...Definition of Sociology The subject has been looked from various points of view and now it is an opportune time to define the subject properly. According to P.A. Sorokin “sociology is a generalizing science of socio-cuitural phenomena viewed in their generic forms, types, and manifold interconnections. ” (Bierstedt, 1970. 3-28) Sociology is the scientific study of human society and social behaviour. The subject matter of sociology is huge and complex, and the knowledge produced by sociological research is still imperfect in many ways. However, it has taught us a great deal about ourselves. (RotarTson, 1977 :3) No formal definition of sociology is very satisfactory. Short definitions don’t really define; long definitions are clumsy. Yet a definition of some sort is needed, and sociology is often defined as the scientific study of human social life.. Human beings behave differently from other animals. They have unique forms of group life; they pursue customs, develop institutions, and create values. Sociology applies scientific methods to the study of these phenomena in the research for scientific knowledge. Sociology concentrates its study upon the group life of human beings and the product of their group living. (HurTon and Chester 1984: 25-27) The sociologist is especially interested in the customs, traditions, and values which emerge from group living, and in the way group living is, in turn, affected by these customs, traditions, and values. Sociology is interested in the...
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...Intro to Sociology Chapter 1 https://www.inkling.com/read/seeing-sociology-joan-ferrante-1st/chapter-1/module-1-1 Sociology – Study of human activity in society. More specifically is it the study of the social forces that influence or pressure to behavior and thought, including the things people do with and to one another. The activities sociologists study are age-old and too many to name, but they can include people searching for work, securing food, seeking the attention of another, adorning the body, celebrating, changing residences, listening to songs, traveling, burying the dead, and so on. These activities may involve just one or two people or billions of people. Social forces – Anything human create that influence or pressure people to interact, behave respond or think in certain way. Study sociology to avoid conflict, predict behaviors. Sociology covers different areas (Family, education, migration, population, gender and etc) and aspects of life. Thus the sociological perspective offers useful work that can be applied to work related issue and tasks and career oriented skills. Sociology studies through a global perspective A global perspective assumes that the force of globalization touch virtually every aspect of our daily lives. Globalization – Ever increasing flow or good, services, money, people, technology, information, and other cultural items across national borders. Ultimately globalization is experiences locality. Glocalization – The process by...
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...Sociology Central Teaching Notes Crime and Deviance 1. Basic Concepts Sociology Central www.sociology.org.uk Crime and Deviance Basic Concepts In this section of the course we will be exploring the nature of conformity to - and deviation from social rules in both our own and other societies. In order to do this, we will initially need to understand a number of basic concepts that we can develop. In more detail at a later point. Before we start to do this, however, it might be useful to briefly map-out the various general areas covered by the syllabus. In this respect, we will be looking at a major aspect of deviant behaviour in our society (crime) and the way such behaviour is associated with various social categories such as: Class Age Gender Ethnicity Locality / Region In simple terms, we need to look at the various explanations of crime and deviance that have been produced by sociologists over the past 100 or so years. The concept of power is a very significant one in relation to the way social rules are created and applied and, for this reason, we need to examine this concept as a means of understanding the nature of social conformity and deviance. A significant aspect of (deviant) behaviour is the reaction of others to that behaviour and, in this respect, we will be particularly concerned with an examination of the role of the mass media in the process of Deviancy Amplification. The concern here will be to outline the role of "official" agencies...
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...materials, evaluating them critically, organizing them into an organic whole and explaining the significance and relevance of the organized data in a narrative format. There are distinctions between the method and methodology as method is common to all sciences, independent, underived and definite, whereas methodology is not as it is a view or perspective to look through. Historical method is useful for theoretical and practical purpose as it provide useful and important information towards the solutions of the problem that makes possible to study the development of a particular idea, concept, philosophy or theory. 1.2.2. Methods of Inquiry The historical research has been heavily influenced by the social science research methods of...
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...Emily Delaney Research Paper Sociology Sociological Imagination Bauman states that sociology is “first and foremost, a way of thinking about the human world” (Bauman 1990, p. 8). And all the material for sociological discoveries is made from the ordinary human experiences. “Anything sociology talks about was already there in our lives” (Bauman 1990, p.10). Bauman proves the impossibility to study sociological miracles with complete fairness, as a sociologist at first, part of this ordinary human world. And he also emphasizes the fact that “sociological discourse” is “wide open”. Bauman believes that thinking sociologically would make us more “sensitive” to our lives and the lives of other people to help us understand the different aspects of human experiences in happiness, sadness, desire, disappointments, misery etc. This essay is an attempt to understand what thinking sociologically really is by reviewing Zigmunt Bauman’s book “Thinking sociologically” which was first published in 1990. The sociological imagination is the concept of being able to “think ourselves away” from the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to look at them anew. Mills defined sociological imagination as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society” (Crossman 1991, p.1). I am going to summarize the first couple chapters of the book to further see the qualities of a human’s everyday life experience. Hopefully this will create an interest...
