerned
B) Differing Views on the Status Quo: Stability versus Change with social
i) Karl Marx change.
a) He believed that history is a continuous clash
between conflicting ideas and forces, and that class
conflict is inevitable and necessary to produce social
change.
b) He viewed class conflict as the struggle between
members of the capitalist class, or bourgeoisie, and
the working class, or proletariat.
c) He believed the exploitation of workers by
capitalists results in worker alienation, or a feeling
of powerlessness and estrangement from other
people and oneself.
d) Marx believed that commodities, or products that
workers produce, have a use value and an exchange
value.
e) The workers eventually fail to see the role that
commodities play in capitalism, and come to
fetishize the commodities, or believe that they have
value in and of themselves.
f) Eventually, workers would come to falsely believe
that what capitalists did was also in their best
interests, that their productions had value outside of
their labor, and that ownership of commodities was
itself a desirable end and worth working longer
hours.
g) He saw the efforts of capitalists to create desire and
increase spending to be a form of exploitation.
Chapter 1

ii) Sociology works! Ahead of his time – Marx and

alienation
a) Marx specifically linked alienation to social relations
inherent in capitalism.
b) More recent social thinkers have expanded his ideas LEARNING
to include feelings of powerlessness, OBJECTIVE:
meaninglessness, and isolation. Discuss how
industrialization
c) Venkatesh points out that "populist rage" is not very and urbanization
visible, nor are acts of outright rebellion, because influenced
people may feel alienated yet not believe there is theorists such as
Weber and
much they can do about the problem. Simmel.
iii) Max Weber
a) He disagreed with Marx's idea that the economy is
the central force in social change, though he
acknowledged that economic interests are important
in shaping human action.
b) He examined the role of religion as a source of
social change in his book, The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism.
c) He argued for value-free research, in which research
should exclude the researcher's personal values and
economic interests.
d) He believed that sociologists should rely on
Verstehen to gain the ability to see the world as
others see it.
e) He studied the impact of rationalization in
bureaucracies on social relations between people in
industrial societies.
f) Rationalization is common in the credit card
industry, which is highly efficient in its ability to
make loans.
iv) Sociology and social policy: Online shopping and your
privacy
a) The Internet has become an integral part of everyday
life and has changed many everyday activities
including shopping.
b) When we shop on the Internet, sellers can collect
data on our shopping and browsing behavior,
including where we ship items, and then share or sell
this information.
c) Some store owners will save email addresses and
send email about products and services, whether or
not you have requested further information.
v) Georg Simmel
a) He emphasized that society is best seen as a web of
patterned interactions among people.
b) He analyzed the impact of group size and concluded
that the interaction patterns of dyads differ from
 The Sociological Perspective

triads.
c) Simmel also developed formal sociology, which
focuses attention on recurrent social forms
underlying social interaction.
d) He distinguished between the forms of social
interaction and the content of interaction in different
contexts.
e) He assessed the costs of industrialization on
individuals.
f) One of his most important books, The Philosophy of
Money, looks at how consumerism leads people to
lose their ability to differentiate between that which
is really of value and that which is not.
C) The Beginnings of Sociology in the United States.
i) The Chicago School
a) The first U.S. department of sociology was at the
University of Chicago.
b) Robert E. Park and George Herbert Mead were
two significant Chicago School scholars.
ii) Jane Addams
a) She authored Hull-House Maps and Papers, which
used a methodological technique employed by
sociologists for the next forty years.
b) She received the Nobel Prize for her assistance to
the underprivileged.
iii) W.E.B. Du Bois and Atlanta University
a) He founded the second American department of LEARNING
sociology at Atlanta University. OBJECTIVE:
Describe key
b) His major book, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social differences in
Study, examined Philadelphia's African American contemporary
community. functionalist and
conflict
c) He discussed the internal struggle of being black and perspectives on
American, which he referred to as double social life.
consciousness.
5. CONTEMPORARY THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
A) A theory is a set of logically interrelated statements that
attempts to describe, explain, and (occasionally) predict social
events.
i) Theories provide a framework, perspective, or an overall
approach or viewpoint toward a subject that allows us to
examine various aspects of social life.
ii) Three major theoretical perspectives have emerged in
sociology: functionalist, conflict, and symbolic
interactionist perspectives.
B) Functionalist Perspectives (also known as functionalism and
structural functionalism).
i) The most basic assumption of this perspective is that society
is a stable, orderly system characterized by societal
Chapter 1

