Sociological Toolkit for Social Analysis

1. Tiffany Buchanan

2. SO·CI·OL·O·GY
NOUN ˌSŌ-SĒ-ˌÄ-LƏ-JĒ, ˌSŌ-SHĒ-

3. What is Sociology?
• the science of society, social institutions, and of
the fundamental laws of social relationships;
specifically: the systematic study of the
development, structure, interaction, functioning
and collective behavior of organized groups of
human beings.
“Only a few are concerned with the theoretical interpretation
of the world, but everybody lives in a world of some sort”
(Berger and Luckmann, 1967, p. 15).

4. “Socialization” is the Transmitter of Culture
o From beginning (birth) to end (death), human beings
go through a process of having their core personal
identity, sense of self and understanding of the world
shaped.
o This is the process of socialization.
o It is the process of disseminating directly and
indirectly norms, cultural customs and ideologies.

5. Socialization
o Socialization influences and shapes how we come to
understand our society and the world around us
primarily because it teaches us how to
think, perceive, understand and be what our culture tell
us we are.
o Infants are born without culture. ALL human beings must
be taught how to do, live and recreate culture; this is
transferred through the process of socialization.
For example: we learn how to do gender, how to do
race, how to do religion, etc.

6. Socialization
The social world is made of patterns of activity that co-
create and re-create the social world; this is the social
construction of reality (Schwalbe, 2001).
Ex: “this is what everyone does”
“this is just how things are done”
This is the taken-for-granted nature of culture.

7. Human beings are BOTH
social products and social forces.
“Your ideas about who and what you are
come from the social world in which you
were raised” (Schwalbe, 2001, p. 8).

8. Types of Socialization
Primary Secondary
Childhood cultural Throughout life as one
induction into family and encounters new groups
society by immediate outside of core family unit
caregivers; both direct and one is taught appropriate
indirect. behaviors for acceptance
into specific smaller
groups, i.e. new job, clubs.

9. Socialization expanded
What are some of the socializing institutions?
• Family
• Religious Organizations
• Media
• Schools
“The reality of everyday life is shared with others”
(Berger and Luckmann, 1967).

10. (5) Characteristics to the Process of
Socialization:
• Pervasive
• Consistent
• Self-perpetuating
• Invisible
• Reflexive (Circular)

11. Sociological Imagination
A mindset or lens for “doing” sociology, stressing
micro and macro connections between individual
experiences (micro) and societal relationships
(macro).
“The sociological imagination, I remind you, in
considerable part consists of the capacity to shift
from one perspective to another, and in the process
to build up an adequate view of a total society and
its components” (C Wright Mills, 1959, p. 211).

13. Sociological Imagination
“Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a
society can be understood without understanding
both” (C Wright Mills, 1959, p. 6).
“The sociological imagination enables us to grasp
history and biography and the relations between
the two within society. That is its task and its
promise. To recognize this task and this promise is
the mark of the classic social analyst” (1959, p. 6).

14. Sociological Imagination
(3) Components:
1. History –how did society come to be?
2. Biography –what is the story of the people of
this society?
3. Social Structure –how does the taken-for-
granted institutional order
operate and fit together?

15. Sociological Imagination Premise
o To connect individual experiences with societal
experiences through our shared co-created
history, biography and social structure is taking on
the lens of sociological imagination.
o This according to C Wright Mills is “doing” sociology.
Micro
Micro
Macro

16. Sociological Imagination
Core Questions:
1. What is the structure of this particular society as
a whole?
2. Where does this society stand in human history?
3. What varieties of women and men now prevail
in this society and in this period?

17. Social Location
“Knowledge must always be knowledge from a
certain position” (Berger and Luckmann, 1967).
“If we are mindful, we will realize that our
knowledge is always limited, that others know
what the world looks like from where they
stand, and that we cannot claim to have a
monopoly on the truth” (Schwalbe, 2001).

19. Social Location
Social location is where we are socially located
in society and the lens we use to define, explain
and understand the world we live in.
To be “objective” is to acknowledge this position
and to attempt to transcend it systematically.

20. Class Exercise: Social Location Map
Consider all of the aspects that inform who you are:
• Race • Attitudes
• Family • Interests
• Gender • Passions
• Religion • Responsibilities
• Ethnicity • Beliefs
• Education • Concerns
• Social class • Roles

21. Sociology: A Visual Syllabus
Culture; Socialization; Groups &
Organizations; Media; Deviance &
Control; Inequality; Social Institutions.

22. Sociological Toolkit
Key Terms: Resources:
• Sociology
• Socialization Online Sociology Dictionary
• Reification
• Sociological Imagination The Social Construction of
• Social Location Reality
Key People: The Sociologically Examine
• C Wright Mills Life
• Berger and Luckmann
The Sociological Imagination