1

Chapter 1 Notes Origins of Sociology
● 9000 B.C.­ Domestication of Plants
○ Abundant stable food supply.
○ Stable settlements and eventually cities.
○ Food Surplus brought conflict and social stratification.
● Industrialization
­ move to cities in 17th and 18th Century social philosophers.
○ Sociology emerged in response to the intellectual ferment and confusion.
● Two factors that supported the development of sociology.
○ Examples of natural sciences.
○ Exposure of Europe to different societies through colonial expansion.
● Auguste Compte
­
(1798­1857) (Europe)
○ Father of Sociology
○ French Revolution overthrew aristocracy and entire social order.
○ He analyzed how societies changed.
○ He believed in observation and experimentation .
○ Empiricism
­ Study of observable facts.
○ Considered the “founder of sociology.”
○ Comte’s philosophy became known as positivism ­ a belief that the world can best be understood through scientific inquiry.
● Harriet Martineau (1802­1867)
○ Believed society would improve when:
■ Women and men were treated equally
■ Enlightened reform occurred
■ Cooperation existed among all social classes
● Herbert Spencer (1820­1903)
○ Contributed an evolutionary perspective on social order and social change.
○ Social Darwinism
■ The belief that the human beings best adapted to their environment survive and prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die out.
● Emile Durkheim (1858­1917)
○ Believed the limits of human potential are socially based.
○ One of his most important contributions was the concept of social facts
.
■ Social facts are patterned ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside any one individual but exert social control over each person.
● Max Weber (1864­1920)
○ Believed sociological research should exclude personal values and economic interests.
○ Provided insights on rationalization, bureaucracy and religion.
● Karl Marx (1818­1883)
○ Viewed history as a clash between conflicting ideas and forces.
○ Believed class conflict produced social change and a better society.
○ Combined ideas from philosophy, history, and social science into a new theory.
● Georg Simmel (1858­1918)
○ Theorized about society as a web of patterned interactions among people.
○ Analyzed how social interactions vary depending on the size of the social group

2
○

Developed formal sociology, an approach that focuses attention on the universal recurring social forms that underlie the varying content of social interaction.
● Jane Addams (1860­1935)
○ Founded Hull House, one of the most famous settlement houses, in Chicago.
○ One of the authors of a methodology text used by sociologist for the next forty years.
○ Awarded Nobel Prize for assistance to the underprivileged. (Won the prize for helping the poor.) ○ She wanted to apply sociology knowledge to helping people.
■ Identify the problem.
■ Gather info about the problem.
■ Set up social action policy.
■ Organize political leaders... if you can.
● W. E. B. Du Bois (1868­1963)
○ One of the first to note the identity conflict of being both a black and an American.
○ Pointed out that people in the U.S. espouse values of democracy, freedom, and equality while they accept racism and group discrimination.
● Sociology in America­ Late 19th Century
○ Early emphasis­ social reform. (fix the problems)
○ Knowledge for its own sake. (study so we understand it)
● Objectives:
○ Describe the patterns of interaction.
○ Devise theories to explain patterns of interaction.
○ Change existing social conditions.
■ Objective
­ see the world as it is­ facts/truth.
■ Subjective
­ using personal values/feelings.
● Behavioral Sciences in Perspective
○ Anthropology
○ Sociology
○ Psychology
■ Social Psychology
The Sociological Research Process
● Research
­ process of systematically collecting information for the purpose of testing an existing theory or generating a new