consensus.
ii) Society consists of interrelated parts that serve functions
needed by the system.
iii) Societies develop social structures, or institutions, that
persist because they play a part in helping society survive.
These institutions include: the family, education,
government, religion, and economy.
iv) Adverse consequences that affect one institution affect all
others as well.
C) Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton
i) Parsons stressed that all societies must make provisions for
meeting social needs in order to survive.
a) For example, a division of labor (distinct,
specialized functions) between husband and wife is
essential for family stability and social order.
b) Husbands or fathers perform instrumental tasks that
involve leadership, decision making, and
employment outside the home.
c) Wives and mothers perform expressive tasks that
involve housework, caring for children, and
providing emotional support for the family.
d) Other institutions must work together to support the
family.
ii) Merton further refined the functionalist perspective.
a) He distinguished among manifest functions, latent
functions, and dysfunctions of institutions.
b) Manifest functions are intended and overtly
recognized by the participants in an institution.
c) Latent functions are unintended functions that are
hidden and remain unacknowledged.
d) Dysfunctions are the undesirable consequences of
any element of society.
iii) Applying a functionalist perspective to shopping and
consumption
a) Each social institution depends on others for its well
being
b) A booming economy benefits the family, religion,
and education.
c) A weak economy has negative influences on both
spending patterns and opportunities.
d) Shopping's manifest functions include purchasing
needed items such as food and clothing.
e) Shopping also has latent functions, such as going to
the mall to 'hang out,' shopping to relax, and
shopping to enhance feelings of self-worth.
f) Shopping may also be dysfunctional, as when people
cannot curb their spending, or when people steal
items they want but cannot afford.
 The Sociological Perspective

D) Conflict Perspectives
i) The most basic assumption of conflict perspectives is that
groups with divergent interests engage in ongoing power
struggles for control of scarce resources in society.
ii) Max Weber and C. Wright Mills
a) Like Marx, Weber recognized the importance of
economic conditions in producing inequality, but
also thought power and prestige were sources of
inequality.
b) Weber defined power as the ability of a person to
carry out his or her will despite resistance from
others, and prestige as a positive or negative
estimation of honor.
c) Mills believed that the power elite—a small clique
composed of the top corporate, political, and
military officials—makes the most important
decisions in the United States, largely behind the
scenes.
iii) Feminist perspectives
a) These direct our attention to women's experiences
and the importance of gender as an element of social
structure.
b) The basic assumption is that men and women are
equal and should be given equal rights.
c) Feminist perspectives also assume that we live in a
patriarchy, or a system in which men dominate
women, and that masculine characteristics are more
highly valued than feminine characteristics.
d) Feminist perspectives assume that gender is socially
created, rather than determined by one's biological
inheritance, and that change is essential in order for
people to achieve their full human potential.
iv) Applying conflict perspectives to shopping and
consumption
a) Conflict theorists focus on how inequalities based on
race, sex, and income affect people's ability to
acquire things they want and need. LEARNING
OBJECTIVE:
b) Conflict perspectives stress Veblen's concept of Identify key
conspicuous consumption, or the continuous display differences in
of wealth and status through purchases. contemporary
symbolic
c) In contrast, Ritzer has pointed out that some of interactionism
today's wealthiest people engage in inconspicuous and
consumption, perhaps to maintain a low profile. postmodernist
perspectives on
d) Conspicuous consumption has become more widely social life.
acceptable at all income levels, with many families
living on credit cards in order to obtain the goods
and services they would like to have.
E) Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives
Chapter 1

i) The conflict and functionalist perspectives are often

criticized for their emphasis on the macrolevel.
ii) Macrolevel analysis examines whole societies, large-scale
social structures, and social systems.
iii) Microlevel analysis examines small group interaction and
interpersonal relationships rather than large-scale social
structures.
iv) According to symbolic interactionist perspectives, society
is the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups.
a) Interactionists focus on interaction, defined as
immediate reciprocally oriented communication
between two or more people, and the part symbols
play in giving meaning to communication.
b) A symbol is anything that meaningfully represents
something else.
c) In social encounters, each person's interpretations or
definition of a situation becomes a subjective reality.
v) Interactionists attempt to study how people make sense of
their life situations and the way they go about their activities
on a daily basis.
vi) George Herbert Mead and Charles H. Cooley
a) Explored how individual personalities are developed
from social experience.
b) Concluded that identity or 'self' only develops via
interaction and communication with others
c) Mead developed the idea of the "generalized other"
to explain this, and Cooley developed the "looking-
glass self."
vii) You can make a difference: think less about things and
more about people.
a) More than 40 years ago, Dr. King encouraged people
to find fulfillment from social relationships with
others rather than through things.
b) In the U.S., unparalleled consumerism pressures
individuals to "buy, buy, buy more!"
c) Some people have problems with
hyperconsumerism, or buying too much and spending
more than we have or should spend.
d) Symptoms of compulsive overspending include
spending large amounts of time shopping or thinking
of shopping, rushing to the store or computer if you
are frustrated or depressed, arguing with significant
others about the money spent shopping, and hiding or
lying about purchases to explain new merchandise.
viii) Erving Goffman developed the idea of dramaturgical
analysis, which makes an analogy between social life and
that of the stage.
 The Sociological Perspective

