Sociology

I have only had two significant experiences with science, the Energy Academy and Physics class. Both experiences have changed my point of view in science forever. One encouraged it while the other made me utterly afraid of it. Both of them with the same teacher but with two different outcomes. I have also have encountered science at the California Science Center in Los Angles. First will talk about my experience with science with Academy.

Before I joined Academy never even thought about joining the field of science and genealogy, but as I learned more about science and technology began to find it very interesting. We visited and talked to professionals in the field of energy science and I could not help but like it a lot. Think Independence high school has made a great decision about creating the Academy program, because now know that am interested in this field of science. I loved how Mrs.. Wolf was dedicated to the Academy and how she made sure that every student would succeed.

I believe that every student in the Energy Academy ins a lot of knowledge about science and technology. My second experience was with my sophomore year Physics class. I dreaded that class, because I rarely understood what was happening. I would go to class understand what she taught, but when a test came would not understand a single problem. Still got a good grade in the class, but struggled a lot, so decided never want to go in to a job that uses physics. It was not my teacher’s fault that I did not understand the subject, I just did not comprehend it at all.

When I was a kid my school went to go visit the California Science Center, at the time lived in San Fernando Valley. I went to a magnet school with peers that were under privileged, including me as well. None of us have gone to places like the Science Center, and when we saw it we all thought it was the most magical place ever. The most memorable exhibit was the giant imitation human and side kick cartoon that talked about human organs. I thought it was the most amazing thing ever, and the thing that interested me he most was that how every single part of the body needed each other to survive.

The imitation and cartoon made me realize how was interested in the field of science, and as I grew up I became interested in the field of psychology. It is funny to think that I have based my entire future career based on what a giant imitation human and cartoon taught me about the human body when I was in the first grade, but still think that because of them.

The handphone influences people’s behaviour Behaviour is not be formed by a thing constantly, but it is formed by many things continously. Because, everything what people saw, listened, and said forms his behaviour. One of them is one of media of communication, which is called handphone. Hand phone is one of the tool of communication between a person with others. Today, it is used by both adult or child, rich or poor, and because of necessery or style in our society. But, their behaviour is influenced unconsious by using it. The phone gives the big role to influence people’s behavior.

First, it neglects the user. Usually it is happened in the users who can not control their self such as the students. For examples, when the teacher is teaching in the class they are busy by playing the game or texting a message to their friends. They are serious in their doing, sometimes they are laught and smile by theirself. Moreover, the the teacher does not give the rule or punishment for them. So, they will get nothing in the class. Besides, if the parents do not control, they also do not study or do homework. Second, disturbs the childen’s development or maturity.

Because, there are many things in the phone. Such as camera, games, pictures, and others. Which changes the student’s attention and concentretion, both in the class or in the home. Moreover, it gives dishonest way. Exmple, in the examination they should cheat with others by sending message or searching the material about etc. In addition, by using handphone lets the students to send or receive everything is not good and educated. So, if we let them to use it free without controling, they will be the educated of technology, but not educated of knowledge or attitude.

Third, it contibutes the people to be arrogant. Because, everyperson is different personality. Basicly, the phone is used for communication with others. But, some person are use it not only for communication but also for style. As we know, today are many merks and types of phone. Such as BlackBerry, Android, Nokia, Samsung etc. Some of us compete to buy the more expensive, exis and newer. Sometimes, they more emphasize to buy the new phone than other things. Example, the students able to buy the new phone, but do not able to buy the book.

This is very bad to their maturity, which compete in the extravagance. Overall, the phone gives many good function for us. There are to communicate with others, save the things as a memorial, share information etc. But, we have to release that phone is same as another technology also has the negative effects should influence the people behaviour. Forthat, we have to be wise in using it, control and tell our family, student and society the positive and negative effects. Because the phone influence the people’s behaviour.

Last July 28, 2013, my partner and I are able to understand a person who Is considered as a deviant In this society. HIS sister let us enter Inside the life of his brother and shared to us the process of how he had become an “outsider” of this society. Julius Bella, our subject, Is a drug addict. In his case, It was clearly not Inherited or an Innate behavior, but It was the Influence of the people around him who drove Julius In the Intake of Illegal drugs.

