Sociology termpaper sociological imagination and its application

1. Term-paper on-
Group-03
Session: 2016-17
Department of Disaster & Human Security Management
“Sociological Imagination”
Course Title: Fundamentals of social science
Course code: DHSM-1105
Submitted to-
Abul Kalam Azad
AssistantProfessor
Departmentof Sociology
Faculty of Arts & SocialSciences (FASS)
Bangladesh University of Professionals
Submitted by-Roll: 23,39(17 batch),15,18,45,36
B a n g l a d e s h U n i v e r s i t y o f p r o f e s s i o n a l s

2. ①
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1.Abstract
2.Sociological Imagination
3.Example of Applying the Sociological Imagination
4.Possibilities For The Future
5.Sociological paradigm
6. Sociological Perspective
7.Modern or Pattern Thinking
8.Use of social imagination in many sector
9.Conclusion

3. ②
Abstract
Prior to the emergence of sociology the study of society was carried on in an unscientific manner
and society had never been the central concern of any science. It is through the study of
sociology that the truly scientific study of the society has been possible. Sociology because of its
bearing upon many of the problems of the present world has assumed such a great importance
that it is considered to be the best approach to all the social sciences.
Society is a complex phenomenon with a multitude of intricacies. It is impossible to understand
and solve its numerous problems without support of sociology. It is rightly said that we cannot
understand and mend society without any knowledge of its mechanism and construction.
Without the investigation carried out by sociology no real effective social planning would be
possible. It helps us to determine the most efficient means for reaching the goals agreed upon. A
certain amount of knowledge about society is necessary before any social policies can be carried
out. In sociology there is a important topic called Sociological Imagination. We can solve our
problem by using sociological imagination.

4. ③
SociologicalImagination:
In The Sociological Imagination, Mills coined the same famous phrase, which is used throughout
sociology today. 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": it is the ability to see things socially and how they interact and influence each
other. To have a sociological imagination, a person must be able to pull away from the situation
and think from an alternative point of view. This ability is central to one's development of a
sociological perspective on the world.Example:Sociological imagination of sucide.
Low degree of social regulation.(Anomic Suicide)
High degree of social regulation(Fatalistic Suicide)
Low degree of social regulation(Egostic Suicide)
High degree of social regulation(Altrastic Suicide)
Example of Applying the SociologicalImagination:
We can apply the concept of the sociological imagination to any behavior. Take the simple act of
drinking a cup of coffee for example. We could argue that coffee is not just a drink, but rather it
has symbolic value as part of day-to-day social rituals. Often the ritual of drinking coffee is
much more important than the act of consuming the coffee itself.
For example, two people who meet “to have coffee” together are probably more interested in
meeting and chatting than in what they drink. In all societies, eating and drinking are occasions
for social interaction and the performance of rituals, which offer a great deal of subject matter for
sociological study.
A second dimension to a cup of coffee has to do with its use as a drug. Coffee contains caffeine,
which is a drug that has stimulating effects on the brain. For many, this is the reason why they
drink coffee. It is interesting sociologically to question why coffee addicts are not considered
drug users in Western cultures, though they might be in other cultures. Like alcohol, coffee is a
socially acceptable drug whereas marijuana is not. In other cultures, however, marijuana use is
tolerated, but both coffee and alcohol use are frowned upon.
Still a third dimension to a cup of coffee is tied to social and economic relationships. The
growing, packaging, distributing, and marketing of coffee are global enterprises that affect many
cultures, social groups, and organizations within those cultures. These things often take place
thousands of miles away from the coffee drinker. Many aspects of our lives are now situated

