Section: 研究社会生活问题 | 1.1 调查社会生活

Section outline

Objectives
::目标目标目标和目标目标目标目标目标

Describe how sociology is and explain what it means to have a sociological imagination
::描述一下社会学是如何的,并解释拥有社会学想象力意味着什么。

Explain how sociology is similar to and different from other social sciences.
::解释社会学如何与其他社会科学相似和不同。

Describe how the field of sociology developed.
::说明社会学领域的发展情况。

Explain how the three main theoretical perspectives in sociology differ in their focus.
::解释社会学的三个主要理论观点在重点方面有何不同。

Universal Generalizations
::普遍化

Sociology is a science because it uses scientific data to make and draw conclusions.
::社会学是一种科学,因为它利用科学数据作出结论。

Sociology has its place among other Social Sciences, Anthropology, Psychology, Social Psychology, Economics, Political Science, and History.
::社会学在社会科学、人类学、心理学、社会心理学、经济学、政治学和历史等社会科学中占有一席之地。

Guiding Questions
::问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问问

What is sociology and why should it be studied?
::什么是社会学,为什么应该加以研究?

What are the main theories and theorists that make up the field of sociology?
::构成社会学领域的主要理论和理论是什么?

What is the sociological perspective?
::什么是社会学观点?

What does it mean to have a sociological imagination?
::拥有社会学想象力意味着什么?

Introduction to Sociology
::社会学介绍

People walking around a crowded subway station are shown here

Sociologists learn about society as a whole while studying one-to-one and group interactions. (Photo courtesy of Robert S. Donovan/flickr)

::社会学家在学习一对一和群体互动的同时,学习整个社会。 (罗伯特·多诺万/Flickr给Photo的礼仪)

A dictionary defines sociology as the systematic study of society and social interaction. The word “sociology” is derived from the Latin word socius (companion) and the Greek word logos (study of), meaning “the study of companionship.” While this is a starting point for the discipline, sociology is actually much more complex. It uses many different methods to study a wide range of subject matter and to apply these studies to the real world.

::字典将社会学定义为社会学和社会互动的系统研究,“社会学”一词来自拉丁语“socius”(共济)和希腊语的标志(研究),意思是“伴侣研究”。虽然这是学科的起点,但社会学实际上要复杂得多,它使用许多不同的方法研究广泛的主题,并将这些研究应用于现实世界。

Sociologists study all aspects and levels of society. A society is a group of people whose members interact, reside in a definable area, and share a culture. A culture includes the group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs. One sociologist might analyze video of people from different societies as they carry on everyday conversations to study the rules of polite conversation from different world cultures. Another sociologist might interview a representative sample of people to see how texting has changed the way they communicate. Yet another sociologist might study how migration determined the way in which language spread and changed over time. A fourth sociologist might be part of a team developing signs to warn people living thousands of years in the future, and speaking many different languages, to stay away from still-dangerous nuclear waste.
::社会学家研究社会的方方面面和层面。社会学家研究社会的方方面面和层面。社会是一个由其成员互动、居住在可定义地区并共享文化的人群组成的群体。文化包括该群体共同的做法、价值观和信仰。一位社会学家可以分析来自不同社会的人的视频,因为他们在日常对话中学习来自不同世界文化的礼貌对话规则。另一位社会学家可以采访具有代表性的抽样人,看文本如何改变了他们的交流方式。另一位社会学家可以研究移民如何决定语言的传播和随时间变化。第四位社会学家可能加入团队,以形成警告未来数千年的人,并使用多种语言,远离仍然危险的核废料的信号。

Sociology is a relatively new discipline in comparison to chemistry, math, biology, philosophy and other disciplines that trace back thousands of years. Sociology began as an intellectual/philosophical effort by a French man named Auguste Comte (born 1798 and died 1857). He is considered the founder of sociology and coined "Sociology."
::社会学与化学、数学、生物学、哲学和其他学科相比,是一个相对较新的学科,可追溯到数千年的历史。社会学从一个叫Auguste Comte(出生于1798年,死亡于1857年)的法国男子的智力/哲学努力开始,他被认为是社会学的创始人,并创建了“社会学 ” 。