Since Julius ND his family live In an unprivileged area where there were limited resources of good education, we assumed that Julius, in such a young age, was provided little knowledge about the effects of the drugs he took. Only later did he realize the consequences of his actions. Even if his friends’ actions were irrational, Julius chose to conform. As Sash’s research stated, many people are willing to negotiate their own judgments of right and wrong to avoid being considered as an outcast and different.

The theory of differential association introduced by Edwin Sutherland indicated that person’s tendency toward conformity or deviance depends on the amount of contact with other who encourages or rejects conventional behavior (Twelfth Edition: Sociology; John J. Macaroni). In this case, the subject spent almost all of his time with his group of friends. Thus, in order to blend in with his friends, Julius had to agree and behave in compliance with his friends’ definition of normal; moreover, motive for continued behavior evolves through participation in the behavior in the company of others (http://www. Ms. Du/?Keller/180/Theodore. HTML). Julius never gained to have a second chance in his life. Social control is the attempt by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behavior (Twelfth Edition: Sociology; John J. Macaroni), and self-control Is under the category of social control. Social control’s attempts to manage people’s behaviors would not be achievable if the people in it do not have self-control. Every society has groups of people in charge to regulate peace and order In a society, such as policemen, traffic enforcers, lawmakers, and a lot more.

In Julius’ area, we presumed that they have fewer policemen than urban areas do, less focused by the government, and fewer people to look out for their behavior. In a small society with weak bonds of social control, the people living there are more likely free to deviate since there would be less chance that they will be restrained. According to social control theory, what causes people to use Illegal drugs Is the absence of social controls promoting conformity. On the other hand, lack of parental guidance Is one of he many causes of low self-control of deviant people.

Being neglectful parents could greatly Impact the life of their children since the young ones generally look up to their parents as the role model of their lives. So parents who fail to show care and control is caused by a factor that takes place very early in one’s life, whereas social control can operate more or less throughout one’s lifetime (http://higher. McGraw- hill. Com), but in a society, self-control and social control ought to have continuous balance in order to attain organization.

What is the sociological imagination?

The sociological imagination first coined by Wright mills in 1959. The vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society. Seeing “strange in the familiar” is detaching yourself from individualistic interpretations of human behavior and accepting the initially “strange” notion that human behaviors are a product of social forces. The ability to see things socially and how things interact and influence each other that is the sociological imagination.

How can we differentiate between personal troubles and social issues?

Example: unemployment/ if your unemployed, that’s a trouble in your life (personal). But, if it was during the great recession, you were in the same boat as everybody else in society. Therefore your personal trouble is connected to a broader public issue.

What is the problem with the common sense explanations of ills?

They fail to consider the wider picture of the issue yet they Just focus on pre-conceived Judgments for example in relation to aboriginal people a common sense explanation would be that they are all petrol sniffing no hoppers though this is not the case what has been failed to be realized here is that due to colonization indigenous people lost a lot of there rights and are still trying to recover from all they have lost in life. Examples of social issues that might be better explained through investigating social forces and influences rather than individual failings Unemployed- its not necessarily that you’re lazy or don’t want to work.

There are social forces at play that make it more likely some groups over others will be unemployed. Seeing the general in the particular show that age, gender, class, race, sexuality they all impact behaviors and life chances. Although we are individuals, social forces touch our lives in significant ways, even if we don’t see those forces. Sociology: is the study of society, whose goals are to establish, explain and predict patterned regularities of human behavior. The sociological imagination asks us to see the strange in the familiar and general in particular, linking our behaviors to broader social forces.

Personal trouble re-linked to broader public issues, and our goal in sociology is to uncover those links using the sociological data and not rely on common sense explanations

Social class and stratification

What is social stratification?

Social stratification refers to a system of social inequality

Which societies experience social stratification?

All societies have social stratification to some degree -Some societies have simpler stratification where they stratify along one dimension (such as age) while others are more complex and consist of many different factors reading stratification (such as age, race, gender, etc.)