ix) Applying symbolic interactionist perspectives to

shopping and consumption.
a) Interactionists would focus on people's face-to-face
interactions and the roles people play.
b) Customers who interact with cashiers rely on
symbolically charged ideas based on previous
experiences to guide the interaction.
c) The level of emotional energy for both cashier and
customer may be shaped by the outcome of the
interaction.
d) Other issues of interest might include why we spend
money to impress others.
F) Postmodern Perspectives
i) The basic idea of postmodern perspectives is that
existing theories have been unsuccessful in explaining
social life in contemporary societies, which are
characterized by post-industrialization, consumerism, and
global communications.
a) An information explosion and an economy in which
large numbers of people either provide or apply
information characterize postindustrial societies.
b) There is a corresponding rise of a consumer society
and a global village, in which people communicate
via electronic technologies.
c) According to Baudrillard, the shift from production
of goods to consumption of information, services,
and products has created a new form of social
control via debt bondage.
ii) Applying postmodern perspectives to shopping and
consumption.
a) Postmodern perspectives focus on the shift away
from production to consumerism.
b) Ritzer argues that simulated interactions are now
treated as if they are real.

LECTURE IDEAS
Global Introduce your students to some of the ideas presented by Thomas Friedman in
Consumption his book, The World is Flat. You can use some of Friedman's examples to help
students understand the relationship between global consumption and the
larger trend toward globalization. Specifically, help your class to see how
labor markets in India and China are enabling an interconnected global market.
Feminism First, ask how many students identify themselves as feminists. Then ask how
many have studied feminism and are certain they do not agree with its
principles. Finally, ask how many of them would be willing to form an opinion
about whether they support feminism or not if they knew more about it. Most
students will respond to this question; use this to generate an engaging
conversation about students' assumptions of and exposure to feminism.
Chapter 1

Explain major distinctions between the three waves of feminism. Discuss the
fact that the current wave is marked by self-empowerment, fluid gender roles,
and multiculturalism. After the lecture, ask students the same three questions
from the beginning of this discussion.
Symbolic Google "logos without brand names" and find various symbols that represent
Interactionism companies, such as Girl Scouts, Target, and Ford. Create a PowerPoint
slideshow and ask students to identify the companies, based solely on the
symbols they see, express any thoughts or feelings they have upon identifying
the logos, and talk about how they came to know what these symbols
represent. Be sure the company names are not attached to their logos.
The Shopping Use concepts from each of the theoretical perspectives to understand shopping
Mall malls. How might one use Goffman's dramaturgical analysis, for example, to
make sense of interactions between sales clerks and customers, parents and
their children, and peddlers outside the mall? How does a Marxist perspective
explain the mass consumption in the mall or the role of employees?

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What are commonsense knowledge and myths, and how are they different from
sociological knowledge?
2. What is the sociological imagination? How might it be useful in your everyday life?
3. Why is overspending often viewed as a personal trouble rather than a public issue? Why
is unemployment most likely to be seen as a personal trouble as well?
4. Define and explain the distinctions among high-income countries, middle-income
countries, and low-income countries.
5. What is the significance of credit cards for each of these types of countries?
6. In what kinds of ways is the future of the United States intertwined with the future of
other nations?
7. How did rapid industrialization and urbanization in the West contribute to the
development of sociological thinking? Who were some of the earliest social thinkers?
8. What role did Auguste Comte play in the development of sociology? Why did Harriet
Martineau receive no recognition in the field of sociology for many years?
9. Define Spencer's concept of social Darwinism. Explain how social Darwinism can be
viewed as inconsistent with the emphasis on individualism in the United States.
10. What did Emile Durkheim mean by "social facts?" What kinds of social facts have you
encountered today?
11. How would Emile Durkheim analyze credit cards and overspending?
12. In what ways do you think our evaluation of early theorists and their perspectives are
shaped by our contemporary insights pertaining to class, gender, race, ethnicity, and age?
 The Sociological Perspective