The field of sociology focuses on human social behavior from a group perspective. Students learn about the development of sociology and the three major theoretical perspectives that form the basis of the field today.
::社会学领域从群体角度关注人类的社会行为,学生们了解社会学的发展以及构成当今这个领域基础的三个主要理论观点。

Why did thinkers of the day find a need for a new science of sociology? Societies had change in unprecedented ways and had formed a new collection of social complexities that the world had never witnessed before. Western Europe was transformed by the Industrial Revolution , a technological development of knowledge and manufacturing that began in the late 1600s and continued until the early 1900s. The Industrial Revolution transformed society at every level. Look at Table 1 below to see pre and post-Industrial Revolution social patterns and how different they were.
::当今的思考者为什么发现需要一个新的社会学科学?社会已经以前所未有的方式发生了改变,并形成了新的社会复杂性的集合,而世界以前从未见过这一点。西欧被工业革命所改变,工业革命是知识和制造的技术发展,始于1600年代末,一直持续到1900年代初。工业革命在各个层面改变了社会。看看下面的表1,看看工业革命之前和之后的社会模式,以及它们是如何不同的。

Table 1. Pre-Industrial and Post-Industrial Revolution Social Patterns

Pre-Industrial Revolution	Post-Industrial Revolution
Farm/ Cottage	Factories
Family Work	Breadwinners /Homemakers
Small Towns	Large Cities
Large Families	Small Families
Homogamous Towns	Heterogamous Cities
Lower Standards of Living	Higher Standards of Living
People Died Younger	Peopled died older

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, families lived on smaller farms and every able member of the family did work to support and sustain the family economy. Towns were small and very similar (homogamy) and families were large (more children=more workers). There was a lower standard of living and because of poor sanitation people died earlier.
::在工业革命之前,家庭生活在较小的农场,家庭每个有能力的成员都努力支持和维持家庭经济,城镇规模小,非常相似(homogamy),家庭规模大(更多的儿童是更多的工人),生活水平较低,卫生条件差,因此早些时死亡。

After the Industrial Revolution, farm work was replaced by factory work. Men left their homes and became breadwinners earning money to buy many of the goods that used to be made by hand at home (or bartered for by trading one's own homemade goods with another's). Women became the supervisors of homework. Much was still done by families to develop their own home goods while many women and children also went to the factories to work. Cities became larger and more diverse (heterogamy). Families became smaller (less farm work required fewer children). Eventually, standards of living increased and death rates declined.
::工业革命之后,农活被工厂劳动所取代,男人离开家,挣钱购买许多以前用手工制造的商品(或以自己自制的商品与他人的商品进行交易来交换)成为养家糊口的人,妇女成为家庭作业的督导者,家庭为开发自己的家用商品做了很多工作,许多妇女和儿童也去工厂工作,城市变得更大、更加多样化(异性恋),家庭变得更小(不需要多少孩子从事农业工作),最终生活水平提高,死亡率下降。

These pre and post-industrial changes impacted all of Western civilization because the Industrial Revolution hit all of these countries about the same way: Western Europe, United States, Canada, and later Japan and Australia. The Industrial Revolution brought some rather severe social conditions which included: deplorable city living conditions; crowding; crime; extensive poverty; inadequate water and sewage; early death, frequent accidents, and high illness rates. The new social problems required a new science that was unique from any scientific disciplines of the day. Comte wanted a strong scientific basis for sociology, but because of various distractions he never quite established it. After the Industrial Revolution, farm work was replaced by factory work. Men left their homes and became breadwinners earning money to buy many of the goods that used to be made by hand at home (or bartered for by trading one's own homemade goods with another's). Women became the supervisors of homework. Much was still done by families to develop their own home goods while many women and children also went to the factories to work. Cities became larger and more diverse (heterogamy). Families became smaller (less farm work required fewer children). Eventually, standards of living increased and death rates declined.
::这些工业前和工业后的变化影响到了所有西方文明,因为工业革命以同样的方式打击了所有这些国家:西欧、美国、加拿大以及后来的日本和澳大利亚。工业革命带来了一些相当严重的社会条件,其中包括:城市悲惨的生活条件;拥挤;犯罪;广泛的贫困;水和污水不足;过早死亡、经常发生事故和高发病率。新的社会问题需要从当今任何科学学科中独具特色的新科学。Comte希望社会学有强大的科学基础,但由于他从未建立起过各种分心,因此他从未建立这种基础。工业革命之后,农业工作被工厂的工作所取代。男人离开家,挣钱养家糊口的人挣钱购买许多以前由家里手做的东西(或因自己自制商品与他人交易而易货 ) 妇女成为了家庭主管。许多家庭仍然在开发自己的家用商品,而许多妇女和儿童也去了工厂工作。城市变得更大、更多样化(he加米 ) 家庭变小(不需要农业工作 ) 。最后, 生活水平提高,死亡率下降。

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::http://

What Are Society and Culture?
::什么是社会与文化?