3 types of stratification systems

• Estate systems
• Caste systems
• Class systems

Definition of class in sociology the term class does not refer to one’s style or sophistication, rather social class is the social structural position groups hold relative to the economic, social, political and cultural resources of society. Class can not be directly observed but can be “seen” by observing the various displays others project such as brand of clothing, type of car, the places one shops. These objects become symbols of an individuals lass status.

Types of class systems:

• Upper class: owns major share of corporate and personal wealth
• Upper middle class: those with high incomes and high social prestige
• Middle class
• Lower class: workers in skilled trades and low-income bureaucratic workers
• Lower class: the displaced and poor.

The social class that you are in gives you different access to Jobs, income, education, power, and social status. Age, race, gender as well as class shape people’s experiences within society. These differences allow different opportunities for success.

A PESTLE analysis for Tesco must consider all the important external factors impacting on the company. These factors may have political, economic, sociological, technological, legal or environmental dimensions. The political analysis must include the impact of local and national government, and the international situation. The Economic analysis needs to investigate the influences of the stock market and tax increases, amongst many other monetary matters. Sociological factors are difficult to suss out.

We swim in the “water” of our culture without recognising it as an important determining factor. And sociological analysis is all about analysing the background culture. Technological factors are usually easier to spot, because new technologies involve change, and change is always noticed. For instance, online shopping has had a major impact on Tesco’s recent success. The change created by technological advances often lead to legal problems, which is why legal analysis is always an important part of a PESTLE analysis.

Tesco’s operations obviously have a significant environmental impact, from fossil fuel use to packaging issues. Reducing the demand on the planet is a challenge for any big company. A PESTLE Analysis for Tesco must look at all the six factors we have mentioned. Here they are again, with examples of each:

• political: an increase in unemployment due to a downward turn in the world economy.
• economic: impact on sales of the credit crunch. sociological: an increase in immigration from Eastern Europe resulting in a demand for new goods.
• technological: how can Tesco take full advantage of the world wide web
• legal: how can Tesco avoid legal opposition to expanding into new high streets
• environmental:  climate change is affecting supply and transport, how can Tesco adapt

In summary, any PESTLE Analysis for Tesco must consider all external factors.

Sociology is the systematic, sceptical and critical study of the way that people do things together . It’s not a science that simply lists facts and figures about society. Instead it becomes a form of consciousness, a way of thinking, a critical way of seeing the world. It welcomes you to challenge the obvious, to question the world as it is taken for granted and to de-familiarising the familiar. This is what empowers critical thinking which triggers the development of the understanding of the human life.

The aim of this essay is to outline the sociological approach to understanding human life , to explore the different sociological perspectives , to question the reliability of the different forms of research and to emphasise the key elements that make sociology different to other ways of exploring the human life. Finally I shall be illustrating its approach with regards to my biography. Peter Berger distinctive approach to understanding human life was characterised by seeing the general as the particular.

This meant that sociologist can identify general patterns of social life by looking at concrete examples of social life. The genesis of this approach is when we realise how the general categories into which we happen to fall shape our particular life experiences. Berger feels that the general impact of society on the actions, thoughts and feelings of particular people are made evident in the way that societies view change over time. For example the views on inequality have changed since the start of the 21st century.

Another sociological approach to sociology is seeing the strange in the familiar, “the first wisdom of sociology is this , things are not what they seem “, Bauman. This is the approach where you have to “de- familiarise the familiar” , which means that when your approaching to understand human life you have to look at it with a sense that people do not decide what to do but instead society guides their thoughts and deeds. So in essence sociology sets out to show the patterns and processes by which society shapes what we do.

