NOTA SOSIOLOGI

1. NORMAH BT ZAKARIA
Jabatan Pengajian Vokasional,
Fakulti Pendidikan dan Vokasional
Universiti Tun Husseion Onn
Malaysia
DR
SOCIOLOGY IN TVE EDUCATION
MBE 10403 (CLASS 1-2 – (7/10-8/10/2023)

2. Introduction to Sociology
https://youtu.be/YuIoPTK9RrA?si=xWKU2rb7iO4FIK-Q

3. Why It Matters: Foundations of Sociology
• We are all members of society and we all experience a variety of social
interactions every day
• Sociology complements many other subject areas and is pertinent to every
aspect of your life
• You are an individual within society but also a member of several social groups
that interact constantly and part of social institutions

4. Sociology
• Sociology is the scientific study of social behavior and human groups
• Sub-sections of study range from analysis of conversations to the development of
theories and explaining how the world works

5. What is Sociology?
• Sociology is the study of groups and group interactions, societies and
social interactions
• A group is any collection of at least two people who interact with some
frequency and who share some sense of aligned identity
• A society is a group of people who live in a defined geographic area
who interact and share a common culture
• Sociologists study small groups and individual interactions from the
micro-level and trends among and between large groups and societies
on the macro-level
• Culture refers to the group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs
• Sociological imagination (C. Wright Mills): an awareness of the
relationship between one’s behavior and experience and the wider
culture that shaped a person’s choices and perceptions

6. What is Sociology, continued
• Reification is an error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a
real, material existence
• All sociologists are interested in the experiences of individuals and how
interactions with social groups and society as a whole shape them
• Cultural patterns and social forces put pressure on people to select one
choice over another
• Changes in the Malaysian family structure present an example of
changing patterns that interest sociologists
• Sociologists study social facts that are aspects of social life shaping a
person’s behavior and can include laws, morals, values, religious beliefs,
customs, fashions, rituals, and cultural rules that govern social life

7. The Development of Sociology
• Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857), coined the term sociology
• The French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution greatly impacted
Comte
• Comte believed that society developed in stages:
• Theological stage where people took religious views of society
• Metaphysical stage where people understood society as natural
• Scientific or positivist stage where society is governed by reliable
knowledge understood in light of scientific knowledge (mainly
sociology)
• Positivism is the scientific study of social patterns
• Comte’s lasting contribution to sociology has been his classification of
sciences

8. Harriet Martineau
• Harriet Martineau (1802 – 1876) was a writer who addressed a wide range of
social science issues
• She was an early observer of social practices, including economics, social
class, religion, suicide, government, and women’s rights
• She translated Comte’s writing from French to English and introduced
sociology to English-speaking scholars
• She is also credited with the first systematic methodological international
comparisons of social institutions with works Society in America(1837) and
Retrospect of Western Travel (1838)
• She pointed out the faults with the free enterprise system in which workers
were exploited and impoverished while business owners became wealthy
• Martineau was often discounted in her own time by the male domination of
academic sociology

9. Karl Marx
• Karl Marx (1818 - 1883): German philosopher and economist who coauthored The
Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels, one of the most influential political
manuscripts in history
• Marx rejected Comte’s positivism, believing societies grew and changed as a result
of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production
• Marx predicted that inequalities of capitalism would become so extreme that workers
would eventually revolt and result in the collapse of capitalism and rise of
communism
• Communism is an economic system under which there is no private or corporate
ownership but with everything distributed as needed
• Marx’s idea that social conflict leads to change in society remains a major theory
used in modern sociology

10. Émile Durkheim
• Émile Durkheim (1858 – 1917): Helped establish sociology as a formal academic
disciple by establishing the first European department of sociology at the University
of Bordeaux in 1895 and publishing Rules of the Sociological Method in 1895
• Durkheim laid out his theory on how societies transformed from a primitive state into
a capitalist, industrial society with the belief that people rise to their proper level in
society based on merit
• Durkheim believed that sociologists could study objective “social facts” and that
healthy societies are stable while pathological societies experience a breakdown in
social norms between individuals and society