The Sociological Imagination
::社会学想象

Sociology differs from other social sciences in the way it examines all aspects of the social world, from relationships between individuals, to groups, organizations, and large institutions like the family, religion, the economy, nation states, education, science, sports, the arts, and all other aspects of social life. In doing this, it seeks to promote what C. Wright Mills called “the sociological imagination.”
::社会学与其他社会科学的不同之处在于它研究社会世界各个方面的方式,从个人之间的关系,到群体、组织和大型机构,如家庭、宗教、经济、民族国家、教育、科学、体育、艺术以及社会生活的所有其他方面。在这样做的过程中,它寻求促进C. Wright Mills所谓的“社会想象力 ” 。

Although these studies and the methods of carrying them out are different, the sociologists involved in them all have something in common. Each of them looks at society using what pioneer sociologist C. Wright Mills called the sociological imagination, sometimes also referred to as the sociological lens or sociological perspective. Mills defined sociological imagination as how individuals understand their own and others’ pasts in relation to history and social structure (1959).
::尽管这些研究及其实施方法各不相同,但参与这些研究的社会学家都有共同之处。他们每个人都使用先锋社会学家C. Wright Mills(Wright Mills)所说的社会想象来看待社会,有时也称之为社会学视角或社会学视角。 Mills(Mills)将社会想象定义为个人如何理解自己和他人的历史和社会结构(1959年)的过去。

By looking at individuals and societies and how they interact through this lens, sociologists are able to examine what influences behavior, attitudes, and culture. By applying systematic and scientific methods to this process, they try to do so without letting their own biases and pre-conceived ideas influence their conclusions.
::通过审视个人和社会,以及他们如何通过这一视角互动,社会学家们能够研究什么影响行为、态度和文化。通过对这一过程应用系统和科学的方法,他们试图这样做,而不会让自己的偏见和先入为主的想法影响他们的结论。

Most Americans probably agree that we enjoy a great amount of freedom. And yet perhaps we have less freedom than we think, because many of our choices are influenced by our society in ways we do not even realize. Perhaps we are not as distinctively individualistic as we believe we are.
::多数美国人可能同意我们享有大量自由。然而,也许我们的自由比我们想象的要少,因为我们的许多选择都受到我们社会的影响,我们甚至没有意识到。也许我们不像我们所相信的那样具有独特的个性主义。

Yes, Americans have freedom, but our freedom to think and act is constrained at least to some degree by society’s standards and expectations and by the many aspects of our social backgrounds. This is true for the kinds of important beliefs and behaviors just discussed, and it is also true for less important examples. For instance, think back to the last class you attended. How many of the women wore evening gowns? How many of the men wore skirts? Students are “allowed” to dress any way they want in most colleges and universities, but notice how few students, if any, dress in the way just mentioned. They do not dress that way because of the strange looks and even negative reactions they would receive.
::是的,美国人有自由,但我们的思想和行动自由至少在某种程度上受到社会标准和期望以及社会背景许多方面的限制。刚才讨论的重要信仰和行为都是如此,不那么重要的例子也是如此。比如,回想上一个班,有多少妇女穿着晚礼服? 多少男人穿裙子? 大多数大专院校都“允许”学生穿着他们想穿的服装,但注意到有多少学生(如果有的话)穿着刚刚提到的服装。他们之所以不穿,是因为她们会受到奇怪的外观甚至负面的反应。

Think back to the last time you rode in an elevator. Why did you not face the back? Why did you not sit on the floor? Why did you not start singing? Children can do these things and “get away with it,” because they look cute doing so, but adults risk looking odd. Because of that, even though we are “allowed” to act strangely in an elevator, we do not.
::回想上一次你坐电梯的时候,你为什么不面对背面呢?你为什么不坐在地板上?你为什么不开始唱歌?孩子们可以做这些事情,“离开它 ” , 因为他们看起来很可爱,但成年人却有看上去怪异的危险。因此,尽管我们“被允许”在电梯里做奇怪的事情,但我们却没有这样做。

