1. Introduction
Goal: understand human behavior within societal contexts and interactions
Ultimate Question:
- How societal structure and processes influence individual behaviors, belief and identities, or vice versa
Keep in mind:
- Sociology is just a term, refer to the ability to see the relationship between individual and larger societal influence
- Complete objectivity is difficult. Personal biases, norms, and cultural context influence interpretation
- View: structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism
- Macro and Micro perspective
Learning order: from Micro to Macro
- individual level
- small group level
- organizational level
- community level
- Societal global level
2. Individual
Self and identity
- Self: reflection about their unique identity
- Always develop during childhood and refined through experience
- Identity: pertain to larger group, gender, racial, occupation
Socialization
- Individual learn and internalize the norms/values/behaviors of their society or group
- Key agents: family, school, peers, media, religion
Behavioral Psychology
- Behaviorism theory: all behavior are learned through interactions with the environment
- Cognitive process: how perception, memories and decision making pathways influence actions
- Motivation: internal or external drive that spur an individual to action
Interpersonal Relationship
- Dyads: two member： 二人群体
- Attachment styles: 亲密关系中的依恋类型：安全型、回避型、矛盾型
- Communication pattern: verbal and non-verbal
- Social Exchange Theory: rewards and costs
3. Small Group Level
Group Dynamics
- Role: in a group, individual often assume specific role
- Cohesion: cohesive groups are more unified, but extremely cohesive may become isolated
- Group decision making
- Group conflict
Social Influence and conformity:
- Conformity: 顺从，在认为群体是错误的情况下仍然顺从群体，主要受Peer影响
- Obedience: 服从，在权威命令下改变自己的行为
- Peer Pressure：Individual get encouraged to follow peer
- Bystander effect: in a group, individuals are less likely to offer help
Social Networks
- Social networks are mode up of nodes and ties
- Centrality: the most influential nodes within a network
- Cliques and clusters: 小团体
- Bridge tie: individual act as bridge can access diverse information and resources
- Social Capital: benefit from social relationship
4. Organizational Level
More complex system, company level
Formal and informal
- Formal: official, documented structure
- Informal: unofficial, friendship
- Balance: informal can support and undermine formal one
Bureaucracy
- Model: by Weber, the most efficient and rational form
- Efficiency: can handle large-scale task
- Potential challenge: become overly rigid, lead to innovation and flexibility stiffed
Culture and behavior
- Own set of shared belief
- Values
- Behavior
Technology
- Impact: flatten traditional hierarchies by improving the flow of information
- Remote work and globalization
- Automatization and AI
- Digital communication
5. Community Level
In this scale, it’s more like macro-scale within sociology. Towns, cities, etc
Social Capital
- Refer to networks of relationship among individuals
- Bonds and bridge, social capital can be broken down into
- Bonding
- Bridging
- Benefit: lead to lower crime rate, better public health
Community building development
- Formation: based on something in common
- Evolution: external (tech, econ etc) or internal (leader, demographic)
- Decline/Resilience
Urban and Rural Sociology
- Urban dynamics: examine social structure and uniqueness
- Urban planning, community organization, crime, mental health
- Gentrification: lower-income experience an influx of upper-income resident, lead to increased rent etc problem
- Rural dynamics: agricultural practices, community structures, modernization
- Urbanization: rural area transform into urban areas
6. Society and Global level
Birds-eye view of how societies function, change and interact
Society Structure
- Def: refer to organized sets of social relationship. Institution are stable cluster of value, norm, and customs, roles..
- Key institution
- Family: nuclear family, extended families
- Education: social mobility, social norm
- Religion: shaping moral, social norm
- Economy: capitalism, socialism
- Political system: structure of governments, political behaviors
Social stratification 分层
- Def: classification of people into groups, based on socio-economic conditions
- Dimensions
- Income/wealth
- Status/Power
- Effects: influence everything from life expectancy to educational attainment
Social change and movements
- Social change: refer to significant shifts in society norms, values
- Movement: collective efforts by large groups