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...“Sociology is often seen as divided into two distinct approaches: ones based on the concept of social structure or social system, and ones based on the concept of social action”. Assess the value of social action approaches to an understanding of society Social action theories could be considered to be far more useful for explaining contemporary society as they offer an alternative to the out-dated structuralist ideas which dominated sociology since the 1800s. Social action theories help us to understand social interaction which obviously plays a vital part in contemporary society as every member does this on a daily basis. They see people as individuals who have the capacity to think and make rational choices, a concept ignored by structuralists. Structuralists seem to believe we are puppets that are predictable and can be studied and measured in the same way as the natural sciences. But how is a human being like a single atom that can be studied in a laboratory? However, the notion of free will could be the social action theories downfall, as its over reliance is an easy target by many critics as they point out we are clearly influenced by factors such as gender and class. Social Action Theory is the first of the micro theories and is therefore useful as Weber was the first to acknowledge the existence of individuals and rational choice. He does however, understand that structures exist and do have some impact on our lives. This therefore makes him incredibly useful as...
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... It involves people being treated less favourably in various aspects of life depending on the social background or the skin colour that she or he possesses or background of origin. This vice is mostly dominant in housing, employment and consumer markets (Devah Pager and Hana Shepherd, 2008). Recruitment is always based on the colour of individual and at certain times black people are always exposed to some sorts of discrimination while performing their tasks in the work place. The racial behaviour may include; harassments, exclusion and labeling (sociology of discrimination, 2008). In addition, some people may be denied the opportunity to access certain residential places that are only preserved for people of specific colour. These kinds of discrimination lead to stress, anxiety and totally reduce morale of an individual in the social aspect of life (Feagin & Sikes 1994, Kessler et al. 1990). Racial discrimination is not only bad for human social life but may also diminish the effort or reduce performance in the work place. It affects both performance in labour markets and education (Ogbu 1991; Steele 1997; Loury 2002, pp. 26–33). Most organizations have been on the forefront in fighting this vice including the civil societies and the government. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the most recognizable organization that has fought for the elimination of race in various aspects of social welfare. NAACP establishment dates back to February...
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...Sociology was born not when good and evil were defined by what is useful or harmful to society, but rather when this correlation, exalted by the utilitarians, was placed in doubt because individualism seemed to have become a menace to society. This disjunction of the actor and the system led the most radical thinkers to conceive of a system without actors, dominated by determinisms and impersonal powers, and others to describe actors without a system, constructing in a normative void the forms of their interaction with actors who were strangers. Homo sociological, exalted by political philosophy, has disappeared. The globalization of the economy, which has entailed a weakening of the social and political controls that existed at the national level, has led in return to the development of identity politics which no longer defend a function but a being, not a project but a memory, which contradicts the evolution that has long defined modernity. We cannot establish a link between the system and the actor unless the latter is defined by the construction of his or her own liberty and not by the playing of specific social roles, and the former as a civil society in which the collective conditions of individual freedom are created. Social solidarity is the condition of cultural diversity, that is to say, the possibility for each person to combine in his or her own way their identity with participation in the techno-economic world. Sociology is the scientific study of human social behaviour...
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...Applying Sociological Perspectives Stephanie Ann Tombline SOC/100 May 30, 2016 Jennifer Hudgins Applying Sociological Perspectives Social networking sites - such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and, Pinterest, just to name a few - provide individuals with an online web of global networking that allows maintaining social ties with one another. Sociologists often ponder, "How do these social websites impact society?" Above all, this is the question that is the central focus shared by all three of the primary sociological perspectives (Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and, Symbolic Interactionism) when studying and performing research on the topic. Otherwise, the three paradigms of sociological theories are differentiating interpretations of how they perceive social networking sites. Namely, I find this subject intriguing because humans are perpetually seeking innovations intended to ameliorate the quality of life, and diverse opinions pertinent to the effect on the gamut of society and individuals within a community, is inevitable. Albeit, each perspective's view generated as a result of these social milestones, equally hold valid points. Therefore, while social networking sites provide a multitude of beneficial improvements to the world, there are just as many issues that arise, and all three sociological perspectives serve to complement one another in the comprehension of social media networks and the sway they bring to societies. As Viewed Through...
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...collect data about the world, to build theories to explain the data and to test those theories against further data” (p. 2). Discussing every part of the scientific method, he gives examples for how he might go about with that that part of the method. Yates also discusses different approaches to the research. Phenomenology is discussed as a method for the study and possible explanation, but is left out. Instead the author decides on methodological triangulation because it allows differing methods of data collection regarding a social issue. The reason why this would be the best method as well as its benefits in social research is discussed. Yates also states that using combined research is extremely beneficial. This article will be useful because it demonstrates using the scientific method for sociologic research. It goes in depth giving example for each part of the method. Boutellier, R., Gassmann, O., Raeder, S. (unknown) What is the difference between social and natural sciences? Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich This article was posted as part of a class at the Virginia Tech. Institute taught by James Collier, a professor of science and technology. The article is written by three professors at the Swiss Federal Institute. The authors start with stating that it can be hard to distinguish what a science is. Natural...
