1.1 Chapter Learning Objectives and Overview
Learning Objectives
- Describe concepts central to sociology, such as society, sociological perspective, structure, institutions, agency, and the sociological imagination.
- Describe how diversity informs one’s sociological perspective through the study of human differences that exist within systems of privilege and oppression.
- Employ macro- and micro-level analysis to understand the role of structure, agency, and institutions in society.
- Explain why it is worthwhile to study sociology.
- Identify ways sociology is applied in the real world.
Overview
“Let’er buck!”
If you’ve ever attended the Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, Oregon (figure 1.1), or participated in other rodeos, you’ve heard this catchphrase, first used in 1910 to kick off “a frontier exhibition of picturesque pastimes, Indian and military spectacles, cowboy racing and bronco busting” (Pendleton Round-Up N.d.). For many people living in the West, Oregonians in particular, rodeos are part of their history and hold a vital role in their communities.
You might wonder why a sociologist would be interested in studying rodeos. Rodeos, like many other activities, provide an opportunity to learn more about human behavior. Sociologists see events like the Round-Up as a way to learn more about history, culture, interactions between groups, and interactions between people within social structures. To study the sport of rodeo, we look past some of the physical activity to focus on the patterns of participation and exclusion, as well as to explore the connections between the event and other social phenomena.
On the surface level, we see that the Pendleton Round-Up provides entertainment, displays athleticism, and builds community. However, if we step back to examine the layers and levels of social interactions that occur there, we can uncover more about how and why groups of people behave as they do in particular situations. The Pendleton Round-up was founded in 1910 by the town’s professionals and businessmen to provide entertainment centered on the community’s roots in the Wild West (Willingham 2021). The Round-Up includes Native Americans by inviting the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and tribal members throughout the Northwest to participate in the event (figure 1.2, figure 1.3). This event may appear to serve as entertainment that centers around the history and culture of the Wild West but it also serves additional functions. The week of Round-Up and the days leading up to it are important for the community’s economy. The event brings in tourism that supports local artisans, restaurants, and other businesses. For some, that week’s worth of commerce helps cover less lucrative periods. By examining the Pendleton Round-Up through a sociological perspective, we can start to see how an activity such as a rodeo has implications for race, economic systems, and public health. We will revisit this analysis in greater depth later in this chapter.
At times it may seem as though sociologists (and your professor) are speaking in some sort of code: Structure? Agency? Social institutions? Our specialized language reflects key concepts and ideas commonly used in the discipline of sociology. This chapter will help introduce you to these concepts and ignite your sociological imagination, a topic we’ll discuss in the next section. Sociologists seek opportunities to learn more about social life by using social scientific approaches to study everyday interactions and broader patterns in society. In this chapter, you will explore what sociology is and how the sociological perspective can be applied in everyday life. We will return to the Round-Up example as a tool to examine representations of diversity and understand more about the interconnections between social institutions. Finally, you will explore why it’s useful to study sociology and the discipline’s real-world applications.
Key Terms
- Diversity: the presence of differences, including psychological, physical, and social differences, that occur among individuals.
- Macro-level analysis/macrosociology: the study of trends among and between institutions and societies. Macrosociology emphasizes the influence of structures, institutions, and systems.
- Micro-level analysis/microsociology: the study of small groups and individual interactions. Microsociology emphasizes context, meaning-making, and interactions.
- Oppression: a combination of prejudice and institutional power that creates a system that regularly and severely discriminates against some groups and benefits other groups.
- Privilege: something of value members of one group have that members of another group do not, simply because they belong to a group. The privilege may be either an unearned advantage or an unearned entitlement.
- Social facts: the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and cultural rules that govern social life. These practices exist outside of us as individuals; instead, these rules act to constrain our behavior.
- Social institutions: mechanisms or patterns of social order focused on meeting social needs, such as government, the economy, education, family, healthcare, and religion.
- Society: a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, interact with one another, and share a common culture.
- Sociological imagination: an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions
- Structure/social structure: the complex and stable framework of society that influences all individuals or groups through the relationship between institutions (e.g., economy, politics, religion) and social practices (e.g., behaviors, norms, and values). These patterned arrangements both limit and create opportunities for some individuals.
Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Learning Objectives and Overview
Open Content, Original
“Chapter Learning Objectives and Overview” by Jennifer Puentes is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Open Content, Shared Previously
Figure 1.1. “Pendleton Round-Up (Pendleton, Oregon)” by Visitor7 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Figure 1.2. “Indian War Dancers at the ‘Round-Up,’ Pendleton, Ore., 1911.” by Marcell is in the Public Domain. Courtesy of Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division.
Figure 1.3. “Westward Ho! Parade Indians” by John Bromley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
the scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups and mass culture; also, the systematic study of human society and interactions.
a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, interact with one another, and share a common culture.
a lens that allows you to view society and social structures through multiple perspectives simultaneously.
freewill or the ability to make independent decisions. As sociologists, we understand that the choices we have available to us are often limited by larger structural constraints.
an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions.
the presence of differences, including psychological, physical, and social differences that occur among individuals.
something of value members of one group have that members of another group do not, simply because they belong to a group. The privilege may be either an unearned advantage or an unearned entitlement.
a combination of prejudice and institutional power that creates a system that regularly and severely discriminates against some groups and benefits other groups.
a category of identity that ascribes social, cultural, and political meaning and consequence to physical characteristics.
mechanisms or patterns of social order focused on meeting social needs, such as government, the economy, education, family, healthcare, and religion.