The basic point is that society shapes our attitudes and behavior even if it does not determine them altogether. We still have freedom, but that freedom is limited by society’s expectations. Moreover, our views and behavior depend to some degree on our social location in society—our gender, race, social class, religion, and so forth. Thus society as a whole and our own social backgrounds affect our attitudes and behaviors. Our social backgrounds also affect one other important part of our lives, and that is our —our chances (whether we have a good chance or little chance) of being healthy, wealthy, and well educated and, more generally, of living a good, happy life.
::基本观点是,社会影响着我们的态度和行为,即使社会不完全决定他们的态度和行为。我们依然有自由,但自由受社会期望的限制。此外,我们的观点和行为在某种程度上取决于我们在社会中的社会位置 — — 我们的性别、种族、社会阶级、宗教等等。因此,整个社会和我们自己的社会背景影响着我们的态度和行为。我们的社会背景也影响着我们生活的另一个重要部分,这就是我们健康、富裕、受过良好教育以及更普遍地过上美好、幸福生活的机会(无论我们是否有好机会或几无机会 ) 。

The influence of our in all of these respects is the fundamental understanding that —the scientific study of social behavior and social institutions—aims to present. At the heart of sociology is the , the view that our social backgrounds influence our attitudes, behavior, and life chances. In this regard, we are not just individuals but rather social beings deeply enmeshed in society. Although we all differ from one another in many respects, we share with many other people basic aspects of our social backgrounds, perhaps especially gender, race and ethnicity, and social class. These shared qualities make us more similar to each other than we would otherwise be.
::我们在所有这些方面的影响是基本理解——对社会行为和社会体制的科学研究——目的。社会学的核心是,认为我们的社会背景影响我们的态度、行为和生活机会。在这方面,我们不仅是个人,而是社会上最深层的渗透。尽管我们在许多方面彼此不同,但我们与许多其他人分享我们社会背景的基本方面,特别是性别、种族和族裔以及社会阶层。这些共同的品质使我们彼此更加相似。

Does totally determine our beliefs, behavior, and life chances? No. Individual differences still matter, and disciplines such as psychology are certainly needed for the most complete understanding of human action and beliefs. But if individual differences matter, so do society and the social backgrounds from which we come. Even the most individual attitudes and behaviors, such as the voting decisions discussed earlier, are influenced to some degree by our social backgrounds and, more generally, by the society to which we belong.
::是否完全决定了我们的信仰、行为和生活机会? 不。个人差异仍然重要,心理学等学科对于最全面地理解人类行为和信仰无疑是必要的。但如果个人差异很重要,那么我们所来自的社会和社会背景也是如此。即使是最个人的态度和行为,比如前面讨论的投票决定,也在某种程度上受到我们社会背景的影响,更一般地说来,也受到我们所属社会的影响。

Studying Patterns: How Sociologists View Society
::研究模式:社会学家如何看待社会

All sociologists are interested in the experiences of individuals and how those experiences are shaped by interactions with social groups and society as a whole. To a sociologist, the personal decisions an individual makes do not exist in a vacuum. Cultural patterns and social forces put pressure on people to select one choice over another. Sociologists try to identify these general patterns by examining the behavior of large groups of people living in the same society and experiencing the same societal pressures.
::所有社会学家都关心个人的经历,以及这些经历是如何与社会群体和整个社会互动形成的。对于社会学家来说,个人作出的个人决定并不存在真空中。文化模式和社会力量迫使人们选择一种选择而不是另一种选择。社会学家试图通过研究生活在同一个社会中的众多人群的行为和经历同样的社会压力来辨别这些总体模式。