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...Research methods in Sociology and Anthropology: Approaches to research and their justification WGU Research methods in Sociology and Anthropology: Approaches to research and their justification The Behavioral Sciences are comprised of Sociology, Anthropology, and Psychology. All three sciences study human behaviors, but the goals and focus of each specialty differ from the others. In this paper I will discuss research methods employed by Sociologists and Cultural Anthropologists, and the justifications for the use of these methods. The paper will conclude with comparing and contrasting the described approaches to research. A. Sociologists study social behavior of groups and focus on the interactions among different social groups. They look for repeating patterns in society. Two tools used by Sociologists to conduct their research are Surveys and Secondary Analysis. Surveys are usually utilized to collect data from a large population. Sometimes a representative sample of the target population is surveyed. The study subjects are asked a set of questions, which the researchers then use to compare answers from different groups, or to draw conclusions about similarities or differences. The questions are often carefully designed to illicit a specific response. Sometimes the subjects have to choose from a given set of answers. These methods of questioning are geared towards producing uniform data, which can be statistically analyzed. One advantage of conducting surveys...
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...Du Bois wrote more like an accomplished novelist than a sociologist. Each year in between 1896 and 1914 Du Bois pu8blished a book on relations between African Americans and whites and that’s how he started with publications. Some of his well-known and famous books or major autobiographies are “The Philadelphia Negro” (1899), “The Souls of Black Folk” (1903), “Black Reconstruction” (19350) and “Then and Now” (1939). He still went on to wrote so many influential books which had impact in the black communities and population before his death. • Sociology as scientific method Sociological research is the scientific means of acquiring information about various aspects of society and social behavior. So in general sociology bases some of its fact through science. Sociology as a scientific method can be described as an accurate and unbiased collection and analysis of social data, using systematic observation, conducting experiments and also exhibit skepticism. • Micro and Macro and Sociological perspective There are two types of sociological theories: macro and micro. Macro theories focus on the society as a whole and aim at establishing the general characteristics of the society. It is basically looking at the society as a whole and looking at a bigger picture. It aims to answer three basic questions: • What holds the societies together? • What are the sources of conflict in a society? • How do societies change? There are two branches of macro-sociological theories:...
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...In our society today, there are three theoretical perspectives that act as ways to view our lives. Symbolic Interactionism , Functional Analysis, and Conflict Theory. All of which are centered around the people they derived from who are : George Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley, Robert Merton and Karl Marx. With these theories being a major part of sociology, the research that is collected to study the people in these societies should be looked at as a whole ,for, sociology comes in many forms. Symbolic Interactionism is the idea that one puts meaning to something. We attach our selves to names of certain people or things . Symbols are used to describe the relationships that we have with one another. Without symbolic Interactionism there would be no names to associate with people like a sister or brother . This also includes a teacher , an associate or a co-worker, These people may have names but they have a certain name that categorizes them into where they are related to you and how you should act towards them. Our actions towards people depend on the symbols we associate society with such as how you treat a boss compared to a sibling. Without this type of perspective there would be no way to socialize things such as the government which would mean that the most common things that are used in everyday life wouldn't be here. This theory is used describe things that are untouchable such as love, marriage or being a parent . It all goes back to how you rationalize these...
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...The Roles of the Sociologist Like all scientists sociologists are concerned with both collecting and using knowledge. As a scientist the sociologist's foremost task is to discover and organize knowledge about social life. A number of full time research sociologists are employed by universities, government agencies, foundations or corporations and many sociologists divide their time between teaching and research. Another task of the sociologist as a scientist is to clear away the misinformation and superstition which clutters so much of our social thinking. Sociologists have helped to clear doubts about hereditary, race, class, sex differences, deviation and nearly every other aspect of behaviour. By helping replace superstition and misinformation with accurate knowledge about human behaviour sociologists are performing their most important role. Sociologists make sociological predictions. Every policy decision is based upon certain assumptions about the present and future state of the society. Most social science prediction consists not of predicting specific developments as the astronomer predicts an eclipse but of forecasting the general pattern of trends and changes which seem most probable. All such predictions or forecasts should be offered with certain humility for no certainty attends them. Instead social scientists offer them as the best most informed guesses available upon which to base our policy decisions and expectations for the future. Sociological prediction...
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...Sociology includes four major theoretical perspectives which includes The Functionalist perspective, the Conflict perspective, the Symbolic Interactionist perspective and the Postmodernist perspective. Each one of these perspective Explains about the social world and human behavior. Sociological theories help us and also explains and predicts the social world in which we all live in. The functionalist perspective are based on the assumption that society is a stable, orderly system (Kendall21). Meaning that the majority of society have the same beliefs, values and expectations on life. For example, each social institutions contributes important functions for society. Family provides stability, reproducing and social interactions. Education teaches different skills, knowledge and culture to our youth. Politics helps with the members of governing our society. Economics provide for the production, distribution, and consumption of our goods and services. Religion provides moral guidance and ways to worship a higher power. This is where one functions needs the other to complete itself. The functionalist perspectives takes the approach on the study of Sociology by how society focuses on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts. The Conflict perspective views society as different groups and interest who are competing for power and resources. The conflict perspective explains many different aspect of our social world by looking at...
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