C. Wright mills approach to understanding human life was to show that most of our problems were not caused by us but from society. He felt that “The sociological imagination “ was a way of understanding that social outcomes are shaped by social context. He claims that some things in society lead to certain outcomes. “when a society becomes industrialised , a peasant becomes a worker . “ Therefore the things we do are shaped by the situation we are in, the values we have. I believe that all three approaches differ ut where they all overlap is in their belief that a person must be able to pull away from the situation and to think from an alternative point of view. To acquire real knowledge is to go against the status quo. 1. ‘The first wisdom of sociology is this: things are not what they seem (sociology global intro p. 5) 2. C. Wright Mills. 1959. ‘The promise’ in The Sociological Imagination New York: 3. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/C. _Wright_Mills 4. Macionis, 5th edition , chapter 1 5. Berger, Peter Invitation to sociology . New York , 1963 With regards to perspectives in understanding human life there are two which are prominent.

The first is the functional perspective, this recognises that our lives are guided by social structures. It therefore organises sociological observation by identifying various structures of society and investigating the function of each one. This is a building block for theories that see society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. One of the problems I have with this perspective is that it evokes that society is organically stable, I also questions how we can assume that society has a natural order when social patterns change from location and time.

The second sociological perspective is the conflict perspective . this analysis points out that, rather than promoting the operation of society as a whole , social structure typically benefits some people while depriving others, for example the rich in relation to the poor. So sociologist such as Marx that belong to this school of thought try to understand society at the same time change it . The problem here is that as this perspective highlights inequality and undermines unity among members in a society.

The aim of this perspective is to pursue political goals , it overlooks scientific objectivity. The other side of the sociological approach to understanding human life is to conduct sociological investigation in order to find out what is sociologically true. There are many different areas of thought which have different angles on what is scientifically true. Positivism suggests that sociological/scientific truths are based on empirical evidence. So for example Berger approach of seeing the general within the particular would coincide here.

The reliability of sociological truths do have limitations , for example Peter Berger social patterns change constantly, what is true in one society and in one particular time may not hold truth in another. As opposed to the laws of mathematics, they are universal truths and are immutable. This all evaporates to the argument of common sense versus scientific evidence, and leads to conclusions that sociology should adopt a more humanistic discipline when it comes to understanding human life. This is what differentiates sociology when it comes to other ways of exploring human life.

The is because sociology pays more tribute to subjectivity, public opinion and examines how individuals behave to social constrains. This is something which is not evident in a scientific truth or theory. I shall now be making sense of my biography using sociology. The first step will be to consider my biography in a broader view. I have a very healthy family structure with both my parents happily married. Although we are catholic my parents have had a liberal approach in bringing me up. We have been a victim of crime when we were living opposite a council estate where they stole my father’s car.

I am half Colombian, middle class and male. I believe that this trait has made me part of the sociological movement of Colombians who have immigrated to the west and choose to not be judged on the stereotypical Colombia (drug dealer ) but on the context of our character. I believe in terms of historical context I am part of the second generation of immigrants, this means that I have been given the opportunity to go to university , take advantage of great health care and go to top state schools where I have been able to mix with upper middle class children.

I chose to use a historical context because In” the sociological imagination “ , Mills claimed that we can only understand human life by “locating himself within his period”. This is because he felt that human choices are dictated by the times in which you live . Given the calibre of education I received at 6th form as was able to acquire a placement at a top carbon brokerage in the city . So I have never been effected by the economic downturn in this country . I was bought up in the 90’s the decade where computers/internet became accessible to most people.

My parents always encouraged me to learn as much as possible online, aiding me to have extensive financial acumen, making me effective at my internship. I could of easily have stayed at this job but I decided to go to university. I am not a hundred per cent which social norms caused me to do this, was it to be perceived as an intelligent individual with a degree , was it effective government propaganda in order to have less under 21 in the job market or was it to simply promote inequality.

A lot of people argue that going to university promotes this because only middle class children who have the money to pay the fees , who have been to top school that have aided their application or have the support of their academic parents are in a head start position compared to ethnic minorities from run down institutions whose parents have no idea of what upper education entails.

In conclusion I feel that sociology has an effective approach to understand human life. It uses a humanistic science which develops as society does. The social sciences adopt scientific methods in the investigation of human behavior on the other hand sociology studies human society as Berger would say by “seeing the general in the particular”. Furthermore sociology encourages us to question the familiar , helping us to separate fact from fiction.

