Sociology

Prepared by kay catral

• The term sociology was coined by the French philosopher
Auguste Comte, also considered to be the Father of
Sociology.
• The word was derived from the French word sociologie
which is a combination of the Greek words socius meaning
companionship and the suffix logos meaning the study of.
• Thus sociology is the study of society.
• Sociology inquires into social behavior and historical
development of social institutions.
• It makes use of empirical methods to investigate the
different facets and functions of the society.
• The important aim of sociology is to provide understanding
of ourselves and others as members of society.
• It provides us with the ability to systematically differentiate
and assess fundamental social issues.
• Emile Durkheim defined sociology as ‘the science of social
institutions.’
• Max Weber defined it as ‘the science which attempts the
interpretative understanding of social interaction in order to
arrive at a casual explanation of its course and effects.’
• Morris Ginsberg defined it as ‘the study of human
interactions and interrelations, their conditions and
consequences.’
• Thus sociology is an inquiry of the human condition – how
an individual lives an interacts with society how that
relationship transcends individual perspectives.
The Development of Sociology
• Sociology as a discipline originated as an inquiry on
the shifting socioeconomic and political dynamics in
Europe after the French revolution.
• Adopting the thrusts of the philosophies of science
and knowledge, sociology took on a positive route –
a course where society is studied in a highly scientific
route.
• The positive approach was spearheaded by August
Comte.
The Development of Sociology
• Scholars from the other parts of the world were
already doing early forms of sociology as they
explore on different social inquiries.
• For instance, Chinese thinkers like
Confucius and Ma
Duanlin both documented the social dynamics of
Chinese society.
• In the Middle East,Ibn Khaldun did an early form of
sociological inquiry in his work Muqaddimah where
he explored the concepts of social cohesion and
conflict.
The Development of Sociology
• That is why academic publications on sociology were
mostly suggestions and recommendations on how to
deal with social issues and problems.
• By the 1930s, sociological publications became more
scientific which provide more thoroughly researched
articles.
• At this time, sociology started to evolve as a formal
academic discipline which utilized empirical scientific
methodologies.
Important Personalities in Sociology
1. Auguste Comte
• Sociology is the youngest of all social sciences developed
only in 1838 by Auguste Comte in his series of texts titled A
Course on Positive Philosophy.
• His theory aimed to make the structural components of the
society (government, family, and economics)
comprehensible through systematic empirical observation
and classification.
• He theorized that human thinking evolves through stages of
development, The Law of Three Stages, in which he applied
in the evolution of societal thinking.
Important Personalities in Sociology
2. Herbert Spencer
• He applied biological concepts into the field of sociology

