The Real World FIFTH EDITION The Real World An Introduction to Sociology FIFTH EDITION Kerry Ferris | Jill Stein n W. W. NORTON NEW YORK • LONDON 214504_00_i-xxxiv,1_r1_ma.indd 3 27/11/15 5:39 PM W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when William Warder Norton and Mary D. Herter Norton first published lectures delivered at the People’s Institute, the adult education division of New York City’s Cooper Union. The firm soon expanded its program beyond the Institute, publishing books by celebrated academics from America and abroad. By midcentury, the two major pillars of Norton’s publishing pro- gram—trade books and college texts—were firmly established. In the 1950s, the Norton family transferred control of the company to its employees, and today—with a staff of four hundred and a comparable number of trade, college, and professional titles published each year—W. W. Norton & Company stands as the largest and oldest publishing house owned wholly by its employees. Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2008 by Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein All rights reserved Printed in Canada Editor: Sasha Levitt Project Editor: Rachel Mayer Editorial Assistant: Mary Williams Manuscript Editor: Jackie Estrada Managing Editor, College: Marian Johnson Managing Editor, College Digital Media: Kim Yi Production Manager: Eric Pier-Hocking Media Editor: Eileen Connell Media Project Editor: Danielle Belfiore Media Editorial Assistant: Grace Tuttle Marketing Manager, Sociology: Julia Hall Design Director: Rubina Yeh Photo Editor: Ted Szczepanski Permissions Manager: Megan Jackson Permissions Clearer: Bethany Salminen Composition: Jouve Illustrations: Alex Eben Meyer Manufacturing: Transcontinental Interglobe, Inc. Permission to use copyrighted material begins on C-1. ISBN: 978-0-393-26430-2 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110-0017 wwnorton.com W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 About the Authors KERRY FERRIS is Associate Professor of Sociology at Northern Illinois Univer- sity. She uses ethnographic methods and a symbolic interactionist approach to study celebrity as a system of social power. Her past studies have included analyses of f an- celebrity relations, celebrity sightings, celebrity stalking, r ed- carpet celebrity inter- views, and the work lives of professional celebrity impersonators. Her current project examines s mall- market television newscasters in the American Midwest and their experiences of celebrity on a local level. Her work has been published in Symbolic Interaction, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, The Journal of Popular Culture, and Text & Performance Quarterly. She is the co- author, with Scott R. Harris, of Star- gazing: Celebrity, Fame, and Social Interaction. JILL STEIN is Professor of Sociology at Santa Barbara City College, which was recently named the top community college in the United States by the Aspen Institute. She teaches Introduction to Sociology in both face-to-face and online formats every semester. In addition, she is involved in many student- success initiatives at the local and state levels. Her research examines narrative processes in twelve- step programs, the role of popular culture in higher learning, and group culture among professional rock musicians. Her work has been published in Symbolic Interaction, Youth & Society, and TRAILS (Teaching Resources and Innovations Library). v Contents PREFACE xxiii PART I: Thinking Sociologically and Doing Sociology 3 CHAPTER 1: Sociology and the Real World 6 How to Read This Chapter 9 Practical vs. Scientific Knowledge 9 What Is Sociology? 9 The Sociological Perspective 10 Beginner’s Mind 10 DATA WORKSHOP: Analyzing Everyday Life: Doing Nothing 10 Culture Shock 11 IN RELATIONSHIPS: It’s Official: Men Talk More than Women 12 The Sociological Imagination 13 ON THE JOB: Famous Sociology Majors 14 Levels of Analysis: Micro- and Macrosociology 14 IN THE FUTURE: C. Wright Mills and the Sociological Imagination 17 Sociology’s Family Tree 18 Sociology’s Roots 18 Macrosociological Theory 20 Structural Functionalism 20 Conflict Theory 23 Weberian Theory 26 Microsociological Theory 27 Symbolic Interactionism 27 vii GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: Eurocentrism and Sociological Theory 28 DATA WORKSHOP: Analyzing Media and Pop Culture: Theories of Celebrity Gossip 31 New Theoretical Approaches 33 Postmodern Theory 33 Midrange Theory 34 Closing Comments 34 CHAPTER 2: Studying Social Life: Sociological Research Methods 38 How to Read This Chapter 41 An Overview of Research Methods 41 The Scientific Approach 41 Which Method to Use? 43 Ethnography/Participant Observation 44 Advantages and Disadvantages 46 DATA WORKSHOP: Analyzing Everyday Life: Watching People Talk 47 Interviews 48 Advantages and Disadvantages 49 Surveys 49 IN THE FUTURE: Action Research 50 Advantages and Disadvantages 52 DATA WORKSHOP: Analyzing Media and Pop Culture: Media Usage Patterns 53 Existing Sources 53 Advantages and Disadvantages 55 Experimental Methods 55 Advantages and Disadvantages 56 IN RELATIONSHIPS: Social Networking Sites as Sources of Data 57 Issues in Sociological Research 57 Nonacademic Uses of Research Methods 58 Values, Objectivity, and Reactivity 58 viii CONTENTS ON THE JOB: Commercial Ethnography 59 Research Ethics 61 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: The Nuremberg Code and Research Ethics 62 Closing Comments 63 PART II: Framing Social Life 67 CHAPTER 3: Culture 70 How to Read This Chapter 73 What Is Culture? 73 How Has Culture Been Studied? 73 Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism 73 IN THE FUTURE: Otaku Culture and the Globalization of Niche Interests 75 Components of Culture 76 Material Culture 76 Symbolic Culture 77 Values, Norms, and Sanctions 79 DATA WORKSHOP: Analyzing Everyday Life: Seeing Culture in Religious Services 81 Variations in Culture 82 Dominant Culture 82 Subcultures and Countercultures 83 IN RELATIONSHIPS: Individual Values vs. University Culture 84 Culture Wars 85 Ideal vs. Real Culture 85 DATA WORKSHOP: Analyzing Media and Pop Culture: How the Image Shapes the Need 85 Cultural Change 86 Technological Change 86 ON THE JOB: The Sharing Economy and Unlikely Cultural Ambassadors 87 Cultural Diffusion and Cultural Leveling 88 CONTENTS ix