Studying Society

Sociology is the study of society and how this influences human behaviour. Sociologists claim that humans are influenced by a range of factors. Sociologists believe that human behaviour is not natural but learned.

Each society has a culture - this is a way of life of a society, culture is made up of many aspects such as religion, law, diet, education, music and fashion.

Culture is not fixed or universal, instead culture changes over time and from place to place. We learn our culture through the process of socialisation.

Primary Socialisation 

the first stages that begin in the family where you learn to walk, talk and basic skills. where basic personality and opinions are made.

Secondary Socialisation

the later stage that invloves education, work , peer groups, media and religion. where further opinions are made, manners are learnt, respect and basic skills such as punctuality.

if someone is not socialised then they may not fit into society, they dont understand the difference between wrong and right and may get into trouble often.

Culture is made up of norms and values. Norms are specific guidlelines to behaviour in a situation e.g being quiet in a library. Values are the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. What a specific culture holds as worthy such as education and family.

Status refers to position or rank within a hierarchy. Status can be ascribed - fixed and given at birth e.g royalty or sex. or status can be achieved, earned through work and effort e.g occupation or qualification.

Stratification refers to how society is unequal and divided into different layers - this is linked to wealth, fame. age and gender.

Social control is social processes to achieve obedience/conformity. Social control can be formal - official and usually written down or informal - not official usually between peer groups or smaller forms of society such as education. 

Social control involves positive sanctions and negative sanctions.Examples of positive formal sanctions are a medal, being knighted or a promotion. Positive informal sanctions include compliments, praise, gifts. housepoints or money. Negative formal sanctions include - inprisonment, community service, being fired or an ASBO. Negative informal sanctions include - shouting, being grounded, naughty step.

Social control can also be through physical force e.g police and army

Social control can be through ideology - manipulating or brainwashing people.

Functionalism

claims that society is based on agreement - consensus. People learn the culture of society through socialisation. they learn an identity and how to behave. All the institutions of society such as education and work work together to maintain order and stability. This is linked to the Organic Analogy

This is where funbctionalists compare society to the human body. Within the body all the organs must work together to maintain life. In the same way each institution of society works with others to maintain order e,g education provides work with skilled workers.

Marxism

is a conflict theory exploring class inequality in the capitalist society. A system of economic production, motivated by profit. The class conflict is between the ruling class and the working class.

The ruling class are powerful because they own the means of production. As they own the MOP the ruling class also control all the institutions e.g education and media -  which they use to benefit themsleves. Keep the rich rich and the poor poor. Social class reproduction.

The ruling class make huge profit but pay small wages - expoitation. The working class are forced to work in order to survive. The only way for the working class to get rid of exploitation is a revolution - the masses will overthrough capitalism and replace it with commuinism.

However, the ruling class can prevent a revolution with ideology - this brainwashes the masses and puts them into flase consciousness - so they do not realise that they are being exploited. The rich will stay rich and the poor poor.

Feminism

This is a conflict theory the explores inequality of the sexes. They also explore patriarchy  - male dominance. Patriarchy exists in  many areas of society e.g in the home, sex objects and men get more pay. Males control the institutions of society and use this to maintain patriarchy.

There are two main types of feminism: Liberal and Radical. Liberal feminism claims that society is patriarchal but things have become more equal. Females today have bigger aspirations than they used to - they are not content with just being a housewife they want to be financially independant.

Radical Feminists believe men dominate and control woman through gender socialisation, physical violence and sexual aggression. 

This is a debate about the following:

Nature refers to aspects of people that are fixed and determined by genes e.g eye colour. skin colour, sex. However nurture refers to behaviour that is learnt through socialisatione.g manners, language, culture and customs.

The nature Vs Nurture debate can be explained by looking at sex and gender. Sex is biological and fixed at birth. Males and females have different reproductive organs. Gender is not fixed at birth but instead is learnt throug socialisation e.g masculine and feminine. Boys learn to be masculine through their fathers, the media, stereotypes and toys. e,g action man, cars and guns. Girls learn to be feminine through their mothers, dolls, toy kitchens etc. 

Sociologists use a range of methods to gain data/evidence. These methods include, surveys, experiments etc. Each Method has its own strengths and weaknesses. Sociologists can gain primary data - data in which they collect first hand themselves.They can also use secondary data - this is data taht already exists e.g newspaper artciles or official stats. 