11. Max Weber
• Max Weber (1864 – 1920) was a prominent German sociologist who wrote on
many sociological topics
• His best known book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
• Weber believed that the influence of culture on human behavior had to be taken
into account
• Verstehen: concept meaning to understand in a deep way and that in seeking
verstehen, outside observers attempt to understand it from an insider’s point of
view
• Weber and others proposed antipositivism whereby social researchers strive
for subjectivity and has an aim to systematically gain an in-depth understanding
of social worlds
• Differences between positivism and antipositivism have been considered the
foundation for the differences between quantitative (like surveys with many
participants) and qualitative (like in-depth interviews, focus groups, content
analysis

12. American Theorists and Practitioners
• W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963): pioneered rigorous
empirical methodology; helped found the NAACP
• Thorstein Veblen (1857 – 1929): studied various
classes and differences in employment status
• Jane Addams (1860-1935): founded the Hull House
and promoted social and educational programs;
helped sociological research on child labor, health
care, immigration, and more.
• Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929): coined the
idea of the “looking-glass self” as we perceive
ourselves how we think others see us
• George Herbert Mead (1863–1931): one of the
founders of symbolic interactionism who emphasized
our personal view is influenced by interactions with
others.

13. Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862 - 1931): born in Mississippi and
eventually became a teacher in a black elementary school so that
she could support her five other siblings
• In 1884, Wells refused to give up her seat on a train and was
dragged from the car
• Wells fought the case and lost but strengthened her passion for
equality and social justice
• She became one of the most vocal anti-lynching activists after
three friends were lynched
• Wells was one of the founding members of the NAACP and worked
to have full inclusion for black women in the Women’s Suffrage
Movement
• Wells was the epitome of a public sociologist because of her focus
on inequalities though not formally trained

14. Why Study Sociology?
• Sociologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark influenced the
U.S. Supreme court landmark decision in Brown vs. the
Board of Education
• The field of sociology consists of people interested in
contributing to the body of knowledge as well as those
interested in both the study and improvement of society
• Sociology has played a crucial role in desegregation,
gender equality in the workplace, improved treatment of
individuals with disabilities, and the rights of native
populations
• Sociology can teach people ways to recognize how they
fit into the world and how others perceive them and
increase awareness of differences

15. Sociology in the Workplace
• Studying sociology can provide people with much desired knowledge and education
that can contribute to many workplaces:
• an understanding of social systems and large bureaucracies
• the ability to devise and carry out research projects
• the ability to collect, read, and analyze statistical information
• the ability to recognize important differences
• skills in preparing reports and communicating complex ideas
• the capacity for critical thinking
• Sociology prepares people for a wide variety of careers include government agencies
and corporations

16. Practice Question 1
What is Sociology?
a. The study of personal choices and behavior.
b. The study of cultures and ways of life.
c. The study of society and social interaction.
d. The study of personality and social behavior.

17. Practice Question 1 Answer
What is Sociology?
a. The study of personal choices and behavior.
b. The study of cultures and ways of life.
c. The study of society and social interaction.
d. The study of personality and social behavior.
Explanation of answer:
Sociology is the study of social behavior and human groups.
Sociologists study how society effects people and how people effect
society.

18. Practice Question 2
Which of the following statements best aligns with what a sociologist
might say?
a. Personal decisions an individual makes do not exist in a
vacuum.
b. Large groups of people living in the same society and
experiencing the same social pressures will not act in
predictable ways.
c. It is important to study the individual without the society.
d. Each person is unique and makes their own choices.

19. Practice Question 2 Answer
Which of the following statements best aligns with what a sociologist might say?
a. Personal decisions an individual makes do not exist in a
vacuum.
b. Large groups of people living in the same society and
experiencing the same social pressures will not act in predictable
ways.
c. It is important to study the individual without the society.
d. Each person is unique and makes their own choices.
Explanation of answer:
Sociologists believe that cultural and and social forces put pressure on people
to make one decision over another. As such, personal decisions do not exist in
a vacuum.