13. What is class conflict? What are some examples of class conflict in the United States?
How do we see class conflict in societies around the world (North Korea, Croatia, and
Nigeria)?
14. How does the Wal-Mart effect reshape consumption all over the world?
15. What are some of the most significant differences between the ideas of Marx and Weber?
16. How can Marx and a conflict perspective help us to understand the Occupy Wall Street
movement?
17. Explain Weber's ideas about the possibility of value-free sociology.
18. What did Weber mean by Verstehen? How is it related to the study of society?
19. What are the unique contributions of Georg Simmel to the field of sociology? Why do
some scholars refer to Simmel as one of the most neglected of the founders of modern
sociology?
20. What did W.E.B. Du Bois mean by double consciousness? How do you think people
today experience this phenomenon?
21. Compare and contrast the basic assumptions of functionalist and conflict perspectives.
22. What are some ways to apply the basic assumptions of the symbolic interactionist
perspective to shopping and consumption?
23. Elaborate on the historical development of the postmodernist perspective. What are some
of important concepts related to this perspective?
24. Why is the feminist approach to understanding the world characterized as part of conflict
theory?

STUDENT ACTIVITY IDEAS

Your students need to change gears and do something different every 20-30 minutes.
1. Introductions: On the first day of class, hand out cards with these questions:
 What is sociology?
 What do you think you’re going to learn in this class?
 What class have you had that you think will be most similar to this class.
 What do sociologists do?
Use student responses as a starting point for your introduction of the discipline.

2. Group Discussion: Begin class by dividing your students into small groups of 3-5.
Assign each group a short list of symbols (e.g., an image of a stop sign) or symbolic
expressions (e.g., waving hello/goodbye). Ask the students to communicate those
symbols and expressions to each other without words.

3. Writing in Sociology Assignment: Assign students to read Horace Miner’s Body Ritual
Among the Nacirema (https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html?pagewanted=al)
Chapter 1

and write a short paper describing some other aspect of American life in the same way
that Miner describes body rituals.

4. Ask students to compare their own budgets with the consumer spending information
presented in the Census Profile on Consumer Spending. Without using totals, have
students report their breakdown to the class. If they’re willing, have them report the
amount or percentage that their parents contribute.

5. Mapping the Sociological Imagination: If the social world is a great big shopping mall,
then to find your way around you need to use the directory located at the entrances. BUT
that map is useless to you unless it has the "you are here" indication. The sociological
imagination is the "you are here" indicator. It helps to locate yourself in the social world.
Ask students to make lists of personal troubles. Use these lists to introduce sociology by
pointing out the public issues that might be involved.

6. Understanding Social Problems: Select a social problem such as drug abuse, crime, or
suicide. Divide students into small groups and assign each a different perspective. Have
the groups analyze the problem and develop possible solutions according to the principles
of their assigned perspective. Have each group report back to the class. Your role should
be one of clarifying and correcting reports.

7. Visual Presentation: After your lecture on the sociological perspectives introduced in

this chapter, have students work in groups of 3-5 and take the quiz found in Box 1.1:
How Much Do You Know About Consumption and Credit Cards? Ask students to check
their answers. The text applies each perspective to shopping and consumption. Have
students integrate information from the quiz, their text, and your lecture to make a one-
page flyer using one of the perspectives. The flyer should advertise a seminar that
addresses American consumer behavior. The flyer should be creative and contain the
most important elements from the assigned perspective.

8. Newspaper Search: Bring newspapers to class. Ask students to search through headlines
and find stories that exemplify specific sociological perspectives. If you are doing this
assignment in class, encourage students to stick with headlines and not to try reading
every story. Students should defend their choices, either orally or in written form. Help
students to develop a deeper understanding of each perspective as you respond to their
choices. You might try pulling up news sites on the Internet for the class to look at all at
once on a larger screen.
 The Sociological Perspective

INTERNET ACTIVITIES

1. The site for Sociologists for Women in Society, located online at

http://www.socwomen.org/, contains many resources for and about women. Ask students
to consider why a distinct body of research exists to address the social experiences of
women. What ways of experiencing social life and viewing the world might be unique to
women?

