Explain the difference between a “common sense” and a “sociological” view of human behaviour, giving relevant examples.
Sociology is a social science that enables people to understand the structure and dynamics of society. By using a scientific approach, and by critically analysing society using qualitative and quantitative methods, sociologists can find patterns and connections within human behaviour to provide explanations of how society affects people. Sociological views are based on theories that have been tested through unbiased research and attempt to take all values into account. Common sense theories are generally individualistic and naturalistic assumptions that are based on opinions than can vary depending on an individuals class or cultural background. During this essay I will aim to provide examples of the differences between the sociological viewpoint, and the common sense viewpoint of human behaviour, using theories of some renowned sociologists.
In 1959, American sociologist Charles Wright Mills wrote his influential book 'The Sociological Imagination'. In the book, Mills proposed that possibly the most assistive part of his sociological imagination theory was differentiating problems within society between 'personal troubles of the milieux' and 'public issues of social structure'. In his view, 'personal troubles' were individualistic and where 'an individual's character and with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware'. By contrast, his thoughts on 'public issues' were that they were more general problems, out with the scope of an individual, and would affect more than just one person. He used the example of unemployment to explain his sociological viewpoint further. H...
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... thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.” I think this quote fits in with this essay perfectly, as sociologically you can teach something that has been examined scientifically to someone who has no knowledge of the subject, but trying to explain the same thing to someone who has prior knowledge, or common-sense, is not always so simple.
MacDonald, M. 2011. Access Sociology: The Sociology Perspective handout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/mar/25/voters-cuts-coalition-poll ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,014 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 23-24 March 2011. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.
Tolstoy, Leo. In The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894),
Sociology cannot be clearly explained as there are many different theories and theorists; so far none of them have been defined as a correct answer. Although with all this information of theories and theorists sociology is relatively explained as agreed philosophies that delivers a reason for human society. Sociological theories are like most other theories, they are selective, and there is no quantity of theory to explain everything or define the infinite amount of information that exist or comprehend the methods of observing reality. Sociological theories vary and can be linked to each other according to various criteria. The two main perspectives of sociology are the micro sociological approach and the macro sociological approach. The micro sociological approach is based more on the persons being capable of their own independent thoughts feelings and behaviour; therefor society is built through their interactions amongst each other and the significances they attach to them. This approach is defined using Social Action Theory and Symbolic Interactionism. The Macro Sociological approach is on a much bigger scale and consists of a person being born into a current society which will then shape their behaviour. It centres on the organisations, values and the culture of that particular society and how it impacts an individual and their role in life. This approach is made clearer using Functionalism, Feminist and Conflict Theories.
In order to understand the production of sociological knowledge one must first examine the thought processes that lay behind each piece of research. Before a particular subject matter is researched, the researcher firstly makes certain assumptions about that matter. These assumptions differ dependent on the theoretical approach that is taken. They can be divided into three logical areas, namely ontology, epistemology and methodology.
In today’s society, it is easy to spot someone blaming themselves for the occurrence of their personal life problems. For example, a single-mother may blame herself for not being able to support her children well due to a shortage of money and unavailability to find a decent job. Another could be a newly wed couple having daily arguments that may lead to their divorce, or women who are facing difficulties perceiving their housekeeping responsibilities and wanting to become something more than just a homemaker. These various private tensions may seem very personal. These dilemmas are all related to a bigger world called society and this is known as the sociological imagination. Sociological imagination suggests that people look at their own personal troubles as social issues and, in general try to connect their own individual encounters with the workings of society. The personal problems are closely related to societal issues such as unemployment, marriage, war and even the city life where the private troubles and the public issues become clearly apparent. With the understanding of the sociological imagination, I began to notice the daily choices I make, the classes I attend, the way I was raised by my parents, the group of people I choose to hang out with, the things I like to converse about with others are all somehow affected by public issues and what society tends to make us believe is right. There are many areas in my life where I feel that I am greatly affected by various sociological theories such as events dealing with gender and sexuality, family and culture, ethnicity and race, and social class and work.
The Charles Wright Mills’ concept of the Sociological Imagination was a sizeable step forward in the sociological discipline. In this paper, I intend to demonstrate what exactly Mills means of the Sociological Imagination, and how he is able to connect the concept of private troubles and public issues. Additionally, I plan to prove how he is able to link an individual’s private troubles to largely be a product of historical and social forces. To do this, an example will be taken from my own life and then applied to show how something that has seemingly only impacted a single individual to create a private trouble, is actually a result of a larger pushing force in the sociological world. In doing this, I hope to show how a private trouble can exist as a consequence of a larger institutional issue. To round out my
Elder, Linda. “The 18th International Conference on Critical Thinking and Educational Reform.” 18th International Conference on Critical Thinking. 4 Aug. 1998. The Center for Critical Thinking <http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univcomm/conf/conftext.nclk>.
