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2 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

DISCOVER SOCIOLOGY1

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WHAT DO YOU T HINK? 1. Can societies be studied scientifically? What does

the scientific study of societies entail?

2. What is a theory? What is the role of theories in

sociology?

3. In your opinion, what social issues or problems are

most interesting or important today? What questions

about them would you like to study?

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9 The Development of Sociological Thinking

17 Sociology: One Way of Looking at the World—or Many?

21 Principal Themes in This Text

22 Why Study Sociology?

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4 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

A goal of this book is to take you on a sociological journey. But let’s begin with a basic question:

What is sociology? First of all, sociology is a discipline of and for curious minds! Sociologists

are deeply committed to answering the question, “Why?” Why are some people desperately

poor and others fabulously wealthy? Why does racial segregation in housing and public education

exist, and why does it persist half a century after civil rights laws were enacted? What accounts for

the declining marriage rate among the working class and the poor in the United States? How can we

explain the fact that low-income people are more likely to be overweight or obese than their middle-

class counterparts? Why is the proportion of women entering and completing college rising while the

proportion of men has fallen? Why, in spite of this, do men as a group still earn higher incomes than

women as a group do? And how is it that social media are being simultaneously praised as instruments

of transformational activism and criticized as causes of social alienation and civic disengagement? Take

a moment now to think about some why questions you have about society and social life: As you look

around you, hear the news, and interact with other people, what strikes you as fascinating—but perhaps

difficult to understand? What are you curious about?

Sociology is an academic discipline that takes a scientific approach to answering the kinds of

questions our curious minds imagine. When we say that sociology is scientific, we mean that it is a way

of learning about the world that combines logically constructed theory and systematic observation.

The goal of sociological study and research is to base answers to questions like those above on a

careful examination of the roots of social phenomena such as poverty, segregation, and the wage gap.

Sociologists do this with research methods—surveys, interviews, observations, and archival research,

among others—which yield data that can be tested, challenged, and revised. In this text, you will see how

sociology is done—and you will learn how to do sociology yourself.

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5The Sociological Imagination

Concisely stated, sociology is the scientific study of

human social relationships, groups, and societies. Unlike

natural sciences such as physics, chemistry, and biology,

sociology is one of several social sciences engaged in the

scientific study of human beings and the social worlds they

consciously create and inhabit. The purpose of sociology is

to understand and generate new knowledge about human

behavior, social relations, and social institutions on a larger

scale. The sociologist adheres to the principle of social

embeddedness: the idea that economic, political, and

other forms of human behavior are fundamentally shaped

by social relations. Thus, sociologists pursue studies on a

wide range of issues occurring within, between, and among

families, communities, states, nations, and the world.

Other social sciences, some of which you may be studying,

include anthropology, economics, political science, and

psychology.

Sociology is a field in which students have the

opportunity to build a broad spectrum of important skills,

ranging from gathering and analyzing information to

identifying and solving problems to effective written and

oral communication. Throughout this book, we draw your

attention to important skills you can gain through the study

of sociology and the kinds of skills employers in different

occupational fields are seeking in potential employees.

Sociology opens the door to both greater understanding of

the social world and a range of career and graduate study

possibilities.

Doing sociology requires that you build a foundation on

which the knowledge you gain will rest. Some of the key

foundations of sociology are the sociological imagination

and critical thinking. We turn to these below.

Scientific: A way of learning about the world that combines logically constructed theory and systematic observation.

Sociology: The scientific study of human social relations, groups, and societies.

Social embeddedness: The idea that economic, political, and other forms of human behavior are fundamentally shaped by social relations.

Sociological imagination: The ability to grasp the relationship between individual lives and the larger social forces that help to shape them.

T HE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION As we go about our daily routines, we may forget that large- scale economic, political, and cultural forces shape even the most personal aspects of our lives. When parents divorce, for example, we tend to focus on individual explanations: A father was devoted more to his work than to his family; a mother may have felt trapped in an unhappy marriage but stuck with it for the sake of young children. Yet while personal issues are inevitable parts of a breakup, they can’t tell the whole story. When so many U.S. marriages end in divorce, forces larger than incompatible personalities or marital discord are at play. But what are those greater social forces, exactly?

As sociologist C. Wright Mills (1959/2000b) suggested half a century ago, uncovering the relationship between what he called personal troubles and public issues calls for a sociologi- cal imagination. The sociological imagination is the ability to grasp the relationship between individual lives and the larger social forces that shape them—that is, to see where biography and history intersect.

In a country like the United States, where individualism is part of the national heritage, people tend to believe that each person creates his or her life’s path and to largely disregard the social context in which this happens. When we cannot get a job, fail to earn enough to support a family, or experience marital separation, for example, we tend to see it as a personal trouble. We do not necessarily see it as a public issue. The sociological imagination, however, invites us to make the connection and to step away from the vantage point of a single life experience to see how powerful social forces—for instance, changes in social norms, ethnic or sex discrimination, large shifts in the economy,

Unemployment is not equally distributed among U.S. demographic groups; those without a high school diploma or college degree have been hit hard by the loss of well-paying jobs in manufacturing since the late1970s. The cost of not getting an education increas- ingly includes not just higher rates of unemployment but also diminished earning power.

Mill’s Sociological Imagination What is Sociology?

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6 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

PRIVATE LIVES, PUBLIC ISSUES

WHY ARE DIVORCE RATES SO HIGH? i

In the United States, the probability of

a first marriage ending in separation or

divorce within 5 years is 22%; after 10

years, it rises to 36%. Over the longer

term, the rate of marital dissolution

is closer to 50% (Goodwin, Mosher, &

Chandra, 2010). Just half a century ago,

most marriages were “’til death do us

part.” What accounts for the change?

The sociological imagination

shows us that marriage and divorce,

seemingly the most private of matters,

are as much public issues as personal

ones. Consider the fact that when

wages for working people lagged

from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s,

growing numbers of women went

to work to help their families make

ends meet. Many middle-class women

also went to college and pursued

careers as a means of personal

fulfillment. In fact, today more women

than men finish undergraduate

degrees. As a result of trends like

these, women today enjoy a higher

measure of economic independence

than ever before.

The combination

of educational

attainment and

satisfying careers

reinforces women’s

independence, making

it easier for those

who are in unhappy

marriages to leave

them. Greater social

acceptance of divorce

has also removed

much of the stigma

once associated with

failed marriages.

Social trends like

those described have

made it more likely

that an unhappy

couple will divorce rather than

stay in a failing marriage. Thus, this

private trouble is in many respects

strongly influenced by public issues

such as women’s rising economic

independence and the dynamism of

cultural norms related to marriage and

divorce.

T HINK IT T HROUGH What other “private troubles” could

sociologists identify as “public issues”?

Marriage is one of the most private and personal forms of a relationship between two people. How can marriage—and divorce—be viewed through a sociological lens?

or the beginning or end of a military conflict—shape the obsta- cles and opportunities that contribute to the unfolding of our own life’s story. Among Mills’s (1959/2000b) most often cited examples is the following:

When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unem- ployed, that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million men are unem- ployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find

its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportuni- ties has collapsed. Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals. (p. 9)

To apply the idea to contemporary economic conditions, we might look at recent college graduates. If many of the young people who graduated from college in the middle years of the

Sociological Imagination

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7The Sociological Imagination

2000s found the jobs they wanted, they may have accounted for their success by citing personal effort or solid academic qualifications. These are, of course, very important, but the sociological imagination suggests that there are also larger social forces at work—a booming economy in this period contributed to a low rate of unemployment among the college educated. Consider, for instance, that while unemployment among young male college graduates was just under 7% in 2007 (just before an economic crisis hit in the United States), by 2010 it had peaked at more than 12%. For young female college graduates, it grew from less than 5% in 2007 to a peak of more than 9% in 2011. In 2013, it took a downward turn for both groups before rising slightly in 2014 (Figure 1.1). If your friends or relatives who graduated into the labor market dur- ing the economic crisis or even the first years following that period encountered difficulties securing solid first jobs, this suggests that personal effort and qualifications are only part of the explanation for the success of one graduating class and the frustration of another.

Understanding this relationship is particularly critical for people in the United States, who often regard individuals as fully responsible for their own successes and failures. For instance, it is easy to fault the poor for their poverty, assum- ing they only need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” We may neglect the powerful role of social forces like racial or ethnic discrimination, the outsourcing or automation of

manufacturing jobs that used to employ those with less edu- cation, or the poor state of education in many economically distressed rural and urban areas. The sociological imagina- tion implores us to seek the intersection between private troubles, such as a family’s poverty, and public issues, such as lack of access to good schooling or jobs, to develop a more informed and comprehensive understanding of the social world and social issues.

It is useful, when we talk about the sociological imagi- nation, to bring in the concepts of agency and structure. Sociologists often talk about social actions—individual and group behavior—in these terms. Agency can be understood as the ability of individuals and groups to exercise free will and to make social changes on a small or large scale. Structure is a complex term but may be defined as patterned social arrange- ments that have effects on agency—structure may enable or constrain social action. For example, sociologists talk about the class structure, which is composed of social groups who hold varying amounts of resources such as money, political voice, and social status. They also identify normative struc- tures—for instance, they might analyze patterns of social norms regarding “appropriate” gender behaviors in different cultural contexts.

Sociologists take a strong interest in the relationship between structure and agency. Consider that, on one hand, we all have the ability to make choices—so we have free will and we can opt for one path over another. On the other hand, the structures that surround us impose obstacles on us or afford us opportunities: We can make choices, but they may be enabled or constrained by structure. For instance, in the early 1900s, we would surely have found bright young women in the U.S. middle class who wanted to study to be doctors or lawyers. The social norms of the time, however, suggested that young women

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0 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

Recession

Men

Women

FIGURE 1.1 Unemployment Rates Among Young College Graduates in the United States, 1989–2014

SOURCE: Shierholz, Heidi, Natalie Sabadish, and Hilary Wething. (2012). “The Class of 2012: Labor market for young graduates remains grim.” Briefing paper 340. Figure G. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. Reprinted with permission.

Agency: The ability of individuals and groups to exercise free will and to make social changes on a small or large scale.

Structure: Patterned social arrangements that have effects on agency.

C. Wright Mills highlighted the use of the sociological imagination in studying social issues. When 16% of urban residents are poor by the government’s official measure, we cannot assume the sole cause is personal failings but must ask how large-scale social and economic forces are implicated in widespread socioeconomic dis- advantage experienced in many communities.

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8 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

of this status were better off marrying and starting families. There were also legal constraints to women’s entry into higher education and the paid labor force. So while the women in our example might have individually argued and pushed to go to college and have professional careers, the dreams of this group were constrained by powerful normative and legal structures that identified women’s place as being in the home.

Consider the relationship between the class structure and individual agency as another way of thinking about social mobility in U.S. society. If, for instance, a young man today whose parents are well educated and whose family is economi- cally prosperous wishes to go to college and become a doctor, his position in the class structure (or the position of his family) is enabling—that is, it makes it likely that he will be able to make this choice and to realize it. If, however, a young man from a poor family with no college background dreams of being an engineer and wants to study in college, his position in the class structure is likely to be constraining: Not only does his family have insufficient economic means to pay for college, but he may also be studying in an underfunded or underperforming high school that cannot provide the advanced courses he needs to prepare for college. His lack of college role models may also be a factor. This does not mean that inevitably the first young man will go to college and the second will not; it does, however, suggest that probabilities favor the first college aspirant over the second.

Put succinctly, in order to understand why some students go to college and others do not, sociologists would say that we cannot rely on individual choice or will (agency) alone— structures, whether subtly or quite obviously, exercise an influ- ence on social behavior and outcomes. At the same time, we should not see structures as telling the whole story of social behavior, because history shows the power of human agency in making change even in the face of obstacles. Agency itself can transform structures (for example, think about the ways wom- en’s historical activism has helped to transform limiting gen- der norms for women today). Sociologists weight both agency and structure and continue to seek to understand how the two interact and connect in affecting social behavior. For the most

part, sociologists understand the relationship as reciprocal— that is, it goes in both directions, as structure affects agency and agency, in turn, can change the dimensions of a structure (Figure 1.2).

CRITICAL THINKING Applying the sociological perspective requires more than an ability to use the sociological imagination. It also demands critical thinking, the ability to evaluate claims about truth by using reason and evidence. In everyday life, we frequently accept things as “true” because they are familiar, feel right, or are consistent with our beliefs. Critical thinking takes a different approach—recognizing poor arguments, rejecting statements not supported by evidence, and questioning our assumptions. One of the founders of modern sociology, Max Weber, captured the spirit of critical thinking in two words when he said that a key task of sociological inquiry is to openly acknowledge “inconvenient facts.”

Critical thinking requires us to be open-minded, but it does not mean that we must accept all arguments as equally valid. Those supported by logic and backed by evidence are clearly preferable to those that are not. For instance, we may passion- ately agree with Thomas Jefferson’s famous statement “that government is best that governs least.” However, as sociologists we must also ask, “What evidence backs up the claim that less government is better under all circumstances?”

To think critically, it is useful to follow six simple rules (adapted from Wade & Tavris, 1997):

1. Be willing to ask any question, no matter how difficult. The belief in small government is a cherished U.S. ideal. But soci- ologists who study the role of government in modern society must be willing to ask whether there are circumstances under which more—not less—government is better. Government’s role in areas such as homeland security, education, and health care has grown in the past several years—what are the positive and negative aspects of this growth?

2. Think logically and be clear. Logic and clarity require us to define concepts in a way that allows us to study them. “Big government” is a vague concept that must be made more pre- cise and measurable before it provides for useful research. Are we speaking of federal, state, or local government, or all of these? Is “big” measured by the cost of government services, the number of agencies or offices within the government, the number of people working for it, or something else? What did Jefferson mean by “best,” and what would that “best” gov- ernment look like? Who would have the power to define this notion in any case?

Agency

Structure

FIGURE 1.2 Structure and Agency

Critical thinking: The ability to evaluate claims about truth by using reason and evidence.

Sociological Imagination Critique

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9The Development of Sociological Thinking

3. Back up your arguments with evidence. Founding Father Thomas Jefferson is a formidable person to quote, but quoting him does not prove that smaller government is better in the 21st century. To find evidence, we need to seek out studies of contemporary societies to see whether there is a relationship between a population’s well-being and the size of government or the breadth of services it provides. Because studies may offer contradictory evidence, we also need to be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of arguments on different sides of the issue.

4. Think about the assumptions and biases—including your own—that underlie all studies. You may insist that government has a key role to play in modern society. On the other hand, you may believe with equal passion that big government is one root of the problems in the United States. Critical thinking, however, requires that we recognize our beliefs and biases. Otherwise we might unconsciously seek out only evidence that supports our argument, ignoring evidence to the contrary. Passion has a role to play in research: It can motivate us to devote long hours to studying an issue. But passion should not play a role when we are weighing evidence and drawing conclusions.

5. Avoid anecdotal evidence. It is tempting to draw a general conclusion from a single experience or anecdote, but that expe- rience may illustrate the exception rather than the rule. For example, you may know someone who just yesterday received a letter mailed 2 years ago, but that is not evidence that the U.S. Postal Service is inefficient or does not fulfill its mandates. To determine whether this government agency is working well, you would have to study its entire mail delivery system and its record of work over time.

6. Be willing to admit when you are wrong or uncertain about your results. Sometimes we expect to find support for an

argument only to find that things are not so clear. For example, consider the position of a sociologist who advocates small gov- ernment and learns that Japan and Singapore initially became economic powerhouses because their governments played lead- ing roles in promoting growth of a sociologist who champions an expanded role for government but learns from the downturn of the 1990s in the Asian economies that some things can be better achieved by private enterprise. The answers we get are sometimes contradictory, and we learn from recognizing the error of our assumptions and beliefs as well.

Critical thinking also means becoming “critical consumers” of the information—news, blogs, surveys, texts, magazines, and scientific studies—that surrounds us. To be a good soci- ologist, it is important to look beyond the commonsense understanding of social life and develop a critical perspective. Being critical consumers of information entails paying atten- tion to the sources of information we encounter and asking questions about how data were gathered.

T HE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGICAL THINKING Humans have been asking questions about the nature of social life as long as people have lived in societies. Aristotle and Plato wrote extensively about social relationships more than 2,000 years ago. Ibn Khaldun, an Arab scholar writing in the 14th century, advanced a number of sociological concepts we recognize today, including ideas about social conflict and cohesion. Yet modern sociological concepts and research methods did not emerge until the 19th century, after the Industrial Revolution, and then largely in those European nations undergoing dramatic societal changes like industrialization and urbanization.

THE BIRTH OF SOCIOLOGY: SCIENCE, PROGRESS, INDUSTRIALIZATION, AND URBANIZATION We can trace sociology’s roots to four interrelated historical developments that gave birth to the modern world: the sci- entific revolution, the Enlightenment, industrialization, and urbanization. Since these developments initially occurred in Europe, it is not surprising that sociological perspectives and ideas evolved there during the 19th century. By the end of the 19th century, sociology had taken root in North America as well; somewhat later, it gained a foothold in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. Sociology throughout the world initially bore the stamp of its European and North American origins, though recent decades have brought a greater diversity of perspectives to the discipline.

Major metropolitan areas like New York City, Paris, and London are heavily monitored by security cameras, especially since the Sep- tember 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Defining the appropriate balance between privacy and increased security is a contemporary chal- lenge for governments and societies.

Sociology in Everyday Life

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10 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION The rise of modern natural and physical sciences, beginning in Europe in the 16th century, offered scholars a more advanced understanding of the physical world. The success of natural science contributed to the belief that science could also be fruitfully applied to human affairs, thereby enabling people to improve society or even perfect it. Auguste Comte (1798–1857) coined the term sociology to char- acterize what he believed would be a new “social physics”—that is, the scientific study of society.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT Inspired in part by the success of the physical sciences, French philosophers in the 18th cen- tury such as Voltaire (1694–1778), Montesquieu (1689–1755), Diderot (1719–1784), and Rousseau (1712–1778) promised that humankind could attain lofty heights by applying scientific understanding to human affairs. Enlightenment ideals such as equality, liberty, and fundamental human rights found a home in the emerging social sciences, particularly sociology. Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), considered by many to be the first mod- ern sociologist, argued that sociological understanding would create a more egalitarian, peaceful society, in which individuals would be free to realize their full potential. Many of sociology’s founders shared the hope that a fairer and more just society would be achieved through the scientific understanding of society.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION The Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the mid- to late 18th century and soon spread to other countries, dramatically changed European societies. Traditional agricultural economies and the small- scale production of handicrafts in the home gave way to more efficient, profit-driven manufacturing based in factories. For instance, in 1801 in the English city of Leeds, there were about 20 factories manufacturing a variety of goods. By 1838, Leeds was home to 106 woolen mills alone, employing 10,000 people.

Small towns, including Leeds, were transformed into bus- tling cities, showcasing extremes of wealth and poverty as well as opportunity and struggle. In the face of rapid social change and growing inequality, sociologists sought to gain a social scientific perspective on what was happening and how it had come about. For example, German theorist and revolutionary Karl Marx (1818–1883), who had an important impact on later sociological theorizing about modern soci- eties and economies, predicted that industrialization would make life increasingly intolerable for the masses. He believed that private property ownership by the wealthy allowed for the exploitation of working people and that its elimination, and revolution, would bring about a utopia of equality and genuine freedom for all.

URBANIZATION: THE POPULATION SHIFT TOWARD CITIES Industrialization fostered the growth of cities, as people streamed from rural fields to urban factories in search of work. By the end of the 19th century, more than 20 million

people lived in English cities. The population of London alone exceeded 7 million by 1910.

Early industrial cities were often fetid places, characterized by pollution and dirt, crime, and crowded housing tenements. In Europe, early sociologists lamented the passing of communal village life and its replacement by a savage and alienating urban existence. Durkheim, for example, worried about the potential breakdown of stabilizing beliefs and values in modern urban soci- ety. He argued that whereas traditional communities were held together by shared culture and norms, or accepted social behav- iors and beliefs, modern industrial communities were threatened by anomie, or a state of normlessness that occurs when people lose sight of the shared rules and values that give order and mean- ing to their lives. In a state of anomie, individuals often feel con- fused and anxious because they do not know how to interact with each other and their environment. Durkheim raised the question of what would hold societies and communities together as they shifted from homogeneity and shared cultures and values to het- erogeneous masses of diverse occupations, cultures, and norms.

19TH-CENTURY FOUNDERS Despite its largely European origins, early sociology sought to develop universal understandings that would apply to other peoples, times, and places. The discipline’s principal acknowl- edged founders—Auguste Comte, Harriet Martineau, Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber—left their marks on sociology in different ways.

Norms: Accepted social behaviors and beliefs.

Anomie: A social condition of normlessness; a state of normative uncertainty that occurs when people lose touch with the shared rules and values that give order and meaning to their lives.

The harnessing of waterpower and the development of the steam engine helped give rise to the industrial era and to factories, immortalized by writers such as Charles Dickens, in which men, women, and even children toiled for hours in wretched working conditions. Poet William Blake called these workplaces the “dark satanic mills.”

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11The Development of Sociological Thinking

AUGUSTE COMTE Auguste Comte (1798–1857), a French social theorist, is credited with founding modern sociology, naming it, and establishing it as the scientific study of social relationships. The twin pillars of Comte’s sociology were the study of social statics, the way society is held together, and the analysis of social dynamics, the laws that govern social change. Comte believed social science could be used effec- tively to manage the social change resulting from modern industrial society, but always with a strong respect for tradi- tions and history.

Comte proclaimed that his new science of society was posi- tivist. This meant that it was to be based on facts alone, which should be determined scientifically and allowed to speak for themselves. Comte argued that this purely factual approach was the proper method for sociology. He argued that all sciences—and all societies—go through three stages. The first stage is a theological one, in which key ways of understanding the world are framed in terms of superstition, imagination, and religion. The second stage is a metaphysical one, character- ized by abstract speculation but framed by the basic belief that

society is the product of natural rather than supernatural forces. The third and last stage is one in which knowledge is based on scientific reasoning “from the facts.” Comte saw him- self as leading sociology toward its final positivist stage.

Comte left a lasting mark on modern sociology. The scientific study of social life continues to be the goal of socio- logical research. His belief that social institutions have a strong impact on individual behavior—that is, that our actions are the products of personal choices and the surrounding social context—remains at the heart of sociology.

HARRIET MARTINEAU Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) was an English sociologist who, despite deafness and other physical challenges, became a prominent social and historical writer. Her greatest handicap was being a woman in male-dominated intellectual circles that failed to value female voices. Today she is frequently recognized as the first major woman sociologist.

Deeply influenced by Comte’s work, Martineau translated his six-volume treatise on politics into English. Her editing helped make Comte’s esoteric prose accessible to the English-speaking

As a founding figure in the social sciences, Auguste Comte is asso- ciated with positivism, or the belief that the study of society must be anchored in facts and the scientific method.

Interestingly, Harriet Martineau translated into English the work of Auguste Comte, who dismissed women’s intellect, saying, “Biologi- cal philosophy teaches us that . . . radical differences, physical and moral, distinguish the sexes . . . biological analysis presents the female sex . . . as constitutionally in a state of perpetual infancy, in comparison with the other” (Kandal, 1988, p. 75).

Social statics: The way society is held together.

Social dynamics: The laws that govern social change.

Positivist: Science that is based on facts alone.

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12 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

world, ensuring his standing as a leading figure in sociology. Martineau was also a distinguished scholar in her own right. She wrote dozens of books, more than a thousand newspaper columns, and 25 novels, including a three-volume study, Society in America (1837), based on observations of the United States that she made during a tour of the country.

Martineau, like Comte, sought to identify basic laws that govern society. She derived three of her four “laws” from other theorists. The fourth law, however, was her own and reflected her progressive (today we might say feminist) principles: For a soci- ety to evolve, it must ensure social justice for women and other oppressed groups. In her study of U.S. society, Martineau treated slavery and women’s experience of dependence in marriage as indicators of the limits of the moral development of the United States. In her view, the United States was unable to achieve its full social potential while it was morally stunted by persistent injustices like slavery and women’s inequality. The question of whether the provision of social justice is critical to societal devel- opment remains a relevant and compelling one today.

ÉMILE DURKHEIM Auguste Comte founded and named the discipline of sociology, but French scholar Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) set the field on its present course. Durkheim established the early subject matter of sociology, laid out rules for conducting research, and developed an important theory of social change.

For Durkheim, sociology’s subject matter was social facts, qualities of groups that are external to individual members yet constrain their thinking and behavior. Durkheim argued that such social facts as religious beliefs and social duties are exter- nal—that is, they are part of the social context and are larger than our individual lives. They also have the power to shape our behavior. You may feel compelled to act in certain ways in dif- ferent contexts—in the classroom, on a date, at a religious cere- mony—even if you are not always aware of such social pressures.

Durkheim also argued that only social facts can explain other social facts. For example, there is no scientific evidence that men have an innate knack for business compared with women—but in 2012, women headed just 18 of the Fortune 500 companies. A Durkheimian approach would highlight wom- en’s experience in society—where historically they have been socialized into more domestic values or restricted to certain noncommercial professions—and the fact that the social net- works that foster mobility in the corporate world today are still primarily male to help explain why men dominate the upper ranks of the business world.

Durkheim’s principal concern was explaining the impact of modern society on social solidarity, the bonds that unite the members of a social group. In his view, in traditional society these bonds are based on similarity—people speak the same lan- guage, share the same customs and beliefs, and do similar work tasks. He called this mechanical solidarity. In modern indus- trial society, however, bonds based on similarity break down.

Everyone has a different job to perform in the industrial divi- sion of labor, and modern societies are more likely to be socially diverse. However, workers in different occupational positions are dependent on one another for things like safety, education, and the provision of food and other goods essential to survival. The people filling these positions may not be alike in culture, beliefs, or language, but their dependence on one another contributes to social cohesion. Borrowing from biology, Durkheim called this organic solidarity, suggesting that modern society functions as an interdependent organic whole, like a human body.

Yet organic solidarity, Durkheim argued, is not as strong as mechanical solidarity. People no longer necessarily share the same norms and values. The consequence, according

Émile Durkheim pioneered some of sociology’s early research on such topics as social solidarity and suicide. His work continues to inform sociological study and understanding of social bonds and the consequences of their unraveling.

Social facts: Qualities of groups that are external to individual members yet constrain their thinking and behavior.

Social solidarity: The bonds that unite the members of a social group.

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13The Development of Sociological Thinking

to Durkheim, is anomie. In this weakened condition, the social order disintegrates and pathological behavior increases (Durkheim, 1922/1973a).

Consider whether the United States, a modern and diverse society, is held together primarily by organic solidarity, or whether the hallmark of mechanical solidarity, a collec- tive conscience—the common beliefs and values that bind a society together—is in evidence. Do public demonstrations of patriotism on nationally significant anniversaries such as September 11 and July 4 indicate mechanical solidarity built on a collective sense of shared values, norms, and practices? Or do the deeply divisive politics of recent years suggest social bonds based more fully on practical interdependence?

KARL MARX The extensive writings of Karl Marx (1818–1883) influenced the development of economics and political sci- ence as well as sociology. They also shaped world politics and inspired communist revolutions in Russia (later the Soviet Union), China, and Cuba, among others.

Marx’s central idea was deceptively simple: Virtually all societies throughout history have been divided into economic classes, with one class prospering at the expense of oth- ers. All human history, Marx believed, should be understood as the product of class conflict, competition between social classes over the distribution of wealth, power, and other valued resources in society (Marx & Engels, 1848/1998).

In the period of early industrialization in which he lived, Marx condemned capitalism’s exploitation of working people, the proletariat, by the ownership class, the bourgeoisie. As we will see in later chapters, Marx’s views on conflict and inequal- ity are still influential in contemporary sociological thinking, even among sociologists who do not share his views on society.

Marx focused his attention on the emerging capitalist industrial society (Marx, 1867/1992a, 1885/1992b, 1894/1992c). Unlike his contemporaries in sociology, however, Marx saw capitalism as a transitional stage to a final period in human history in which economic classes and the unequal distribution of rewards and opportunities linked to class inequality would disappear and be replaced by a utopia of equality.

Although many of Marx’s predictions have not proven to be correct, his critical analysis of the dynamics of capitalism

proved insightful. Among other things, Marx argued that capitalism would lead to accelerating technological change, the replacement of workers by machines, and the growth of monopoly capitalism.

Marx also presciently predicted that ownership of the means of production, the sites and technology that produce the goods (and sometimes services) we need and use, would come to be concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. As a result, he believed, a growing wave of people would be thrust down into the prole- tariat, which owns only its own labor power. In modern society, large corporations have progressively swallowed up or pushed out smaller businesses; where small lumberyards and pharma- cies used to serve many communities, corporate giants such as Home Depot, CVS, and Best Buy have moved in, putting locally owned establishments out of business.

In many U.S. towns, small business owners have joined forces to protest the construction of “big box” stores like Walmart (now the largest private employer in the United States), argu- ing that these enormous establishments, while they offer cheap goods, wreak havoc on local retailers and bring only the meager economic benefit of masses of entry-level, low-wage jobs. From a Marxist perspective, we might say that the local retailers, in resisting the incursion of the capitalist behemoth Walmart, are fighting their own “proletarianization.” Even physicians, many

Collective conscience: The common beliefs and values that bind a society together.

Class conflict: Competition between social classes over the distribution of wealth, power, and other valued resources in society.

Proletariat: The working class; wage workers.

Bourgeoisie: The capitalist (or property-owning) class.

Means of production: The sites and technology that produce the goods we need and use.

Karl Marx was a scholar and critic of early capitalism. His work has been thoroughly studied and critiqued around the world.

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of whom used to own their own means of production in the form of private medical practices, have increasingly been driven by economic necessity into working for large health maintenance organizations (HMOs), where they are salaried employees.

Unlike Comte and Durkheim, Marx thought social change would be revolutionary, not evolutionary, and would be the product of oppressed workers rising up against a capitalist sys- tem that exploits the many to benefit the few.

MAX WEBER Max Weber (1864–1920), a German sociologist who wrote at the beginning of the 20th century, left a substan- tial academic legacy. Among his contributions are an analysis of how Protestantism fostered the rise of capitalism in Europe (Weber, 1904–1905/2002) and insights into the emergence of modern bureaucracy (Weber, 1919/1946). Weber, like other founders of sociology, took up various political causes, con- demning injustice wherever he found it. Although pessimistic about capitalism, he did not believe, as did Marx, that some alternative utopian form of society would arise. Nor did he see sociologists enjoying privileged insights into the social world that would qualify them to wisely counsel rulers and industrial- ists, as Comte (and, to some extent, Durkheim) had envisioned.

Weber believed that an adequate explanation of the social world begins with the individual and takes into account the meaning of what people say and do. While he argued that research should be scientific and value-free, Weber also believed that to explain what people do, we must use a method he termed Verstehen, the German word for interpretive understanding. This methodology, rarely used by sociologists today, sought to explain social relationships by having the sociologist/observer imagine how the subjects being studied might have perceived and interpreted the situation. Studying social life, Weber felt, is not like studying plants or chemical reactions, because human beings act on the basis of meanings and motives.

Weber’s theories of social and economic organization have also been highly influential (Weber, 1921/2012). Weber argued that the modern Western world showed an ever-increasing reli- ance on logic, efficiency, rules, and reason. According to him, modern societies are characterized by the development and growing influence of formal rationality, a context in which people’s pursuit of goals is increasingly shaped by rules, regula- tions, and larger social structures. One of Weber’s most widely known illustrations of formal rationality comes from his study of bureaucracies, formal organizations characterized by written rules, hierarchical authority, and paid staff, intended to promote organizational efficiency. Bureaucracies, for Weber, epitomized formally rational systems: On one hand, they offer clear, know- able rules and regulations for the efficient pursuit of particular ends, like obtaining a passport or getting financial aid for higher education. On the other hand, he feared, the bureaucratization of modern society would also progressively strip people of their humanity and creativity and result in an iron cage of rationalized structures with irrational consequences.

Weber’s ideas about bureaucracy were remarkably prescient in their characterization of our bureaucratic (and formally rationalized) modern world. Today we are also confronted regu- larly with both the incredible efficiency and the baffling irratio- nality of modern bureaucratic structures. Within moments of entering into an efficiently concluded contract with a wireless phone service provider, we can become consumers of a cornu- copia of technological opportunities, with the ability to chat on the phone or receive text messages from virtually anywhere, post photographs or videos online, and pass the time playing downloaded games. Should we later be confused by a bill and

Verstehen: The German word for interpretive understanding; Weber’s proposed methodology for explaining social relationships by having the sociologist imagine how subjects might perceive a situation.

Formal rationality: A context in which people’s pursuit of goals is shaped by rules, regulations, and larger social structures.

Bureaucracies: Formal organizations characterized by written rules, hierarchical authority, and paid staff, intended to promote organizational efficiency.

Max Weber made significant contributions to the understanding of how capitalism developed in Western countries and its relationship to religious beliefs. His work on formal rationality and bureaucracy continues to influence sociologists’ study of modern society.

Weber and Marx

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15The Development of Sociological Thinking

need to speak to a company representative, however, we may be shuttled through endless repetitions of an automated response system that never seems to offer us the option of speaking with another human being. Today, Weber’s presciently predicted irrationality of rationality is alive and well.

EARLY 20TH-CENTURY U.S. SOCIOLOGY Sociology was born in Europe, but it took firm root in U.S. soil, where it was heavily influenced by turn-of-the-century industrialization and urbanization, as well as by racial strife and discrimination. Strikes by organized labor, corruption in government, an explosion of European immigration, racial seg- regation, and the growth of city slums all helped mold early sociological thought in the United States. By the late 1800s, a number of universities in the United States were offering soci- ology courses. The first faculties of sociology were established at the University of Kansas (1889), the University of Chicago (1892), and Atlanta University (1897).

ROBERT EZRA PARK The sociology department at the University of Chicago, which gave us what is often known as the “Chicago School” of sociology, dominated the new discipline in the United States at the start of the 20th century. Chicago soci- ologist Robert Ezra Park (1864–1944) pioneered the study of urban sociology and race relations. Once a muckraking journal- ist, Park was an equally colorful academic, reportedly coming to class in disheveled clothes and with shaving soap still in his ears. But his students were devoted to him, and his work was widely recognized. His 1921 textbook An Introduction to the Science of Sociology, coauthored with his Chicago colleague Ernest Burgess, helped shape the discipline. The Chicago School studied a broad spectrum of social phenomena, from hoboes and flophouses (inexpensive dormitory-style housing) to movie houses, dance halls, and slums, and from youth gangs and mobs to residents of Chicago’s ritzy Gold Coast.

Park was a champion of racial integration, having once served as personal secretary to the African American educator Booker T. Washington. Yet racial discrimination was evident in the treatment of Black sociologists, including W. E. B. Du Bois, a contemporary of many of the sociologists working in the Chicago School.

W. E. B. DU BOIS A prominent Black sociologist and civil rights leader at the African American Atlanta University, W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) developed ideas that were considered too radical to find broad acceptance in the sociological community. At a time when the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that segre- gated “separate but equal” facilities for Blacks and Whites were

constitutional and when lynching of Black Americans had reached an all-time high, Du Bois condemned the deep-seated racism of White society. Today, his writings on race relations and the lives of U.S. Blacks are classics in the field.

Du Bois sought to show that racism was widespread in U.S. society. He was also critical of Blacks who had “made it” and then turned their backs on those who had not. One of his most endur- ing ideas is that in U.S. society, African Americans are never able to escape a fundamental awareness of race. They experience a dou- ble consciousness, as he called it—an awareness of themselves both as Americans and as Blacks, never free of racial stigma. He wrote, “The Negro is sort of a seventh son . . . gifted with second- sight . . . this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others” (Du Bois, 1903/2008, p. 12). Today as in Du Bois’s time, physical traits such as skin color may shape people’s perceptions and interactions in significant and complex ways.

THE MID-20TH CENTURY IN U.S. SOCIOLOGY After World War II, sociology began to apply sophisticated quan- titative models to the study of social processes. There was also a

W. E. B. Du Bois, the first African American to receive a PhD from Harvard, wrote 20 books and more than 100 scholarly articles on race and race relations. Today many of his works are classics in the study of African American lives and race relations in the United States.

Double consciousness: Among African Americans, an awareness of being both American and Black, never free of racial stigma.

Tuskegee Airmen & Double Consciousness

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growing interest in the grand theories of the European founders. At Columbia University, Robert K. Merton (1910–2003) under- took wide-ranging studies that helped further establish sociology as a scientific discipline. Merton is best known for his theory of deviance (Merton, 1938), his work on the sociology of science (Merton, 1996), and his iteration of the distinction between manifest and latent functions (Merton, 1968). He emphasized the development of theories in what he called the “middle range”—midway between the grand theories of Weber, Marx, and Durkheim and quantitative studies of specific social problems.

Another Columbia University sociologist, C. Wright Mills (1916–1962), renewed interest in Max Weber by translating many of his works into English and applying his ideas to the contemporary United States. But Mills, who also drew on Marx, identified himself as a “plain Marxist.” His concept of the sociological imagination can be traced in part to Marx’s famous statement that “man makes history, but not under circumstances of his own choosing,” mean- ing that while we are agents of free will, the social context has a profound impact on the obstacles or opportunities in our lives.

Mills synthesized Weberian and Marxian traditions, applying sociological thinking to the most pressing problems of the day, particularly inequality. He advocated an activist sociology with a sense of social responsibility. Like many sociologists, he was

willing to turn a critical eye on “common knowledge,” including the belief that the United States is a democracy that represents the interests of all the people. In a provocative study, he exam- ined the workings of the “power elite,” a small group of wealthy businessmen, military leaders, and politicians who Mills believed ran the country largely in their own interests (Mills, 1956/2000a).

WHY SO FEW FOUNDING MOTHERS? Why did so few women social scientists find a place among sociology’s founders? After all, the American (1776) and French (1789) revolutions elevated such lofty ideals as freedom, liberty, and equality. Yet long after these historical events, women and minorities were still excluded from public life in Europe and North America. Democracy—which gives people the right to participate in their governance—was firmly established as a principle for nearly a century and a half in the United States before women achieved the right to vote in 1920. In France, it took even longer—until 1945.

Sociology as a discipline emerged during the first modern flourishing of feminism in the 19th century. Yet women and peo- ple of non-European heritage were systematically excluded from influential positions in the European universities where sociology and other modern social sciences originated. When women did pursue lives as scholars, the men who dominated the social sci- ences largely ignored their writings. Feminist scholar Julie Daubié won a prize from the Lyon Academy for her essay “Poor Women in the Nineteenth Century,” yet France’s public education minister denied her a diploma on the grounds that he would be “forever holding up his ministry to ridicule” (Kandal, 1988, pp. 57–58). Between 1840 and 1960, almost no women held senior academic positions in the sociology departments of any European or U.S. universities, with the exception of exclusively women’s colleges.

A number of woman scholars managed to overcome the obstacles to make significant contributions to sociological inquiry. For example, in 1792 the British scholar Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Women, arguing that scientific progress could not occur unless women were allowed to become men’s equals by means of universal education. In France in 1843, Flora Tristan called for equal rights for women workers, “the last remaining slaves in France.” Also in France, Aline Valette published Socialism and Sexualism in 1893, nearly three-quarters of a century before the term sexism found its way into spoken English (Kandal, 1988).

One of sociology’s most prominent early figures, Jane Addams (1860–1935), never won a full-time position at the University of Chicago in spite of the school’s “progressive” lean- ings. The University of Chicago even denied her an honorary degree—though she wrote 11 books and hundreds of articles and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 for her dedica- tion to social reform.

Addams is best known as the founder of Hull House, a settle- ment house for the poor, sick, and aged that became a center for political activists and social reformers. Less well known is the

The “sociological imagination” involves viewing seemingly personal issues through a sociological lens. C. Wright Mills is best known for coining this catchy and popular term.

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17Sociology: One Way of Looking at the World—or Many?

fact that under Addams’s guidance, the residents of Hull House engaged in important research on social problems in Chicago. Hull House Maps and Papers, published in 1895, pioneered the study of Chicago neighborhoods, helping to shape the research direction of the Chicago School of sociology. Following Addams’s lead, Chicago sociologists mapped the city’s neighborhoods, studied their resi- dents, and helped create the field of community studies.

As sociologists like Harriet Martineau, Jane Addams, Julie Daubié, and others experienced, early female sociologists were not accorded the same status as their male counterparts. Only recently have many of their writings been “rediscovered” and their contributions acknowledged in sociology.

SOCIOLOGY: ONE WAY OF LOOK- ING AT THE WORLD—OR MANY? Often, multiple sociologists look at the same events, phenomena, or institutions and draw different conclusions. How can this be? One reason is that they may approach their analyses from different theoretical perspectives. In this section, we explore the key theoretical paradigms in sociology and look at how they are used as tools for the analysis of society.

Sociological theories are logical, rigorous frameworks for the interpretation of social life that make particular assump- tions and ask particular questions about the social world. The word theory is rooted in the Greek word theoria, which means “a viewing.” An apt metaphor for a theory is a pair of glasses. You can view a social phenomenon such as socioeconomic inequal- ity or poverty, deviance, or consumer culture, or an institution like capitalism or the family, using different theories as lenses.

As you will see in the next section, in the discipline of sociology there are several major categories of theories that seek to exam- ine and explain social phenomena and institutions. Imagine the various sociological theories as different pairs of glasses, each with colored lenses that change the way you see an image: You may look at the same institution or phenomenon as you put on each pair, but it will appear different depending on the glasses you are wear- ing. Keep in mind that sociological theories are not “truths” about the social world. They are logical, rigorous analytical tools that we can use to inquire about, interpret, and make educated predictions about the world around us. From the vantage point of any socio- logical theory, some aspects of a phenomenon or an institution are illuminated while others are obscured. In the end, theories are more or less useful depending on how well empirical data—that is, knowledge gathered by researchers through scientific methods— support their analytical conclusions. Below, we outline the basic theoretical perspectives that we will be using in this text.

The three dominant theoretical perspectives in sociology are structural functionalism, social conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. We outline their basic characteristics below and will revisit them again throughout the book. Symbolic interactionism shares with the functionalist and social con- flict paradigms an interest in interpreting and understanding social life. However, the first two are macro-level paradigms, concerned with large-scale patterns and institutions. Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level paradigm—that is, it is con- cerned with small-group social relations and interactions.

Structural functionalism, social conflict theory, and sym- bolic interactionism form the basic foundation of contempo- rary sociological theorizing (Table 1.1). Throughout this book we will introduce variations on these theories, as well as new and evolving theoretical ideas in sociology.

THE FUNCTIONALIST PARADIGM Structural functionalism (or functionalism—the term we use in this book) seeks to explain social organization and change in

Underappreciated during her time, Jane Addams was a prominent scholar and early contributor to sociology. She is also known for her political activism and commitment to social reform.

Sociological theories: Logical, rigorous frameworks for the interpretation of social life that make particular assumptions and ask particular questions about the social world.

Macro-level paradigms: Theories of the social world that are concerned with large-scale patterns and institutions.

Micro-level paradigm: A theory of the social world that is concerned with small-group social relations and interactions.

Structural functionalism: A theory that seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of the roles performed by different social structures, phenomena, and institutions; also known as functionalism.

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terms of the roles performed by different social structures, phe- nomena, and institutions. Functionalism characterizes society as made up of many interdependent parts—an analogy often cited is the human body. Each part serves a different function, but all parts work together to ensure the equilibrium and health of the entity as a whole. Society too is composed of a spectrum of different parts with a variety of different functions, such as the government, the family, religious and educational institutions, and the media. According to the theory, together these parts contribute to the smooth functioning and equilibrium of society.

The key question posed by the functionalist perspective is, “What function does a particular institution, phenomenon, or social group serve for the maintenance of society?” That is, what contribution does a given institution, phenomenon, or social group make to the equilibrium, stability, and functioning of the whole? Note the underlying assumption of functional- ism: Any existing institution or phenomenon does serve a func- tion; if it served no function, it would evolve out of existence. Consequently, the central task of the functionalist sociologist is to discover what function an institution or a phenomenon—for instance, the traditional family, capitalism, social stratification, or deviance—serves in the maintenance of the social order.

Émile Durkheim is credited with developing the early founda- tions of functionalism. Among other ideas, Durkheim observed that all known societies have some degree of deviant behavior, such as crime. The notion that deviance is functional for societies may seem counterintuitive: Ordinarily, we do not think of devi- ance as beneficial or necessary to society. Durkheim, however, reasoned that since deviance is universal, it must serve a social function—if it did not serve a function, it would cease to exist. Durkheim concluded that one function of deviance—specifi- cally, of society’s labeling of some acts as deviant—is to remind members of society what is “normal” or “moral”; when a society punishes deviant behavior, it reaffirms people’s beliefs in what is right and good.

Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) expanded functionalist analysis by looking at whole social systems such as government, the econ- omy, and the family and how they contribute to the functioning of the whole social system (Parsons, 1964/2007, 1967). For example, he wrote that traditional sex roles for men and women contribute to stability on both the micro familial level and the macro soci- etal level. Parsons argued that traditional socialization produces instrumental or rational and work-oriented males, and expres- sive or sensitive, nurturing, and emotional females. Instrumental males, he reasoned, are well suited for the competitive world of work, while their expressive female counterparts are appropriately prepared to care for the family. According to Parsons, these roles are complementary and positively functional, leading men and women to inhabit different spheres of the social world. Complementary rather than competing roles contribute to solidarity in a marriage by reducing competition between husband and wife. Critics have rejected this idea as a justification of inequality.

As this example suggests, functionalism is conservative in that it tends to accept rather than question the status quo; it holds that any given institution or phenomenon exists because it is func- tional for society, rather than asking whether it might benefit one group to the detriment of others, as critics say Parsons’s position on gender roles does. One of functionalism’s long-standing weak- nesses is a failure to recognize inequalities in the distribution of power and resources and how those affect social relationships.

Robert Merton attempted to refine the functionalist para- digm by demonstrating that not all social structures work to maintain or strengthen the social organism, as Durkheim and other early functionalists seemed to suggest. According to Merton, a social institution or phenomenon can have both posi- tive functions and problematic dysfunctions. Merton broadened the functionalist idea by suggesting that manifest functions

TABLE 1.1 The Three Principal Sociological Paradigms

Theoretical Perspective and Founding Theorist(s)

Structural Functionalism Émile Durkheim

Social Conflict Karl Marx

Symbolic Interactionism Max Weber, George Herbert

Mead

Assumptions about self and society

Society is a system of interdependent, interrelated parts, like an organism, with groups and institutions contributing to the stability and equilibrium of the whole social system.

Society consists of conflicting interests, but only some groups have the power and resources to realize their interests. Some groups benefit from the social order at the expense of other groups.

The self is a social creation; social interaction occurs by means of symbols such as words, gestures, and adornments; shared meanings are important to successful social interactions.

Key focus and questions Macrosociology: What keeps society operating smoothly? What functions do different societal institutions and phenomena serve for society as a whole?

Macrosociology: What are the sources of conflict in society? Who benefits and who loses from the existing social order? How can inequalities be overcome?

Microsociology: How do individuals experience themselves, one another, and society as a whole? How do they interpret the meanings of particular social interactions?

Manifest functions: Functions of an object, an institution, or a phenomenon that are obvious and intended.

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19Sociology: One Way of Looking at the World—or Many?

are the obvious and intended functions of a given phenomenon or institution. Latent functions, by contrast, are functions that are not recognized or expected. A manifest function of war, for instance, is usually to vanquish an enemy, perhaps to defend a territory or to claim it. Latent functions of war—those that are not the overt purpose but may still have powerful effects—may include increased patriotism in countries engaged in the war, a rise in the profits of companies manufacturing military equip- ment or contracting workers to the military, and changes in national budgetary priorities.

THE SOCIAL CONFLICT PARADIGM In contrast to functionalism, the social conflict paradigm (which we refer to in this book as conflict theory) seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of the conflict built into social relationships. Conflict theory is rooted in the ideas about class and power put forth by Karl Marx. While Durkheim’s structural

functionalist lens asked how different parts of society contrib- ute to stability, Marx asked about the roots of conflict. Conflict theorists pose the questions “Who benefits from the way social institutions and relationships are structured?” and “Who loses?” The social conflict paradigm focuses on what divides people rather than on what unites them. It presumes that group interests (such as social class interests) drive relationships, and that various groups in society (for instance, social classes or genders or ethnic or racial groups) will act in their own interests. Conflict theory thus assumes not that interests are shared but rather that they may be irreconcilable and, importantly, that only some groups have the power and resources to realize their interests. Because of this, conflict is—sooner or later—inevitable.

From Marx’s perspective, the bourgeoisie benefits directly from the capitalist social order. If, as Marx suggests, the capi- talist class has an interest in maximizing productivity and profit and minimizing costs (like the cost of labor in the form of workers’ wages), and the working class has an interest in earning more and working less, then the interests of the two classes are difficult to reconcile. The more powerful group in society generally has the upper hand in furthering its interests.

After Marx, the body of conflict theory expanded tremen- dously. In the 20th century and today, theorists have extended the reach of the perspective to consider, for instance, how control of culture and the rise of technology (rather than just control of

The manifest function of a vehicle is to transport a person efficiently from point A to point B. One latent function is to say something about the status of the driver.

Latent functions: Functions of an object, an institution, or a phenomenon that are not recognized or expected.

Social conflict paradigm: A theory that seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of the conflict that is built into social relations; also known as conflict theory.

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INEQUALITY MATTERS WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE POOR AND OTHERS RICH?

The concentration of wealth in

the hands of a small elite and the

widespread struggle of millions to

make do with scant resources are

critical issues on both the domestic

and global levels. One common

explanation of the wealth disparity

in the United States is that it results

from individual differences in talent

and ambition. While such factors play

a role, the fact that more than 15% of

the population lives below the poverty

line, including disproportionate

numbers of Blacks, Latinos, and

women (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor,

& Smith, 2012), should lead our

sociological imaginations to recognize

that social and economic forces also

underlie inequality.

Discrimination can place entire

groups of people at an economic

disadvantage. Women as a group

continue to earn less than men as

a group—as do Blacks and Latinos

relative to White Americans. Importantly

as well, educational opportunity is not

equally distributed, because in most U.S.

states schools are still funded primarily

by local property taxes; consequently,

high-value areas have more funds than

low-value areas to spend on teachers,

textbooks, and technology. Without

a strong educational foundation that

prepares them for a competitive

economy, already poor children are

likely to remain poor as adults.

Economic changes have also

spurred the growth of inequality.

Automation and the movement abroad

of factory work have significantly

reduced employment opportunities for

less educated workers. Service jobs,

including restaurant and retail work,

have expanded as the manufacturing

sector has contracted, but these

positions are far less likely to pay

a living wage or give workers a lift

into the middle class. Education is

thus more critical than ever, but poor

children are the least likely to get the

solid skills they need to succeed.

T HINK IT T HROUGH In his inaugural address of 2013,

President Obama stated that one of his goals in his second term as president was to see that a young girl born into poverty would know that she had every opportunity to realize her hopes. How are such opportunities created and expanded? What do you think?

Why are children of poor parents more likely to be poor as adults? This is a question of fun- damental interest to sociologists.

the means of production) underpins class domination (Adorno, 1975; Horkheimer, 1947), as well as how the expanded middle class can be accommodated in a Marxist perspective (Wright, 1998). Some of feminist theory’s key ideas also reflect a conflict- oriented perspective, though the focus shifts from social class to gender power and conflict (Connell, 2005), as well as ways in which race is implicated in relations of power (Collins, 1990).

Recall Durkheim’s functionalist analysis of crime and devi- ance. According to this perspective, society defines crime to reaffirm people’s beliefs about what is right and dissuade them from deviating. A conflict theorist might argue that dominant groups in society define the behaviors labeled criminal or deviant because they have the power to do so. For example, street crimes such as mugging someone to get his wallet and carjacking

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21Principal Themes in This Text

are clearly defined and punished as criminal behavior. They are also amply represented in reality television programs, movies, and other cultural products as images of criminal deviance. On the other hand, corporate or white-collar crime, which may cause the loss of money or even of lives, is less likely to be clearly defined, represented, and punished as criminal. From a conflict perspective, white-collar crime is more likely to be committed by members of the upper class (for instance, business or political leaders or financiers) and is less likely to be punished harshly than street crime, which is associated with the lower-income classes, though white-collar crime may have even greater eco- nomic and health consequences. A social conflict theorist would draw our attention to the fact that the decision makers who pass our laws are mostly members of the upper class and govern in the interests of capitalism and their own socioeconomic peers.

A key weakness of the social conflict paradigm is that it overlooks the forces of stability, equilibrium, and consensus in society. The assumption that groups have conflicting, even irreconcilable, interests and that those interests are realized by those with power at the expense of those with less power fails to account for forces of cohesion and stability in societies.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM Symbolic interactionism argues that both the individual self and society as a whole are the products of social interactions based on language and other symbols. The term symbolic interaction- ism was coined by U.S. sociologist Herbert Blumer (1900–1987) in 1937, but the approach originated in the lectures of George Herbert Mead (1863–1931), a University of Chicago philosopher allied with the Chicago School of sociology. The symbolic inter- actionist paradigm argues that people acquire their sense of who they are only through interaction with others. They do this by means of symbols, representations of things that are not imme- diately present to our senses. Symbols include such things as words, gestures, emoticons, and tattoos, among others.

Recall our earlier discussions of the theoretical interpretations of deviance and crime. A symbolic interactionist might focus on the ways in which people label one another as deviant (a symbolic act that uses language), the factors that make such a label stick, and the meanings underlying such a label. If you are accused of com- mitting a crime you did not commit, how will the label of “crimi- nal” affect the way others see you? How will it affect the way you see yourself, and will you begin to act differently as a result? Can being labeled “deviant” be a self-fulfilling prophecy? For the symbolic

interactionist, sociological inquiry is the study of how people inter- act and how they create and interpret symbols in the social world.

While symbolic interactionist perspectives draw our atten- tion to important micro-level processes in society, they may miss the larger structural context of those processes, such as discovering who has the power to make laws defining what or who is deviant. For this reason, many sociologists seek to utilize both macro- and micro-level perspectives when analyz- ing social phenomena such as deviance.

The three paradigms described above lead to diverse images of society, research questions, and conclusions about the patterns and nature of social life. Each “pair of glasses” can provide a different perspective on the social world. Throughout this text, the three major theoretical paradigms—and some new ones we will encounter in later chapters—will help us understand key issues and themes of sociology.

PRINCIPAL THEMES IN T HIS TEXT We began this chapter with a list of why questions with which sociologists are concerned—and about which any one of us might be curious. Behind these questions, we find several major themes, which are also some of the main themes in this book. Three important themes for sociology—and for us—are (1) power and inequality and the ways in which the unequal distribution of social, economic, and political power and resources shapes opportunities, obstacles, and relationships; (2) the societal changes occurring as a result of globalization and the rising social diversity of modern societies; and (3) the powerful impact of technological change on modern lives, institutions, and states.

POWER AND INEQUALITY As we consider broad social topics such as gender, race, social class, and sexual orientation and their effects on social relationships and resources, we will be asking who has power—the ability to mobilize resources and achieve goals despite the resistance of others—and who does not. We will also ask about variables that influence the uneven distribution of power, and how some groups use power to create advantages for themselves (and disadvantages for others) and how disad- vantaged groups mobilize to challenge the powerful.

Power is often distributed unequally and can be used by those who possess it to marginalize other social groups. Inequality refers to differences in wealth, power, opportunity, and other val- ued resources. The existence of inequality not only raises moral and ethical questions about fairness; it can tear at the very fabric of societies, fostering social alienation and instability. It may also have negative effects on local and national economies. Notably, economic inequality is increasing both within and between many countries around the globe, a fact that makes understanding the

Symbolic interactionism: A microsociological perspective that posits that both the individual self and society as a whole are the products of social interactions based on language and other symbols.

Symbols: Representations of things that are not immediately present to our senses.

Power: The ability to mobilize resources and achieve goals despite the resistance of others.

Inequality: Differences in wealth, power, and other valued resources.

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22 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

roots and consequences of this phenomenon—that is, asking the why questions—ever more important.

GLOBALIZATION AND DIVERSITY Globalization is the process by which people all over the planet become increasingly interconnected economically, politically, culturally, and environmentally. Globalization is not new. It began nearly 200,000 years ago when humans first spread from their African cradle into Europe and Asia. For thousands of years, humans have traveled, traded goods, and exchanged ideas over much of the globe, using seaways or land routes such as the famed Silk Road, a stretch of land that links China and Europe. But the rate of globalization took a giant leap forward with the Industrial Revolution, which accelerated the growth of global trade. It made another dramatic jump with the advent of the information age, drawing together indi- viduals, cultures, and countries into a common global web of information exchange. In this book, we consider the variable manifestations, functions, and consequences of globalization in areas like the economy, culture, and the environment.

Growing contacts between people and cultures have made us increasingly aware of social diversity as a feature of modern societ- ies. Social diversity is the social and cultural mixture of different groups in society and the societal recognition of difference as sig- nificant. The spread of culture through the globalization of media and the rise of migration has created a world in which virtually no place is isolated. As a result, many nations today, including the United States, are characterized by a high degree of social diversity.

Social diversity brings a unique set of sociological chal- lenges. People everywhere have a tendency toward ethnocen- trism, a worldview whereby they judge other cultures by the standards of their own culture and regard their own way of life as “normal” and better than others. From a sociological perspective, no group can be said to be more human than any other. Yet history abounds with examples of people lashing out at others whose religions, languages, customs, races, or sexual orientations differed from their own.

TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY Technology is the practical application of knowledge to transform natural resources for human use. The first human technology was probably the use of rocks and other blunt instru- ments as weapons, enabling humans to hunt large animals for food. Agriculture—planting crops such as rice or corn in hopes of reaping a yearly harvest—represents another technological advance, one superior to simple foraging in the wild for nuts and berries. The use of modern machinery, which ushered in the Industrial Revolution, represents still another technologi- cal leap, multiplying the productivity of human efforts.

Today we are in the midst of another revolutionary period of technological change: the information revolution. Thanks to the microchip, the Internet, and mobile technology, an increas- ing number of people around the world now have instant access to a mass of information that was unimaginable just 10 or 20

years ago. The information revolution is creating postindus- trial economies based far more heavily on the production of knowledge than on the production of goods, as well as new ways of communicating that have the potential to draw people around the world together—or tear them apart.

WHY STUDY SOCIOLOGY? A sociological perspective highlights the many ways that we both influence and are powerfully influenced by the social world around us: Society shapes us, and we, in turn, shape society. A sociological perspective also helps us to see the social world through a variety of different lenses (recall the glasses metaphor we used when talking about theory): Sociologists might explain class differences and why they per- sist, for instance, in many different ways. Each one may illu- minate particular aspects of the phenomenon, enabling us to assemble a fuller, more rigorous perspective on social life. In this sense, “the” sociological perspective is really a collection of sociological perspectives we can use as analytical tools.

Why are the issues and questions posed by sociology incred- ibly compelling for all of us to understand? One reason is that, as we will see throughout this book, many of the social issues sociologists study—marriage, fertility, poverty, unemploy- ment, consumption, discrimination, and many others—are related to one another in ways we may not immediately see. The sociological perspective helps us to make connections between diverse social phenomena. When we understand these connec- tions, we are better able to address social problems and to make (or vote for) policy choices that benefit society.

For example, a phenomenon like the decline of marriage among the working class, which we mentioned at the start of the chapter, is related to growing globalization, declining employment in the manufacturing sector, and the persistently high rate of pov- erty among single mothers. Consider these social phenomena as pieces of a puzzle. One of the defining characteristics of economic globalization is the movement of manufacturing industries away from the United States to lower-wage countries. As a result, jobs in U.S. manufacturing, an economic sector dominated by men, have been declining since the 1970s. The decreasing number of less edu- cated men able to earn a good enough wage to support a family in turn is related to a decline in marriage among the working class.

Globalization: The process by which people all over the planet become increasingly interconnected economically, politically, culturally, and environmentally.

Social diversity: The social and cultural mixture of different groups in society and the societal recognition of difference as significant.

Ethnocentrism: A worldview whereby one judges other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture and regards one’s own way of life as “normal” and better than others.

Technology: The practical application of knowledge to transform natural resources for human use.

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23Why Study Sociology?

GLOBAL ISSUES YOU, THE GLOBAL CONSUMER

Try a simple experiment. Walk through

your dorm room, apartment, or house

and make a list of the places of

manufacture of some of the products

you find. Be sure to examine electronic

equipment such as your television,

laptop, or smartphone. Go through

your closets and drawers, checking the

labels on your clothing and footwear.

What about your bicycle or your car?

If you are a good detective, you will

find that people who live outside

the United States made many of the

necessities of your everyday life. Even

your U.S.-manufactured car is likely to

have parts that have passed through

the hands of workers abroad.

According to a recent story in the

New York Times, fully 90% of footwear

sold in the United States is manufactured

elsewhere (Manning, 2009). So much

of our apparel is made abroad that

some student groups have campaigned

to ensure that the college apparel

marketed by their schools is not made

in sweatshops. United Students Against

Sweatshops (www.usas.org) now has

chapters across the United States.

While global production based on the

use of low-wage labor around the world

has reduced the prices of many things

we consume, it has also contributed

to declining wages and lost jobs for

manufacturing workers in the United

States, as well as the employment of

millions of people around the world in

factories that are poorly regulated and

operate largely outside the view of the

consumers who buy their products. On

one hand, these new industrial workers

potentially benefit from expanded job

opportunities. On the other hand, the

world’s workers, many of whom are

women, are vulnerable to exploitation

and their wages are often very low,

their hours long, and their work sites

unpleasant or even hazardous. The

conditions under which some workers

toil today recall the 19th-century English

factories that inspired Karl Marx to

advance his powerful critique of

capitalism’s darker side.

T HINK IT T HROUGH Many questions remain for

sociological investigation: Who benefits and who loses as a result of the explosive growth in global production? Will globalization bring a better world to all or to only a select few? What is our role as consumers in the global chain of production, and how do our consumption choices affect industries and economies at home and abroad?

The expensive sneakers that many Americans enjoy wearing in and outside the gym are often made by poorly compensated female labor abroad. Do labor conditions mat- ter to U.S. consumers? Should they matter?

While marriage rates fall, however, many women still desire to have families, so the proportion of nonmarital births rises. Single mothers with children are among the demographic groups in the United States most likely to be poor, and their poverty rate has remained relatively high even in periods of economic prosperity.

While the relationships between sociological factors are complex and sometimes indirect, when sociology helps us fit them together, we gain a better picture of the issues confront- ing all of us—as well as U.S. society and the larger world. Let’s begin our journey.

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24 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY

THE EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF THE INTERNET

The Internet, which has revolutionized

the way the world shares information,

is barely four decades old. The first

Internet message was sent from the

University of California, Los Angeles, to

Stanford University in 1969 on a small,

experimental Department of Defense

network. The initial effort experienced a

glitch—the system reportedly crashed

as the letter G of the word LOGIN was

typed! Not until the mid-1980s was

Internet technology sufficiently developed

to make it possible for anyone with a

computer to plug into the network. Since

it was initially difficult to send anything

more than simple text-based messages,

the early Internet was used mainly by a

handful of researchers and scholars.

Part-time University of Illinois

programmer Marc Andreessen

developed the easy-to-use World Wide

Web, with its graphical interface and

ability to send sound and images,

in 1992. Andreessen called his new

program Mosaic and gave it away free

on the Internet. Within a year and a

half, the number of Internet users had

tripled to 20 million, and Mosaic had

morphed into the Netscape browser.

In 1998, Netscape spun off Mozilla,

a company that today maintains the

Firefox browser. In the summer of 2000,

there were 93 million Internet hosts

worldwide. By the summer of 2012

there were 908 million and counting,

along with about 200 million active

websites. In 2014 it was projected

that 44% of households worldwide

would have Internet access by the

end of that year, and there would be

almost 3 billion Internet users. The rate

of growth shows no signs of slowing

(International Telecommunication

Union, 2011, 2014; Internet Systems

Consortium, 2012; Netcraft, 2012).

A recent study by the Pew Research

Center’s Internet and American Life

Project estimated that 90% of U.S.

adults own some type of portable

electronic device (Gahran, 2012). As

you pass through a public space such

as an airport or a mall or ride on public

transportation in a metropolitan area,

you see people engaging in a multitude

of behaviors and activities facilitated by

the growth of high-tech gadgetry. Social

media platforms like YouTube, Facebook,

Twitter, SnapChat, and Tumblr allow

individuals across the globe to post

videos and other media to share within

the Internet community of millions.

T HINK IT T HROUGH Will such widely accessible and

vastly powerful technology enable people to play a greater role in shaping their own destinies? Will digital technology be emancipating, or will it come to threaten our privacy and security in ways we cannot yet grasp?

Today’s digital age has given us Internet access virtually everywhere, whether we are 35,000 feet in the sky, traveling on a bus, or waiting for class to begin.

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25What Can I Do With a Sociology Degree?

WHAT CAN I DO WITH A SOCIOLOGY DEGREE?

U nderstanding

Social

C hange P

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Critical Thinking

Understanding Diversity

Q ualitative

Research

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Understanding

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND SKILLS AND CAREERS: AN INTRODUCTION

A short feature will appear near the end of each chapter

of Discover Sociology that links your study of sociology to

potential careers. It is intended to help you answer the question

“What can I do with a sociology degree?” An important

goal of these features is to highlight the core knowledge

and professional skills that you will develop through your

education as a sociology major. This set of competencies

and skills, which range from critical thinking and writing skills

to aptitude in qualitative and quantitative research to the

understanding of diversity and conflict dynamics, prepares

you for the workforce, as well as for graduate and professional

school. Many of the chapters ahead will highlight information

about the occupational fields, job titles, and work activities

that can be linked to the knowledge and skills you will learn

as a sociology major. The Skills and Careers essays (Chapters

5–11 and 14–17) will describe professional skills, discuss their

development through the study of sociology, and link them with

specific occupational fields and jobs in which employers seek

employees who have the skills discussed.

A second goal of the feature is to help you more fully

identify and articulate your current and developing job-

related skills, interests, and values, as well as to show you

how to begin to explore careers, how to perform an effective

internship or job search, and how to create a personal

career action plan (see the career development wheel).

These Career Development features are intended to benefit

both sociology majors and students majoring in other

disciplines—career planning is important no matter your

chosen field. The first chapter essays (Chapters 2–4) discuss

the basics of career development. Two later chapters

(Chapters 12 and 13) offer discussions of how graduate or

professional school may fit into your career development

plans. We hope that you find these features useful!

T HINK ABOUT CAREERS What are your potential career interests? Did you come

to college with a specific interest, or have you developed new interests during your studies?

Have you spoken with anyone—family members, career counselors, professors, practitioners, or others—about your career interests? With whom might you speak to learn more about your field of interest?

Anne V. Scammon, Managing Director, Curricular and Strategic Initiatives, Center for Career Services at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, contributed to the skills and careers feature (“What Can I Do with a Sociology Degree?”) in this text and accompanying online supplements. With Anne Scammon’s support, key skills developed through the study of sociology were identified and linked to specific job titles and occupations. She also developed information related to career self-assessment, exploration, obtaining experience, job search strategies, and graduate school options for students.

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26 Chapter 1: Discover Sociology

SUMMARY • Sociology is the scientific study of human social

relationships, groups, and societies. Its central task is to

ask what the dimensions of the social world are, how they

influence our behavior, and how we in turn shape and

change them.

• Sociology adheres to the principle of social embeddedness, the idea that economic, political, and other forms of human

behavior are fundamentally shaped by social relationships.

Sociologists seek to study through scientific means the

social worlds that human beings consciously create.

• The sociological imagination is the ability to grasp the relationship between our individual lives and the larger

social forces that help to shape them. It helps us see the

connections between our private lives and public issues.

• Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate claims about truth by using reason and evidence. Often we accept

things as true because they are familiar, seem to mesh

with our own experiences, and sound right. Critical

thinking instead asks us to recognize poor arguments,

reject statements not supported by evidence, and even

question our own assumptions.

• Sociology’s roots can be traced to the scientific revolution, the Enlightenment, industrialization and

the birth of modern capitalism, and the urbanization of

populations. Sociology emerged in part as a tool to enable

people to understand dramatic changes taking place in

modern societies.

• Sociology generally traces its classical roots to Auguste Comte, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. Early

work in sociology reflected the concerns of the men who

founded the discipline.

• In the United States, scholars at the University of Chicago focused on reforming social problems stemming from

industrialization and urbanization. Women and people of

color worked on the margins of the discipline because of

persistent discrimination.

• Sociologists base their study of the social world on different theoretical perspectives that shape theory and

guide research, often resulting in different conclusions. The

major sociological paradigms are structural functionalism,

the social conflict paradigm, and symbolic interactionism.

• Major themes in sociology include the distribution of power and growing inequality, globalization and its

accompanying social changes, the growth of social

diversity, and the way advances in technology have

changed communication, commerce, and communities.

• The early founders of sociology believed that scientific knowledge could lead to shared social progress. Some

modern sociologists question whether such shared

scientific understanding is indeed possible.

KEY TERMS scientific, 4

sociology, 5

social embeddedness, 5

sociological imagination, 5

agency, 7

structure, 7

critical thinking, 8

norms, 10

anomie, 10

social statics, 11

social dynamics, 11

positivist, 11

social facts, 12

social solidarity, 12

collective conscience, 13

class conflict, 13

proletariat, 13

bourgeoisie, 13

means of production, 13

Verstehen, 14

formal rationality, 14

bureaucracies, 14

double consciousness, 15

sociological theories, 17

macro-level paradigms, 17

micro-level paradigm, 17

structural functionalism, 17

manifest functions, 18

latent functions, 19

social conflict paradigm, 19

symbolic interactionism, 21

symbols, 21

power, 21

inequality, 21

globalization, 22

social diversity, 22

ethnocentrism, 22

technology, 22

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27Chapter Review

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Think about Mills’s concept of the sociological imagination

and its ambition to draw together what Mills called

private troubles and public issues. Think of a private

trouble that sociologists might classify as also being a

public issue. Share your example with your classmates.

2. What is critical thinking? What does it mean to be a

critical thinker in our approach to understanding society

and social issues or problems?

3. In the chapter, we asked why there were so few

“founding mothers” in sociology. What factors explain

the dearth of women’s voices? What about the lack of

minority voices? What effects do you think these factors

may have had on the development of the discipline?

4. What is theory? What is its function in the discipline of

sociology?

5. Recall the three key theoretical paradigms discussed in

this chapter—structural functionalism, conflict theory,

and symbolic interactionism. Discuss the ways these

diverse “glasses” analyze deviance, its labeling, and its

punishment in society. Try applying a similar analysis to

another social phenomenon, such as class inequality or

traditional gender roles.

Sharpen your skills with SAGE edge at edge.sagepub.com/chambliss2e

A personalized approach to help you accomplish your course work goals in an easy-to-use learning environment.

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28 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

DISCOVER SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH2

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WHAT DO YOU T HINK? 1. What kinds of research questions could one pose in

order to gain a better understanding of sociological

issues like bullying, long-term poverty, gang violence,

or the high dropout rate in some high schools? What

kinds of research methods would be appropriate for

studying these issues?

2. What factors do you think affect the honesty of

people’s responses to survey questions?

3. What makes a sociological research project ethical or

unethical?

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33 Research and the Scientific Method

39 Doing Sociological Research

45 Doing Sociology: A Student’s Guide to Research

47 Sociology and You: Why Learn to Do Sociological Research?

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30 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

T he United States imprisons more of its people than any other modern country on the planet.

About 3% of U.S. adults are in the correctional system: “2.2 million people in prisons and jails, and

an additional 4.8 million on probation or parole” (Goffman, 2014, p. xi). Data show that the climb in

the prison population began in the 1970s and rose steeply in the 1980s, with significant numbers of poor

men and women of color pulled into the criminal justice system, many for minor drug crimes and other

nonviolent offenses. The effects of this “prison boom” are not only individual; mass incarceration has also

had consequences for already struggling neighborhoods in urban America (see Figures 2.1a and 2.1b).

In On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City (2014), sociologist Alice Goffman writes that her work is an

on-the-ground account of the U.S. prison boom: a close-up look at young men and women living in one poor

and segregated Black community transformed by unprecedented levels of imprisonment and by the more

hidden systems of policing and supervision that have accompanied them. Because the fear of capture and

confinement has seeped into community members’ basic activities of daily living—work, family, romance,

friendship, and even much-needed medical care—it is an account of a community on the run (p. xii).

Goffman explores the norms and practices that govern life in a neighborhood ravaged by economic and

social marginality and the pervasive effects of the reality and threat of imprisonment. For example, in the

absence of opportunities for legitimate employment, she notes the birth of a shadow economy that caters

to the “fugitive life” she describes: Some wily entrepreneurs peddle “clean” urine to neighbors who are on

parole and subject to drug testing. Goffman’s work is significant because it carefully examines the effects of

the mass incarceration phenomenon on personal lives and relationships and the daily life of a community.

Goffman conducted research in the city of Philadelphia for six years, combining interviews with

individuals working in the criminal justice system, including police and prison guards, and regular

interactions with residents of her adopted neighborhood. She utilized participant and nonparticipant

RESEARCHING THE

CONSEQUENCES OF THE U.S.

PRISON BOOM

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31Sociology and Common Sense

observation in gathering information about the social

environment. Goffman’s work is a good example of

qualitative sociological research, and she recognizes its

potential significance to academic and policy debates.

Utilizing a scientific approach and rigorous field research,

Goffman is able to cast light on how neighborhoods

and their residents, whether or not they are involved in

criminal activity, understand and experience the powerful

consequences of mass imprisonment.

In this chapter, we examine the ways sociologists like Alice Goffman study the social world. First, we distinguish between sociological understanding and common sense. Then we dis- cuss the key steps in the research process itself. We examine how sociologists test their theories using a variety of research methods, and, finally, we consider the ethical implications of doing research on human subjects.

SOCIOLOGY AND COMMON SENSE Science is a unique way of seeing and investigating the world around us. The essence of the scientific method is straight- forward: It is a process of gathering empirical (scientific and specific) data, creating theories, and rigorously testing theo- ries. In sociological research, theories and empirical data exist in a dynamic relationship (Figure 2.2). Some research begins from general theories, which offer “big picture” ideas about social life: Deductive reasoning starts from broad theories but proceeds to break them down into more specific and testable hypotheses. Sociological hypotheses are ideas about the world that describe possible relationships between social phenomena. Some research begins from the ground up: Inductive reasoning

BUCKS COUNTY

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

PHILADELPHIA COUNTY

DELAWARE COUNTY

0 to 2.99%

Prison Admission Rate

3% to 5.99% 6% to 8.99%

Greater than 9%

FIGURE 2.1A Imprisonment Rates in Selected Philadelphia Neighborhoods, 2008

FIGURE 2.1B Percentage of Non-Whites in Selected Philadelphia Neighborhoods, 2008

BUCKS COUNTY

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

PHILADELPHIA COUNTY

DELAWARE COUNTY

0 to 24.9%

25% to 49.9%

50% to 74.9%

Greater than 75%

Percent Non-White or Hispanic

SOURCE: Based on data from the The Justice Mapping Center.

Scientific method: A way of learning about the world that combines logically constructed theory and systematic observation to provide explanations of how things work.

Deductive reasoning: The process of taking an existing theory and logically deducing that if the theory is accurate, we should discover other patterns of behavior consistent with it.

Hypotheses: Ideas about the world, derived from theories, that can be disproved when tested against observations.

Inductive reasoning: The process of generalizing to an entire category of phenomena from a particular set of observations.

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32 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

starts from specific data, such as interviews or field notes, which may focus on a single community or event, and endeav- ors to identify larger patterns from which to derive more general theories.

Sociologists employ the scientific method in both quantita- tive and qualitative research. Quantitative research, which is often done through methods such as large-scale surveys, gath- ers data that can be quantified and offers insight into broad patterns of social behavior (for example, the percentage of U.S. adults who use corporal punishment with their children) and social attitudes (for example, the percentage of U.S. adults who approve of corporal punishment) without necessarily delving into the meaning of or reasons for the identified phenom- ena. Qualitative research, such as that conducted by Alice Goffman, is characterized by data that cannot be quantified (or converted into numbers), focusing instead on generating in-depth knowledge of social life, institutions, and processes (for example, why parents in particular social groups are more or less likely to use spanking as a method of punishment). It relies on the gathering of data through methods such as focus groups, participant and nonparticipant observation, inter- views, and archival research. Generally, population samples in qualitative research are small because they focus on in-depth understanding.

Personal experience and common sense about the world are often fine starting points for sociological research. They can, however, mislead us. In the 14th century, common sense suggested to people that the earth was flat; after all, it looks flat. Today, influenced by stereotypes and media portrayals of criminal behaviors, many people believe Black high school and college students are more likely than their White counterparts to use illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, crack, and her- oin. But common sense misleads on both counts. The earth is not flat (as you know!), and Black high school and college stu- dents are slightly less likely than White students to use illegal drugs (Table 2.1).

Consider the following ideas, which many believe to be true, though all are false:

Common Wisdom:

I know women who earn more than their husbands or boyfriends. The gender wage gap is no longer an issue in the United States.

Sociological Research:

Data show that men as a group earn more than women as a group. For example, in the first quarter of 2014, men had a weekly median income of $872 compared to $722 for women for all full-time occupations (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014f). According to statistical data, women earn about 82% of what men earn. This statistic compares all men and all women who work full-time and year-round. Reasons for the gap include worker characteristics (such as experience and education), job characteristics (such as hours required), devaluation of “women’s work” by society, and pay discrimi- nation against female workers (Cabeza, Johnson, & Tyner, 2011; Reskin & Padavic, 2002). So while some women, of course, earn more than some men, the overall pattern of men outearning women remains in place today. This topic is dis- cussed in greater detail in Chapter 10.

Common Wisdom:

Homeless people are poor and lack adequate shelter because they do not work.

Sociological Research:

Some of the homeless cannot find work or are too disabled by mental or physical problems to work. Many, however, do

Quantitative research: Research that gathers data that can be quantified and offers insight into broad patterns of social behavior and social attitudes.

Qualitative research: Research that is characterized by data that cannot be quantified (or converted into numbers), focusing instead on generating in-depth knowledge of social life, institutions, and processes.

Research

Theory

FIGURE 2.2 The Relationship Between Theory and Research

Marijuana Cocaine Crack LSD Ecstasy

White 35.6 0.7 1.0 2.5 4.0

Black 35.0 0.6 0.9 0.8 1.1

Hispanic 39.2 1.5 1.7 1.7 4.5

TABLE 2.1 Annual Prevalence Rate of Drug Use by 12th Graders, 2013.

Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., Schulenberg, J. E. & Miech, R.A. (2014). Demographic subgroup trends among adolescents in the use of various licit and illicit drugs, 1975–2013. Monitoring the Future Occasional Paper No. 81. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.

Milgram’s Experiment Fallout from a contemporary experiment based on the Milgram study.

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33Research and the Scientific Method

work. Research suggests that about 44% of homeless adults work for pay (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009b), and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (2011) reports that 15% of the homeless are regularly employed full- or part-time. However, low wages and poor benefits in the service indus- try, where many less educated people work, as well as a shortage of adequate housing options for low-income fami- lies, can make finding permanent shelter a challenge even for those who work for pay. To understand how declining wages magnify the strain on low-income families, consider this: In many U.S. cities, to make ends meet, a household needs more than one full-time minimum-wage employee to afford the fair market rent price for a two-bedroom apart- ment (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2009). The contemporary reality is that wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation, which further adds to the economic hardships that low-income families endure. These topics are discussed in fuller detail in Chapter 7.

Common Wisdom:

Education is the great equalizer. All children in the United States have the opportunity to get a good education. Low academic achievement is a personal failure.

Sociological Research:

Public education is free and open to all in the United States, but the quality of education can vary dramatically. Consider the fact that in many U.S. states and localities,

a major source of public school funding is local prop- erty taxes, which constitute an average of about 44% of funding (state and federal allocations make up the rest). As such, communities with high property values have richer sources of funding from which to draw educa- tional resources, while poor communities—even those with high tax rates—have more limited pools. As well, high levels of racial segregation persist in U.S. schools. In fact, Latino and Black students are more likely to be in segregated schools today than were their counterparts in earlier decades. Research shows a relationship between academic performance and class and racial segregation: Students who are not isolated in poor, racially segregated schools perform better on a variety of academic measures than those who are (Condron, 2009; Logan, Minca, & Adar, 2012). The problem of low academic achievement is complex, and no single variable can explain it. At the same time, the magnitude and persistence of this prob- lem suggests that we are looking at a phenomenon that is a public issue rather than just a personal trouble. We discuss issues of class, race, and educational attainment further in Chapter 12.

Even deeply held and widely shared beliefs about society and social groups may be inaccurate—or more nuanced and complex than they appear on the surface. Until it is tested, common sense is merely conjecture. Careful research allows us to test our beliefs to gauge whether they are valid or merely anecdotal. From a sociological stand- point, empirical evidence is granted greater weight than common sense. By basing their decisions on scientific evi- dence rather than personal beliefs or common wisdom, researchers and students can draw informed conclusions and policy makers can ensure that policies and programs are data driven and maximally effective.

RESEARCH AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD Scientific theories answer questions about how and why sci- entific observations are as they are. A good scientific theory has the following characteristics:

• It is logically consistent. One part of the theory does not contradict another part.

• It can be disproved. If the findings contradict the the- ory, then we can deduce that the theory is wrong. While we can say that testing has failed to disprove the theory, however, we cannot assume the theory is “true” if test- ing confirms it. Theories are always subject to further testing, which may point to needed revisions, highlight limitations, or strengthen conclusions.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments distinguishes between the “permanently supported homeless,” who have hous- ing but are at risk due to extreme poverty and/or disability, and the “chronically homeless,” who are continually homeless for a year or more or at least four times in three years. Do you think that these categories fully encompass the homeless population?

Scientific theories: Explanations of how and why scientific observations are as they are.

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34 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

Theories are made up of concepts, ideas that summa- rize a set of phenomena. Concepts are the building blocks of research and prepare a solid foundation for sociological work. Some of the key concepts in sociology are social stratification, social class, power, inequality, and diversity, which we intro- duced in the opening chapter.

In order to gather data and create viable theories, we need to define concepts in ways that are precise and measurable. A study of social class, for example, would need to begin with a working definition of that term. An operational definition of a concept describes the concept in such a way that we can observe and measure it. Many sociologists define social class in terms of dimensions such as income, wealth, education, occupation, and consumption patterns. Each of these aspects of class has the potential to be measurable. We may construct operational defini- tions in terms of qualities or quantities (Babbie, 1998; Neuman, 2000). In terms of qualities, we might say, for instance, that the “upper-middle class” is composed of those who have completed graduate or professional degrees, even though there may be a broad income spread between those with master’s degrees in English and those with master’s degrees in business administra- tion. This definition is based on an assumption of class as a social position that derives from educational attainment. Alternatively, using quantity as a key measure, we might operationally define “upper class” as households with annual income greater than $150,000 and “lower class” as households with annual income of less than $20,000. This definition takes income as the pre- eminent determinant of class position, irrespective of education.

Consider a social issue of contemporary interest—bullying. Imagine that you want to conduct a research study of bullying to determine how many female middle schoolers have experi- enced bullying in the past academic year. You would need to begin with a clear definition of bullying that operationalizes the term. That is, in order to measure how many girls have experi- enced bullying, you would need to articulate what constitutes bullying. Would you include physical bullying? If so, how many instances of being pushed or punched would constitute bully- ing? Would you include cyberbullying? What kinds of behaviors would be included in that category? To study a phenomenon like bullying, it is not enough to assume that “we know it when we see it.” Empirical research relies on the careful and specific definition of terms and the recognition of how definitions and methods affect research outcomes.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VARIABLES In studying social relationships, sociologists also need vari- ables. A variable is a concept that can take on two or more possible values. For instance, sex can be male or female, work status can be employed or unemployed, and geographic loca- tion can be inner-city, suburbs, or rural area. We can measure variables both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative

variables include factors we can count, such as crime rates, unemployment rates, and drug use frequency. Qualitative variables are variables that express qualities and do not have numerical values. Qualitative variables might include physical characteristics, such as gender or eye color, or attitudinal char- acteristics, such as a parent’s preference for a private or public school or a commuter’s preference for riding public transporta- tion or driving to work.

Sociological research often tries to establish a relationship between two or more variables. Suppose you want to find out whether more education is associated with higher earnings. After asking people about their years of schooling and their annual incomes, both of which are quantitative variables, you could estimate the degree of correlation between the two. Correlation—literally, “co-relationship”—is the degree to which two or more variables are associated with one another. Correlating the two variables “years of education” and “annual income” demonstrates that the greater the education, the higher the income (Figure 2.3). (Do you see the exception to that relationship? How might you explain it?)

Concepts: Ideas that describe a number of things that have something in common.

Operational definition: A definition of a concept that allows the concept to be observed and measured.

Variable: A concept or its empirical measure that can take on multiple values.

Quantitative variables: Factors that can be counted.

Qualitative variables: Variables that express qualities and do not have numerical values.

Correlation: The degree to which two or more variables are associated with one another.

Some research on bullying relies on self-reports, while other data come from peer reports. Recent research (Branson & Cornell, 2009) suggests that more than twice as many students (11%) were labeled bullies in peer reports than in self-reports (5%), highlighting the fact that any method of data collection has limitations.

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35Research and the Scientific Method

When two variables are correlated, we are often tempted to infer a causal relationship, a relationship between two variables in which one is the cause of the other. However, just because two variables are correlated, we cannot assume that one causes the other. For example, ice cream sales rise significantly during the summer, as does the homicide rate. These two events are correlated in the sense that both increase during the hottest months. However, because the sharp rise in ice cream sales does not cause rates of homicide to increase (nor, clearly, does the rise in homicide rates cause a spike in ice cream consumption), these two phenomena do not have a causal relationship. Correlation does not equal causation.

Sometimes an observed correlation between two variables is the result of a spurious relationship—that is, a correlation between two or more variables caused by another factor that is not being measured. In the example above, the common factor missed in the relationship is, in fact, the temperature. When it’s hot, more people want to eat ice cream. Studies also show that rising temperatures are linked to an increase in violent crimes—though after a certain temperature threshold (about 90 degrees), crimes wane again (Gamble & Hess, 2012). Among the reasons more violent crimes are committed in hot weather is the fact that people spend more time outdoors in social interactions when it is hot, which can lead to confrontations.

Let’s take another example that is close to home: Imagine that your school newspaper publishes a study concluding that coffee drinking causes poor test grades. The story is based on a survey of students that found those who reported drinking a lot of coffee the night before an exam scored lower than did their peers who had consumed little or no coffee. Having studied sociology, you wonder whether this relationship might be spu- rious. What is the “something else” that is not being measured here? Could it be that students who did not study in the days and weeks prior to the test and stayed up late the night before cramming—probably consuming a lot of coffee as they fought sleep—received lower test grades than did peers who studied earlier and got adequate sleep the night before the test? The overlooked variable, then, is the amount of studying students did in the weeks preceding the exam, and we are likely to find a positive correlation and evidence of causation in looking at time spent studying and grade outcomes.

Sociologists attempt to develop theories systematically by offering clear operational definitions, collecting unbi- ased data, and identif ying evidence-based relationships bet ween variables. Sociological research methods usually yield credible and useful data, but we must always critically analyze the results to ensure their validity and reliabil- ity and to check that hypothesized relationships are not spurious.

TESTING THEORIES AND HYPOTHESES Once we have defined concepts and variables with which to work, we can endeavor to test a theory by positing a hypothesis. Hypotheses enable scientists to check the accuracy of their theories. For example, consider state-level data on obesity and poverty (Figures 2.4 and 2.5). Data from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2012 show that some positive correlation exists

Getting enough sleep is one factor that can help students maintain good grades in college. How would you design a research study to examine the question of which factors correlate most strongly with solid grades?

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

Less than high

school diploma

High school

diploma

Some college,

no degree

Associate’s degree

Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree

Professional degree

Doctoral degree

M e d

ia n

W e e k

ly E

a rn

in g

s in

D o

ll a rs

200

400

$1,329

$1,108

$727 $651

$472

$1,623

$777

$1,714

FIGURE 2.3 Correlation Between Education and Median Weekly Earnings in the United States, 2013

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2013). Education pays. Employment projections. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Causal relationship: A relationship between two variables in which one variable is the cause of the other.

Spurious relationship: A correlation between two or more variables that is actually the result of something else that is not being measured, rather than a causal link between the variables themselves.

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36 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

between obesity and poverty rates at the state level. A positive correlation is a relationship showing that as one variable rises or falls, the other does as well. The variables’ common trajectory suggests a possible relationship between poverty and obesity (Table 2.2), although, as we noted above, sociologists are quick to point out that correlation does not equal causation. Researchers are interested in creating and testing hypotheses to explain cases of positive correlation—they are also interested in explaining exceptions to the pattern of correlation between two (or more) variables.

In fact, researchers have explored and hypothesized the relationship between poverty and obesity. Among the con- clusions they have drawn is that living in poverty—and particularly living in poor neighborhoods—puts people at higher risk of obesity, though the risk is greater for women than for men (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012d; Hedwig, 2011; Smith, 2009). Among the factors that researchers have identified as contributing to a causal path between poverty and obesity are the lack of access to healthy food choices, the lack of access to safe and nearby spaces for physical exercise, and a deficit of time to cook healthy foods and exercise. They have also cited the stress induced by pov- erty. While the data cannot lead us to conclude decisively that poverty is a cause of obesity, research can help us to gather evidence that supports or refutes a hypothesis about the relationship between these two variables. We look at this issue in greater depth in Chapter 16.

In the case of a negative correlation, one variable increases as the other decreases. As we discuss later in Chapter 11, which focuses on the family and society, researchers have found a

negative correlation between male unemployment and rates of marriage. That is, as rates of male unemployment in a commu- nity rise, rates of marriage in the community fall. Observing this relationship, sociologists have conducted research to test explanations for it (Edin & Kefalas, 2005; Wilson, 2010).

Keep in mind that we can never prove theories to be deci- sively right—we can only prove them wrong. Proving a theory right would require the scientific testing of absolutely every possible hypothesis based on that theory—a fundamental impossibility. In fact, good theories are constructed in a way that makes it logically possible to prove them wrong. This is Karl Popper’s (1959) famous principle of falsification, or falsifiability, which holds that to be scientific, a theory must lead to testable hypotheses that can be disproved if they are wrong.

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY For theories and hypotheses to be testable, both the concepts used to construct them and the measurements used to test

UT CO

MS AL GA

KY VA MD DE

NM AZ

NE IA

MN WI

IL IN OH PA

30% – 35% 25% – <30% 20% – <25%

FIGURE 2.4 Self-Reported Obesity Rates by State, 2012

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control. (2011). Prevalence of self-reported obesity among U.S. adults. Behavior risk factor surveillance system. Washington, DC.

UT CO

MS AL GA

KY VA MD DE

NM AZ

NE IA

MN WI

IL IN OH PA

18.4%–23.8% 15.9%–18.3% 9.7%–15.8%

FIGURE 2.5 Poverty Rates by State, 2012

Negative correlation: A relation between two variables in which one increases as the other decreases.

Principle of falsification: The principle, advanced by philosopher Karl Popper, that a scientific theory must lead to testable hypotheses that can be disproved if they are wrong.

Falsifiability: The ability for a theory to be disproved; the logical possibility for a theory to be tested and proved false.

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, “American FactFinder,” 2010 American Com- munity Survey.

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37Research and the Scientific Method

them must be accurate. When our observations adequately reflect the real world, our findings have validity—that is, the concepts and measurements accurately represent what they claim to represent. For example, suppose you want to know whether the crime rate in the United States has gone up or down. For years sociologists depended on police reports to measure crime. However, researchers could assess the validity of these tallies only if subsequent surveys were administered nationally to victims of crime. If the victim tallies matched those of the police reports, then researchers could say the police reports were a valid measure of crime in the United States. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) enables researchers to assess validity because it offers data on victimization, even for crimes that have not been reported to authorities.

Sociologists are also concerned with the reliability of their findings. Reliability is the extent to which the findings are consistent with the findings of different studies of the same phenomenon, or with the findings of the same study over time. Sociological research may suffer from problems of validity and reliability because of bias, a characteristic of results that systematically misrepresent the full dimen- sions of what is being studied. Bias can creep into research due to the use of inappropriate measurement instruments. For example, suppose the administrator of a city wants to know whether homelessness has risen in recent years. She operationally defines “the homeless” as those who sleep in the street or in shelters and dispatches her team of researchers to city shelters to count the number of people occupying shelter beds or sleeping on street corners or park benches. A soci- ologist reviewing the research team’s results might question the administrator’s operational definition of what it means to be homeless and, by extension, her findings. Are the home- less solely those spending nights in shelters or on the streets? What about those who stay with friends after eviction or camp out in their cars? In this instance, a sociologist might suggest that the city’s measure is biased because it misrepresents (and undercounts) the homeless population by failing to define the concept in a way that captures the broad manifestations of homelessness.

Bias can also occur in research when respondents do not tell the truth (see Table 2.3). A good example of this is a study in which respondents were asked whether they used illegal drugs or had driven while impaired. All were asked the same questions, but some were wired to a machine they were told was a lie detector. The subjects who thought their truthfulness was being monitored by a lie detector reported higher rates of illegal drug use than did subjects who did not. Based on the assumption that actual drug use would be about the same for both groups, the researchers concluded that the subjects who were not connected to the device were underreporting their actual illegal drug use and that simply asking people about drug use would lead to biased findings because respondents would not tell the truth. Do you think truthfulness of respon- dents is a general problem, or is it one researchers are likely to encounter only where sensitive issues such as drug use or racism are at issue?

OBJECTIVITY IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Even if sociologists develop theories based on good operational definitions and collect valid and reliable data, like all human beings they have passions and biases that may color their research. For example, criminologists long ignored the crimi- nality of women because they assumed that women were not disposed toward criminal behavior. Researchers therefore did not have an accurate picture of women and crime until this bias was recognized and rectified.

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau. (2013). Poverty: 2000 to 2012, American Com- munity Survey Briefs; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Prev- alence of self-reported obesity among U.S. adults, 2012.

State Percentage

Obese State Percentage in Poverty

Louisiana 34.7 Mississippi 24.2

Mississippi 34.6 New Mexico 20.8

Arkansas 34.5 Louisiana 19.9

West Virginia 33.8 Arkansas 19.8

Alabama 33.0 Kentucky 19.4

Oklahoma 32.2 Georgia 19.2

South Carolina

31.6 Alabama 19.0

Indiana 31.4 Arizona 18.7

Kentucky 31.3 South Carolina

18.3

Michigan and Tennessee (tie)

31.1 North Carolina

18.0

TABLE 2.2 Top 10 States: Obesity and Poverty, 2012

Validity: The degree to which concepts and their measurements accurately represent what they claim to represent.

Reliability: The extent to which researchers’ findings are consistent with the findings of different studies of the same thing, or with the findings of the same study over time.

Bias: A characteristic of results that systematically misrepresent the true nature of what is being studied.

Steven Colbert on Validity Research

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38 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

INEQUALITY MATTERS HOW MANY PEOPLE SUFFER FROM HOMELESSNESS?

Homelessness is a social problem in

the United States. But how extensive

is it? The National Law Center on

Homelessness and Poverty (2012)

estimates that more than 3 million

people experience homelessness

over the course of a year across the

United States. Of these, 1.3 million

are children; more than one-third

of the entire homeless population

is made up of families. While the

majority of the homeless have access

to transitional housing or emergency

shelters, approximately 4 out of 10

are unsheltered, living in improvised

conditions that are not suited for

human habitation. Despite a decrease

in the homeless population nationally,

the rates for 24 individual states and

the District of Columbia increased

between 2009 and 2011 (National

Alliance to End Homelessness, 2012).

Statistics vary, however, depending

on the definitions and counting

methodologies employed. In the

early 1980s, the U.S. government was

under pressure to provide services

and assistance to a population of

homeless that some claimed was

large and growing. In response, the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) conducted a study

to determine the number of homeless

people in cities and towns across the

country. After analyzing all existing

studies, government researchers

called providers of services to the

homeless and other experts in 60

cities and asked them to estimate the

numbers of homeless people in their

communities.

Based on this

research, the

government

concluded there

were 250,000

to 350,000

homeless people

in the United

States. This figure

was considerably

lower than the

estimate of

2 million that

came from other

sources outside

the government

(Burt, 1992).

Politicians used the HUD

figures extensively, although

some sociologists were skeptical

(Appelbaum, 1986; Appelbaum,

Dolny, Dreier, & Gilderbloom, 1991).

First, HUD’s operational definition of

homelessness included only people

sleeping on the streets and in shelters;

it effectively excluded homeless

people living in cars or abandoned

buildings or taking temporary shelter

with friends. Second, HUD based its

figures on the estimates of shelter

providers, police officers, and other

local experts who admitted they were

often only guessing. Finally, the HUD

figures were based almost entirely

on estimates of the homeless in

the downtown areas of big cities, a

methodological bias that excluded the

numerous homeless people who lived

in surrounding towns and suburbs.

As a result of these problems, HUD’s

estimate of the national homeless

population lacked validity.

T HINK IT T HROUGH Subsequent research has confirmed

that by the early 1990s there were as many as 1 million homeless in the United States—three to four times the estimate produced by the government study. An axiom of sociological research is that it is not what you think you know that matters, but how you came to know it. The homeless represent a transient population that is challenging to count. The homeless have no fixed addresses, no consistent billing statements, and no easy way for researchers to locate them. What methods might you employ to attempt to systematically count the homeless people in your community? What kinds of resources do you think you would need?

Understanding of research methods will help you recognize the challenges in gathering reliable statistics on populations that are outside the mainstream. In this photo, a volunteer conducts an inter- view with a homeless man, which helps local authorities assess how many homeless people are in the city and why they lack shelter.

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39Doing Sociological Research

Personal values and beliefs may affect a researcher’s objectivity, or ability to represent the object of study accu- rately. In the 19th century, sociologist Max Weber argued that in order for scientific research to be objective it has to have value neutrality—that is, the course of the research must be free of the influence of personal beliefs and opinions. The sociologist should acknowledge personal biases and assump- tions, make them explicit, and prevent them from getting in the way of observation and reporting.

How can we best achieve objectivity? First, recall Karl Popper’s principle of falsification, which proposes that the goal of research is not to prove our ideas correct but to find out whether they are wrong. To accomplish this, researchers must be willing to accept that the data they collect might contradict their most passionate convictions. Research should deepen human understanding, not prove a particular point of view.

A second way we can ensure objectivity is to invite others to draw their own conclusions about the validity of our data through replication, the repetition of a previous study using a different sample or population to verify or refute the original findings. For research to be replicated, the original study must spell out in detail the research methods employed. If potential replicators cannot conduct their studies exactly as the origi- nal study was performed, they might accidentally introduce unwanted variables. To ensure the most accurate replication of their work, researchers should archive original materials such as questionnaires and field notes and allow replicators access to them.

Popper (1959) described scientific discovery as an ongo- ing process of “confrontation and refutation.” Sociologists usually subject their work to this process by publishing their results in scholarly journals. Submitted research undergoes a rigorous process of peer review, in which other experts in the field of study examine the work before the results are final- ized and published. Once research has been published in a reputable journal such as the American Sociological Review or the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, other scholars read it with a critical eye. The study may then be replicated in different settings.

DOING SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH Sociological research requires careful preparation and a clear plan that guides the work. The purpose of a sociologi- cal research project may be to obtain preliminary knowledge that will help formulate a theory or to evaluate an existing theory about society and social life. As part of the strategy, the researcher selects from a variety of research methods— specific techniques for systematically gathering data. In the following sections, we look at a range of research methods and examine their advantages and disadvantages. We also dis- cuss how you might prepare a sociological research project of your own.

SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH METHODS Sociologists employ a variety of methods to learn about the social world (Table 2.4). Since each has strengths and weak- nesses, a good research strategy may be to use several different methods. If they all yield similar findings, the researcher is more likely to have confidence in the results. The principal methods are the survey, fieldwork (either participant observa- tion or detached observation), experimentation, working with existing information, and participatory research.

TABLE 2.3 How Truthful Are Survey Respondents? (in percentages)

Threat of Validation No Threat of Validation

Survey Question Anonymous Named Anonymous Named

Ever smoked?

63.5 72.9 60.5 67.8

Smoked in the last month?

34.5 39.5 25.9 21.8

Smoked in the last week?

26.0 25.5 14.4 17.6

SOURCE: Adams, J., Parkinson, L., Sanson-Fisher, R. W., & Walsh, R. A. (2008). Enhancing self-report of adolescent smoking: The effects of bogus pipeline and anonymity. Addictive Behaviors, 33(10), 1291–1296.

Objectivity: The ability to represent the object of study accurately.

Value neutrality: The characteristic of being free of personal beliefs and opinions that would influence the course of research.

Replication: The repetition of a previous study using a different sample or population to verify or refute the original findings.

Research methods: Specific techniques for systematically gathering data.

Validity and Reliability homicide studies

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40 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

SURVEY RESEARCH A survey relies on a questionnaire or interviews with a group of people in person or by telephone or e-mail to determine their characteristics, opinions, and behaviors. Surveys are versatile, and sociologists often use them to test theories or simply to gather data. Some survey instruments, such as National Opinion Research Center questionnaires, consist of closed-ended questions that respondents answer by choos- ing from among the responses presented. Others, such as the University of Chicago’s Social Opportunity Survey, consist of open-ended questions that permit respondents to answer in their own words.

An example of survey research conducted for data collec- tion is the largest survey in the nation, the U.S. Census, which is conducted every 10 years. The census is not designed to test any particular theory. Rather, it gathers voluminous data about U.S. residents that researchers, including sociologists, use to test and develop a variety of theories.

Usually, a survey is conducted on a relatively small num- ber of people, a sample, selected to represent a population, the whole group of people to be studied. The first step in designing a survey is to identify the population of interest. Imagine that you are doing a study of behavioral factors that affect grades in college. Who would you survey? Members of a certain age group only? People in the airline industry? Pet owners? To conduct a study well, we need to identify clearly the survey population that will most effectively help us answer the research question. In your study you would most

Method Appropriate Circumstances

Survey research When basic information about a large population is desired. Sociologists usually conduct survey research by selecting samples that are representative of the entire populations of interest.

Fieldwork When detailed information is sought, and when surveys are impractical for getting the information desired (for example, in studying youth gangs). Fieldwork usually relies on relatively small samples, especially compared to surveys.

Detached observation When researchers desire to stay removed from the people being studied and must gather data in a way that minimizes impact on the subjects. Detached observations are often supplemented with face-to-face interviews.

Participant observation When firsthand knowledge of the subjects’ direct experience is desired, including a deeper understanding of their lives.

Experimentation When it is possible to create experimental and control groups that are matched on relevant variables but provided with different experiences in the experiment.

Use of existing information When direct acquisition of data is either not feasible or not desirable because the event studied occurred in the past or because gathering the data would be too costly or too difficult.

Participatory research When a primary goal is training people to gain political or economic power and acquire the necessary skills to do the research themselves.

TABLE 2.4 Key Sociological Research Methods

Survey: A research method that uses a questionnaire or interviews administered to a group of people in person or by telephone or e-mail to determine their characteristics, opinions, and behaviors.

Sample: A portion of the larger population selected to represent the whole.

Population: The whole group of people studied in sociological research.

likely choose to survey students now in college, because they offer the best opportunity to correlate grades with particular behaviors.

Once we have identified a population of interest, we will usu- ally select a sample, as we seldom have the time or money to talk to all the members of a given population, especially if it is a large one. Other things being equal, larger samples better rep- resent the population than smaller ones. However, with proper sampling techniques, sociologists can use relatively small (and therefore inexpensive) samples to represent large populations. For instance, a well-chosen sample of 1,000 U.S. voters can be used to represent 100,000 U.S. voters with a fair degree of accuracy, enabling surveys to make election predictions with reasonable confidence. Sampling is also used for looking at social phenomena such as drug or alcohol use in a popula- tion: CNN reported recently that 17% of high schoolers drink, smoke, or use drugs during the school day, based on a 1,000- student sample polled by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (Azuz, 2012).

Survey v. Public Opinion

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41Doing Sociological Research

Ideally, a sample should reflect the composition of the pop- ulation we are studying. For instance, if you want to be able to use your research data about college students to general- ize about the entire college student population of the United States, you would need to collect proportional samples from 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, large universities, community colleges, online schools, and so on. It would not be adequate to survey only students at online colleges or only female students at private 4-year schools.

To avoid bias in surveys, sociologists may use random sampling, whereby everyone in the population of interest has an equal chance of being chosen for the study. Typically, they make or obtain a list of everyone in the population of interest. Then they draw names or phone numbers, for instance, by chance until the desired sample size is reached (today, most such work is done by computers). Large-scale random sample surveys permit researchers to draw conclusions about large numbers of people on the basis of relatively small numbers of respondents. This is an advantage in terms of time and money.

In constructing surveys, sociologists must take care to ensure that the questions and their possible responses will capture the respondents’ points of view. The wording of questions is an important factor; poor wording can produce misleading results, as the following example illustrates. In 1993, an American Jewish Committee/Roper poll was taken

to examine public attitudes and beliefs about the Holocaust. To the astonishment of many, results indicated that fully 22% of survey respondents expressed a belief the Holocaust had never happened. Not immediately noticed was the fact that the survey contained some very awkward wording, including the question “Does it seem possible or does it seem impos- sible to you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened?” Can you see why such a question might produce a questionable result? The question’s compound structure and double-negative wording almost certainly confused many respondents.

The American Jewish Committee released a second survey with different wording: “Does it seem possible to you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened, or do you feel certain that it happened?” The results of the second poll were quite different. Only about 1% of respondents thought it was possible the Holocaust never happened, while 8% were unsure (Kagay, 1994). Despite the follow-up poll that corrected the mistaken perception of the previous poll’s results, the new poll was not as methodologically rigorous as it could have been; a single survey question should ask for only one type of response. The American Jewish Committee’s second survey contained a question that attempted to gauge two different responses simultaneously.

A weakness of surveys is that they may reveal what peo- ple say rather than what they do. Responses are sometimes self-serving, intended to make the interviewee look good in the eyes of the researcher. As we saw in an earlier example, a respondent may not wish to reveal his or her drinking or drug habits. A well-constructed survey, however, can over- come these problems. Assuring the respondent of anonymity, assigning interviewers with whom respondents feel com- fortable, and building in questions that ask for the same information in different ways can reduce self-serving bias in survey research.

FIELDWORK Fieldwork is a method of research that uses in-depth and often extended study to describe and analyze a group or com- munity. Sometimes called ethnography, it takes the researcher into the “field,” where he or she directly observes—and some- times interacts with—subjects in their social environment. Social scientists, including sociologists and anthropologists, have employed fieldwork to study everything from hoboes and working-class gangs in the 1930s (Anderson, 1940; Whyte, 1943) to prostitution and drug use among inner-city women (Maher, 1997) and Vietnam veterans motorcycling across the country to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Michalowski & Dubisch, 2001). Alice Goffman’s (2014) work on the underground economy is another example of the use of fieldwork in sociological research.

Since it is often impossible to sample every person in a target pop- ulation, being well versed in research methodology enables a researcher to produce empirically rigorous data with a representa- tive population sample.

Random sampling: Sampling in which everyone in the population of interest has an equal chance of being chosen for the study.

Fieldwork: A research method that relies on in-depth and often extended study of a group or community.

Field Work Methods

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42 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

Most fieldwork combines several different methods of gathering information. These include interviews, detached observation, and participant observation.

An interview is a detailed conversation designed to obtain in-depth information about a person and his or her activi- ties. When used in surveys, interview questions may be either open-ended or closed-ended. They may also be formal or infor- mal. In fieldwork, the questions are usually open-ended to allow respondents to answer in their own words. Sometimes the interviewer prepares a detailed set of questions; at other times, the best approach is simply to have a list of relevant topics to cover.

Good researchers guard against influencing respon- dents’ answers. In particular, they avoid the use of leading questions—that is, questions that tend to elicit particular responses. Imagine a question on attitudes toward the marine environment that reads “Do you believe tuna fishing with broad nets, which leads to the violent deaths of dolphins, should be regulated?” The bias in this question is obvious—the stated association of broad nets with violent dolphin deaths creates a bias in favor of a yes answer. Accurate data depend on good questions that do not lead respondents to answer in particular ways.

Sometimes a study requires that researchers in the field keep a distance from the people they are studying and simply observe without getting involved. The people being observed may or may not know they are being observed. This approach is called detached observation. In his study of two delin- quent gangs (the “Saints” and the “Roughnecks”), William J. Chambliss, coauthor of this text, spent many hours observing gang members without actually being involved in what they were doing. With the gang members’ permission, he sat in his car with the window rolled down so he could hear them talk and watch their behavior while they hung out on a street cor- ner. At other times, he would observe them playing pool while he played at a nearby table. Chambliss sometimes followed gang members in his car as they drove around in theirs and sat near enough to them in bars and cafés to hear their conversations. Through his observations at a distance, he was able to gather detailed information on the kinds of delinquencies the gang members engaged in. He was also able to unravel some of the social processes that led to their behavior and observe other people’s reactions to it.

Detached observation is particularly useful when the researcher has reason to believe other forms of fieldwork might influence the behavior of the people to be observed. It is also helpful for checking the validity of what the researcher has been told in interviews. A great deal of sociological informa- tion about illegal behavior has been gathered through detached observation.

One problem with detached observation is that the infor- mation gathered is likely to be incomplete. Without actually talking to people, we are unable to check our impressions

against their experiences. For this reason, detached observa- tion is usually supplemented by in-depth interviews. In his study of the delinquent gang members, Chambliss (1973, 2001) periodically interviewed them to complement his findings and check the accuracy of his detached observations.

Another type of fieldwork is participant observation, a mix- ture of active participation and detached observation. Participant observation can sometimes be dangerous. Chambliss’s (1988b) research on organized crime and police corruption in Seattle, Washington, exposed him to threats from the police and orga- nized crime network members who feared he would reveal their criminal activities. Goffman’s (2014) work also included partic- ipant observation; she spent significant amounts of time with the residents of the Philadelphia neighborhood she studied, seeking to carefully document their voices and experiences.

EXPERIMENTATION Experiments are research techniques for investigating cause and effect under controlled conditions. We construct experi- ments to measure the effects of independent or experimental variables, variables we change intentionally, on dependent variables, which change as a result of our alterations to the independent variables. To put it another way, researchers mod- ify one controllable variable (such as diet or exposure to violent movie scenes) to see what happens to another variable (such as willingness to socialize or the display of aggression). Some variables, such as sex, ethnicity, and height, do not change in response to stimuli and thus do not make useful dependent variables.

In a typical experiment, researchers select participants who share characteristics such as age, education, social class, or experiences that are relevant to the experiment. The par- ticipants are then randomly assigned to two groups. The first, called the experimental group, is exposed to the independent variable—the variable the researchers hypothesize will affect the subjects’ behavior. The second group is assigned to the con- trol group. These subjects are not exposed to the independent variable—they receive no special attention. The researchers then measure both groups for the dependent variable. For example, if a neuroscientist wanted to conduct an experiment

Interview: A detailed conversation designed to obtain in-depth information about a person and his or her activities.

Leading questions: Questions that tend to elicit particular responses.

Experiments: Research techniques for investigating cause and effect under controlled conditions.

Independent or experimental variables: Variables that cause changes in other variables.

Dependent variables: Variables that change as a result of changes in other variables.

The Organ Detective

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43Doing Sociological Research

on whether listening to classical music affects performance on a math exam, he or she might have an experimental group listen to Mozart, Bach, or Chopin for an hour before taking a test. The control group would take the same test but would not listen to any music beforehand. In this example, exposure to classical music is the independent variable, and the quantifi- able results of the math test are the dependent variable.

To study the relationship between violent video game play and aggression, researchers took a longitudinal approach by examining the sustained violent video game play and aggres- sive behavior of 1,492 adolescents in grades 9 through 12 (Willoughby, Adachi, & Good, 2012). Their results showed a strong correlation between playing violent video games and being more likely to engage in, or approve of, violence. This body of literature represents another example of the importance of research methodology; the same researchers, in a separate study, found that the level of competitiveness in a video game, and not the violence itself, had the greatest influence on aggres- sive behavior (Adachi & Willoughby, 2011). More research on this topic may help differentiate between the effects of variables and avoid conclusions based on spurious relationships.

WORKING WITH EXISTING INFORMATION Sociologists frequently work with existing information and data gathered by other researchers. Why would researchers choose to reinterpret existing data? Perhaps they want to do a secondary

analysis of statistical data collected by an agency such as the U.S. Census Bureau, which makes its materials available to research- ers studying issues ranging broadly from education to poverty to racial residential segregation. Or they may want to work with archival data to examine the cultural products—posters, films, pamphlets, and such—used by an authoritarian regime in a given period to legitimate its power or disseminated by a social movement like the civil rights movement to spread its message to the masses.

Statistical data include quantitative information obtained from government agencies, businesses, research studies, and other entities that collect data for their own or others’ use. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, for example, maintains a rich storehouse of information on a number of criminal jus- tice social indicators, such as prison populations, incidents of crime, and criminal justice expenditures. Many other gov- ernment agencies routinely conduct surveys of commerce, manufacturing, agriculture, labor, and housing. International organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank collect annual data on the health, education, population, and economies of nearly all countries in the world. Many businesses publish annual reports that yield basic statistical information about their financial performance.

Document analysis is the examination of written materials or cultural products: previous studies, newspaper reports, court records, campaign posters, digital reports, films, pamphlets, and other forms of text or images produced by individuals, gov- ernment agencies, private organizations, and others. However, because such documents are not always compiled with accu- racy in mind, good researchers exercise caution in using them. People who keep records are often aware that others will see the records and take pains to avoid including anything unflatter- ing. The diaries and memoirs of politicians are good examples of documents that are invaluable sources of data but that must be interpreted with great caution. The expert researcher looks at such materials with a critical eye, double-checking with other sources for accuracy where possible.

This type of research may include historical research, which entails the analysis of historical documents. Often such research is comparative, examining historical events in several different countries for similarities and differences. Unlike historians, sociologists usually identify patterns com- mon to different times and places; historians tend to focus on particular times and places and are less likely to draw broad generalizations from their research. An early master of the sociological approach to historical research was Max Weber (1919/1946, 1921/1979), who contributed to our understanding of—among many other things—the differences between reli- gious traditions in the West and those in East Asia.

Content analysis is the systematic examination of forms of documented communication. A researcher can take a content analysis approach by coding and analyzing patterns in cultural products like music, laws, tweets, blogs, and works of art. An

When looking at the relationship between violent video games and violent behaviors, researchers must account for many variables. What variables would you choose to test?

Statistical data: Quantitative information obtained from government agencies, businesses, research studies, and other entities that collect data for their own or others’ use.

Document analysis: The examination of written materials or cultural products: previous studies, newspaper reports, court records, campaign posters, digital reports, films, pamphlets, and other forms of text or images produced by individuals, government agencies, or private organizations.

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44 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY

DOES TECHNOLOGY AFFECT STUDYING?

In 2011, as it has every year since

2000, the National Survey of Student

Engagement (NSSE) surveyed about

416,000 U.S. students at 673 institutions

of higher education, asking about

student relationships with faculty, note

taking and study habits, and hours spent

studying. One of the 2011 findings,

consistent with the results of other

recent surveys, was that students were

spending far fewer hours studying

than did their counterparts in previous

decades. If in 1961 the average student

reported studying about 24 hours per

week, by 2011 the average student

reported about 14 hours of study time

(Babcock & Marks, 2010; NSSE, 2012).

Within this figure are variations by

major, ranging from about 24 hours

per week for architecture majors to

10 for speech majors. Sociology majors

reported studying an average of 13.8

hours per week (de Vise, 2012).

This study presents a number

of interesting research questions,

few of which are answered by the

NSSE, which collected quantitative

data but did not analyze the results.

What factors might be behind the

precipitous decline in self-reported

hours spent studying?

Some existing hypotheses implicate

modern technology for at least two

reasons. First, it has been suggested

that students study less because they

are spending substantial time using

social media such as Facebook. One

pilot study at Ohio State University

concluded that students who used

Facebook had poorer grades than

those who did not (Karpinski &

Duberstein, 2009). These data suggest

that another study could profitably look

for correlations between social media

use and study time.

Second, students may be reporting

less study time because technology

has cut the hours of work needed for

some tasks. While preparing a research

paper in the past may have demanded

hours in the library stacks or in pursuit

of an expert to interview, today an

online search engine can bring up

a wealth of data earlier generations

could not have imagined. Far fewer

students consult research librarians or

use library databases today. Notably,

however, a recent study suggests that

the quality of data students have the

skills to find in their searches is mixed

and often low (Kolowich, 2011).

Technology is only one possible

factor in the decline in the time

U.S. students spend studying. Two

economists, for instance, suggest that

studying time has decreased

as achievement standards have fallen

(Babcock & Marks, 2010). But there

is no denying that one of the most

dramatic differences between the

1960s and today is the proliferation

of technology, which suggests that an

explanatory relationship may exist.

T HINK IT T HROUGH Imagine that your final paper for

this semester involves answering the research question, “What is the impact of technology on studying and learning?” How would you go about answering this question? How would you collect data for your project?

Has technology helped or hindered your studying in college? Does it mostly offer research help—or additional distractions?

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45Doing Sociology: A Student’s Guide to Research

exciting aspect of social science research is that your object of curiosity can become a research question. In 2009, sociologists conducted a content analysis of 403 gangsta rap songs to assess whether rap’s reputation of being misogynistic (hostile to women) was justified (Weitzer & Kubrin, 2009). The analysis found that the songs did contain significant misogynistic undertones, reflecting larger stereotypical views of male and female characteristics.

PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH While sociologists usually try to avoid having an impact on the people they study, one research method is employed spe- cifically to foster change. Participatory research supports an organization or community trying to improve its situation when it lacks the necessary economic or political power to do so by itself. The researcher fully participates by training the members to conduct research on their own while working with them to enhance their power (Freire, 1972; Park, 1993; Whyte, 1991). Such research might be part of, for instance, empower- ing a community to act against the threat of HIV/AIDS, as has been done in places like San Francisco and Nairobi, Kenya. Participatory research is an effective way of conducting an empirical study while also furthering a community or orga- nizational goal that will benefit from the results of the study.

DOING SOCIOLOGY: A STUDENT ’S GUIDE TO RESEARCH Sociological research seldom follows a formula that indicates exactly how to proceed. Sociologists often have to feel their way as they go, responding to the challenges that arise during research and adapting new methods to fit the circumstances. Thus, the stages of research can vary even when sociologists agree about the basic sequence. At the same time, for student sociologists, it is useful to understand the key building blocks of good sociological research. As you read through the following descriptions of the stages, think about a topic of interest to you and how you might use that as the basis for an original research project.

FRAME YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION “Good research,” Thomas Dewey observed, “scratches where it itches.” Sociological research begins with the formulation of a question or questions to be answered. Society offers an endless spectrum of compelling issues to study: Does exposure to violent video games affect the probability of aggressive behavior in ado- lescents? Does religious faith affect voting behavior? Is family income a good predictor of performance on standardized college entrance tests such as the SAT? Beyond the descriptive aspects of social phenomena, sociologists are also interested in how they can explain relationships between the variables they examine.

Formulating a research question precisely and carefully is one of the most important steps toward ensuring a successful

research project. Research questions come from many sources. Some arise from problems that form the foundation of soci- ology, including an interest in socioeconomic inequalities and their causes and effects, or the desire to understand how power is exercised in social relationships. Sociologists are also mind- ful that solid empirical data are important to public policies on issues of concern such as poverty, occupational mobility, and domestic violence.

Keep in mind that you also need to define your terms. Recall our discussion of operationalizing concepts. For example, if you are studying middle school bullying, you need to make explicit your definition of bullying and how that will be measured. The same holds true if you are studying a topic such as illiteracy or aggressive behavior.

REVIEW EXISTING KNOWLEDGE Once you identify the question you want to ask, you need to conduct a review of the existing literature on your topic. The literature may include published studies, unpublished papers, books, dissertations, government documents, newspapers and other periodicals, and, increasingly, data disseminated on the Internet. The key focus of the literature review, however,

Frame your research question

Review existing knowledge

Select the appropriate method

Weigh the ethical implications

Collect the data

Analyze the data

Share the results

FIGURE 2.6 Sociological Research Formula

Unobtrusive Research in Criminal Justice

Ethnography in Context Participatory Research Methods in Skid Row Los Angeles

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46 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

is usually published and peer-reviewed research studies. Your purpose in conducting the literature review is to learn about studies that have already been done on your topic of interest so that you can set your research in the context of existing stud- ies. You will also use the literature review to highlight how your research will contribute to this body of knowledge.

SELECT THE APPROPRIATE METHOD Now you are ready to think about how your research question can best be answered. Which of the research methods described earlier (1) will give the best results for the project and (2) is most feasible for your research circumstances, experience, and budget?

If you wish to obtain basic information from a relatively large population in a short period of time, then a survey is the best method to use. If you want to obtain detailed information about a smaller group of people, then inter- views might be most beneficial. Participant observation and detached observation are ideal research methods for verify- ing data obtained through interviews, or, for the latter, when the presence of a researcher might alter the research results. Document analysis and historical research are good choices for projects focused on inaccessible subjects and historical sociology. Remember, sociological researchers often use multiple methods.

WEIGH THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS Research conducted on other human beings—as much of sociological research is—poses certain ethical problems. An outpouring of outrage after the discovery of gruesome experi- ments conducted by the Nazis during World War II prompted the adoption of the Nuremberg Code, a collection of ethical research guidelines developed to help prevent such atrocities from ever happening again (Table 2.5). In addition to these basic guidelines, scientific societies throughout the world have adopted their own codes of ethics to safeguard against the mis- use and abuse of human subjects.

Before you begin your research, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the American Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics (www.asanet.org/about/ethics.cfm), as well as the standards of your school, and carefully follow both. Ask yourself whether your research will cause the subjects any emotional or physical harm. How will you guarantee their anonymity? Does the research violate any of your own ethical principles?

Most universities and research institutes require researchers to complete particular forms before undertaking experiments using human subjects, describing the research methods to be used and the groups of subjects who will take part. Depending on the type of research, a researcher may need to obtain writ- ten agreement from the subjects for their participation. Today, a study like that conducted by Philip Zimbardo in the 1970s at Stanford University (described in the Private Lives, Public Issues box) would be unlikely to be approved because of the

Directives for Human Experimentation

1. The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.

2. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society.

3. The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease.

4. The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury.

5. No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur.

6. The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.

7. Proper preparations should be made and adequate facilities provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury, disability, or death.

8. The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons.

9. During the course of the experiment the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end.

10. During the course of the experiment the scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise of the good faith, superior skill, and careful judgment required of him that a continuation of the experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject.

TABLE 2.5 The Nuremberg Code

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

stress put on the experiment’s subjects in the course of the research. Approval of research involving human subjects is granted with an eye to both fostering good research and pro- tecting the interests of those partaking in the study.

COLLECT AND ANALYZE THE DATA Collecting data is the heart of research. It is time-consuming but exciting. During this phase, you will gather the information that will allow you to make a contribution to the sociological understanding of your topic. If your data set is qualitative— for example, open-ended responses to interview questions or observations of people—you will proceed by carefully reviewing and organizing your field notes, documents, and other sources of information. If your data set is quantitative—for example, completed closed-ended surveys—you will proceed by entering

Facebook’s Newsfeed Study The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

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47Sociology and You: Why Learn to Do Sociological Research?

data into spreadsheets, comparing results, and analyzing your findings using statistical software.

Your analysis should offer answers to the research questions with which you began the study. Be mindful in interpreting your data and avoid conclusions that are speculative or not warranted by the actual research results. Do your data support or contra- dict your initial hypothesis? Or are they simply inconclusive? Report all of your results. Do your findings have implications for larger theories in the discipline? Do they suggest the need for further study of another dimension of the issue at hand? Good research need not have results that unequivocally support your hypothesis. A finding that refutes the hypothesis can be instruc- tive as well.

SHARE THE RESULTS However fascinating your research may be to you, its ben- efits are amplified when you take advantage of opportunities to share it with others. You can share your findings with the sociological community by publishing the results in academic journals. Before submitting research for publication, you must learn which journals cover your topic areas and review those journals’ standards for publication. Some colleges and univer- sities sponsor undergraduate journals that offer opportunities for students to publish original research.

Other outlets for publication include books, popular maga- zines, newspapers, video documentaries, and websites. Another way to communicate your findings is to give a presentation at a professional meeting. Many professional meetings are held each year; at least one will offer a panel suited to your topic. In some cases, high-quality undergraduate papers are selected for

presentation. If your paper is one, relevant experts at the meet- ing will likely help you interpret your findings further.

SOCIOLOGY AND YOU: WHY LEARN TO DO SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH? The news media provide us with an immense amount of round- the-clock information. Some of it is very good; some of it is misleading. Reported “facts” may come from sources that have agendas or are motivated by self-interest, such as political inter- est groups, lobbying groups, media outlets, and even government agencies. Perhaps the most problematic are “scientific” findings that are agenda driven, not scientifically unbiased. In particular because we live in a time of information saturation, it is important that we learn to be critical consumers of information and to ask questions about the quality of the data presented to us. Carefully gathered and precise data are important not only as sources of information but also as the basis of informed decision making on the part of elected officials and others in positions of power.

Because you now understand how valid and reliable data are gathered, you can better question the veracity and reliability of others’ claims. For example, when a pollster announces that 80% of the “American people” favor Joe Conman for Congress, you can ask, “What was the size of the sample? How representa- tive is it of the population? How was the survey questionnaire prepared? Exactly what questions were asked?” If it turns out that the data are based on the responses of 25 residents of a gated Colorado community or that a random sample was used but the survey included leading questions, you know the results do not give an accurate picture.

Similarly, your grasp of the research process allows you to have greater confidence in research that was conducted properly. You should put more stock in the results of a nationwide Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of college students’ drug use or safe-sex choices that used carefully prepared ques- tionnaires tested for their validity and reliability and less stock in data gathered by a reporter untrained in scientific methods who interviewed a small, nonrandom sample of students on a single college campus.

You have also taken the first step in learning how to gather and evaluate data yourself. Realizing the value of theories that can be tested and proven false if they are wrong is the first step in devel- oping your own theories and hypotheses. By using the concepts, processes, and definitions introduced in this chapter, you can con- duct research that is valid, appropriate, and even publishable.

In short, these research tools will help you be a more criti- cal consumer of information and enhance your understanding of the social world around you. Other benefits of learning soci- ology will become apparent throughout the following chapters as you discover how the research process is applied to cultures, societies, and the institutions that shape your life.

During the Nuremberg Trials, which brought key figures of the Nazi Party of Germany to justice, the practices of some Nazi medical personnel were found to be unethical and even criminal. The Nuremberg Code, which emerged from these trials, established principles for any type of human experimentation.

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FOR THE USE OF STRAYER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND FACULTY ONLY. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, SALE, OR REPRINTING.

48 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

PRIVATE LIVES, PUBLIC ISSUES

ZIMBARDO’S EXPERIMENT: THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE SOCIAL ROLE i

Social psychologist Philip Zimbardo

(1974; Haney, Banks, & Zimbardo,

1973) wanted to investigate how role

expectations shape behavior. He was

intrigued by the possibility that the

frequently observed cruelty of prison

guards was a consequence of the

institutional setting and role, not the

guards’ personalities.

In an experiment that has since

become well known, Zimbardo

converted the basement of a Stanford

University building into a makeshift

prison. A newspaper ad seeking young

men to take part in the experiment for

pay drew 70 subject candidates, who

were given a battery of physical and

psychological tests to assess their

emotional stability and maturity. The

most mature 24 were selected for the

experiment and randomly assigned

to roles as “guards” or “prisoners.”

Those assigned to be prisoners were

“arrested,” handcuffed, and taken

to the makeshift prison by the Palo

Alto police. The behavior of the

guards and the prisoners was filmed.

Within a week, the prison setting

took on many of the characteristics

of actual prisons. The guards were

often aggressive and seemed to

take pleasure in being cruel. The

prisoners began planning escapes

and expressed hostility and bitterness

toward the guards.

The subjects in the experiment

so identified with their respective

roles that many of them displayed

signs of depression and anxiety.

As a result, some were released

early, and the experiment was

canceled before the first week was

over. Since the participants had all

been screened for psychological

and physical problems, Zimbardo

concluded that the results could not

be attributed to their personalities.

Instead, the prison setting itself (the

independent variable) appeared to

be at the root of the guards’ brutal

behavior and the prisoners’ hostility

and rebelliousness (the dependent

variable). Zimbardo’s research

shows how profoundly private

lives are shaped by the behavioral

expectations of the roles we occupy

in social institutions.

T HINK IT T HROUGH Zimbardo’s experiment could

not be repeated today, as it would violate guidelines for ethical research with human subjects. How might a researcher design an ethical experiment to test the question of the circumstances under which apparently “normal” individuals will engage in violent or cruel acts?

Despite questions about the ethics of Philip Zimbardo’s experiment, sociologists still study his work. Is it wrong to use research data gathered by means we now consider unethical? Do the results of research ever justify subjecting human beings to physical or psychological discomfort, invasion of privacy, or deception?

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49What Can I Do With a Sociology Degree?

The skills and knowledge of career development and

your job search are learned, practiced, and mastered

over time. You will learn about yourself, make career

decisions, manage workplace expectations, and pursue

new opportunities throughout your professional

life. Your career success starts with self-reflection,

exploration, the effective implementation of career and

job search action plans, and a personal and professional

commitment to your career. The basic activities

linked to these processes are shown in the career

development wheel.

In this chapter, we focus on your assessment of

career interests and preferences and your exploration of

career and job options.

Assessment of Individual Career Interests and Preferences

Self-knowledge is an important element of career

assessment and development. Learning about your career

identity—the values, aspirations, interests, talents, skills,

and preferences related to careers—is fundamental to your

career success.

Careful self-assessment will help you determine what

you do well and enjoy, what skills and talents you possess,

how you prefer to work, what interests you actively pursue,

what values drive your choices, and where your strengths

and weaknesses lie. By matching your characteristics to

careers and occupations, you will establish a basis for

identifying your career options and a guide to further

research and exploration.

Assessments may be completed individually, online,

in a group setting, and/or with a career professional.

Assessments often include information linking your career

interests to potential academic majors. You may want

to access the following online assessment resources to

research your career identity:

• www.jobhuntersbible.com (What Color Is Your Parachute?)

• www.focuscareer.com (Focus 2 Online Career Planning System)

• www.humanesources.com/products/program/do- what-you-are (Do What You Are)

• www.careerinfonet.org/occupations (CareerOneStop)

T HINK ABOUT CAREERS Consider the components of a career identity noted

above. What characteristics of your career identity can you identify at this point? How will you begin to establish the key aspects of your career identity?

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WHAT CAN I DO WITH A SOCIOLOGY DEGREE? CAREER DEVELOPMENT: GETTING STARTED AND ASSESSING YOUR INTERESTS, VALUES, AND SKILLS

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50 Chapter 2: Discover Sociological Research

SUMMARY • Unlike commonsense beliefs, sociological understanding

puts our biases, assumptions, and conclusions to the test.

• As a science, sociology combines logically constructed theory and systematic observation in order to explain

human social relations.

• Inductive reasoning generalizes from specific observations; deductive reasoning consists of logically deducing the

empirical implications of a particular theory or set of ideas.

• A good theory is logically consistent, testable, and valid. The principle of falsification holds that if theories are to

be scientific, they must be formulated in such a way that

they can be disproved if wrong.

• Sociological concepts must be operationally defined to yield measurable or observable variables. Often,

sociologists operationally define variables so they can

measure these in quantifiable values and assess validity

and reliability, to eliminate bias in their research.

• Quantitative analysis permits us to measure correlations between variables and identify causal relationships.

Researchers must be careful not to infer causation from

correlation.

• Qualitative analysis is often better suited than quantitative research to producing a deep understanding

of how the people being studied view the social world.

On the other hand, it is sometimes difficult to measure

the reliability and validity of qualitative research.

• Sociologists seek objectivity when conducting their research. One way to help ensure objectivity is through

the replication of research.

• Research strategies are carefully thought-out plans that guide the gathering of information about the social world. They also

suggest the choice of appropriate research methods.

• Research methods in sociology include survey research (which often relies on random sampling), fieldwork

(including participant observation and detached

observation), experiments, working with existing

information, and participatory research.

• Sociological research typically follows seven steps: framing the research question, reviewing the existing

knowledge, selecting appropriate methods, weighing

the ethical implications of the research, collecting data,

analyzing data, and sharing the results.

• To be ethical, researchers must be sure their research protects the privacy of subjects and does not cause them

unwarranted stress. Scientific societies throughout the

world have adopted codes of ethics to safeguard against

the misuse and abuse of human subjects.

KEY TERMS scientific method, 31

deductive reasoning, 31

hypotheses, 31

inductive reasoning, 31

quantitative research, 32

qualitative research, 32

scientific theories, 33

concepts, 34

operational definition, 34

variable, 34

quantitative variables, 34

qualitative variables, 34

correlation, 34

causal relationship, 35

spurious relationship, 35

negative correlation, 36

principle of falsification, 36

falsifiability, 36

validity, 37

reliability, 37

bias, 37

objectivity, 39

value neutrality, 39

replication, 39

research methods, 39

survey, 40

sample, 40

population, 40

random sampling, 41

fieldwork, 41

interview, 42

leading questions, 42

experiments, 42

independent or experimental variables, 42

dependent variables, 42

statistical data, 43

document analysis, 43

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51Chapter Review

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Think about a topic of contemporary relevance in

which you may be interested (for example, poverty,

juvenile delinquency, teen births, or racial neighborhood

segregation). Using what you learned in this chapter,

create a simple research question about the topic.

Match your research question to an appropriate

research method. Share your ideas with classmates.

2. What is the difference between quantitative and

qualitative research? Give an example of each from the

chapter. In what kinds of cases might one choose one

or the other research method in order to effectively

address an issue of interest?

3. Sociologists often use interviews and surveys

as methods for collecting data. What are

potential problems with these methods of

which researchers need to be aware? What steps

can researchers take to ensure that the data they are

collecting are of good quality?

4. Imagine that your school has recently documented a

dramatic rise in plagiarism reported by teachers. Your

sociology class has been invited to study this issue.

Consider what you learned in this chapter about survey

research and design a project to assess the problem.

5. In this chapter, you learned about the issue of ethics

in research and read about the Zimbardo prison

experiment. How should knowledge collected under

unethical conditions (whether it is sociological, medical,

psychological, or other scientific knowledge) be treated?

Should it be used just like data collected under ethically

rigorous conditions?

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