You could argue that this is what has triggered the great minds such as Albert Einteirn. Sociology also helps us to differentiate opportunities and constrains that shape our lives , like I did in my biography where I have had the opportunity to attended a reputable state school which has opened many doors for me but I have also faced constrains with being stereo typed as a Colombian drug dealer.

Bibliography ‘The first wisdom of sociology is this: things are not what they seem (sociology global intro p. 5) C. Wright Mills. 1959. ‘The promise’ in The Sociological Imagination New York: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/C. _Wright_Mills Macionis, 5th edition , chapter 1 Berger, Peter Invitation to sociology . New York , 1963

In sociology there are two main contrasting views to how the subject of sociology should be approached and studied, as a science or not. In this essay I will be explaining the arguments of each side of the discussion fully, and aim to show the positive and negative points of either approach to studying sociology. The first argument I will analyse is Positivism. Positivists support the view that sociology should be studied as a science, arguing that society and the activities of the individuals in society as a whole hold main similarities and attributes to the physical or natural world.

Positivists believe that social factors are largely involved in determining human behaviour, an example being that positivists think that people wish to seek partners in order to allow them to marry and produce children, letting them fulfil societies expectations of them. Positivists use scientific methodology, which means that their procedures resemble methods of collecting data that are usually seen in practice in natural sciences. Examples of some of these methods are questionnaires, structured interviews or statistics.

Using scientific procedures in the Positivists view means that more accurate results will be collected, they hold the view that it is possible to see society in an objective way. An example of this is Durkheim, who believed the social facts of society could be considered in the same way as objects and events of the natural world. He thought that social facts did not only consist of things that could be observed objectively or in a direct manner, but also belief systems which exist in the consciousness of individuals.

To look at these belief systems in a scientific manner Durkheim thought that they couldn’t be changed at will, but were controlled by society making them available to scientific approaches. Correlation is another part of scientific methodology, where by looking at different social facts correlations are found between them, where there is evidence of a relationship between two or more different factors. Durkheim found that in his study of suicide there was a relationship between suicide and religions, (e. g. Protestantism and a high suicide rate).

After correlations are found between social facts the researcher may believe that one social fact causes another to make a hypothesis, such as crime causes a person to become working class, or being working class causes a person to commit crime. One problem with this part of the positivist scientific methodology is that some correlations found by researchers may just be by chance or indirect. This can happen where two social facts are found together but in actual fact don’t have any direct connections to each other.

It can happen that a third social fact has a relationship with both the other social facts, which can cause them to be linked. An example of this is gender being the cause of both level of criminality and location in the class hierarchy, which illustrates that aren’t actually linked, but are both related to gender. In positivists research they also believe that if findings are verified and found in many different contexts such as in different societies around the world and during different time periods the research can be see as being a law of human behaviour, which is the main aim of the positivist perspective.

This is where a statement is found to be true in all circumstances, a comparison being scientific laws such as gravity being established, positivists hold the view that these laws can be found in human behaviour. Durkheim thought he had found a law of human behaviour when his research into suicide had the conclusion that suicide rates always increased when in society there was a drastic change in the economy.

Using scientific methodology such as questionnaires does have the positive of being reliable, as the data could be collected repeatedly and it is likely to achieve the same conclusions over and over again, but also has the weakness that people can lie and be biased in the questionnaires towards themselves. Another problem is that questionnaires restrict the answers of the individual being asked the questions, which also can happen in structured interviews where the individual cant put across what they want to say because of the structured questions and style of the interview.

Also questionnaires and scientific methodology doesn’t take into account the individual differences that could be involved in the issue that is being researched. An example of this is suicide. Research into the matter of suicide has been criticised when it has been done using scientific matters as Douglas made the criticism of Durkheim’s research that not all suicides can be treated as the same type of act as they could have different or contrasting meanings behind them, e. g. lderly Eskimo’s will kill themselves for the sake of their society, where as a someone in a western society may kill themselves because they are depressed.