20. Practice Question 3
This British sociologist translated Comte’s work into English, which made sociological
topics more accessible to the English-speaking world. This person also found
American capitalism and the inequality of women to be at odds with the country’s
professed moral principles. Who does this describe?
a. Auguste Comte
b. Harriet Martineau
c. Karl Marx
d. W.E.B. DuBois

21. Practice Question 3 Answer
This British sociologist translated Comte’s work into English, which made sociological topics more
accessible to the English-speaking world. This person also found American capitalism and the inequality
of women to be at odds with the country’s professed moral principles. Who does this describe?
a. Auguste Comte
b. Harriet Martineau
c. Karl Marx
d. W.E.B. DuBois
Explanation of answer:
Martineau was the first to translate Comte’s writing from French to English and in
doing so introduced sociology to English-speaking scholars. She found capitalism at
odds with the professed moral principles of the United States, and she noted that the
belief in all things being created equal was inconsistent with the lack of women’s
rights.

22. Practice Question 4
Which scholar focused on the struggles among groups in society and felt that social
conflict leads to societal change?
a. Karl Marx
b. Herbert Spencer
c. Émile Durkheim
d. Max Weber

23. Practice Question 4 Answer
Which scholar focused on the struggles among groups in society and felt that social conflict leads
to societal change?
a. Karl Marx
b. Herbert Spencer
c. Émile Durkheim
d. Max Weber
Explanation of answer:
Marx believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of
different social classes over the means of production. Marx predicted that the
inequalities of capitalism would become so extreme that workers would
eventually revolt, leading to the collapse of capitalism and the rise of
communism.

24. Introduction to the Sociological Imagination
• The sociological imagination (C. Wright Mills, 1916 - 1962) provides a
framework for understanding our social world and makes the connection
between personal challenges and larger social issues
• Personal troubles are private problems experienced within the character
of the individual and the range of their immediate relation to others
• Larger social or public issues are those that are outside of one’s
personal control and the range of one’s inner life
• The real power of the sociological imagination is in how we learn to
distinguish between the personal and social levels in our own lives
• A majority of personal problems are not experienced only personally but
are also influenced and affected by social norms, habits, and expectations

25. Discuss: Sociological Imagination
• What is the sociological
imagination? Illustrate your
definition with an example.

26. Introduction to Sociological Perspectives
• Sociologists use paradigms to understand the
social world
• A paradigm is a broad viewpoint, perspective,
or lens that permit social scientists to have a
wide range of tools to describe society and
then build hypotheses and theories
• Paradigms can also be considered guiding
principles or belief systems

27. The Main Sociological Theories
• A sociological theory seeks to explain social phenomena and are used to create a
testable proposition about society, or hypothesis
• Macro-level theories relate to large-scale issues and large groups of people
• Micro-level theories look at very specific relationships between individuals or small
groups
• Grand theories attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer
fundamental questions about society
• Paradigms are philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to
formulate theories, generalizations, and experiments performed in support of them
• Three paradigms in sociology: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic
interactionism

28. Structural-Functional Theory
• Structural-functional theory sees society as a structure with interrelated parts
designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals in society
• English philosopher and biologist Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903) wrote about the
similarities between society and the human body and argued that as various organs of
the body work together, various parts of society work together to keep society
functioning
• These parts of society are social institutions that include patterns of belief and
behaviors focused on meeting social needs
• Émile Durkheim applied Spencer’s theory to explain how societies change and survive
over time
• Durkheim believed that society is a complex system of interrelated and interdependent
parts working together to maintain stability
• Durkheim believed that sociologists need to look beyond individuals to social facts in
order to study society

29. Structural-Functional Theory, continued
• Social facts include the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions,
rituals, and all of the cultural rules governing social life
• Durkheim also studied social solidarity, social ties within a group, ad hypothesized
that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religion-based differences
• Robert Merton (1910 - 2003) explored the functions of social processes
• Manifest functions are the consequences of a social process that are sought or
anticipated
• Latent functions are the unsought consequences of a social process and can be
beneficial, neutral, or harmful
• Dysfunctions are the social processes that have undesirable consequences for society
• Criticism includes that structural-functional theory can’t adequately explain social
change and that dysfunctions may continue even if they do not have a function

30. Conflict Theory
• Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources
• This is a macro-level approach most identified with Karl Marx who saw society as
being made of capitalist (bourgeoisie) an worker (proletariat) classes
• The bourgeoisie control the means of production, leading to exploitation
• False consciousness: the proletariats’ inability to see their position in the class
system
• Class consciousness: structural constraints that prevent workers from joining
together create a common group identity of exploited proletariats
• Max Weber expanded Marx’s view to include inequalities of political power and
social structure that is regulated by class differences and rates of social mobility