Today in society, people follow these “cultural myths”, which tells us what is and what is not acceptable in life because these morals have been instilled in us since childhood. People created cultural myths as a set of social norms they expected people to follow. In Kenneth A. Gould’s and Tammy L. Lewis’s article, The Sociological Imagination, they talk about society and the way or how it affects us. It examines the relationship between an individual and society. Everything we do and how we do it is affected by society and others around us. Everything that happens with society in turn affects us and those around us. The way we live and we respond to society can have a major impact on the rest of the world.
This is the foundation of the Sociological Imagination Concept. According to C. Wright Mills, sociological imagination is developed when we can place personal problems in a social situation or environment such that they are no longer viewed solely as individual or personal problems, but instead as social problems. That is problems that are shared by enough peop...
“However, to develop our sociological vision we must do just that: We must be willing to look at our own society with cool detachment, careful observation, and scientific analysis. We must examine the groups we live in- our family, our neighbours, our classmates, our nation- as if we had just set foot in a new and strange land.” (Goode, 1977, P. 3) In this essay I intend to demonstrate my understanding of the ‘Sociological Imagination’, as well as critically discuss what C. Wright Mills meant when he spoke about the ‘Sociological Imagination’.
The Sociological Imagination speaks to the understanding of our own actions being a part of a larger historical and social picture. It encourages us to see what influences we have and what influences society has over our own individual lives, whether our decisions are determined by sociological factors and forces or are entirely in our own control. The sociological imagination enables us to see the relationship between history and biography. It helps us to understand the relationship between personal troubles and public issues, and as well as this, it addresses the three profound questions that C. Wright Mills asked. The three videos given, offer a range of successful and unsuccessful insight and explanations about the sociological
Sociological perspective would also benefit the people living in the 21st century to understand that there is an interconnection between the personal lives of individuals and societal forces that contribute to the actions that people do. In this regard, people gain the capacity to understand how the two work separately and where they meet as well as how this interconnection serves to maintain balance in the society (Macionis,
What is sociology and in what way is it different from “common sense” assumptions or “journalistic” argument? Sociology is the systematic study of human behaviour within society, it uses studies and theories to argue perspectives of understandings as to how society is comprised. Once a theory has been made, it is tested in a scientific way to either prove or disprove the theory. The evidence to prove or disprove a theory is collected through planned research methods and sampling techniques.
Theories in sociology sometime provide us with the different perspectives with which to view our social...
A wide range of people all over the world inaccurately come to the conclusion that sociology is merely, ‘the study of the obvious’ and the application of common sense, this statement could not be further from the truth. Common sense derives from statements such as, ‘opposites attract’, however the Sociological sense takes this belief and carries out numerous tests to discover whether it is fact, or fiction.
Numerous sociologists have contributed to research society and social interactions. In other words, society has been studied through how humans interact and shape their environment. There are many developed theories and different approaches for these findings, and sociologists have helped us understand the ways society functions. Amongst their many findings is that we construct reality through our interactions with others. This is also known as the social construction of reality, which is defined as different social behaviors, patterns and rules, influencing the human perception of reality. Social behaviors, like ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, plays a role in human behavior. Understanding, significance, and meaning are developed not
When it comes to comprehending or understanding any concept to why individuals may do some of the things they do, there are social theories out there to help better explain those actions. Sociological theories help to focus more on the aspect of social life, as well as explain behaviors that can be driven by passion, tradition, self-interest, religion, and the laws we have set out today in stone. “Unlike scientific theories, social theories tend to be more evaluative and critical than the theories in the natural sciences” (Appelrouth A. S.; Edles D. L 2012) Today, an analytical frame is used to help guide the comparing and contrasting of the several theoretical perspectives and traditions. In simpler terms, this four way frame is basically used to help compare and contrast theorist better. There are four main cells that make up this analytical frame which include, individual-rational, individual-nonrational, collective-rational, and collective-nonrational. Also included into this basic theoretical orientation or framework, are the core classical theorists. Those influential theorists included into the framework are Mead, who falls into the individual-nonrational side, Durkheim whom falls into the collective-nonrational side, Weber whom falls into the collective-rational side, and Marx who is also included into the collective-rational side.