The recent turmoil in the U.S. housing market and the high rate of foreclosures offer an example of how a sociologist might explore social patterns. Owning a home has long been considered an essential part of the American Dream. People often work for years to save for a down payment on what will be the largest investment they ever make. The monthly mortgage is often a person’s largest budget item. Missing one or more mortgage payments can result in serious consequences. The lender may foreclose on the mortgage and repossess the property. People may lose their homes and may not be able to borrow money in the future. Walking away from the responsibility to pay debts is not a choice most people make easily.
::最近的美国住房市场动荡和高取消赎回权率提供了社会学家如何探索社会模式的例子。拥有住房长期以来一直被认为是美国梦的一个基本部分。人们往往为了节省未来最大投资的首付而工作多年。每月按揭往往是个人最大的预算项目。失去一笔或多笔按揭付款可能导致严重后果。贷款人可能放弃抵押贷款并重新占有财产。人们可能失去家园,将来可能无法借钱。放弃偿债责任并不是人们最容易选择的选择。

About three million homes were repossessed in the United States between 2006 and 2011. Experts predict the number could double by 2013 (Levy and Gop 2011). This is a much higher rate than the historical average. What social factors are contributing to this situation, and where might sociologists find patterns? Do Americans view debt, including mortgages, differently than in the past? What role do unemployment rates play? Might a shift in class structure be an influential factor? What about the way major economic players operate?
::2006年至2011年期间,美国收回了大约300万套房屋。专家们预测,到2013年,这个数字会翻一番(Levy和Gop,2011年)。这比历史平均水平要高得多。造成这种情况的社会因素是什么,社会学家会在哪里找到模式?美国人对债务(包括抵押贷款)的看法是否不同于过去?失业率能起到什么作用?阶级结构的转变是否会成为有影响力的因素?主要经济参与者的运作方式如何?

To answer these questions, sociologists will look beyond individual foreclosures at national trends. They will see that in recent years unemployment has been at record highs. They will observe that many lenders approved subprime mortgages with adjustable rates that started low and ballooned. They may look into whether unemployment and lending practices were different for members of different social classes, races, or genders. By analyzing the impact of these external conditions on individuals’ choices, sociologists can better explain why people make the decisions they do.
::为了回答这些问题,社会学家们将不仅仅关注个人对国家趋势的取消赎回权。他们将看到近年来失业率创历史新高。他们将观察到许多贷款人批准了次级抵押贷款,其可调整利率开始低且膨胀。他们可以研究对于不同社会阶层、种族或性别的成员来说,失业和贷款做法是否不同。通过分析这些外部条件对个人选择的影响,社会学家可以更好地解释为什么人们会做出自己的决定。

A house with a foreclosure sign in front of it.

Risky bank loans, falling housing prices, and high unemployment can result in higher foreclosure rates. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Turner/flickr)
::风险银行贷款、房价下跌和高失业率可能导致更高的取消赎回权率。 (Jeff Turner/Flickr给Photo的礼遇)

Section summary
::章节摘要

Sociology is a social science that looks at human society. Viewing the world from a sociological perspective enables sociologists to see beyond commonly held beliefs to the hidden meanings behind human actions. Social upheaval in Europe during the late 1700s and 1800s encouraged scholars to closely study society. Their work led to the development of the academic discipline of sociology. Sociology employs three major theoretical perspectives—functionalism, which focuses on order and stability; conflict, which focuses on power relations; and interactionism, which focuses on how individuals interact with one another in everyday life. Sociologists use several approaches to conduct research. Regardless of the approaches they use, all sociologists follow a seven-step process.
::社会学是一种社会科学,它着眼于人类社会。从社会学的角度看待世界,使社会学家能够超越常有的信仰,看到人类行动背后的隐含含义。1700年代末和1800年代的欧洲社会动荡鼓励学者密切研究社会。他们的工作导致社会学学术学科的发展。社会学采用三个主要理论观点:注重秩序和稳定的社会学;注重权力关系的冲突;注重个人在日常生活中互动的相互作用。社会学家采用几种方法进行研究。不管他们采用何种方法,所有社会学家都遵循一个七步进程。

Section outline

Introduction to Sociology ::社会学介绍

Table 1. Pre-Industrial and Post-Industrial Revolution Social Patterns

What Are Society and Culture? ::什么是社会与文化?

The Sociological Imagination ::社会学想象

Studying Patterns: How Sociologists View Society ::研究模式:社会学家如何看待社会

Introduction to Sociology
::社会学介绍

What Are Society and Culture?
::什么是社会与文化?

The Sociological Imagination
::社会学想象

Studying Patterns: How Sociologists View Society
::研究模式:社会学家如何看待社会