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Sociological Imagination Research Paper

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The promise of sociology
Sociologists look at how other people influence your behavior; how the government, religion and the economy affect you and how you yourself affect others. Sociology matters because it illuminates your life. Sociology is characterized by a special skill called the sociological imagination.
The sociological imagination was introduced by C. Wright Mills in 1959. Mills defined sociological imagination as the awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past. Sociological imagination is the ability to view one’s own society as an outsider would, rather than only from the perspective of personal experiences and culture biases. Also, it allows us to go beyond personal experience and observations to understand broader public issues. But, sociology thinking focuses on the structure and organization of society and how this relates to social problems and individuals lives .In looking to explain poverty, …show more content…

He feels that the distinguishment of this two is an essential tool of the sociological imagination. Personal troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relations with others, they have to do with his self and with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware. While public issues transcend the individual. An issue is a public matter when some value cherished by public is felt to be threatened. Take an employment for example: one can become unemployment because some factors on individual level lack of skills, low self-esteem, personal decision, etc. It’s a personal problem if only one person being unemployed among millions of individuals within nation. But it can be a public issue if let’s say 25% of a nations population is being

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