This document provides an overview of sociology and its history and key concepts. It discusses how sociology developed out of the works of early philosophers and scholars seeking to better understand society. Some of the major thinkers discussed include Comte, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Simmel. It also summarizes the main theoretical perspectives in sociology including functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.

1. 1
Bukidnon State University
Instructor: RPColegado
WELCOME TO!

2. Questions to ponder?!
 Why are their increasing number of
HIV/AIDS cases in the Philippines?
 How have the virtual community like
Facebook an twitter change the way we
interact with our social groups?
 What are the sources of domestic violence
and economic inequalities?
Or???? 2

3. 3

4. 4
Why Study Sociology
 Helps us gain a better understanding of
ourselves and our social world.
 Helps us see how behavior is shaped
by the groups to which we belong and
our society.
 Promotes understanding and tolerance
by helping us look beyond personal
experiences and gain insight into the
larger world order.

5.  A dictionary defines sociology as the
systematic study of society and social
interaction.
 The word “sociology” is derived from
the Latin word socius(companion) and
the Greek word logos(study of)
5

6. 6
Putting Social Life Into
Perspective
 Sociology is the systematic study of
human society and social interaction.
 Sociologists study societies and social
interactions to develop theories about :
 How behavior is shaped by group life
 How group life is affected by individuals

7.  meaning “the study
of companionship.”
7

8. 8
Social Structures
Poverty
Biology Biography
What are the reasons for poverty?
Personal and Social Structural Factors

9. 9
The “Sociological Imagination”
This is the ability to see the details of our
own lives in the context of larger social
structures, as opposed to merely personal
choices or personal troubles.

10. 10
Suicide
 As a Personal Trouble:
 Many people consider suicide to be the
result of personal problems.
 As a Public Issue:
 Sociologist Emile Durkheim related suicide
to the issue of COHESIVENESS in
society instead of viewing it as an isolated
act that could be understood by studying
individual personalities or inherited
tendencies.

11. 11

12. 12
By using the sociological
imagination …
Sociology helps us get a better understanding
of ourselves and our world by enabling us
to see how behavior is shaped by the
groups to which we belong and the
society in which we live.

13. THE HISTORY OF
SOCIOLOGY
 In the 13th century, Ma Tuan-Lin, a
Chinese historian, first recognized
social dynamics as an underlying
component of historical development in
his seminal encyclopedia, General
Study of Literary Remains.
13

14. Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) of
Tunisia
 He wrote about many topics of interest
today, setting a foundation for both
modern sociology and economics,
including a theory of social conflict, a
comparison of nomadic and sedentary
life, a description of political economy,
and a study connecting a tribe’s social
cohesion to its capacity for power
(Hannoum 2003).
14

15.  In the 18th century, Age of
Enlightenment philosophers developed
general principles that could be used to
explain social life. Thinkers such as
John Locke, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant,
and Thomas Hobbes responded to
what they saw as social ills by writing
on topics that they hoped would lead to
social reform.
15

16.  The early 19th century saw great
changes with the Industrial
Revolution
16

17.  The term sociology
was first coined in
1780 by the French
essayist Emmanuel-
Joseph Sieyès
17

18.  In 1838, the term was
reinvented by Auguste Comte
(1798–1857).
 Comte named the scientific
study of social patterns
POSITIVISM
18

19. 19
Two Dimensions Of Comte’s
Positivism
1. Methodological
 The application of scientific knowledge to
physical and social phenomena.
1. Social and political
 The use of such knowledge to predict the
likely results of different policies so the
best one could be chosen.

20. 20
Society
 A large social grouping that shares the
same geographical territory and is
subject to the same political authority
and dominant cultural expectations.
 We are all affected by global
interdependence, a relationship in
which the lives of all people are
intertwined and any nation’s problems
are part of a larger global problem.

21. 21
Importance of a Global
Sociological Imagination
 The future of our nation is intertwined
with the future of other nations on
economic, political, environmental, and
humanitarian levels.
 Understanding diversity and developing
tolerance for people who are different
from us is important for our personal,
social, and economic well-being.

22. 22
Race, Ethnicity and Class
 Race is a term used to specify groups of
people distinguished by physical
characteristics.
 Most sociologists consider race a social
construction used to justify inequalities.
 Ethnicity refers to cultural identity and is
based on factors such as language or country
of origin.
 Class is based on wealth, power, prestige, or
other valued resources.

23. 23
Sex and Gender
 Sex refers to the biological and
anatomical differences between
females and males.
 Gender refers to the meanings, beliefs,
and practices associated with sex
differences, referred to as femininity
and masculinity.

24. 24
Industrialization
 The process by which societies are
transformed from dependence on agriculture
and handmade products to dependence on
manufacturing industries.
 First occurred during the Industrial Revolution
in Britain between 1760 and 1850.
 Resulted in massive economic, technological,
and social changes.
 People were forced to leave rural
communities to seek employment in the
emerging cities.

25. 25
Urbanization
 The process by which an increasing proportion of a
population lives in cities rather than rural areas.
 The factory system led to a rapid increase in the
number of cities and the size of populations.
 People from diverse backgrounds began working in
the same factory and living in the same
neighborhoods.
 This led to the development of new social problems:
inadequate housing, crowding, unsanitary conditions,
poverty, pollution, and crime.

26. Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
 Authored one of the earliest
analyses of culture and life in
the United States entitled
Theory and Practice of Society
in America
 Translated Comte’s Positive
Philosophy into EnglishHarriet
Martineau

27. 27
Harriet Martineau
 Believed society would improve when:
 women and men were treated equally
 enlightened reform occurred
 cooperation existed among all social
classes

28. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
 Authored the first sociology text,
Principles of Sociology
 Most well known for proposing a
doctrine called “Social Darwinism”
• Suggested that people who could not
compete were poorly adapted to the
environment and inferior
• This is an idea commonly called
survival of the fittest

29. Karl Marx (1818-1883)
 Marx is the father of conflict theory
 Saw human history in a continual
state of conflict between two major
classes:
• Bourgeoisie—owners of the means of
production (capitalists)
• Proletariat—the workers
 Predicted that revolution would
occur producing first a socialist
state, followed by a communist
society

30. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
 Durkheim moved sociology fully
into the realm of an empirical
science
 Most well known empirical
study is called Suicide, where
he looks at the social causes of
suicide
 Generally regarded as the
founder of functionalist theory
Emile Durkheim

31. 31
Emile Durkheim
 Believed the limits of human potential
are socially based.
 One of his most important contributions
was the concept of social facts.
 Social facts are patterned ways of acting,
thinking, and feeling that exist outside any
one individual but exert social control over
each person.

32. Max Weber (1864-1920)
 Much of Weber’s work was a critique
or clarification of Marx
 His most famous work, The Protestant
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
directly challenged Marx’s ideas on
the role of religion in society
 Weber was also interested in
bureaucracies and the process of
rationalization in society

33. 33
Georg Simmel
 Theorized about society as a web of
patterned interactions among people.
 Analyzed how social interactions vary
depending on the size of the social group.
 Developed formal sociology, an approach
that focuses attention on the universal
recurring social forms that underlie the
varying content of social interaction.

34. 34
Theoretical Perspectives
 Theoretical perspectives are based on
ideas about how social life is organized.
 The major perspectives in U.S.
sociology are:
 Functionalist
 Conflict
 symbolic interactionist
 postmodernist perspectives

35. 35
Major Theoretical
Perspectives
Theory View of Society
Functionalist
Composed of interrelated parts
that work together to maintain
stability.
Conflict
Society is characterized by social
inequality; social life is a struggle
for scarce resources.

36. 36
Major Theoretical
Perspectives
Theory View of Society
Symbolic
Interactionist
Behavior is learned in interaction
with other people.
Postmodernist
Postindustrialization, consumerism,
and global communications bring
into question assumptions about
social life and the nature of reality.

37. 37
Order Theory or
“Structural Functionalism”
 The central concern for Order Theory: What holds society together?
 The focus is on order and stability in society. From the Order Theory
perspective, what holds society together is consensus.
 For society to survive, each of its parts must work in harmony with the
others. Each part functions to maintain an orderly system, preserving
social order for the smooth running of society.
 An orderly, smooth running social order is beneficial to everyone.

38. 38
Assumptions of Conflict
Theory
 Competition. Competition over
resources is characteristic of all human
relationships.
 Structured Inequality. Those who
benefit strive to maintain their advantage.

39. 39
Conflict Analysis
Two basic questions:
 Who benefits from structural inequality?
 How do they maintain their advantage?

40. 40
Example of Application of the Conflict
Perspective: Ideologies
 Equal opportunity (America)
 A low caste is punishment for poor
performance in a previous life (Hindu)
 “A woman’s place is in the home”
Ideologies are norms and values that rationalize
existing social arrangements

41. 41
Example of Application of
Symbolic Interaction
An Elevator Ride

42. 42
The Sociological Research
Process
 Research is the process of
systematically collecting information for
the purpose of testing an existing theory
or generating a new one.

43. 43
Quantitative and Qualitative
Research
 Quantitative research focuses on data
that can be measured numerically.
 Example: Concern for the environment
 Qualitative research focuses on
interpretive description rather than
statistics to analyze underlying meanings
and patterns of social relationships.

44. 44
Recycle
Cans and
Bottles?
Low
Income
Medium
Income
High
Income
Always or
Often
55% 62% 75%
Sometimes
or Never
45% 38% 25%
Total
Percent
100% 100% 100%
Total
Number
445 545 360
Hypothesis: The higher the social class, the greater
concern people will have for the environment.
Data was obtained from telephone interviews.

45. 45
Research Methods:
Analysis of Existing Data
 Materials studied may include:
 books, diaries, poems, and graffiti
 movies, television shows, advertisements,
greeting cards
 music, art, and even garbage