Sociological imagination is understanding your situation while taking into consideration the broader society. It allows us to see our own society-, and the people within it- from an alternative perspective that of our own personal experiences and cultural biases. It therefore links society and the individual. It provides insight which allows individuals to see their situations in light of a bigger social picture. It leads us to question things that we would otherwise view as normal.
The social concept also social construction of reality (Social constructionism) is considered a theory of knowledge in sociology which evaluates the advancement of mutually created understandings of the world which is a basis for the formation of collective assumptions on reality. The theory affirms the opinion that people rationalize their experience through creating models of their social world and later sharing such models via language. Dating from the work of Berger and Luckmann (1966) different authors have put forth their contribution and ideas on social constructionizm. Berger and Luckmann dispute that all knowledge is gained and maintained from social interactions. Apparently according to the two authors people interact bearing in mind
Stereotypes and uneducated perspectives on race, culture, or regions of the world would then be profoundly reduced. To help broaden this understanding I will briefly talk through the Sociological Perspective. Furthermore, I will explain a few methods sociologists wield such as: survey research, interviews, participant observation, and secondary and/or historical analysis and their dissimilarities. Ordinarily, when a person puts their perspective into words, it’s all about that person’s point of view. Sociology connects common themes and identifies areas of society that might require change.
He was focous on individual and culture he also focus on individual and their action. Methodology Weber was concerned with the question of objectivity and subjectivity. [4] Weber distinguished social action from social behavior, noting that social action must be understood through how individuals subjectively relate to one another. Study of social action through interpretive (Verstehen) must be based upon understanding the subjective meaning and purpose that individuals attach to their actions. Social actions may have easily identifiable and objective means, but much more subjective ends and the understanding of those ends by a scientist is subject to yet another layer of subjective understanding (that of the scientist).He was basically influenced on social research and social theory .
What is sociological imagination? C. Wright Mills defined the sociological imagination as the capacity for individuals to understand the relationship between their individual lives and the broad social forces that influence them. In other words, the sociological imagination helps people link their own individual biographies to the broader forces of social life: "Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both" (Mills 1959). In this assignment. I will use the sociological imagination to analyze a situation which had a huge impact on me, which will be body image and how media and family affect it.
Meaning of sociological imagination The sociologist, C Wright Mills said that the sociological imagination is a perspective on the world that helps us to see the links between society and the individual’s experiences and circumstances. The sociological imagination explains that external influences significally influence the individual’s motivations, way of thinking and social status in society. The sociological imagination attempts to understand human behaviour by placing it within a broader social context, as well as, observing the connections between what appears to be the personal problems of the individual compared to the larger social issues. Personal problem and social issue A personal problem is society is the hardships that negatively affect one individual’s life, for example alcohol
He argued that one of the main tasks of sociology was to transform personal problems into public and political issues or vice versa. To have sociological imagination is to have “vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society" (Mills 2). Overall, sociological imagination is the concept which is based on social locators. As mentioned previously, there is a difficulty to grasp control on class, gender, and race because a person is born into these three categories. In a practical sense, my personal choices are shaped by my social locators.
Individual differences exist between people and it is the cornerstone of modern psychology. It refers to the psychology of the person and the psychological differences between people and their similarities. It is important because people’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world that is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important. One of the major determinants of how and why an individual initiates and sustains certain behaviors is based on the concepts of sensation and perception.
In the context of sociology of knowledge which is the study of relationship between human thought and the social context within which it arises, and of the effects prevailing ideas have on societies. Classification system that is applied once in our culture that gave the impacts on the sociology of knowledge. What is it to be
“They are able who think they are able.” Virgil The concept of self-efficacy is an important construct in social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986). The theory holds that self-referent thought mediates between knowledge and action, and consequently individuals evaluate their own experiences and thought processes through self-reflection. The process of self-reflection includes a focus on our beliefs about self, which in turn includes an evaluation of the extent to which we exercise control over our self. It is an evaluation of our control over our beliefs, values, attitudes, environment and behavior (Bandura, 1977, 1997). The focus on self in the sense of personal agency can be regarded as perceived self-efficacy (Bandura 1977, 1997) In social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), people are seen as self organizing, proactive and self-regulating, rather than reactive and governed by external events.