• In is work Principles of Sociology , he compared the

development and activity of the society to a living
organism.
• Like organisms, society grows and develops in a gradual
process and passes through a stages of complexity.
• Just as the organs in the body have different purposes,
society has institutions that have specific functions.
Important Personalities in Sociology
3. Lester Ward
• He introduced sociology as an academic discipline in
American higher education institutions.
• He theorized that a society’s progress could be controlled
and cannot be simply driven by deterministic forces like
evolution.
• He claimed that all sciences must be beneficial to man and
that sociology should give particular focus to this.
• Science is not a study that should be disjointed from society,
but an inquiry that focuses on how humans could progress.
Important Personalities in Sociology
4. Emile Durkheim
• He is a French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher,
focused his study on phenomenon of suicide. He was
credited for being one of the founding fathers of modern
sociology.
• His research on the nature of suicide demonstrated how a
scientific study of society can be done.
• In the research, he obtained massive amounts of data which
he analyzed before arriving at a conclusion.
• His findings suggest that an individual is less likely to commit
suicide when he connects to society.
Important Personalities in Sociology
5. Max weber
• He is German sociologist credited for being one of
the founding fathers of sociology.
• His inquiries revolved around the idea of social
action.
• Sociology must aim to determine the motivation
behind these actions, and why and how these
actions are done.
• He attributed actions to particular ways of thinking
or rationality.
Important Personalities in Sociology
6. Karl Marx
• He is a German sociologist and a philosopher and is
credited for being one of the founding fathers of
modern sociology.
• For Marx, truth about society is not found in abstract
ideas or principles but in the observable and knowable
world.
• He stated that society evolves due to the necessary
material goods required for human living and that
social order is established around the concept of
production and or producing these goods.
The Fields of Sociology
1. Human Ecology studies the society in relation with its
environment.
This considers how the environment is affected by society and
how it is utilized for production and habitation.
Human ecologists view communities I terms of area so they
ca better explain ecological factors and concerns.
It attempts to study the problems encountered in urban
environments, the relationship between the population
density and environmental quality, and the disruption of
ecosystems due to human intervention.
The Fields of Sociology
1. Penology or penal science studies how punishment is
conducted on the offending members of the society.
It involves laws and the implementation of policies and
procedures.
It also inquiries the consequence of using punishment as a
method to curb social disorder and the investigation of its
ethical and moral bases.
2. Sociology of work today shifted its inquiry on how
individuals, groups, communities, and societies relate to and
interact with different industries.
For example is the effect of call centers as a new type of work
in the Philippines.
Key Concepts in Sociology
1. Society is defined as a ‘group of people who share in one
form or another distinct commonality.’
• It comes from the Greek word socius meaning
companionship.
2. Institution is a complex and organized entity which aims to
protect and enable the continuing function of values adopted
by society.
• The 5 basic social institutions include the family,
government, economy, education, and religion.
Key Concepts in Sociology
3. Norms refer to the values and behaviors which are considered
acceptable in society.
They exhibit strictness as they require a level of conformity.
For example going to the mall in pajamas is possible but is not acceptable
• Deviance is the straying away from the norm.
It can be punished, awarded, or accepted.
Deviance is punished in the case of a murderer who violates the value of
life.
Deviance is rewarded in ten case of fire fighters who voluntarily get close
to the raging fires to save lives rather than avoid fire.
Deviance is neither punished nor rewarded in the case where people still
use old models of phones.
Research Methods in Sociology
1. Case Study focuses on a particular social phenomenon and
its effects on a specific group of people or an individual.
• It is an in-depth analysis of an individual or a group by way
of interviews, observations, and examinations of artifacts
and records.
2. Survey is the collection off data using questionnaires and
statistical analysis in order to arrive ta the collective response
of a group or sample given a particular phenomenon.
• With the aid of technology, survey research started to make
use of online questionnaires, telephone interviews, and
even short messaging system to gather responses.
Current Applications of Sociology
1. Clinical Sociology is the use of sociological methods and practices in
the understanding of, intervention, and enhancement of social life.
It is an applied discipline and is considered as a branch under sociology
of work.
Clinical sociologists mostly work in hospitals or health centers to
provide health interventions through research and policy
development.
2. Social engineering is an applied field which inquires on large scale.
• Manipulation of social behavior and attitude. It analyzes how a
population could be influenced to elicit a desired response.
• It is used in different areas of society including news media,
advertising, and even ecological conservation.
Current Applications of Sociology
3. Public sociology aims to engage in debates
and bring social concerns and issues to the
public domain.
• It uses the sociological perspective in order to
provide information to the public about issues
on social inequality, human rights, social
injustice, gender inequality, substandard
working environment, and labor, among
others.
The field of sociology is the study of society.
The shifts in the social structure brought about by the French
revolution and the Industrial revolution in the 18 th century
created a need to have a scientific discipline that could address
the variance in behavior of human groups and organizations.
With the advent of new technology and media, the distance
between societies and cultures became smaller.
However, interpersonal relationships – the foundations of
society – seemed to dissipate due to these technologies.
In the 21st century, sociology brings out the dysfunctions
inevitably associated with the progress of society.