5. ④
within globalized trade and communications, and studying these global transactions is important
to sociologists.
A fourth dimension to a cup of coffee relates to past social and economic development. The
coffee relationships currently set in motion were not always there. Like tea, bananas, potatoes,
and sugar, coffee only became widely consumed after the nineteenth century. These relationships
developed gradually, and might well break down in the future due to change.
Possibilities ForThe Future:
There is another aspect to the sociological imagination which Mills discussed in his book and on
which he laid the most emphasis, which is our possibilities for the future. Sociology not only
helps us analyze current and existing patterns of social life, but it also helps us to see some of the
possible futures open to us. Through the sociological imagination, we can see not only what is
real, but also what could become real should we desire to make it that way.
There are two ways of sociological imagination.
1.Sociological Paradigm
2.Sociological Perspective
SociologicalParadigm:
What is paradigm?
1.Fundamental image of subject matter within a science
2.Model or pattern of thinking
3.Assumption agreed by all members of a scientific community
If anomaly is found in paradigm-1,it can be shifted to new paradigm
Order Paradigm:
Structural order(macro)coeres individual actionbehavior(micro)
Structural functionalism is usually describe as imagining society as being like organs in a
body.Each part has its own role.and together ,they're able to do things that none of them would
be able to do alone.Legislators make the laws so everyone knows what's legal and what's not,the
police enforce the law and catch antisocial persons,normal people pay taxes and vote for the best
lagislators, and so on.The focus here is on how people work together and why it benefits them to
cooperate.Example: Smoking,Drug Addiction etc

6. ⑤
Pluralist Paradigm:
Individuals in way of communicationinteraction make structural order.Its a way of symbolic
interactionasim.In this pluralist paradigm goes to macro part to micro part as well as individual
to order paradigm. Example:Dowry,Population.
Conflict Paradigm:
Economic interests between powerful & powerless classes lead to class struggle and social
change.
Social conflict theory is a Marxist based social theory is a Marxist based social theory which
argues that individual and group (social classes) within society interact on basis of conflict rather
than consensus.Through various forms of conflict,groups will tend to attain differing amounts of
material and non-material resources (e.g. the wealthy vs. the poor). More powerful groups will
tend to use their power in order to retain power and exploit groups with less power.Conflict
theorists view conflict as an engine of change,since conflict produces contradictions in an
ongoing dialectic.In the classic example of historical materialism,Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels argued that all of human history is the result of conflict between classes,which evolved
over time in accordance with changes in society's means of meeting its marlterial
needs,I.e.changes in society's mode of production.Example:Cyber Crime, Drug,poverty etc.
Sociologicalperspective:
The sociological perspective is a perspective on human behavior and its connection to society as
a whole. It invites us to look for the connections between the behavior of individual people and
the structures of the society in which they live.

7. ⑥
Sociology includes three major theoretical perspectives: the functionalist perspective, the conflict
perspective, and the symbolic interactionist perspective.Each perspective offers a variety of
explanations about the social world and human behavior.
Symbolic interactionist perspective:The symbolic interactionist perspective, also known
as symbolic interactionism, directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday
life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other. According to the
symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act
according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Verbal conversations, in which
spoken words serve as the predominant symbols, make this subjective interpretation especially
evident.
In this perspective we individual create structural meaning by symbolic interaction between
us.we create the social problem,social problem are created by our individual habit or behaviour
Structural Functionalist perspective:According to the functionalist perspective, also
called functionalism, each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society's
functioning as a whole.
Within functionalist theory, the different parts of society are primarily composed of social
institutions, each of which is designed to fill different needs, and each of which has particular
consequences for the form and shape of society. The parts all depend on each other. The core
institutions defined by sociology and which are important to understand for this theory include:
family, government, economy, media, education, and religion.Functionalism does not encourage
people to take an active role in changing their social environment, even when doing so may
benefit them. Instead, functionalism sees agitating for social change as undesirable because the
various parts of society will compensate in a seemingly natural way for any problems that may
arise.
This perspective sees society as an organism which parts are interrelated.we individuals are
socialized by the institution of society.
The key ideas of Functionalist perspective are as follows –
 There is such a thing as a social structure that exists independently from individuals. This
social structure consists of norms values passed on through institutions which shape the
individual –We should study society scientifically and at the macro level – looking for the
general laws that explain human action.
 Socialisation is important – individuals need to be regulated for the benefit of everyone.
The integration and regulation of individuals is a good thing.
 We should analyse society as a system – look at each bit by looking at the contribution it
makes to the whole
 Social institutions generally perform positive functions – value consensus social
integration; social regulation; preventing anomie and so on

8. ⑦
 Advanced Industrial society is better than primitive society – one of the main reasons
social order is so important is so we don’t go backwards – (ties into the idea of progress)
Conflict perspective:The conflict perspective, which originated primarily out of Karl Marx's
writings on class struggles, presents society in a different light than do the functionalist and
symbolic interactionist perspectives. While these latter perspectives focus on the positive aspects
of society that contribute to its stability.Conflict theorists are deeply critical of social
stratification, asserting that it benefits only some people, not all of society.conflict theory sees
social life as a competition, and focuses on the distrubution of rereof resources, power.
Modern or Pattern Thinking:
Assumption agreed by all members of a scientific community .There is a model called Kuhn’s
Model.
Kuhn’s Model:
Paradigm Normal Science

9. ⑧
Anomalies
Crisis
Revolution
Paradigm Normal Science
Use of socialimaginationin many sector:
The concept of sociological Imagination brought by sociologist C. Wright Mills in 1959 and the
Sociological Imagination is a book by the same name.
Sociological Imagination is the linkage between the broad social system and individual action.
it’s the theatrical awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society. It is

10. ⑨
the ability to see things socially and how it interacts and influence each other. To have a
Sociological Imagination, a person must be able to pull away from the situation and think from
an alternative point of view. The Sociological Imagination is stimulated by a willingness to view
the social world from the perspective of others.
The Use of Social Imagination could be in Two ways:
a.Social Context:
According to Mills, one of the key ways people can understand society and social change is to
apply this sociological imagination.The sociological perspective is a quality of the mind that
allows to understand the relationship between a particular situation in life and what is happening
at a social level. Here the two things are working.
a.Individual
b.Public Issue
a.Individual Issues: It’s the private problems of individual life. Here things that occur within the
character of an individual reactions with other people. It’s the private problems from events in
one’s own life. It’s also called personal trouble. For example; unemployment, obesity.

11. ⑩
Public Issues: Affect large groups of people and come from the structure of society. It’s a broad
perspective of individual actions. When the unemployment is facing by only one individual, then
it called individual problems or issues , on the other hand, the same thing if occurred in massive
rate in society, then it became a public issues.
b.Real Life context:
Any behaviour can have sociological imagination that applicable. An example of the application
of the sociological imagination can be drinking of tea. The perception of drinking tea can be
viewed from several different views rather than just the simple act of drinking tea. In below
figure it interpreted.
a)Health issue:It can be seen to maintaining good health in the way that one might take daily vitamins,
because the benefits of tea have been touted by health researchers. People think it’s the greatest source of
anti-oxygen.
b)Tradition:It could be considered a tradition as many people choose to drink tea each day at a certain
time.
c)Addiction:It could be considered a type of drug because it contains caffeine, and therefore the drinker
may have a type of an addiction.
d)Social Activity: the perspective of being a social activity such as “meeting for tea,” actually less uses
as beverage and more on the actual activity of meeting with another person.

12. 11
Conclusion:
Sociological Imagination is the relationship between the broad social system and individual action.
Practically any personal behavior can be looked up with the sociological Imagination. In sociology to
understand once itself, we must understand the relationship between the self and society. The concept is
to understand the distinction between a person’s trouble and public issue. If one person is unemployed
that is a personal problem, if one million people out of ten million, then it would be a public issue. The
Sociological Imagination is stimulated by a willingness to view the social world from the perspective of
others.

13. 12
References:
1.Sociological Imagination;https://www.enotes.com
2.Sociological Perspective;
https://laulima.hawaii.edu/access/content/user/kfrench/sociology/the%20three%20main%2
0sociological%20perspectives.pdf
3.Sociological paradigm;
https://www.cliffsnotes.com
4.Application Of Sociological Imagination:
www.thoughtco.com