2. Have students spend time searching various sociology resources on the Internet.
A) The SocioWeb: This is a guide to various sociological resources. It includes
information about university programs: http://www.socioweb.com/.
B) In order to introduce students to the broad field of sociology, explore the
SocioSite. From this page, you can access dozens of subject areas within the
discipline. The Web site has hundreds of resources organized within these subject
areas. Ask students to use this site as a resource for writing brief topical papers on
theories. http://www.sociosite.net
C) Sociological Images is a great resource for helping students to visualize social
issues. The posts do a wonderful job of showing the thought process that goes in
to thinking like a sociologist about everyday events.
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/
D) A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace is a Web site created by Professor
Michael C. Kearl. There are loads of information resources on this site. Ask
students to read the essay on credit cards found on the site.
http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/index.html#in

3. To get a better grip on what sociology is all about, ask students to explore the American
Sociological Association's Web site. Students can explore the three major sections from
the main page; (1) sociologists, (2) students, and (3) public. Students should bring to
class a piece of information that they discover while exploring the site.
www.asanet.org

4. Have students visit some biographical sites featuring sociological theorists. Hearing
about these sociologists' lives can help students find them more human, and can
contextualize their work. Here are some of the best ones:
A) The Sociology of C. Wright Mills. This site includes not only basic information and
some biographical background, but also links to many of Mills' articles.
http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Mills/
B) Emile Durkheim, 1858-1917. This site includes background of Durkheim's life as a
student as well as his scholarship.
http://www.bolenderinitiatives.com/sociology/emile-durkheim-1858-1917
C) The Marx and Engles Internet Archive, containing articles and letters by both men.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/
D) Verstehen: The Sociology of Max Weber
http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Weber/Whome.htm

5. Ted Talks at www.ted.com are a great way to explore different sociological topics in a
short timeframe (20 minutes). The database of talks is searchable by topic.
Chapter 1

VIDEO SUGGESTIONS

Use one of these recent films to demonstrate the use of the sociological imagination. For more
details, look up titles on http://www.amazon.com.
 Super Size Me
Why are Americans so fat? Two words: fast food. What would happen if you ate
nothing but fast food for an entire month? Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock does just that
and embarks on the most perilous journey of his life. The rules? For 30 days, he can't
eat or drink anything that isn't on McDonald's menu; he must wolf three squares a
day; he must consume everything on the menu at least once and supersize his meal if
asked.
Spurlock treks across the country interviewing a host of experts on fast food and an
equal number of regular folk while chowing down at the Golden Arches. Spurlock's
grueling drive-through diet spirals him into a physical and emotional metamorphosis
that will make you think twice about picking up another Big Mac. (100 minutes)

 Hotel Rwanda
Ten years ago some of the worst atrocities in the history of humanity took place in
the country of Rwanda―and in an era of high-speed communication and round the
clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three
months, one million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable
actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary
courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees by granting them
shelter in the hotel he manages. (121 minutes)

 Advertising & the End of the World. Drawing from the broad arena of commercial
imagery, and utilizing sophisticated graphics, Advertising & the End of the World
addresses the issues these questions raise, encouraging viewers to reflect on their own
participation in the culture of consumption. Making the connection between society's
high-consumption lifestyle and the coming environmental crisis, Jhally forces us to
evaluate the physical and material costs of the consumer society and how long we can
maintain our present level of production. (46 minutes)

 The Persuaders PBS Frontline

 The Sociological Perspective

Frontline examines the "persuasion industries"―advertising and public relations. To

cut through consumers' growing resistance to their pitches, marketers have developed
new ways of integrating their messages into the fabric of our lives, using
sophisticated market research techniques to better understand consumers, and turning
to the little-understood techniques of public relations to make sure their messages
come from sources we trust. (90 minutes)

 Greed: Is It Necessarily Bad? Films for the Humanities and Sciences

Discusses the subject of credit cards and consumerism. Show this film to ensure a
lively discussion. In a material world, some argue that financier Michael Milken may
have done more for humanity than even Mother Teresa. In this program, ABC News
anchor John Stossel, entrepreneur Ted Turner, economist Walter Williams, and
philosopher David Kelley redefine greed, discussing its value as the driving power in
business that creates opportunities for others as it churns wealth for itself. By
pumping capital into the economy, providing jobs, and offering goods and services
that improve the quality of life, greed may be the best thing to come along since
philanthropy. (90 minutes)

