Page |1 HORN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Program: Freshman Semester: Fall semester-2018 Course: Sociology CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY • Sociology is the scientific study of society, which is interested in the study of social relationship between people in group context. • The term sociology is a combination of two words. The first part of the term is a Latin ,Socius: society, association, togetherness or companionship. The other word “logy” is Greek word which means “study” Levels of analysis in Sociology • Levels of analysis in sociology: generally defined systematic patterns of studying society. • There are four levels of analysis in sociology: 1. Micro-sociology: involves the study of people in face-to-face interactions on small scale. 2. Macro-sociology: the branch of sociology concerned with the study of human societies on a wide scale. 3. Meso-sociology: indicates a population size that falls between the micro- and macro-levels, such as a community or an organization. 4. Global sociology: is an ongoing process that involves interconnected changes in the economic, cultural, social, and political spheres of society. Types of sociology The two major types of sociology that emerged were 1. Qualitative Sociology: is the systematic pattern to obtain accurate picture of a group and how it operates in the world by using non-nomeric interviewer 2. Quantitative Sociology: : is the systematic pattern of obtaining accurate picture of a group and how it operates in the world by applying the phenomena that can be expressed in term of quantitative. Why do we study Sociology? – To understand how behavior is influenced by social factors. – Attempt to balance one’s personal desire with social environment. – To Find your balance with society and history. Factors contributed for the development of sociology – There are four main factors intensively contributed the development of sociology. Those are: I. Political revolution II. Industrial revolution. Page |2 III. The growth of physical and biological sciences. IV. Colonial Expansion Sociology and Other Social Sciences • A multidisciplinary field, sociology draws from a variety of other social sciences, including Anthropology: Anthropology concerns individual cultures in a society, rather than the society as a whole. Political science: Political science concerns the governments of various societies. It considers what kind of government a society has, how it formed, and how individuals attain positions of power within a particular government. Psychology: the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context. Economics: Economics focuses on the production and distribution of society’s goods and services. Major Sociological Perspectives • There are three major theoretical perspectives in sociology that have provided an overall framework for sociological studies. These are: I. Structural Functionalism: is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. II. Social Conflict Theory: sees social life as a competition and focuses on the distribution of resources, power, and inequality. III. Symbolic Interactionism: : is a school of thought in sociology that explains social behavior in terms of how people interact with each other via symbols. CHAPTER TWO: SOCIETY AND CULTURE • Society: is a group of people with common territory, interaction, and culture. Basic Features of Society A relatively large grouping of people in terms of size. Share common and distinct culture. Share common geographical area Have the feeling of identity and belongingness. Have a common origin and common historical experience may also speak a common mother tongue autonomous and independent Types of Society In terms of level of economic and technological development attained by countries. I. First World II. Second World III. Third World Page |3 In terms of major source of economic organization. 1. Hunting and gathering societies: this society depends on hunting and gathering for its survival. 2. pastoral and horticultural societies : are those whose livelihood is based on pasturing of animals, such as cattle, camels, sheep and goats. And cultivating crops. 3. Horticultural societies: are those whose economy is based on cultivating plants by the use of simple tools, such as digging sticks, hoes, axes, etc. 4. agricultural societies: this society, which still is dominant in most parts of the world, is based on large-scale agriculture, which largely depends on ploughs using animal labor. 5. An industrial society is one in which goods are produced by machines powered by fuels instead of by animal and human energy 6. post-industrial society: based on information, services and high technology, rather than on raw materials and manufacturing. – Culture: consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society. Basic Characteristics of Culture • Culture is organic and supra-organic • Culture is overt and covert • Culture is explicit and implicit • Culture is ideal and manifest (actual) • Culture is stable and yet changing • Culture is shared and learned • Culture is symbolic Elements of Culture • The major ones include: I. Symbols: refer to anything to which people attach meaning and which they use to communicate with others. refer to anything to which people attach meaning and which they use to communicate with others. II. Values: are essential elements of non-material culture. They may be defined as general, abstract guidelines for our lives, decisions, goals, choices, and actions. III. Norms: are also essential elements of culture. They are implicit principles for social life, relationship and interaction. Norms are detailed and specific rules for specific situations. IV. Language: the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. Page |4 Cultural variability refers to the diversity of cultures across societies and places. As there are different societies, there are different cultures. Ethnocentrism: is the tendency to apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures. It is a cultural universal. Cultural relativism describes a situation where there is an attitude of respect for cultural differences rather than condemning other people's culture as uncivilized or backward. Culture Shock: is the psychological and social maladjustment at micro or macro level that is experienced for the first time when people encounter new cultural elements such as new things, new ideas, new concepts, seemingly strange beliefs and practices. Cultural universality refers to those practices, beliefs, values, norms, material objects, etc., which are observed across all societies in the world, or across different social groups within a society. Cultural alternatives refer to two or more forms of behavior in a particular society which are acceptable in given situation. Cultural specialties refer to the specific skills, training, knowledge, etc. which is limited to a group or specific members of society. CHAPTER THREE: SOCIALIZATION • Socialization is a process of making somebody social and fully human. Phases of socialization • There are different types of socialization; the major ones include: i. Primary or childhood socialization: occurs when a child learns the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture. ii. Secondary or adulthood socialization: refers to the process of learning what is the appropriate behavior as a member of a smaller group within the larger society iii. De-socialization: is the process of the giving up or loss of old norms, values, attitibues and behaviors. iv. Resocialization: is the process of learning to adopt and accept to new norms, values, attitudes and behaviors. v. Anticipatory socialization: occurs when we start learning new norms and values in anticipation of a role we'll occupy in the future. vi. Reverse socialization: refers to the process of socialization whereby the dominant socializing persons, such as parents, happen to be in need of being socialized themselves by those whom they socialize, such as children. Page |5 Agents of socialization Socialization takes place through interaction with various agents of socialization, like peer groups and families, plus both formal and informal social institutions. Social Group Agents – Family – Peer Groups Institutional Agents – School – The Workplace – Religion – Government – Mass Media A total institution is a place of work and residence where a great number of similarly situated people, cut off from the wider community for a considerable time, lead an enclosed, formally administered life together. Sociology Control: refers to the many ways in which our behavior, thoughts, and appearance are regulated by the norms, rules, laws, and social structures of society. Deviance describes an action or behavior that violates social norms, including a formally enacted rule (e.g., crime), as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores).
