How can a sociological imagination

help you better understand your

world?
Why do social contexts matter?
Where did sociology come from, and
how is it different from the other
social sciences?

How can this book help you develop a
sociological imagination?
C. Wright Mills
Sociological
imagination
Helps us to ask hard
questions and seek
answers about the
social worlds we
inhabit
The sociologist C. Wright Mills on
his motorcycle in a famous photo.
Sociological Imagination
Looking through a Sociological Lens
Sociological imagination
Challenges our basic
impulses to see aspects
of life as inevitable or
natural
Provides insight into
stereotyping and active
discrimination
Facilitates more active
and effective
participation in the world
around us


Engaging Our Sociological Imaginations
Learning to ask good questions
The ability to ask hard questions instead of
accepting easily available answers is the
hallmark of sociological imagination.

How are these sociological questions formed?
Lets look at some examples.
Forming Sociological Questions
What types of questions are sociologists
particularly well equipped to explore?

Lets look at four:
How do students lives before college shape their
experiences in college?
How do the social organizations of college life shape
students; experiences?
Does the experience of college benefit everyone
equally?
How are students college paths shaped by the larger
labor markets awaiting students upon graduation?
The Endless Reach of the Sociological Imagination
Exposure to violence is
another topic explored
by sociologists.

Living in a high-crime
neighborhood increases
stress levels and is
harmful to children in
many ways.
See Sharkeys
research findings
later in the chapter.
What about exposure
to violence?
How Do Our Families Shape Our Social Development?
How Do Our Families Shape Our Social Development?
How Do Our Communities Shape Our Social Development?
How Do the Organizations and Institutions We Are a Part
of Help Us Form Our Identities?
How Do the Organizations and Institutions We Are a Part
of Help Us Form Our Identities?
Would it be the same today as then?
1910 African American male in South
1940s child from Detroit working-class family
1950s woman entering adulthood

Sociology as the Study of Social Contexts
S
o
c
i
o
l
o
g
y

Involves study of the diverse
contexts within which society
influences individuals
Distinguishes between social
interaction and social structure
Sociologys Historical Context
Comte (1798-
1859)
Coined term
sociology
Veblen
(1857-1929)
Commons
(1862-1945)
Economics
and
sociology
Smith (1723-
1790)
Marx (1818-
1883)
Philosophy
and
economic
relations
Durkheim
(1858-1917)
Father or
sociology
First
European
Sociology
Department
and major
European
journal of
sociology
University of
Chicago
First U.S.
Sociology
Department
Great Thinkers and Schools
Sociologys Historical Context
Industrialization
Growth of factories and large-
scale goods production
New technologies and
innovations
Immense social changes
Different approaches needed
Urbanization
Growth of cities in late
nineteenth century in U.S.,
Europe, and elsewhere
Shift from agriculture to
manufacturing
Problems were markedly
different
New type of political challenge,
including social movements
Sociologys Family: Siblings
How is Sociology Different?
How we see a community or social
setting is shaped by what vantage
point we use. Viewed from space,
social life doesnt appear very
different, but the closer we get the
greater the differences we can see.
Different levels
Different units of analysis
Wider range of connections than
other social sciences

Do you know ways in which
sociology differs from other social
sciences?

Sociologys Children