Qualitative Data is valid - it gives a true picture of what is being studied, this is detailed and in depth information with words. Ant-Positivists believe sociology should not be scince because human beings are different from simple objects. Quantitative data is numerical and from this it is easy to spot patterns and trends. Positivists believe sociology should be a science.

Consent - this means getting informed permission from the person being researched for example they are aware of what the research is about and they agree with it. A good way to gain consent is by obtaining sighned documents and if the respondant is under 18 parental consent should be obtained.

Confidentiality - this means ensuring the identity of those being interviwed remains private or anonymous if they so wish. The publisher must not give names and addresses. To overcome this they can publish a fake name or number.

Sensitivity - Many issues may be sensitive e.g desabilities, domestic violence and body image. A researcher must insure they don't cause further stress to the respondent. The researcher must be non-judgemental and respectful.

Harm - the researcher must avoid physical harm e.g when observing criminals/ violent gangs. Mental harms must also be avoided e.g stress

Guilty Knowledge - this is when the researcher discovers that someone is in danger e.g a child may disclose that they are being abused or an adult may say that they are involved in a crime. The researcher then has a moral to support the issue e.g to protect the child.

Before carrying out the research the sociologist may do a pilot study - this is carried out before the main research to ensure the method works and is able to obtain relevent data e.g are the questions easily understood? or does the research cause any harm - ethical issue. Makle sure questions are not ambiguous. A pilot study is normally carried out witha small sample.

Official Statistics (quantitative) - usually created by offical agencies e.g the government or police. Advantages include: cheap, spot patterns and trends, they are reliable, representative as the sample is large. Disadvantages include: may not be accurate as some statistics may be result of bias.They do not provide in depth valid reasons, anmd often there is no way of checking whether they were collected properly.

Interviews - Fomral, structured asks the interviewee the same questions in the same order. Advantages include: data is easy to compare and spot trends, easy to complete, can be used with a large sample which is representative. Disadvantages Include: data is not detailed and in depth, the respondant is limited and cannot explain their answers, the interviewee may lie.

Informal Interviews (unstructured) - these interviews contain open ended questions (qualitative data) This is more of a relaxed conversation with no set list of questions. They can explore feelings and opinions ie: in depth valid data. The interviewer tries to gain a rapport - a feeling of trust with the interviwee. Advatages: allows for detailed data which is more valid, the interviwer can explain any misunderstood questions, the interviewee can give their own answers. Disadvantages: time consuming, costly.

Structured Questionaires - usually contain a list of pre-set closed questions, the respondant fills out the questionaire either under supervision, in private, online or by post. Advantages include: data is quantitative so analysis is easier, it is easier to complete, can obtain large samples so data is representative, if done in private answers may be more honest and valid. Disadvantages include data is not in depth and detailed, respondants can not expand anwers, postal questionaires can be costly and get lost in the post.

Unstructured Questionaires - favoured by anti - positivists, these use open questions to gain qualititative data, they are filled in by the respondant. Advantages: can gain in depth detailed data which is more valid. the respondant is not constrained by closed questions. Disadvantages: time consuming to analyse, costly and people may not bother to complete them.

Observation

Observation can be overt or covert. Observation can be participant where the researcher joins the group and takes part or non participant where they don't join the group.

Advantages: the researcher gains first hand knowledge of the group. With covert observation the group will behave naturally and a true picture will be obtained - valid data. Can obtain detailed data, the group are studied in their normal setting. 

Disadvantages: Covert is unethical because you can't obtain consent, the group is usually small so data is not representative, it is costly and time consuming, with overt observation the hawthorn effect may occur. With covert observation is difficult to record dat, loss of objectivity - when the observer becomes influnced by the group so their views become biased. with covert observation, there is a danger of physical harm e.g if the gang finds out.

Longitudinal Study - this is a study which is carried out over a long period of time (months or years) These studies are useful because changes over time can be seen e.g the influences on a child as it develops. it provides a dtailed view of those being studied. However, weaknesses include: time consuming and expensive. The observer may lose objectivity and the sample may get smaller over time (death rate)

Different Approaches:

Sociological - sociology uses research mathods to gain evidence and develop conclusions, it explores social influences on people. How they learn to behave (socialisation)

Biological - This is a science which studies the human body e.g how the different organs work to maintain life

Psychological - This approach studies the human mind and its influence on behaviour e.g an imbalance in the brain that causes mental illness.

Journalism - Journalists report on a range of social issues e.g crime and unemployment. They want to sell news papers so often exaggerate or sensationalise stories e.g muders