• Very broad social science
• Scientific study of the connection between the individual and social structure
• Examines underlying patterns in human behavior and our relationships with one another
• Sociologists are alwas biased, but that also helps get a better understanding of things - balance

• Made up of regularities we encounter daily; multiple structural aspects coupled with individual differences

• Term coined by C. Wright Mills (1959), which tries to encourage people to approach a picture to see what structures might be influencing it; basically to be open-minded and to think sociologically

• How are things that we take to be natural socially constructed?
• How is social order possible?
• Does the individual matter?
• How are the times in which we live different from the times that came before?

• People often see their own way of thinking and doing as natural
• What people see as natural, sociologists see as created by human beings
• What people think and do are products of culture and history
• We created race, gender, society, etc. so that it worked for us

• Sociology doesn't take order for granted - it asks why and how people conform to rules or behave in patterned ways
• Explanations focus on interests, socialization, values and beliefs
• Society's tendency toward order is most apparent when order is disrupted

• To what extent is an individual's life determined by social forces?
• Sociological explanations are probabilistic
• Individuals have the capacity to deviate from patterns, to go against the odds
• The individual does matter but still is a part of a group

How are the times in which we live different from the times that came before?

• Social life is dynamic
• Understanding the present rests on understanding the past
• History is very important to sociology; a huge factor in social theory and must be considered

• Sociologists increasingly see how globalizaion affects social life, even at the local level
• A global perspective helps us understand the multiples ways we are connected
• A global perspective makes for better comparisons

Example: marraige means different things to different people. In America, love is considered romantic. In some other countries such as Japan, marraige is based on practicality.

• Sociology was born in Europe
• When social order is disrupted, people start thinking about it
• First theories called "Grand Theory" - wanted it to work for everything and all aspects of life
• Sociology is rooted in questions about social change, social conflicts, and social problems