Also, in Durkheim’s research into suicide, J. D Douglas criticized him saying that the statistics used weren’t valid, as the decision to if the sudden death was a suicide is made by the coroner, who in turn is influenced by the family and friends of the victim. This creates the possibility of there being systematic bias in the decision, having the consequence of not very reliable statistics to base his conclusions on.

Another weakness of scientific methodology is it can result in generalisations in the conclusions, where the researcher will split the data collected into different categories, as Durkheim carried out in his study into suicide, which can be too reductionist, missing out important factors in the issue being researched such as the background of the suicides etc. Another method used in sociological research is observation, which positivists believe that the social world can be objectively observed and classified.

Observation is not only used by positivists, but is also used by many anti-positivist sociologists who have observed situations in connection with subjects like education and suicide, where Atkinson observed the processes involved in the decisions made by coroners in the coroners courts. One problem with using observation is that it is restrictive in the type of situations it can be used in, such as in the study of the subject of politics, sociologists are prohibited from observing the British Cabinet.

Also because the results are based on how the situation was observed through the researcher, it is possible for there to be interference from the researcher in the data collected. Another group that support the idea of sociology being a science is realists, who see much of sociology being scientific. An example of this is the realist’s sociologist Keat, who saw Marxist sociology as scientific as the models developed by Marx was evaluating processes and institutions in society based on empirical data.

Realists suggest that both natural and sociological sciences have the same aim in the research carried out which is to develop theories and create perspectives to explain the world based on collected evidence. Auguste Comte was a founder of sociology, and through founding the subject attempted to show it as a science using a scientific manner in his research, studying social phenomena. He talked about discovering the laws social phenomena being the main aim behind the subject of sociology, and scientific methods being the best way of accomplishing this.

He also thought that society as a whole was greater than the individuals within it, which in other words meant that society was more complex than the number of people in it, that it involved many other variables. One procedure that Comte supported was the HD procedure, which was where you started with a theory, created a hypothesis based on that theory, slected a research method that could be verified and analysise the data collected through this method to see if the hypothesis was correct.

One problem with this procedure is that although it does have reliable data that is collected, and a straight forward procedure involved, a negative aspect of creating a hypothesis to work with before carrying out the research is that it brings in the possibility that the researcher will pick a research method which will be biased to the hypothesis by be the method most likely to prove it. An example of where this happened was the research into aids attempting to prove it as a ‘gay plague’. Another example of a positivist theory was made by Karl Popper, who created the theory of falsification.

Popper believed that the best way to see if a theory or conclusion was true was to let it stand the test of time. In this he meant that the longer a theory was supported and unreputed by other sociologists, the more true it was. Popper was critical towards Marx, saying that he was unscientific because he didn’t use empirical data and that Marx’s theory couldn’t be proved wrong or right as Marx left his theory open to when the revolution would actually happen, meaning that if a revolution didn’t happen in that time period, Marx would still be able to argue that it was going to happen ‘some day in the future’.

The other side of the argument of should sociology be scientific is held by anti positivists, such as Max Weber. Weber claims that to come to true conclusions the motives of a situation or a persons actions must first be understood. An example of this is if a person is fishing, are they doing it because its their hobby, or maybe because they are hungry. One process supported by Weber was verstehen, which is where the sociologist imagines himself or herself as the person or in the position of the person whose being studied.

Weber thought that the motives behind an action are just as important as the actions themselves for coming to the truth behind a subject. There third perspective involved in the debate is Post Modernism, which believe in the grand narrative, or that there is no such thing as just having one dominant theory. Post Modernists believe the best results and theories are academic pick and mix’s, where conclusions are drawn from many different perspectives and theories to get an all round finding that includes all the different points of view involved.

Post Modernists also think that there is no such thing as one objective truth, and that no one method or way of looking at sociology can arrive at true conclusions as in reality, society is always changing as is the norms and values within society. One post modernist who believes that there is no one technique that can find the truth (a belief held by epistemology) is Lyotard, who sees all epistemology as being based on more the researchers opinions instead of being based on objective knowledge. This is known as being a metanarrative.