文档介绍：Sociological Lessons from the Titanic
Defining Sociology
A. Is it a science? And what does this mean?
B. What are social facts? Why was Durkheim’s study of suicide so important?
C. What do sociologists study? (What is their unit of analysis?)
E. Is sociology micro or macro? Do they study the big picture or the little picture?
F. Is sociology global? In what sense?
What is the point of Stark’s version of the Titanic story?
Titanic Survival Rates
Male survival rate: 20%
Female/children survival rate: 71%
1st Class 2nd Class 3rd Class Crew
Women/Children 93% 81% 47% 87%
Men 31% 10% 14% 22%
Total 60% 42% 25% 24%
Absolute # dead 130 166 536 85
Do these statistics tell a different story?
Two Recurrent Themes in Sociology
Consensus: what people share (norms, values, ideas, social solidarity)
Conflict: how people are different (inequality, power, exploitation)
Society is both of these things!
III. Defining Sociology
A. Is sociology a science? Can there be a science of human behavior?
What is Stark’s view of this?
an interactive process of theory and research
a goal of making general observations about social behavior
an assumption that social behavior is patterned and predictable
Comte’s (and Stark’s)positivism remains controversial
The example of suicide rates
stability, variation, trend
attributes of social groups that exist independently of individuals
Social facts ar