SOCI 1101H: Introduction to Sociology: Unit 1: Sociological Foundations

We'll explore rationalization and the transition from traditional to modern society. We'll also discuss bureaucracy, legitimacy, and social stratification in the modern state. Finally, we'll see why Weber was so worried about the modern world.

A part of the series Understanding Sociology.
This multi-section program addresses classical social theory, examining the origins of sociology through the efforts of Marx and Comte to build a holistic science of society; positivism, through a case study of students using surveys to do research on education; interpretivism, through a parallel case study in which students use interviews to carry out their research; and realism, comparing it to classical, positivist, and interpretivist approaches. The video also draws upon a case study of suicide to illustrate how positivist and interpretivist approaches lead researchers to ask very different questions about this key sociological topic.

Marx's ideas have shaped our world. From the Soviet Revolution of 1917 to the present day, a third of the worlds population have come to live in societies claiming inspiration from the ideas of Karl Marx.

This program is geared to students just starting out in sociology and sets out to make the subject more accessible by illustrating what's meant by a sociological problem, culture, socialization and identity. It looks at how societies not only shape how we behave but also how we see the world and takes apart the age old accusation that sociology is just ‘common sense.’

The Stanford Prison Experiment, one of the most famous and compelling psychological studies of all time, told us a tantalizingly simple story about human nature. A new exposé published by Medium based on previously unpublished recordings of Philip Zimbardo, the Stanford psychologist who ran the study, and interviews with his participants, offers convincing evidence that the guards in the experiment were coached to be cruel.

Social science experiments on a few individuals from similar backgrounds can give rise to strategies for coping with social problems, ranging from intergroup conflict to women’s inequality in the workplace. How does research on such narrow groups contribute to broad social understanding and insight?

Understanding surveys is critical to being an informed citizen, but popular media often report surveys without any guidance on how to interpret and evaluate the results. Some basic guidelines can promote more sophisticated readings of survey results and help teach when to trust the polls.

From the Encyclopedia of Religion.

Hypothesizing the end of functional society by reading Durkheim and watching “The Walking Dead,” three scholars consider how low social integration and low moral regulation shape suicide risk at the group level.

From the Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature.

From the Encyclopedia of Religion.

C. Wright Mills’ famous essay, “The Sociological Imagination,” is the most frequently assigned reading in sociology syllabi in the United States today. However, the author of this article began to be concerned that Mills’ essay can seem dated to many. Here, the author stays true to Mills’ original ideas but updates some language and examples.