Ch 3: Henslin; The Promise

In this chapter I read about sociological imagination and how it is used in daily life. Wright Mills defines sociological imagination as, “The awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society.” In other words, thinking of asking and answering sociological questions. The situations people are in shape what they do in the long run. Sociology is just that looking at the bigger picture. Sure there’s many things that contribute to one single outcome but that’s where sociological imagination starts. Lets say one was robbed as the were walking down the street. To have the imagination you would ask yourself questions. Questions like, why were you walking in the first place, would the person have been less likely to be robbed in a better neighborhood, or of different ethnicity. Questions like so to get your mind wondering well what if. In having those what ifs, you now answer them. Whether or not the answer yes or no you have completely gone into the state of mind being sociological imagination. I really liked this chapter and in showing how a real sociologists thinks and reacts to new information.