 Life and Debt PBS

Jamaica―land of sea, sand, and sun. And a prime example of the impact economic
globalization can have on a developing country. Using conventional and
unconventional documentary techniques, this searing film dissects the "mechanism of
debt" that is destroying local agriculture and industry while substituting sweatshops
and cheap imports. With a voice-over narration written by Jamaica Kincaid, adapted
from her book, A Small Place, Life and Debt is an unapologetic look at the "new
world order" from the point of view of Jamaican workers, farmers, and government
and policy officials who see the reality of globalization from the ground up. (80
minutes)

 Sociologist Perspective: Marisol Clark-Ibanez, Applying Sociology

Professor Marisol Clark-Ibanez discusses how the sociological study of the topic of
childhood is engaging for students, and also illustrative of how culture, ideology, and
individual experiences are more complex than first appear. Childhood is shaped by
forces that continue to shape us as an adult. Education is a similar topic, in that all
persons have gone through some sort of educational process. Available on the
PowerLecture DVD for this book. (3:32 minutes)
Chapter 1

 Sociologist Perspective: Maggie Andersen, Intro topics

Professor Maggie Andersen discusses curiosity and why she became a sociologist;
sociology lets one peer behind or beneath the obvious veneer of social life. Andersen
works in the area of race and class and gender, and devotes her career to the study of
inequalities. (3:31 minutes)

 Sociologist Perspective: Marisol Clark-Ibanez, Intro

Professor Marisol Clark-Ibanez discusses helping students to think sociologically,
and consider their circumstances and experiences more deeply. At first, sociology
may be confusing to students who are not used to this way of thinking, but if they
stick with it, sociology will bring greater clarity. (4:12 minutes)

 Sociologist Perspective: Tracy Ore

Professor Tracy Ore suggests that by looking at food, we can see a great deal about
our society as a whole. (3:10 minutes)

 Sociologist Perspective: Joan Ferrante, Careers

Professor Joan Ferrante discusses the usefulness of a sociology degree, or what you
can do with a sociology degree. She tells potential majors that uncertainty over
career options is not unusual and not limited to sociology. Uncertainty is part of
most college experiences. Many majors that Professor Ferrante knows have been
able to secure varied professional positions. Finally, she points out that most
employers are looking for skills, not majors, and it is up to the individual to develop
skills. (8:26 minutes)

 Ted Talk: Sam Richards: A Radical Experiment in Empathy

By leading the Americans in his audience step by step through the thought process,
sociologist Sam Richards sets an extraordinary challenge: can they understand -- not
approve of, but understand -- the motivations of an Iraqi insurgent? And by
extension, can anyone truly understand and empathize with another? (18:07 minutes)

 Guns, Germs and Steel

Watch all of this documentary or just clips to help students understand the
intersection of technology and social change. Peeling back the layers of history, this
film exposes the great forces that have shaped human history over the last 10,000
years. (Three one-hour episodes)
 The Sociological Perspective

 Juliet Schor, The Overspent American

In this powerful video, Juliet Schor scrutinizes what she calls "the new
consumerism"--a national phenomenon of upscale spending that is shaped and
reinforced by a commercially-driven media system. She argues that "keeping up with
the Joneses" is no longer enough for middle and upper-middle class Americans, many
of whom become burdened with debilitating debt as they seek to emulate
materialistic TV lifestyles. (33 minutes)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTORS

Becker, Howard. (2007). Telling About Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Berger, Peter. (1963). Invitation to Sociology. Garden City: Doubleday.
Berger, Peter L., and Thomas Luckman. (1966). The Social Construction of Reality. New York:
Doubleday.
Blumer, Herbert. (1969). Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall.
Brym, Robert. (2008). Sociology as a Life or Death Issue. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing.
Charon, Joel. (2009). Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective, 7th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth
Publishing.
Cooley, Charles Horton. (2009). Human Nature and the Social Order. New York: Cornell
University Library.
Diamond, Jared. (1997). Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York:
W.W. Norton and Company.
Goffman, Erving. (1999). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Gloucester: Peter Smith
Publishing.
Marx, Karl, and Friederich Engels. (2007). The Communist Manifesto. New York: Filiquarian
Publishing.
Mead, George Herbert. (1934). The Mind, Self, and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Mills, C. Wright. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rigney, Daniel. (2001). The Metaphorical Society. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield
Turner, Jonathan, Leonard Beeghley, and Charles H. Powers. (2006). The Emergence of
Sociological Theory, 4th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing.