CH-1-3 The Sociological Imagination – SOC Sociology 2020 : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 1 to 3 Chapter 1 The Sociological Imagination LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Discuss the development of the sociological imagination. 2. Define sociology as a social science. 3. Describe the differences between sociology and common sense. 4. Discuss the development of sociological theory. 5. Identify the major sociological perspectives. 6. Compare and contrast functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionism. 7. Describe the significance of social inequality. 8. Discuss the connections between sociology and social policy throughout the world. CHAPTER SUMMARY Sociology is the systematic study of the relationship between the individual and society and of the consequences of difference. In attempting to understand social behavior, sociologists rely on a type of creative thinking referred to as the sociological imagination. C. Wright Mills described the sociological imagination as our ability to see the interaction between history and biography. One way to develop a sociological imagination involves distinguishing between our private troubles—problems we face in our immediate relationships with specific individuals—and public issues—problems that are fundamentally a consequence of the positions we occupy within the larger social structure. Another way is to consider how something as commonplace as a making a hamburger involves a vast network of interdependent people, each doing their own specialized part, whether it is growing animal feed, raising a cow for slaughter, grinding its meat, providing natural gas with which to cook it, and so on. A k Sociology is considered a social science, which is quite broad in scope. Sociologists put their imagination to work in a variety of areas, including aging, criminal justice, the family, human ecology, and religion. Sociology focuses on the scientific study of human behavior and is different from common sense, which tends to be inaccurate and unreliable. Sociologists employ theories to examine the relationships between observations or data that may seem completely unrelated at first glance. Effective theory may have both explanatory and predictive powers. Early European theorists made pioneering contributions to the development of sociological theory. Auguste Comte (1798–1857) coined the term sociology to apply to the science of society—the study of human behavior. Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) gave special attention to social class distinctions, such as gender and race. Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) focused on understanding behavior within a larger social context, not just in individualistic terms. Additionally, Durkheim suggested that religion reinforces group solidarity. Karl Marx (1818–1883) emphasized the significance of power and analysis of control over resources. For Marx, social inequality is determined by ownership, or lack thereof, of key material resources. Max Weber (1864–1920) argued that who has power was determined not only by social class and control of material resources, but also by—among others—social status and organizational resources. These social resources draw their power from people’s willingness to obey the authority of another person, which is in turn based on their perception of the legitimacy of that person’s right to rule. Much of the work of Durkheim, Marx, and Weber involves macrosociology, which concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations. A later school of sociologists turned away from this approach in favor of microsociology, which stresses the study of small groups and the analysis of our everyday experiences and interactions. Microsociology emphasizes the significance of perception, of how we see others and how they see us. Erving Goffman (1922–1982) popularized a method known as the dramaturgical approach, which compares everyday life to the setting of the theater and stage and sees people as theatrical performers. Over time, sociologists came to more fully understand and appreciate the consequences that group membership—especially class, race, and gender—has for opportunity. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) combined an emphasis on the analysis of everyday lived experience with a commitment to investigating power and inequality based on race. Ida Wells-Barnett (1862–1931) was an early feminist. She argued that societies can be judged on whether the principles they claim to believe in match their actions, and found that America came up short regarding principles of equality and opportunity for women and African Americans. A recurring theme throughout sociology’s history has been the idea that sociological theory and research should contribute to positive social change. Jane Addams (1860–1935) was an early female sociologist who combined intellectual inquiry with social service work and political activism for the purpose of assisting the underprivileged and creating a more egalitarian society. Sociologists categorize and describe the above sociological insights by dividing them into three approaches: functionalist, conflict, and interactionist. The functionalist perspective views society as a living organism in which each part contributes to its survival. The conflict perspective emphasizes the distribution of power and the allocation of resources in society. Karl Marx’s work fits best within the conflict perspective. The interactionist perspective generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole. Sociologists make use of all the perspectives since each offers unique insights into understanding social behavior. There are many ways in which someone can put sociology into practice. People can use personal sociology in their everyday life by recognizing the impact their individual position has on who they are and how they think and act, and by taking responsibility for the impact their actions have on others. Earning a degree in sociology equips a student with a variety of useful skills, and students of sociology will find a wide range of careers open to them. Those who choose to pursue a career as a sociologist may put their knowledge to use in the field of applied sociology. This is the use of the discipline of sociology with the specific intent of yielding practical applications for human behavior and organizations. Some may take this a step further and employ clinical sociology, facilitating change directly by working to alter organizations or restructure social institutions. University campuses provide a microcosm of globalization, drawing together people from around the world with radically different values, political views, and customs, and giving them opportunities to interact. If such interactions are to be meaningful, positive, and respectful, we must learn to use the sociological imagination to better understand ourselves and our culture. RESOURCE INTEGRATOR Focus Questions Resources 1. What is sociology? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: sociology 2. What is the sociological imagination? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: sociological imagination, private troubles, public issues 3. How did sociology develop as a discipline? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: anomie, macrosociology, microsociology 4. What are the key theoretical perspectives in sociology? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: functionalist perspective, conflict perspective, interactionist perspective LECTURE OUTLINE I. What Is Sociology? • The systematic study of the relationship between the individual and society and of the consequences of difference. A. The Sociological Imagination • C. Wright Mills described this as our ability to see the interaction between history and biography. Example: What constitutes a normal sporting event is different in the United States than it is in Bali, Indonesia. • It allows us to look beyond a limited understanding of things and people in the world, and allows for a broader vision of society. • Using the sociological imagination enables us to tell if a problem in our life is due to private troubles—limited to our immediate relationship with particular individuals in our personal life—or if the ultimate cause of our distress is one or more public issues—meaning that the problem is the consequence of the positions we occupy within the larger social structure. B. The Hamburger as Miracle • Trying to make a hamburger without relying on any knowledge, skills, or tools that you gained from someone else shows you how interdependent we are. C. Defining Sociology • There are four key components of the definition: 1. Systematic Study • Sociologists gather empirical data through systematic research (quantitative and qualitative). 2. The Individual • Individuals generally follow guidelines for behavior, but they can reject them because they have agency, the freedom to choose and act. Example: A free agent in sports has the power to negotiate with whatever team he or she wishes. 3. Society • The study of society, or our social environment, is at the core of sociology. 4. The Consequences of Difference • Sociology looks at how economic, social, and cultural resources are distributed and at the implications of those distributions. • One of the main tasks is of sociology is to reveal and report the degree of social inequality. D. Sociology and the Social Sciences • The term science refers to the body of knowledge obtained by methods based on systematic observation. • Natural science is the study of the physical features of nature and the ways they interact and change. Astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and physics are natural sciences. • Social science is the study of the social features of humans and the ways in which they interact and change. Sociology, anthropology, economics, history, psychology, and political science are social sciences. • In contrast to other social sciences, sociology emphasizes the influence that society has on people’s attitudes and behavior and the ways in which people interact and shape society. Example: How sociologists and other social scientists study events such as the global economic crisis that began in late 2008. E. Sociology and Common Sense • Common sense is often unreliable and inaccurate. Example: The common notion that women are more chatty than men. Surveys of college students show, however, that both men and women speak about 16,000 words per day. • Sociology tests and analyzes information and evaluates it with sociological theory. Example: Common sense may tell us that military marriages are more likely to end in divorce, but a 2007 study shows no significant increase. II. What Is Sociological Theory? • Sociological theories represent our attempts to tell the stories of our lives in a particular way. A. Formulating Sociological Theories • A theory is a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior. • Effective theory may be both explanatory and predictive. Example: Durkheim’s theory on suicide. He theorized that social forces shape individual action. B. Testing Sociological Theories • Durkheim gathered data from different countries, and found that the social makeup of various nations shaped their suicide rates. • Suicide rates reflect the extent to which people are integrated into the group life of society (Catholics and Protestants). C. Applying Sociological Theories • Durkheim concluded that human beings are, at their very foundation, social beings. We cannot consider what it means to be an individual apart from our position in society. • Durkheim also concluded that if social forces are at work in this most extreme example of individual choice, they similarly shape all other individual choices. • He argued that if social forces have such power in our lives, there should be a discipline dedicated to their study. Example: Durkheim established Europe’s first department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895. III. The Development of Sociology • Sociologists have developed a wide range of theories in which they describe and explain the diversity of social behavior. We will briefly investigate five questions sociologists have frequently asked. A. How Is Social Order Maintained? • The discipline of sociology grew up in the midst of significant social upheaval. • Auguste Comte (1798–1857) sought to emulate what natural scientists did for nature, establishing a science of society that would reveal the basic “laws of society.” • He believed knowing these laws would help us understand “social statics”—the principles by which societies hold together and order is maintained—and “social dynamics”—the factors that bring about change and shape the nature and direction of that change. • Comte coined the term sociology to describe this new science. • Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) translated Comte’s works into English. • She wrote the first book on sociological methods. • She introduced the significance of inequality and power into the discipline. • She spoke out in favor of the rights of women, the emancipation of slaves, and religious tolerance. • Analysis of social order and analysis of social inequality have shaped the theoretical paths sociologists have pursued since this beginning. • Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) emphasized the significance of social order. • Consequences of division of labor interested Durkheim. He suggested that specialized labor in industrial societies leads to anomie—the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective—which increases the likelihood of alienation, loneliness, and isolation. B. How Do Power and Inequality Shape Outcomes? • Karl Marx (1818–1883) emphasized the significance of power and analysis of control over resources. • For Marx, social inequality is determined by ownership, or lack thereof, of key material resources. • Marx was concerned with alienation—loss of control over our creative human capacity to produce, separation from the products we make, and isolation from our fellow workers. • Max Weber (1864–1920) argued that who has power is determined not only by social class and control of material resources, but also by social status and organizational resources, among other factors. • These social resources draw their power from people’s willingness to obey the authority of another person, which is in turn based on their perception of the legitimacy of that person’s right to rule. C. How Does Interaction Shape Our Worlds? • Much of the work of Durkheim, Marx, and Weber involves macrosociology, which concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations. • A later school of sociologists turned away from this approach in favor of microsociology, which stresses the study of small groups and the analysis of our everyday experiences and interactions. Microsociology emphasizes the significance of perception, of how we see others and how they see us. • Erving Goffman (1922–1982) popularized a method known as the dramaturgical approach, which compares everyday life to the setting of the theater and stage and sees people as theatrical performers. D. How Does Group Membership Influence Opportunity? • Over time, sociologists came to more fully understand and appreciate the consequences that group membership has for opportunity. • W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) combined an emphasis on the analysis of everyday lived experience with a commitment to investigating power and inequality based on race. • Through engaged and sustained research on the lives of African Americans, he revealed the social processes that contributed to the maintenance of racial separation, which extended beyond material differences to include social separation, which he referred to as the “color line.” • Ida Wells-Barnett (1862–1931) was an early feminist. Carrying on the tradition begun by Martineau, she argued that societies can be judged on whether the principles they claim to believe in match their actions. • She found that America came up short regarding principles of equality and opportunity for women and African Americans. • Like feminists who succeeded her, she used her analysis of society as a means of resisting oppression. E. How Should Sociologists Respond? • Throughout sociology’s history, a recurring theme has been the idea that sociological theory and research should contribute to positive social change. • In the early 1900s, many leading sociologists saw themselves as social reformers. • Early female sociologists often took active roles in poor urban areas as leaders of community centers known as settlement houses. They combined intellectual inquiry, social service work, and political activism—all with the goal of assisting the underprivileged and creating a more egalitarian society. • For example, Jane Addams (1860–1935) cofounded Chicago’s Hull House. Working with Ida Wells-Barnett, Addams prevented racial segregation in Chicago public schools. • Durkheim considered an educated citizenry essential to democratic success, and used his influence to shape French educational policy and practice. • Du Bois cofounded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). III. Three Sociological Perspectives • Sociologists categorize and describe the above sociological insights by dividing them into three approaches: functionalist, conflict, and interactionist. • Durkheim’s work is an example of the functionalist perspective, which views society as akin to a living organism in which each part of the organism contributes to its survival. The various parts of society are structured to maintain its stability. • The conflict perspective emphasizes the distribution of power and the allocation of resources in society. Expanding on Marx’s work, conflict theorists assert that social order cannot be fully understood apart from a consideration of how the status quo is maintained and who benefits and who suffers from the existing system. • Functionalist and conflict theorists both analyze large-scale, society-wide patterns of behavior. • The interactionist perspective generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole. Erving Goffman is an example of an interactionist. • The three-perspectives model provides us with conceptual hooks, but it gives the illusion that these three are discrete categories with fundamentally different and incompatible ways of looking at the world. • In practice, research rooted in one perspective almost inevitably should draw on or address insights from the other two. IV. Practicing Sociology • There are many ways that people can practice sociology in their lives. A. Personal Sociology • The process of recognizing the impact our individual position has on who we are and how we think and act, and of taking responsibility for the impacts our actions have on others. • Personal sociology empowers by allowing insight into things that were previously invisible, paving the way for action B. Academic Sociology • Many students (numbers are growing) opt to take their sociology education further • Top reasons for choosing sociology as a major: students found the sociological concepts interesting, sociology helped them to understand the impact society has on individuals, they particularly enjoyed their first sociology course, sociology helped them understand themselves better, and they wanted to make a difference in the world (American Sociological Association) • Sociology majors find jobs in a wide range of fields, social services being the most common. C. Applied and Clinical Sociology • Applied sociology: The use of sociology with the specific intent of yielding practical applications for human behavior and organizations. Example: Studying connections between illegal drug use and the spread of HIV/AIDS. • Applied sociology has led to specializations such as medical and environmental sociology. • Clinical sociology: Using the discipline of sociology with the specific intent of altering organizations or restructuring social institutions. Examples: family counseling, restructuring a medical center. V. Sociology Is a Verb • Through globalization—the worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas—our lives are connected with and interdependent upon diverse groups of people around the world whose beliefs and practices may be quite different from our own. • There is a growing awareness that current social problems can only be addressed by recognizing the full scope of our economic, political, and social interdependence. Through theory and research, sociologists offer us the tools we need. KEY TERMS Agency The freedom individuals have to choose and to act. Anomie The loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective. Applied sociology The use of the discipline of sociology with the specific intent of yielding practical applications for human behavior and organizations. Clinical sociology The use of the discipline of sociology with the specific intent of altering organizations or restructuring social institutions. Conflict perspective A sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation. Functionalist perspective A sociological approach that emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. Globalization The worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas. Interactionist perspective A sociological approach that generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole. Macrosociology Sociological investigation that concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations. Microsociology Sociological investigation that stresses the study of small groups and the analysis of our everyday experiences and interactions. Natural science The study of the physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change. Personal sociology The process of recognizing the impact our individual position has on who we are and how we think and act, and of taking responsibility for the impacts our actions have on others. Private troubles Problems we face in our immediate relationships with particular individuals in our personal lives. Public issues Problems we face as a consequence of the positions we occupy within the larger social structure. Science The body of knowledge obtained by methods based on systematic observation. Social inequality A condition in which members of society have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, or power. Social science The study of the social features of humans and the ways in which they interact and change. Sociological imagination Our recognition of the interdependent relationship between who we are as individuals and the social forces that shape our lives. Sociology The systematic study of the relationship between the individual and society and of the consequences of difference. Theory In sociology a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior. ADDITIONAL LECTURE IDEAS A set of numbers precedes each additional lecture idea. The first number is the text chapter number and the second number is the number of the additional lecture idea. 1-1: Émile Durkheim’s Analysis of Suicide Émile Durkheim's classic analysis of suicide distinguishes among three major forms of this act: egoistic, anomic, and altruistic. This is a good topic for class discussion. When students are asked to explain the cause of suicide, they focus on depression and stress. However, as Durkheim would note, most people who are depressed or who experience stress do not commit suicide. Only relatively small handfuls of people who experience these symptoms take their lives. There must be some other factor that explains why a few depressed and stressed individuals commit suicide and most do not. At this point, students are ready to be introduced to the classic work of Durkheim. Students rarely have difficulty understanding altruistic suicide, but the distinction between anomic and egoistic suicide is more difficult for them to grasp. Use the following chart, which may be amended with different examples, as the basis for a discussion. The discussion can have two parts. First lead students through the chart, asking, for example, “Who is more likely to commit suicide, a Catholic or a Protestant?” After the chart is completed, explain the difference between the different types of suicide and then ask students to explain which of the illustrations are examples of anomic suicide and which are examples of egoistic suicide. Note that people in both columns commit suicide, but that the people in the left column are “more likely” to commit suicide than people in the center column. Note, also, that women attempt to commit suicide more often than men, but men succeed more often than women. More Likely to Commit Suicide Less Likely to Commit Suicide Type of Suicide Protestant (Reform Jew) Catholic (Orthodox Jew) Egoistic Scandinavian Italian Egoistic Divorced individual Married individual Anomic Divorced individual Never married individual Anomic Never married individual Married individual Egoistic Person living in a country at peace Person living in a country at war Egoistic Person living in a suburb Person living in a ghetto Egoistic Men Women Egoistic Army recruit Student at local community college Anomic College freshman away from home Student at local community college Anomic Factory worker College student Egoistic See Émile Durkheim. Suicide. New York: Free Press, 1951. (Originally published in French in 1897.) See also K. D. Breault, “Suicide in America: A Test of Durkheim’s Theory of Religion and Family Integration,” American Journal of Sociology 92 (November 1986): 628–656. See also Bernice A. Pescosolido and Sharon Georgianna, “Durkheim, Suicide, and Religion: Toward a Network Theory of Suicide,” American Sociological Review 54 (February 1989): 33–48. 1-2: Women Sociologists in the 20th and 21st Centuries The dearth of female founding figures in sociology attests to the fact that women faced strong barriers to entering academia in the past. What many students will not realize is that—in sociology and in most other disciplines—women continue to face substantial barriers to acquiring academic jobs, attaining tenure, and contributing to their fields. Lecturing on this issue will make students more aware of the barriers that female sociologists still face, despite the common impression that the academy is one of the few gender-neutral, bias-free institutions in the work world. Moreover, it will give students a preview of the complicated sociological processes through which gender inequalities are manifested in the workplace. While in the past it was common for women to be kept out of academics because of overt discrimination, today family issues are a central obstruction to women’s advancement. One excellent source of information about the trials of 20th-century female sociologists is the book Gender and the Academic Experience (Meadow and Wallace 1994). In this book project, the first twenty women to receive PhD degrees in sociology from the University of California-Berkeley were invited to write essays describing their experiences in graduate school and beyond. These women received their degrees between 1952 and 1972, a period during which UC-Berkeley had already become a top breeding ground for research sociologists. Their fascinating accounts of the female experience in the academy show numerous ways in which it was often far more problematic for women of this era to complete the PhD process than it was for men. Although some of the women describe sociology departments that were supportive of them, others recount always feeling like unwelcome intruders in a man’s world—a message they received from male students and faculty alike. Many had more difficulty acquiring graduate funding than their male peers did. One woman (Harriet Presser) was actually taken out of consideration for funding when the department chair discovered that she was a single mother, and therefore not cut out for graduate study. A number of the other female students also had children, and had to forge a difficult balance between academics and family—at a time when outside child care was not readily available. In part because of the very different gender expectations of the time, graduate studies often strained their marital relations. One woman (Dorothy E. Smith) experienced serious tension in her marriage when it became clear that she was a more promising student than her husband, who was enrolled in the same department. He ended their marriage within a few weeks after she completed her PhD degree. Women completing their PhD degrees in more recent decades would no doubt write a different book. But gender still poses a number of complications for women who decide to become professors. The work-family balance is a central issue for today’s female academicians. Given the long work hours that academic jobs demand and the strong American cultural norms surrounding motherhood, female faculty often anticipate that raising children will make it difficult for them to amass the publication and teaching record required for tenure. Moreover, many believe that their departments will perceive them as lacking commitment to the job, should they choose to have children before achieving tenure. For these reasons, more female than male academicians remain childless. Among women who do have children, tenure becomes a more difficult goal. Not surprisingly, studies have found that women with children are less likely to attain tenure than women who do not have children. By contrast, men with children are actually more likely to achieve tenure than childless men (Mason and Goulden 2002). This very interesting gender pattern probably reflects the fact that mothers spend more time in child care than do fathers. Likewise, it may suggest that academic departments (unfairly) assume that fatherhood makes a man more stable, responsible, and committed to his career while motherhood makes a woman less committed to her career. Other studies indicate that women who complete the PhD are more likely to drop out of academia, to fall behind men in salary and post-tenure promotions, and to have appointments at lower-ranked institutions (Caplan 1995; Williams 2000). While these and other issues are sure to remain for some time in the future, more and more departments are beginning to recognize the special barriers female academics face. In a stunning acknowledgement, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently acknowledged that an investigation had uncovered a pattern of long-term systemic gender discrimination in salaries and other valued resources, and that it would implement a program to redress these inequalities (Miller and Wilson 1999). Sources used for this essay and additional reading ideas include: Paula J. Caplan. Lifting a Ton of Feathers. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995; Constance Coiner and Diana Hume George. The Family Track. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998; Mary Ann Mason and Marc Goulden, “Do Babies Matter?” Academe 88 (November/December 2002); Kathryn P. Meadow and Ruth A. Wallace (eds.). Gender and the Academic Experience. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994; D. W. Miller and Robin Wilson, “MIT Acknowledges Bias Against Female Faculty Members,” Chronicle of Higher Education 45 (April 2, 1999); Emily Toth. Ms. Mentor’s Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. 1-3: India’s Sacred Cow: A Functionalist View To an American tourist in India, the Hindu prohibition against slaughtering cows may appear to be an ignorant belief that stands in the way of progress. The cattle browse unhindered in street markets, eating oranges and mangos while people compete for the meager food supplies. Why is there such a devotion to the cow, or zebu, the large-humped species found throughout Asia and Africa? The simple explanation is that it is an integral part of Hinduism. Yet we know that many Indian people are often on the edge of starvation. Why has this practice, which appears to be manifestly dysfunctional, persisted for centuries? Economists, agronomists, and social scientists working from a functionalist perspective have found that cow worship is highly functional for Indian society. For example, the zebus perform two essential tasks: plowing the fields and producing milk. If eating zebu meat were permitted, families might be tempted to slaughter their cows for immediate consumption, leaving themselves susceptible to eventual ruin. In addition, zebus produce dung, which is recovered as fertilizer and as a fuel for cooking. (American scientists are even attempting to replicate this practice to help our society meet its needs for more energy sources.) Finally, the prohibition against slaughtering cows serves the function of assisting India’s poor. Untouchables (India’s lowest-status group) eat zebu beef in the secrecy of their homes. Thus, the prohibition against eating beef restricts consumption by most of the population while allowing the poorest sections to obtain vitally needed nutrients otherwise missing from their diet. The tourist returns to the United States with stories about the “ignorant” Indians. In reality, the tourist is ignorant of how functional cow worship is for Indian culture—and of how the West fails to learn from the wisdom of Indian traditions. See Marvin Harris. Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture. New York: Random House, 1978, pp. 11–32. See also Harris, Human Nature 1 (February 1990): 28–36. 1-4: W. E. B. Du Bois—The Sociologist Social scientists are gradually recognizing William Edward Burghardt Du Bois as a sociologist rather than as a figure in historical events. It is certainly understandable given his fascinating life. He was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on February 23, 1868. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of both Fisk and Harvard Universities, Du Bois actually received two bachelor’s degrees. In his graduate work at Harvard, he arranged to spend two years studying with Max Weber in Germany and eventually became the first Black person to be awarded a PhD from Harvard (1895). Upon graduating, he found that no White college would hire him, and he received his first academic appointment at all-Black Wilberforce University outside Dayton, Ohio. This was the first of many times during his life that Du Bois felt he received second-class treatment from White academe in general and the sociology establishment in particular. During his career, Du Bois wrote more than 20 books and 100 scholarly articles. He was a pioneer both in historical studies of the Black experience and in sociological explorations into African-American life. His argument, expressed with passion in The Souls of Black Folk (1903), that an educated Black elite, “the talented tenth,” should lead Blacks to liberation, contrasted sharply with the ideas of his contemporary Booker T. Washington. Washington put his emphasis on industrial training for Blacks and maintained virtual silence on the questions of social and political equality. It is clear that in both his sociological perspective and his actions Du Bois typified the conflict perspective. One of Du Bois’ first major works was The Philadelphia Negro, which was the result of two years of funded research that allowed him to have the somewhat trivial title “assistant in sociology” at the University of Pennsylvania. The purpose of his research was to enlighten the powerful movers and shakers of Philadelphia on the plight of Black people. He clearly had a social reformer goal not unlike that of Jane Addams, who is also often overlooked as a sociologist. While it would not be regarded as that novel today, Du Bois sought to show that the problems were not rooted in the heredity of the Black people, but in their social environment. Although he was critical of the rich of Philadelphia, he did believe with some reservations that they had the capacity for benevolence. He conducted the entire study personally, collecting the data and walking the streets of Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward. He felt that the problems of Blacks stemmed from their past servitude, and in this early work he was unwilling to look at the capitalistic system as being responsible for the continuation of the subordinate position of African Americans in urban America. Clearly, Du Bois became impatient for White movers and shakers to bring about change. He quickly sought to empower the talented tenth of which he wrote. With the aim of ending racial discrimination, Du Bois founded the Niagara Movement in 1905. This was a forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which he helped organize in 1909 and for which he edited the periodical The Crisis from 1910 to 1934. For decades, this was essential reading for all those interested in the fate of the African-American people. Du Bois resigned from the NAACP in 1934, following a dispute in which he argued that Blacks should expect segregated schools and other institutions to serve them even as Blacks struggled to eliminate the racism that had created these institutions. Du Bois’ view that Africans, freed from their colonial status, should help determine the world’s destiny was scarcely more appealing to civil rights leaders in the United States than his pragmatic approach to segregation. He returned to the NAACP in 1944 after a 10-year absence, but was forced to resign in 1948 when his association with the cause of world peace, his expressed admiration for the USSR, and his articulate condemnation of racial oppression at home and abroad made him a liability to the organization in a time of political reactionism and anticommunist hysteria. It is difficult now to realize that Du Bois became a pariah in many quarters of the Black community (and that he remained unknown to Whites) throughout the 1950s. Du Bois spent his last years in virtual exile, but he lived to see advances in racial relations in the United States and the coming of independence, which he had helped to make possible, to much of Africa. In 1963, at the age of 93, Du Bois joined the U.S. Communist party before renouncing his U.S. citizenship and becoming a citizen of the West African nation of Ghana. He was at work on a monumental study of African culture, the Encyclopedia Africana, at the time of his death. Du Bois’ principal scholarly works, other than those already mentioned, include The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870 (1896), The Philadelphia Negro (1899) (see the fine edition with an introduction by Elijah Anderson published in 1996 by the University of Pennsylvania Press), and Black Reconstruction in America (1935). His autobiography appeared in 1957. 1-5: Breaching Experiments Understanding and discussing theory can be difficult for many students. A good, educationally sound icebreaking discussion can be based on norm-breaching experiments. Ask students to do a norm-breaching activity outside of class. Then ask them to report to the class on the impact that the norm violation had on social interaction. Norm-violating activities might include: taking an item out of someone else’s grocery cart in the supermarket, staring at a stranger in an elevator, loudly burping in a public place, interjecting a comment in a discussion that is being held in an adjoining table in a restaurant, stopping in front of someone who says “Hi! How are you?” and answering their question in great length while blocking their escape route, or wearing formal evening attire to a class. Of course, you’ll want to make sure that these experiments are within the range allowed by your institution’s IRB (Institutional Review Board). 1-6: Sidewalk Etiquette Erving Goffman (Relations in Public. New York: Basic Books, 1971, pp. 9–18) offers a new look at sidewalk behavior. When we sit behind the wheel of a car and begin driving, we are confronted immediately with many rules that govern our behavior. Society provides us with reminders of these rules—traffic lights, stop signs, speed-limit signs, white lines marking lanes, and, ultimately, police officers. Interestingly, pedestrians also abide by a certain mutual understanding of proper behavior in traffic. We may not have read a book of “rules of the sidewalk” or been formally taught them, and we do not need to worry about getting a ticket for “walking too fast.” Nevertheless, we have learned certain social standards for pedestrian behavior that are part of our culture. Traffic on the sidewalk sorts itself into two sides going in opposite directions. The dividing line is near the middle of the sidewalk, yet it can shift quickly when traffic bunches in one direction. As in vehicular traffic in the United States, pedestrian movement tends to stay to the right side of the dividing line. Those who are walking more slowly generally stay nearer the buildings, while those in a hurry are nearer the curb. The workability of such lane rules and of rules for passing is based on two subtle practices, externalization and scanning. When we externalize, we use body gestures to show people the direction in which we are heading. Scanning involves moving our line of sight to observe people coming in our direction and to confirm the forward progress of pedestrians immediately ahead of us. A person’s scanning range is usually three or four sidewalk squares if the street is crowded, and more if few walkers are present. In order to avoid small objects and unpleasant or contaminated spots, we practice sidestepping. George Orwell (Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1950, p. 15) observed an interesting example of this practice in Burma. An Indian prisoner was walking between two guards on the way to his execution. He came near a small puddle and sidestepped out of the path for a moment in order to avoid it. This little act points out the often unconscious nature of sidestepping. If a collision with another pedestrian seems imminent, we attempt to create immediate eye contact. The hope is to quickly indicate a new route and avoid a collision. This is a common practice when people are crossing a street at a busy intersection. It can be argued that, given such pedestrian routing customs, the individual effectively becomes a vehicular unit. He or she is expected to conform to many unstated, yet socially agreed upon, standards. TOPICS FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AND CLASSROOM DISCUSSION 1. Have students analyze an article from the daily newspaper from a sociological perspective, using a sociological imagination. What differences in their conclusions result from using a sociological imagination? 2. Discuss why students might wear clothing with certain logos or insignias, and ask students to analyze their choices using the three major sociological perspectives. 3. Ask students to compare the number of male professors at your college or university with the number of female professors, and have students factor in salary disparities for both, if access to salary information is possible. Then discuss gender inequality using the conflict and feminist perspectives. 4. Ask students to analyze the creation of seatbelt laws using all three sociological perspectives. REEL TALK Children of Men (Universal Studios, 2006, 109m). In 2027, most of the world’s societies have collapsed. In Britain, all foreigners have been declared illegal immigrants. Women have become infertile, and it is 18 years since the last baby was born. Disillusioned former activist Theo Faron (Clive Owen) becomes the unlikely champion of the human race when his former lover (Julianne Moore) asks him to escort a young pregnant woman (Claire-Hope Ashitey) out of the country to a sanctuary at sea, where her child’s birth may help scientists save the future of humankind. Director: Alberto Cuarón. Jasper Palmer: Michael Caine. Luke: Chiwetel Ejiofor. Miriam: Pam Ferris. Topic: The sociological imagination. Chapter 2 Sociological Research LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Define the scientific method. 2. Discuss formulating the hypothesis. 3. Describe the processes of collecting and analyzing research data. 4. Define validity and reliability in research. 5. Describe the various research methods used in performing research. 6. Discuss the ethics of social research. CHAPTER SUMMARY Sociologists are committed to the use of the scientific method in their research. The basic steps in the scientific method are: (1) defining the problem, (2) reviewing the literature, (3) formulating the hypothesis, (4) selecting the research design and then collecting and analyzing the data, and (5) developing a conclusion based on the findings of the research. When defining the problem, an operational definition transforms an abstract concept into indicators that are observable and measurable, allowing researchers to assess the concept. A review of the literature concerning the problem under study helps refine the problem under study, clarify possible techniques for collecting data, and eliminate or reduce avoidable mistakes. A hypothesis is a testable statement about the relationship between two or more factors known as variables. Variables are measurable traits or characteristics that are subject to change under different conditions. Causal logic is the relationship between a variable and a particular event. The variable that brings about change is called the independent variable. The variable that is affected is called the dependent variable. A correlation is a relationship between two variables in which a change in one coincides with a change in the other. Just because variables change in a way that appears related does not mean that the relationship is necessarily causal. To assess a hypothesis, sociologists must collect data. In most studies, social scientists carefully select a sample. A sample is a selection from a larger population that is statistically representative of the population. In a random sample, every member of the population being studied has the same chance of being selected for the study. The scientific method requires both validity and reliability. Validity refers to the degree to which a measure or scale truly reflects the phenomenon under study. Reliability refers to the extent to which a measure produces consistent results. The key when assessing results is to ensure that the conclusions are supported by the data. If a sociological study fails to support the original hypothesis, researchers must reformulate their conclusions. Control variables are factors that are held constant to test the relative impact of an independent variable. A research design is a detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically. Surveys are a common method of quantitative research (research collected primarily in numerical form) used by researchers to collect data. Surveys may consist of oral interviews or written questionnaires. Observation is a qualitative research method, meaning it relies on what is seen in the field in natural setting rather than statistical data. It allows researchers to collect data through direct participation and/or by closely watching a group or community. Ethnography, the study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation, is an increasingly popular form of qualitative research. Experiments are artificially created situations that allow researchers to manipulate variables. Typically, an experimental group is exposed to the independent variable and the control group is not. When conducting an experiment one must be aware of the Hawthorne effect—the possibility that observers of experiments will have unintended influence on their subjects. Analyzing existing data that has been previously collected is called secondary analysis. Content analysis involves the systematic coding and objective recording of data, such as newspapers, periodicals, the Internet, scripts, diaries, songs, and folklore, to interpret and test the significance of data. Sociologists must abide by certain specific standards in conducting research, called a code of ethics. The core principles of the American Sociological Association's code of ethics are: professional competence, integrity, professional and scientific responsibility, respect for people's rights, and social responsibility. It is also important that sociologists protect the confidentiality of those they study, and that they disclose the sources of all their funding. Max Weber argued that researchers should use value neutrality in their research and be objective in the interpretation of data. Sociologists using the feminist perspective have had perhaps the greatest impact on the current generation of social researchers. Feminist theorists reject the notion that work and family are separate spheres, and have drawn attention to researchers’ tendency to overlook women in sociological studies. RESOURCE INTEGRATOR Focus Questions Resources 1. What is the scientific method? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: scientific method, operational definition, hypothesis, variable, causal logic, independent variable, dependent variable, correlation, sample, random sample, validity, reliability, control variable 2. What are the major research designs in sociological research? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: research design, survey, interview, questionnaire, quantitative research, mean, median, mode, qualitative research, observation, ethnography, experiment, experimental group, control group, Hawthorne effect, secondary analysis, content analysis 3. What are the key ethical issues in sociological research? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: code of ethics, value neutrality LECTURE OUTLINE I. Steps in the Research Process • The scientific method is a systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem. • Conducting sociological research in the spirit of the scientific method requires adherence to a series of steps designed to ensure the accuracy of the results. A. Defining the Problem • The first step is to state as clearly as possible what you hope to investigate. B. Reviewing the Literature • Refines the problem under study, clarifies data collection techniques, and eliminates or reduces avoidable mistakes. C. Formulating the Hypothesis • After defining and refining the problem, the next step is to identify the specific variables to be studied—measurable traits or characteristics that are subject to change under different conditions. • This involves creating an operational definition, which means finding observable and measurable indicators of the abstract concepts to be studied. Example: Using membership in exclusive social clubs as an operational definition of status. • After the variables have been operationalized, you can form a hypothesis, a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables. • A hypothesis should display causal logic, indicating that a relationship exists between the variables such that a change in one brings about change in the other. Example: Durkheim hypothesized that a cause-and-effect relationship existed between religious affiliation and suicide rates. • Independent variables are the variables in a causal relationship that influence a change in a second variable. • Dependent variables are changed by the independent variables or are dependent on them. • Correlation is a relationship between two variables in which a change in one coincides with a change in the other. Correlation does not equal causation. Sociologists seek to identify the causal link between variables; the suspected causal link is generally described in the hypothesis. D. Collecting and Analyzing Data • Like other scientists, sociologists are committed to gathering empirical data that can be observed and measured. Regardless of their research design, they all face certain issues. 1. Selecting the Sample • A sample is a statistically representative selection from a larger population. • A random sample is a sample for which every member of an entire population has the same chance of being selected. 2. Ensuring Validity and Reliability • Validity refers to the degree to which a measure or scale truly reflects the phenomenon under study. • Reliability refers to the extent to which a measure produces consistent results. E. Developing the Conclusion • After conducting research, sociologists assess the results. The key is to ensure that your conclusions are fully supported by your data. 1. Supporting Hypotheses • Some studies refute a hypothesis, and researchers must reformulate their conclusions and adjust their research designs. 2. Controlling for Other Factors • When studying human behavior, it is seldom sufficient to study only one independent and dependent variable. • A control variable is a factor held constant to test the relative impact of the independent variable. Example: When studying the effect education (independent variable) has on income (dependent variable), including family background as a control variable. F. In Summary: The Research Process • Research is cyclical: the studies researchers produce become part of the literature review for the next project. II. Major Research Designs • A research design is a detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically. • The choice of design directly influences the cost of the project and the time needed to collect the data. • Four types of designs are commonly used by sociologists. A. Surveys • A study, generally in the form of an interview or questionnaire, that provides researchers with information about how people think and act. Example: Gallup poll. 1. Issues in Designing Surveys • A survey must be based on precise, representative sampling to genuinely reflect a broad range of the population. • Questions must be worded carefully. • The characteristics of the interviewer (e.g., gender and race) have an impact on survey data. 2. Types of Surveys • There are two main forms of the survey. • In an interview the researcher obtains information through face-to-face or telephone questioning. • In a questionnaire the researcher uses a printed, written, or computerized form to obtain information. • Skillful interviewers can go beyond written questions and probe a subject’s underlying feelings; questionnaires have the advantage of being cheaper to administer. 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Research • Most surveys are examples of quantitative research, which collects and reports data primarily in numerical form. Analysis of these data depends upon statistics. • For example, the mean is the arithmetical average of a set of numbers. The median is the number that divides a set of values into two groups of equal numbers of values, and is useful in situations where there are extreme scores that distort the mean. The mode is the single most common value in a series of scores; it is seldom used in sociological research. • In qualitative research, researchers rely on what they see in the field and naturalistic settings more than on statistical data, often focusing on small groups and communities. Observation is the most common form of qualitative research. B. Observation • Investigators collect information by participating directly and/or by closely watching a group or community. • Ethnography is the study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation. • William F. Whyte’s work is a classic example of participant observation research. He moved into a low-income Italian neighborhood in Boston for nearly four years in the late 1930s. • Challenges are: gaining acceptance and maintaining some degree of detachment. C. Experiments • Artificially created situations that allow researchers to manipulate variables. Typically involve use of an experimental group exposed to an independent variable, and a control group, which is not exposed to the independent variable. • A disadvantage of experiments is known as the Hawthorne effect, which refers to the unintended influence that observers of experiments can have on their subjects. • Sociologists sometimes try to approximate experimental conditions in the field. Example: Devah Pager’s experiment to assess the impact of a criminal background on individuals’ employment opportunities. D. Use of Existing Sources • Secondary analysis refers to a variety of research techniques that make use of previously collected and publicly accessible information and data. Example: Census data. • Existing data is nonreactive, studying it does not influence people’s behavior; thus, researchers can avoid the Hawthorne effect by using secondary analysis. Example: Durkheim’s research on suicide. • Content analysis is the systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale. Example: Jeanne Kilbourne’s content analysis of ads demonstrating that women are commonly portrayed as objects. III. Research Ethics • Code of Ethics published by the ASA. A code of ethics is a set of standards of acceptable behavior developed by and for members of a profession. • General principles: (1) Use appropriate research techniques, (2) Be honest, respectful, and fair, (3) Adhere to the highest scientific and professional standards, (4) Be unbiased and non-discriminatory, respecting the dignity and worth of all people, (5) Contribute to the public good. A. Confidentiality • Protecting the confidentiality of research subjects is a key aspect of research ethics. • Rik Scarce jailed for refusing to divulge what he knew about a 1991 raid on a university lab by animal rights activists. • The Supreme Court has failed to clarify the rights of scholars to preserve the confidentiality of research subjects. B. Research Funding • When accepting funding for their research, sociologists must be careful that the funding source does not influence research findings. Example: Exxon funded research on jury deliberations after the Valdez disaster. • Researchers must disclose the sources of their funding. C. Value Neutrality • Max Weber argued that researchers should not allow their personal feelings to influence the interpretation of data. • Investigators have an ethical obligation to accept research findings even when the data run counter to their own personal views, to theoretically based explanations, or to widely accepted beliefs. • Sociologists must work to overcome any biases, however unintentional, that they may bring to their analysis of research. D. Feminist Methodology • Sociologists using the feminist perspective have had perhaps the greatest impact on the current generation of social researchers. • Feminist theorists reject the notion that work and family are separate spheres, have drawn attention to researchers’ tendency to overlook women in sociological studies, and have contributed to a greater global awareness within sociology. • Feminist researchers tend to involve and consult their subjects more than other researchers, thus contributing to a significant increase in more qualitative and participatory research. • They are also more oriented toward seeking change, raising the public consciousness, and influencing policy, representing a return to sociology’s roots. KEY TERMS Causal logic A relationship exists between variables in which change in one brings about change in the other. Code of ethics The standards of acceptable behavior developed by and for members of a profession. Content analysis The systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale. Control group The subjects in an experiment who are not introduced to the independent variable by the researcher. Control variable A factor that is held constant to test the relative impact of an independent variable. Correlation A relationship between two variables in which a change in one coincides with a change in the other. Dependent variable The variable in a causal relationship that is subject to the influence of another variable. Ethnography The study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation. Experiment An artificially created situation that allows a researcher to manipulate variables. Experimental group The subjects in an experiment who are exposed to an independent variable introduced by a researcher. Hawthorne effect The unintended influence that observers of experiments can have on their subjects. Hypothesis A testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables. Independent variable The variable in a causal relationship that causes or influences a change in a second variable. Interview A face-to-face or telephone questioning of a respondent to obtain desired information. Mean A number calculated by adding a series of values and then dividing by the number of values. Median The midpoint, or number that divides a series of values into two groups of equal numbers of values. Mode The single most common value in a series of scores. Observation A research technique in which an investigator collects information through direct participation and/or by closely watching a group or community. Operational definition Transformation of an abstract concept into indicators that are observable and measurable. Qualitative research Research that relies on what is seen in field or naturalistic settings more than on statistical data. Quantitative research Research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form. Questionnaire A printed, written, or computerized form used to obtain information from a respondent. Random sample A sample for which every member of an entire population has the same chance of being selected. Reliability The extent to which a measure produces consistent results. Research design A detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically. Sample A selection from a larger population that is statistically representative of that population. Scientific method A systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem. Secondary analysis A variety of research techniques that make use of previously collected and publicly accessible information and data. Survey A study, generally in the form of an interview or questionnaire, that provides researchers with information about how people think and act. Validity The degree to which a measure or scale truly reflects the phenomenon under study. Value neutrality Max Weber’s term for objectivity of sociologists in the interpretation of data. Variable A measurable trait or characteristic that is subject to change under different conditions. ADDITIONAL LECTURE IDEAS 2-1: How Would You Obtain a Representative Sample? Students and their instructors have typically been saturated with telephone and shopping mall surveys. But do students know why they have been selected, and whether their selection is part of a representative sample? Suggest to the class that they have been given the responsibility of developing a representative sample in their school’s county that will be asking questions about a controversial subject (e.g., abortion rights, capital punishment, or gun control). How would they go about selecting a representative sample of county residents for this study? Student responses will tend to gravitate toward the following: shopping malls, telephone interviews, birth certificates, tax reports, grocery stores, bus depots, their college, and other suggestions that will not generate a representative sample. Each response should be met with an explanation of why the suggestion is not representative. Students will generally suggest that members of the sample population should be selected based on their characteristics, which is a good place to introduce a discussion of variables and quota samples and the weaknesses of this type of sample. Finally, the students should be asked, “If I were trying to select a random sample of this class, a sample in which every member of the class has the same chance of being selected, how could I do this?” Almost immediately, students will suggest placing names into a hat and pulling out one or more names at random. At that point, students can be led through a discussion of how the “hat selection” process can be used for a large population in order that everyone in the county has a chance to have their names “pulled out of a hat.” See Earl Babbie. The Practice of Social Research, 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2003. See also Peter Rossi et al. Handbook of Survey Research. New York: Basic Books, 1983; and Morton M. Hunt. Profiles of Social Research: The Scientific Study of Human Interactions. New York: Russell Sage, 1986. 2-2: Asking the Correct Questions Sociologists try to phrase questions carefully so that there will be no misunderstanding on the part of the respondents. If a question is improperly worded (or biased), the results are useless for the researchers. Poor Question Problem Better Question Do you favor urban homesteading? People may not understand the question. Do you favor a government program that encourages families to improve inner city housing? Did your mother ever work? Misleading. Did your mother ever work for pay outside the home? Should it be possible for a woman to obtain a legal abortion? Too general. Should it be possible for a woman to obtain a legal abortion if there is a strong chance of serious defect in her baby? If she became pregnant as a result of rape? Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to drink liquor and smoke marijuana? Double-barreled (two questions in one). Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to drink liquor? Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to smoke marijuana? Don’t you think that the press is slanted and that we should distrust whatever it says? Biased question; leads people toward a particular response. Would you say that you have a great deal of confidence, some, or very little confidence in the press? 2-3: Framing Survey Questions about Interracial Relationships Do White people really have close Black friends, and vice versa? Many surveys have attempted to gauge the amount of White–Black interaction. But unless the questions are phrased carefully, it is possible to overestimate just how much “racial togetherness” is taking place. Sociologist Tom Smith, who heads up the respected General Social Survey, noticed that a high proportion of Whites and African Americans indicate they have close friends of the other race. But is this, in fact, true? When Smith and his fellow researchers analyzed data from the 1998 General Social Survey they found that response rates varied according to how the question was phrased. For example, when asked whether any of their friends that they feel close to was Black, 42.1 percent of Whites said “yes.” Yet when asked to give the names of friends they feel close to, only 6 percent of Whites listed a close friend of a different race or ethnicity. 2-4: The Personal Implications of Ethnographic Research Ethnography is one of the most fascinating methods of data collection open to social scientists—so much so that it is worthy of sociological analysis itself. For one, ethnography requires an unusually long and intense period of observation, interviewing, and participation. It is also a method of study that involves an inherent dialogue between researcher and subject. In contrast to a survey or an experiment, those under observation in an ethnographic study can always “talk back” in ways that are unexpected for the researcher, thereby changing the scope and content of the research project as it moves along. For most practitioners, an ethnographic study also requires a long period in which the ethnographer is removed from familiar social settings, and is immersed in a very different culture or subculture. Often, one unintended consequence is that the ethnographer finds himself or herself personally changed by the research process. In contemporary ethnographies, it is now common for one or more chapters to reflect upon these personal implications of ethnographic work. Crafting Selves is Dorinne K. Kondo’s ethnography of a Tokyo confectionary. Kondo, a Japanese-American with native fluency in Japanese, was often able to pass as Japanese. Because of her ethnicity and language abilities, she also found that her research subjects increasingly held her to the behavioral expectations of a young Japanese woman, rather than an American ethnographer. As a result, Kondo gradually found herself possessing two distinct “selves”: the “American self” and the “Japanese self,” with the Japanese self becoming increasingly dominant. This process came to a head one day when Kondo unexpectedly saw her reflection in a mirrored surface, but failed for a moment to realize that she was seeing herself rather than an unknown Japanese woman. In this moment, Kondo felt that her American identity had collapsed completely, and that her Japanese identity had taken over in its absence. Shaken, she realized that it would be necessary in the coming months to extricate herself somewhat from the environment into which she had so fully immersed herself (Kondo 1990). In many cases, the ethnographer not only reports on the personal impact of ethnographic fieldwork, but also uses the experience to better analyze the social context under study. One of the most well known examples is in the work of Renato Rosaldo. While Rosaldo and his wife were studying the Ilongot people of the Philippines, Rosaldo’s wife, Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo, accidentally fell from a cliff to her death. In his essay “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage,” Rosaldo describes how the immense grief he experienced gave him new insight into the emotional motivations for headhunting among the Ilongot (Rosaldo 1989). Such “vulnerable writing”—in which the ethnographer explicitly incorporates personal experiences into his or her work—can also lead to a new level of understanding for the reader of that ethnography, according to Ruth Behar (1996). When Behar wrote a book in which she compared the life of a Mexican peddler to her own experience in the academic tenure process, several readers wrote to tell her that they found the comparison to be a vital element of the book. It had allowed them to identify better with the peddler’s experiences. Not surprisingly, there is growing interest among ethnographers—especially anthropologists—in a type of ethnography called autoethnography. While this term has been defined in a number of different ways, autoethnography can refer to a type of ethnographic text in which the writer explicitly addresses his or her own personal identity and history, and how it is linked to his or her work as an ethnographer (Reed-Danahay 1997). Sources used for this essay and additional reading ideas include: Ruth Behar. The Vulnerable Observer. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996; Dorinne K. Kondo. Crafting Selves: Power, Gender, and Discourses of Identity in a Japanese Workplace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990; Annette Lareau and Jeffrey Schultz. Journeys through Ethnography. Boulder: Westview, 1996; Deborah E. Reed-Danahay (ed.). Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the Self and the Social. New York: Berg, 1997; Renato Rosaldo, “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage” in Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. Boston: Beacon Press, 1989, pp. 1–21. 2-5: Content Analysis of Coverage of the Rodney King Beating Sociologist Ronald N. Jacobs examined media coverage following the severe beating of an African-American motorist, Rodney King, by members of the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on March 3, 1991. Unknown to the police officers, the event was videotaped by an amateur cameraman who subsequently sold the tape to a local television station. Interest in the incident diminished about a month after the release of the Christopher Commission report on July 9, 1991, but exploded again in April 1992 with the return of not-guilty verdicts for the four police officers who were indicted for the beating. By the end of the crisis, Police Chief Daryl Gates had resigned, Mayor Tom Bradley had decided not to run for reelection (for the first time in 23 years), and the city of Los Angeles had experienced the most costly civil disturbance, or riot, in the nation’s history. In order to analyze the discourse concerning the Rodney King case, Jacobs examined all articles appearing between March and September 1991 in the daily Los Angles Times (357 articles) and the weekly Los Angeles Sentinel (137 articles). The Sentinel is the largest African-American newspaper in terms of circulation in Los Angeles, while the Times has by far the largest circulation of any newspaper in the region. Both papers presented a similar narrative or construction of the events. They showed a “drama of redemption,” pitting the heroic acts of local government (the mayor and the city council) against the antiheroic ones (Gates and the LAPD). The Sentinel, however, typically posited members of the Black community as heroic actors, while championing democratic ideals. Employing a style common to the African-American press, the newspaper invoked the ideals of American society while criticizing that society as it actually exists. The Christopher Commission was very critical of the LAPD and particularly critical of Police Chief Gates. Both newspapers spoke in positive terms of the Commission’s work and its conclusions. The Los Angeles Times saw the commission as giving the community and various government units an opportunity to come together and learn from the tragic events. The Sentinel expressed similar sentiments, but did not construct its version as a bridge toward legitimization of local government leaders. The Sentinel saw the concerns over police brutality as a justification for the long-standing criticisms of law enforcement made by the African-American community. Émile Durkheim has spoken of the “collective conscious” of a society. However, analysis of the discourse concerning the 1991 King beating reveals that the incident was socially constructed as several different problems in several different public spheres. On the basis of content analysis of the Los Angeles Times coverage, the Times constructed the issue as a problem of police brutality, of factionalism, and of political divisiveness. In the Los Angeles Sentinel, the incident was constructed as a problem of police brutality, of insincerity on the part of Whites, and of the need for African-American empowerment. The Times saw the beating as the beginning of a crisis, while the Sentinel saw it as part of an ongoing narrative about civil rights and police brutality. This content analysis of the two newspapers’ perspectives appears to support Stephen Hilgartner and Charles Bosk’s “public arenas” model of social problems, which argues that problems can be viewed differently and recognizes multiple public spheres for debating such issues. See Stephen Hilgartner and Charles Bosk, “The Rise and Fall of Social Problems: A Public Arenas Model,” American Journal of Sociology 94 (July 1988): 53–78; Ronald N. Jacobs, “Civil Society and Crisis: Culture, Discourse, and the Rodney King Beating,” American Journal of Sociology 101(March 1996):1,238–1,272. 2-6: Useful Statistics In their effort to understand social behavior better, sociologists rely heavily on numbers and statistics. How large is the typical household today compared with the typical household of 1970? If a community were to introduce drug education into its elementary schools, what would be the cost per pupil? What proportion of Baptists, compared to that of Roman Catholics, contributes to their local churches? Such questions, and many others, are most easily answered in numerical terms that summarize the actions or attitudes of many persons. The most common summary measures used by sociologists are percentages, means, modes, and medians. A percentage shows the portion of 100. Use of percentages allows us to compare groups of different sizes. For example, if we were comparing contributors to a town’s Baptist and Roman Catholic churches, the absolute numbers of contributors from each group could be misleading if there were many more Baptists than Catholics living in the town. However, percentages would give us a more meaningful comparison, showing the proportion of persons in each group who contribute to churches. The mean, or average, is a number calculated by adding a series of values and then dividing by the number of values. For example, to find the mean of the numbers 5, 19, and 27, we add them together for a total of 51. We then divide by the number of values (3), and discover that the mean is 17. The mode is the single most common value in a series of scores. Suppose we are looking at the following scores on a 10-point quiz: 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 The mode—the most frequent score on the quiz—is 7. While the mode is easier to identify than other summary measures, it tells sociologists little about all the other values. Therefore, we use it much less frequently in this book than we do the mean and median. The median is the midpoint, or number that divides a series of values into two groups of equal numbers of values. For the quiz discussed above, the median, or central value, is 8. The mean would be 86 (the sum of all scores) divided by 11 (the total number of scores), or 7.8. According to the Census Bureau, the U.S. median family income for the year 2012 was $51,017; this indicates that half of all families had incomes above $51,017, while the other half had lower incomes. In many respects, the median is the most characteristic value. Although it may not reflect the full range of scores, it does approximate the value in a set of scores. Also, it is not affected by extreme scores. Some of these statistics may seem confusing at first. But think about how difficult it is to study an endless list of numbers in order to identify a pattern or central tendency. Percentages, means, modes, and medians are essential time savers in sociological research and analysis. TOPICS FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AND CLASSROOM DISCUSSION 1. Ask students to provide an operational definition of an abstract notion, such as the influence of poverty on crime. Students can also provide a hypothesis statement concerning the nature of any relationship. 2. Ask students to bring a mail-back survey (from a product recently purchased) into class, and have students discuss what the researchers may be trying to measure or ascertain from the survey. 3. Ask students to examine a mail-back survey form for any indications of misleading, double-barreled, or biased questions, and discuss how the questions could be revised to avoid these problems. 4. Ask students to replicate a small-scale study similar to that of Erving Goffman in which students explore newspapers and magazines for evidence of women being portrayed as subservient to men. Discuss the impact of such research on social policy. 5. Ask students to discuss why policy makers and corporations may intentionally refute some research findings revealed by sociologists, or attempt to cover up research findings. REEL TALK Super Size Me (IDP Distribution, 2004, 96m). For 30 days, Morgan Spurlock ate only at McDonald’s three times a day. The film documents the drastic effects this had on his physical and mental health. It also shows how the fast-food industry encourages poor nutrition for its own profit. Director: Morgan Spurlock. Topic: Sociological research. Chapter 3 Culture LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Define the term culture. 2. Describe the various cultural universals. 3. Discuss globalization and diffusion. 4. Define sociobiology, and discuss how social scientists view it. 5. Discuss the various elements of culture. 6. Discuss the various cultural variations. 7. Define ethnocentrism. 8. Define and discuss cultural relativism. CHAPTER SUMMARY Culture is the totality of our shared language, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. We construct culture through which we establish relationships to the natural world and to each other. Society consists of the structure of relationships within which culture is created and shared through regularized patterns of social interaction. How we structure society constrains the kind of culture we construct. Cultural preferences vary across societies. Cultural universals are common practices and beliefs shared by all societies. Some common cultural universals include athletic sports, division of labor, folklore, funeral ceremonies, marriage, and sexual restrictions. Expressions of cultural universals vary from one society to another and can change dramatically over time. Sociobiology is the systematic study of how biology affects human behavior, and looks at cultural universals from a biological perspective. Innovation is the process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture. Discovery involves making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality. Invention results when existing cultural items are combined into a form that did not exist before. With globalization, more and more cultural expressions and practices are crossing national borders through a process known as diffusion. This process often comes at a cost, and has led to the cultural domination of developing nations by more affluent nations. Culture consists of both material and nonmaterial elements. Material culture refers to our physical modification of the natural environment to suit our purposes. Technology is a form of culture in which humans modify the natural environment to meet particular wants and needs, and includes everything from computers to spoons. Sometimes technological change outstrips our capacity to interpret and understand the impact of such changes. Cultural lag refers to the period of adjustment when the nonmaterial culture is struggling to adapt to new conditions of the material culture. Our mental and symbolic representations of reality are known as cognitive culture, which includes customs, beliefs, and patterns of communication. The foundation of a common culture is the system of shared symbols known as language. This includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and nonverbal communication—gestures, facial expressions and other visual images. Different languages express reality in different ways. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that the language a person uses shapes his or her perception of reality and therefore his or her thoughts and actions. Values are collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper—or bad, undesirable, and improper—in a culture. Values may be specific or they may be more general. The values of a culture may change, but most remain relatively stable during any one person’s lifetime. Normative culture consists of the ways we establish, abide by, and enforce principles of conduct. Norms are the established standards of behavior maintained by a society. Norms are classified as either formal or informal. Formal norms generally are written down and specify strict punishments for violators. Laws are formal norms enforced by the state. By contrast, informal norms are generally understood but not precisely recorded. Norms are also classified into mores and folkways. Mores are norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society. Societies demand obedience to their mores. Folkways are norms governing everyday behavior; their violation raises relatively little concern. Acceptance of norms is subject to change as the political, economic, and social conditions of a culture are transformed. Sanctions are penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm. The dominant ideology of a culture is the set of cultural beliefs and practices that legitimates existing powerful social, economic, and political interests. It helps to explain and justify who gets what and why in a way that supports and maintains the status quo. Great diversity exists among the world’s many cultures. Even within a single nation, certain segments of the populace develop cultural patterns that differ from the patterns of the dominant society. These are known as subcultures. An argot is a specialized language used by members of a group or subculture. Some subcultures, called countercultures, deliberately oppose certain aspects of the larger culture. Culture shock occurs when a person feels disoriented or uncertain due to experiencing cultural practices different from his or her own. Ethnocentrism refers to the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life are superior to all others. Viewing people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture is referred to as cultural relativism. It places priority on understanding other cultures, rather than dismissing them as strange or exotic. RESOURCE INTEGRATOR Focus Questions Resources 1. What is culture? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: culture, society 2. What are the processes through which culture changes? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: cultural universal, sociobiology, innovation, discovery, invention, diffusion 3. What are the various elements of culture? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: material culture, cognitive culture, normative culture, technology, culture lag, language, Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, nonverbal communication, value, norm, formal norm, laws, informal norm, mores, folkways, sanction 4. How does culture vary within and across societies? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: dominant ideology, subculture, argot, counterculture, culture shock, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism LECTURE OUTLINE I. Culture and Society • Culture consists of the totality of our shared language, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. • Culture shapes our perception, knowledge, and understanding of the external world. • Society consists of the structure of relationships within which culture is created and shared through regularized patterns of social interaction. • How we structure society constrains the kind of culture we construct. • Cultural preferences vary across societies. II. Creating Culture A. Cultural Universals • Common practices and beliefs shared by all societies. • George Murdock’s list includes athletic sports, dancing, funeral ceremonies, housing, marriage, sexual restrictions, and trade. • Expression of cultural universals varies from society to society, and can change dramatically over time. • Sociobiology is the systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior. Looks at cultural universals from a biological perspective. • Sociobiologists argue that our genes and our biological makeup must be taken into account when explaining our thoughts and actions as a species. • Some sociologists question biological explanations for social behavior because they have been used in the past to justify inequality—claims that were later revealed to be scientifically untrue. B. Innovation • Process of introducing new ideas or objects to a culture. Interests sociologists because it can have ripple effects across a society. • Forms of innovation include discovery and invention. • Discovery involves making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality. Example: Sighting of a new moon of Saturn. • Invention results when existing cultural items are combined into a form that did not exist before. Examples: Automobile, Protestantism, democracy. C. Diffusion • Cultural innovation can be highly globalized in today’s world. Example: Starbucks in China. • More and more cultural expressions and practices are crossing national borders and influencing the traditions and customs of the societies exposed to them. • Diffusion refers to the process by which some aspect of culture spreads from group to group or society to society. • Through the mass media, the Internet, immigration, and tourism, we regularly confront the people, beliefs, practices, and artifacts of other cultures. • Globalization has led to the cultural domination of developing nations by more affluent nations. Western popular culture represents a threat to native cultures. III. Elements of Culture • To better understand how culture operates, it can be categorized into three primary types: material, cognitive, and normative. • Material culture refers to our physical modification of the natural environment to suit our purposes.. • Cognitive culture refers to our mental and symbolic representations of reality. • Normative culture consists of the ways we establish, abide by, and enforce principles of conduct. A. Material Culture • Includes clothes, books, housing, roads, lights, cell phones, and other modifications of the natural world. • Technology is a form of material culture in which humans modify the natural environment to meet particular wants and needs. • Material culture is sociologically important because of the role it plays in connecting individuals with each other and to the external environment. • Advances in technology have linked more individuals in a global network than was ever possible in the past. • Technological change can outstrip our capacity to interpret and understand the impact of such changes. Ogburn introduced the term cultural lag to refer to the period of adjustment when the nonmaterial culture is struggling to adapt to new conditions of the material culture. B. Cognitive Culture • Cognitive culture consists of our mental and symbolic representations of reality. • It is the part of culture that includes values, beliefs, knowledge, and all other representations constructed to make sense of the world around us. 1. Language • A system of shared symbols; includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and nonverbal gestures and expressions. • Language is nonmaterial culture’s most basic building block. • Analysis of culture gives us insight into cultures. Example: the Slave Indians of northern Canada, who live in a frigid climate, have 14 terms to describe ice. • Different languages express reality in different ways. a. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis • Suggests that language shapes the reality of a culture. The language a person uses shapes his or her perception of reality and therefore his or her thoughts and actions. • Language is culturally determined and encourages a distinctive interpretation of reality by focusing our attention on certain phenomena. Example: Color distinctions. • Feminists have noted that gender-related language can reflect the traditional acceptance of men and women in certain occupations. Examples: Mailman vs. letter carrier, policeman vs. police officer, fireman vs. firefighter. • Language can also transmit stereotypes related to race. Example: Dictionary definitions of words such as “black” and “white.” • Language can shape how we see, taste, smell, feel, and hear. It also influences the way we think about the people, ideas, and objects around us. b. Nonverbal Communication • Using gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate. • Varies from culture to culture. Example: The meaning of the “thumbs-up” symbol in the U.S. vs. Australia and Iraq. 2. Values • Collective conceptions about what is considered good, desirable, and proper—or bad, undesirable, and improper—in a culture. • May be specific—such as honoring one’s parents and owning a home—or more general—such as health, love, and democracy. • All members of a society do not uniformly share its values. • Values of a culture may change, but most remain relatively stable during any one person’s lifetime. • Recently sociologists have made extensive efforts to compare values in different nations. C. Normative Culture 1. Types of Norms • Norms are established standards of behavior maintained by a society. • Formal norms are generally written down and specify strict punishments for violators. • Laws are formal norms enforced by the state. • Informal norms are generally understood but not precisely recorded. Examples: How to ride on an elevator, how to behave in a college classroom. • Norms are also classified by their relative importance to society. • Mores are norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society. Each society demands obedience to its mores; violations can lead to severe penalties. Example: Prohibition of murder, treason, and child abuse. • Folkways are norms governing everyday behavior. They help shape daily behavior. Their violation causes relatively little concern. Example: Fashion. • In many societies around the world, folkways reinforce patterns of male dominance. Example: Gender hierarchies in traditional Buddhist areas of Southeast Asia. 2. Breaking Norms • People do not follow norms in all situations. Weak norms will often be ignored. Example: Teenage drinking. • Behavior that appears to violate society’s collective norms may represent adherence to the norms of a particular group. • Norms may be violated due to norm conflict. Example: Intervening if you suspect domestic abuse is occurring supports the norm of assisting a victim of violence while violating the norm of minding your own business. • Any norm has exceptions. Example: We tolerate killing in self-defense and reward killing in warfare. • Acceptance of norms is subject to change as the political, economic, and social conditions of a culture are transformed. Example: Norms in Iraq about physical contact with strangers changed after the war that began in 2003 increased the need for security screenings. 3. Sanctions • Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm. • Include negative and positive responses; purpose is to influence future behavior. • Most of the time we police ourselves, having internalized society’s norms. IV. Cultural Variation • Despite cultural universals, great diversity exists among the world’s many cultures. Even within a single nation, certain segments of the populace develop cultural patterns that differ from the patterns of the dominant society. A. Dominant Ideology • While culture helps to unify and provide meaning, it also serves the interests of some individuals and groups to the detriment of others. • Culture can function to maintain the privileges of certain groups by establishing a dominant ideology, a set of cultural beliefs and practices that legitimates existing powerful social, economic, and political interests. • The dominant ideology helps to explain and justify who gets what and why in a way that supports and maintains the status quo. • In Karl Marx’s view, a capitalist society has a dominant ideology that serves the interests of the ruling class. • A society’s most powerful groups and institutions control wealth and property. Armed with a dominant ideology, they can also shape beliefs about reality through religion, education, and the media, and thus influence what we come to accept as true. Example: If society’s most important institutions send the message that women should be subservient to men, this dominant ideology will help to control and subordinate women. • One limitation of dominant ideology thesis is that it is difficult to identify a single, all-inclusive “core culture” in the United States. B. Aspects of Cultural Variation • To more fully understand cultural variation, sociologists pay particular attention to differences that exist both within and between societies. Example: Inuit tribes compared to Southeast Asian rice farmers. • Cultures adapt to meet specific sets of circumstances, such as climate, level of technology, population, and geography. Thus, despite the presence of cultural universals, great diversity exists among the world’s many cultures. • Even within a single nation, certain segments of the populace develop cultural patterns that differ from the patterns of the dominant society. 1. Subcultures • Segments of society that share distinctive patterns of mores, folkways, and values that differ from the pattern of the larger society. Example: Employees at international call centers in India established by multinational corporations. • Members of a subculture participate in the dominant culture while at the same time engaging in unique and distinctive forms of behavior. • Subcultures may develop a specialized language or argot. Examples: New York City sanitation workers, text-messaging abbreviations. 2. Countercultures • Subcultures that conspicuously and deliberately oppose certain aspects of the larger culture. Examples: Hippies of the 1960s, terrorists. 3. Culture Shock • Feelings of disorientation, uncertainty, and even fear that people experience when they encounter unfamiliar cultural practices. Example: Residents of the United States who visit certain areas in Cambodia may be stunned to be served rat meat. • Reveals both the power and the taken-for-granted nature of culture. C. Attitudes Toward Cultural Variation 1. Ethnocentrism • Refers to the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent what is normal or are superior to all others. Example: A Westerner looking down on India’s Hindu religion and culture, which view the cow as sacred. • Ethnocentrism contributes to a sense of solidarity by promoting group pride, but ethnocentric value judgments can serve to devalue groups and deny equal opportunities. 2. Cultural Relativism • Viewing people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture. • Places priority on understanding other cultures, rather than dismissing them as “strange” or “exotic.” • Requires a serious and unbiased effort to evaluate norms, values, and customs in light of their distinctive culture. KEY TERMS Argot Specialized language used by members of a group or subculture. Cognitive culture Our mental and symbolic representations of reality. Counterculture A subculture that deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture. Cultural relativism The viewing of people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture. Cultural universal A common practice or belief shared by all societies. Culture Everything humans create in establishing our relationships to nature and with each other. Cultural lag A period of adjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions. Culture shock The feelings of disorientation, uncertainty, and even fear that people experience when they encounter unfamiliar cultural practices. Diffusion The process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society. Discovery The process of making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality. Dominant ideology A set of cultural beliefs and practices that legitimates existing powerful social, economic, and political interests. Ethnocentrism The tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent what is normal or are superior to all others. Folkways Norms governing everyday social behavior, whose violation raises comparatively little concern. Formal norm A norm that generally has been written down and that specifies strict punishments for violators. Informal norm A norm that is generally understood but not precisely recorded. Innovation The process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture through discovery or invention. Invention The combination of existing cultural items into a form that did not exist before. Language A system of shared symbols; it includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and nonverbal gestures and expressions. Laws Formal norms enforced by the state. Material culture Our physical modification of the natural environment to suit our purposes. Mores Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society. Normative culture The ways we establish, abide by, and enforce principles of conduct. Nonverbal communication The use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate. Norm An established standard of behavior maintained by a society. Sanction A penalty or reward for conduct concerning a social norm. Sapir-Whorf hypothesis The idea that the language a person uses shapes his or her perception of reality and therefore his or her thoughts and actions. Society The structure of relationships within which culture is created and shared through regularized patterns of social interaction. Sociobiology The systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior. Subculture A segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society. Technology A form of culture in which humans modify the natural environment to meet particular wants and needs. Value A collective conception of what is considered good, desirable, and proper—or bad, undesirable, and improper—in a culture. ADDITIONAL LECTURE IDEAS 3-1: Biological Influences on Human Behavior Sociobiology, a perspective that seeks to explain human behavior by looking to genetic and biological factors, is experiencing a resurgence in sociology. Though still extremely controversial, in recent years articles written from the perspective of sociobiology have been published in prestigious, mainstream sociology journals. The sociologist responsible for a substantial proportion of this new work, Satoshi Kanazawa, has argued that much of human behavior is driven by reproductive concerns. Men, according to Kanazawa, have an inborn drive to father as many children as possible, while women have an inborn drive to couple with men who will be able to support their children. For contemporary humans, these drives translate into men who seek out beautiful women—beauty being an outward indicator of reproductive potential, and women who seek out wealthy men—wealth being an outward indicator of a man’s ability to support children (Kanazawa 2001). Kanazawa has examined a wide variety of contemporary social patterns, and has argued that all can be traced to these reproductive drives. Lecturing on Kanazawa’s work is sure to provoke heated discussion about the ultimate sources of human behavior, and about whether or not Kanazawa’s strain of sociobiology contains sexist overtones. In one article, Kanazawa uses the sociobiology perspective to explain variation in contemporary world marriage patterns. In some contemporary societies, monogamy is the ideal form of marriage; in others, polygamy is favored. Moreover, polygamy tends to be present in societies that have a great deal of wealth inequality. Kanazawa argues that patterns of wealth inequality, coupled with the reproductive drives of men and women, can explain why societies “pick” one form of marriage over the other. In societies that have a great deal of wealth inequality, women are better able to fulfill their reproductive drives by marrying in the polygamous fashion, to a wealthy man. A rich husband shared with other women can still support a woman’s children better than a poor, monogamous husband can. By the same logic, in a society without much wealth inequality, a woman can better guarantee support for her children if she has sole access to her husband’s resources, through a monogamous marriage (Kanazawa and Still 1999). In another examination of human behavior, Kanazawa attempts to explain why people bother to participate voluntarily in social movements and other forms of collective behavior, when they could instead get a free ride on the work of others. The reason, he contends, is that participating in collective action gives young, poor men a chance to show off their potential for future wealth accumulation to women. According to Kanazawa, at the time in human history when basic human drives were established, most human communities were polygynous ones in which older men were able to dominate access to women. Younger men were largely shut out of the competition for women, because they had fewer years in which to accumulate resources. The kinds of public displays that are common to collective action are a way in which men who are poor in resources can show women that they at least have the capacity to acquire wealth, thereby making themselves more attractive to women. Likewise, women will want to participate in collective action, since it gives them a chance to evaluate the wealth potential of such men (Kanazawa 2001). In another study, Kanazawa ponders the fact that—whatever their professional fields—highly productive male “geniuses” tend to see a sharp decline in productivity as they age, while female “geniuses” do not. He argues that in modern societies, work productivity is a key way that men can compete for women, who interpret professional success as an indication of men’s ability to support their children. Once men marry and have no further need to compete for women, productivity declines rapidly. Empirically, genius productivity tends to decline at an age when most men would marry. But men who never marry see no such decline in their productivity (Kanazawa 2003; Wade 2003). Kanazawa argues through an analogous logic the reason why crime among men also declines with age. Men who commit crimes do so shortly after going through puberty, at a time they begin to compete for women. Their crime rates fall at an age when they are likely to have begun having children with a woman. At this point, men decline to compete for additional women altogether, in order to minimize their chances of dying a young, violent death. Death at a young age would prevent them from being able to support their children, thus putting those children at risk for death themselves (Kanazawa and Still 2000). Sources used for this essay include: Satoshi Kanazawa, “De Gustibus Est Disputandum,” Social Forces 79 (March 2001): 1,131–1,161; Satoshi Kanazawa, “Why Productivity Fades with Age: The Crime-Genius Connection,” Journal of Research in Personality 37 (August 2003): 257–272; Satoshi Kanazawa and Mary C. Still, “Why Monogamy?” Social Forces 78 (September 1999): 25–50; Satoshi Kanazawa, “Why Men Commit Crimes (and Why They Desist),” Sociological Theory 18 (November 2000): 434–447; Nicholas Wade, “Prime Numbers: What Science and Crime Have in Common,” New York Times (July 27, 2003). 3-2: Conversational Distance According to anthropologist Edward Hall, Americans and northern Europeans have invisible “bubbles” surrounding themselves. These bubbles are actually cultural standards for appropriate distances between us and those with whom we communicate. Using a framework employed by sociologists associated with the interactionist perspective, Hall suggests that we operate in four distance zones: • Intimate distance: up to 18 inches. That is the distance for making love, wrestling, comforting, or protecting. It can also be an area of confrontation, as in “Get your face out of mine!” This distance is not considered proper in public situations unless people are in a crowded environment, such as an elevator. • Personal distance: 18 inches to 4 feet. This is the conventional distance generally used with friends and acquaintances. • Social distance: 4 feet to 7 feet. Within this distance, we conduct impersonal business, such as purchasing products or interviewing strangers. • Public distance: 12 feet or more. This is viewed as the proper distance for public occasions. It will be used to separate a speaker from an audience or a famous person from admiring fans. It is important to note that these distances, while considered appropriate in American and northern European cultures, are not universal. Southern Europeans, Arabs, and Latin Americans stand closer together when conversing and are more likely to touch one another and maintain eye contact. These differences underscore the extent to which folkways (like mores) represent culturally learned patterns of behavior. If you were visiting another country and someone asked the correct time, while standing only 15 inches away, you would be vividly reminded that not all peoples share American folkways. See Edward T. Hall. The Hidden Dimension. New York: Doubleday, 1966.) 3-3: Reading Culture in National Geographic National Geographic has introduced many students and adults to cultures dramatically different from those prevalent in the United States. Anthropologist Catherine A. Lutz and sociologist Jane L. Collins did a content analysis of about 600 photographs of non-Western peoples appearing in this monthly magazine from 1950 to 1986, examining them for race, gender, privilege, progress, and modernity. The researchers found an ethnocentric view of other societies. In more than half the pictures analyzed, non-Westerners are shown in indigenous dress, and nearly one-fifth of the photographs of non-Westerners feature people engaged in ritual. The subjects of the photographs often acknowledge and turn to the camera, and many of them are shown smiling. Until the late 1970s, photographs virtually eliminated the ill, the poor, the pockmarked, the deformed, or the hungry. By contrast, few pictures show violent encounters. When the subject is violence—the Korean War, for example—photographs treat the country as an interesting backdrop and the Koreans as people needing American help. In general, Lutz and Collins write that the National Geographic image tells us that the Third World is a safe place, that there is neither much poverty nor greater wealth, that the people who are hungry and oppressed have meaningful lives, and that the violence we hear of in the news occurs in a broader context of enduring values and everyday activities. Lutz and Collins argue that photographs of naked Black women—what they say is the center of the magazine’s photography of the non-Western world—conform to Western myths about Black women’s sexuality; namely, that a lack of modesty places Black women closer to nature. They say that with some recent exceptions, none of the hundreds of women whose breasts were photographed was white-skinned. In summary, the researchers found the people of the Third World were portrayed as exotic and idealized. For example, the Indian woman is often dressed not in an everyday sari, but in a gold-embroidered one festooned with jewelry. Readers of the National Geographic are not introduced to typical members of the Third World. See Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins. Reading National Geographic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. See also Liz McMillen, “A New Book Examines How National Geographic Shaped Americans’ Views of the World,” Chronicle of Higher Education (October 6, 1993): A10, A13, Jack Nusan Porter, “America’s Explorer,” The Boston Review (January–February 1996): 8. 3-4: Hostages to Tourism In developing nations, culture sometimes functions as a commodity; it is exhibited as a source of income in a way that can be exploitative. The revenue generated hardly offsets the country’s economic woes and is rarely received by the people most affected by (and displayed for) tourism. This is certainly true of the Paduang women of Burma. The Paduang are a tribe of about 7,000 members who live on the high plateaus of eastern Burma. Their appearance is remarkable to outsiders and tourists. Beginning at about five years of age, Paduang girls have coils of brass put around their necks by tribal spiritual doctors. These spirals are added sporadically, until each woman has 21 to 25 coils around her neck by the age of marriage. The spiral of coils may cumulatively reach 1 foot in height and weigh 20 pounds. It appears that the Paduang women have stretched necks, but the actual effect of the coils is to push down the collarbones and rib cage, distort the chest, and slope the shoulders. Over time, the Paduang custom of brass coils has faded, but it has not disappeared entirely. It certainly never fully disappeared from Burmese government tourist agency advertisements, which frequently featured photographs of Paduang women. Nevertheless, few tourists actually saw these women, since they live in a rather remote area of Burma. The case of the Paduang is far from unique. Closer to home, one can question the practice of tourism on Native American reservations in the United States. The trading of alleged Native American crafts and artwork often involves misrepresentations of the artist, who may not actually be a tribal member. Moreover, the growth of casino gambling on or near reservations does not necessarily benefit tribal members. Not all tourists are comfortable with what some regard as exploitation of local cultures. A modest growth industry has begun, known as ecotourism, through which travelers pursue adventure in a way intended to be sensitive to the local culture without being harmful to the environment. However, skeptics insist that, in most instances, ecotourism “is little more than a buzzword used to market the same old trips under the veneer of green” (Frank and Bowermaster, 1994: 136). Sources used for this essay include: Peter Frank and Jon Bowermaster, “Can Ecotourism Save the Planet?” Condé Nast Traveler (December 1994), 134–137; Edith T. Mirante, “Hostages to Tourism,” Cultural Survival Quarterly 14 (No. 1, 1990): 35–38. For pictorial examples see National Geographic (June 1979 and July 1995). TOPICS FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AND CLASSROOM DISCUSSION 1. Ask students to read Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange (or watch Stanley Kubrick’s movie version), and discuss the importance of language sharing to culture in relation to the text. 2. Ask students to research the origins of ceremonial rituals associated with customary celebrations such as weddings, holidays, and funerals, and discuss how cultural beliefs influence social norms. 3. Ask students to compare the number of American households with Internet access to those households without Internet access, and discuss the consequences of cultural lag for some members of our society. 4. Ask students to identify the various ways that the Iraq War has changed or reinforced our value system in America. Discuss how values are susceptible to change over time. 5. Ask students to compare a number of foreign corporations that have influenced American culture with a number of United States corporations that have influenced culture and social life in foreign nations. Discuss the relevance of ethnocentrism to these issues. REEL TALK Persepolis (France 3 Cinéma, 2007, 96m). When the protagonist, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi, is a child, she and her family witness a long-time dream being fulfilled as the Shah of Iran is toppled in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However, as Marji grows up, she also witnesses the journey into tyranny that Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, takes post-revolution. Marji’s parents send their outspoken daughter abroad to Vienna to study and for the chance at a better life. Marji finds this change to be equally challenging, as she faces culture shock as an outsider in a different land. When she returns home, Marji discovers that the culture of her homeland has changed as well, and she must continue searching to find where she truly belongs. Directors: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud. Topic: Cultural Variation. Instructor Manual for SOC Sociology 2020 Jon Witt 9781260075311, 9781260726787, 9780077443191