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Sociology and the Social science

Sociology (from Latin: socius, "companion"; and the suffix -ology, "the study of", from Greek λόγος, lógos, "knowledge") is the scientific or systematic study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture. Like other scientific disciplines, sociology engages in organized, systematic study of phenomena (in this case, human behavior) in order to enhance understanding. All scientists, whether studying mushrooms or murderers, attempt to collect precise information through methods of study which are as objective as possible. They rely on careful recording of observations and accumulation of data. Social science is the study of various aspects of human society. The social sciences include sociology, anthropology, economics, history, psychology, and political science.

Прагм вопросы:

1 Please explain how Durkheim’s study of suicide and D. Snow’s study of homelessness reflected both a sociological and a scientific approach to their topics

In Suicide (1897), Durkheim explores the differing suicide rates among Protestants and Catholics, arguing that stronger social control among Catholics results in lower suicide rates. According to Durkheim, Catholic society has normal levels of integration while Protestant society has low levels. Overall, Durkheim treated suicide as a social fact, explaining variations in its rate on a macro level, considering society-scale phenomena such as lack of connections between people (group attachment) and lack of regulations of behavior, rather than individuals' feelings and motivations

Snow's research constitutes one of the most original and groundbreaking bodies of work in the discipline. While it addresses a number of discrete theoretical and empirical problems, it has the common goal of creating general conceptual tools to comprehend the dynamics of everyday social interaction. Snow’s influence is particularly deep in two areas of the discipline: social movements and social inequality.

Perhaps Snow’s single greatest scholarly achievement is the creation of the “framing perspective” on social movements, which focuses on the negotiable and emergent meanings of social-movement issues, tactics, and participants. Snow’s approach is more social psychological and agency-centered than competing perspectives. The framing perspective focuses attention on the signifying work or meaning construction engaged in by movement adherents (e.g., leaders, activists, and rank-and-file participants) and other actors (e.g., adversaries, institutional elites, media, counter movements) relevant to the interests of movements and the challenges they mount in pursuit of those interests. Snow's work problematizes the meanings associated with relevant events, activities, places, and actors, suggesting that those meanings are typically contestable and negotiable and thus open to debate and differential interpretation. From this vantage point, mobilizing grievances are seen neither as naturally occurring sentiments nor as arising automatically from specifiable material conditions, but as the result of interactively-based interpretation or signifying work.

Snow’s research on social inequality focuses on the social psychology of extreme poverty and homelessness. In his best-known work in this area, Down on Their Luck (University of California Press 1993, Portuguese translation 1998), Snow and co-author (and former student) Leon Anderson examine the everyday challenges faced by homeless men and women, using data from hundreds of hours of interviews, participant observation, and social service agencies. On this unique and expansive empirical base, Snow and Anderson reveal who the homeless are, how they live, and why they have ended up on the streets. They debunk several popular myths of the homeless with their portrayal of adaptive, resourceful, and pragmatic men and women. Among the book’s many honors, Down on Their Luck earned a place on a list of the best ethnographies published between 1950 and 2000 by the journal Contemporary Sociology.