31. Conflict Theory, continued
• Ida B. Wells articulated conflict theory through theorized connection
between an increase in lynching and increase in black social mobility
• She also examined competition within the feminist movement as women
fought for the right to vote
• W.E.B. DuBois also examined race in the U.S. and in U.S. colonies from
a conflict perspective and emphasized the importance of a reserve labor
force, made up of black men
• C. Wright Mills used conflict theory to look at systems of power and ways
in which government, military, and corporations formed a power elite in
the U.S. in the 1950s
• Conflict Theory has been criticized for focusing on the conflict to the
exclusion of recognizing stability

32. Symbolic Interactionist Theory
• Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level theory focusing on meaning attached to
human interaction, verbal and non-verbal, and to symbols
• Communication is the way in which people make sense of their social worlds
• Looking-glass self (Charles Horton Cooley) describes how a person’s sense of self
grows out of interactions with others
• Threefold process: 1)We see how others react to us 2) We interpret that reaction, and
3) We develop a sense of self based on those interpretations
• George Herbert Mead (1863 – 1931) is considered the founder of symbolic
interactionism

33. Symbolic Interactionist Theory, continued
• Mead’s student, Herbert Blumer, coined the term symbolic interactionism with
basic premises that humans interact with things based on ascribed meanings
that arise from our interactions with others and society and are interpreted by
a person
• Mead’s contribution was to the development of self
• Symbolic-interactionists focus on patterns of interactions between individuals
• Dramaturgical analysis (Erving Goffman) used theater as an analogy for
social interaction and recognized interactions as cultural “scripts”
• Constructivism is an extension of symbolic interaction theory which
proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be
• Criticism: research has difficulty remaining objective as well the narrow focus
on symbolic interaction

34. Reviewing Sociological Theories
• Food consumption from a structural-functional approach might be interested in the
role of the agricultural industry within the economy and how it is changed, different
functions that occur in food production, or how food production is related to social
solidarity
• A conflict theorist might be interested in the power differentials present in food
regulation, the power and powerlessness experienced by local farmers vs.
conglomerates, or how nutrition varies based on social classes or other groups
• A symbolic interactionist would have more interest in topics such as the symbolic
use of food in religious rituals, food’s role at family dinners, interactions among
members identifying with a particular diet, relationships between farm workers and
employees, and symbolism related to food consumption

35. Putting It Together: Sociological Foundations
• Sociology can contribute positively in both your personal and professional life
• Due to the diversity of our society and a “shrinking” world, it is likely you will run
into people from distinctly different cultures
• Understanding one another contributes to more peaceful interactions in our daily
interactions
• A solid knowledge of the sociological imagination helps us see connections
between personal experiences and how our life may be impacted by how society
views us as individuals

36. Practice Question 5
What is a sociological paradigm?
a. A well-founded theory and framework used to explain
societies, and formulate further theories, generalizations, and
experiments.
b. A theory that explains small-scale relationships and answers
fundamental questions about relationships between
individuals or small groups.
c. A theoretical framework to describe society with specific
aspects pertaining to different cultures.
d. An educated guess as to the causes of a particular social
phenomena.

37. Practice Question 5 Answer
What is a sociological paradigm?
a. A well-founded theory and framework used to explain societies, and
formulate further theories, generalizations, and experiments.
b. A theory that explains small-scale relationships and answers fundamental
questions about relationships between individuals or small groups.
c. A theoretical framework to describe society with specific aspects pertaining to
different cultures.
d. An educated guess as to the causes of a particular social phenomena.
Explanation of answer:
”Paradigm” is a term used by sociologists to reflect a broad viewpoint, perspective, set of
guiding principles, or belief systems that allows them to build hypotheses and theories.
Sometimes the word paradigm is used interchangeably with theory, philosophical framework,
or approach.

38. Practice Question 6
Which statement best describes the structural-functional theory?
a. Society is a structure of interrelated parts that meet the
needs of those who live in that society.
b. Society is a competition for scarce resources.
c. Face-to-face relationships among individuals within a
society is very important.
d. One must examine gender to understand human behavior
and society.

39. Practice Question 6 Answer
Which statement best describes the structural-functional theory?
a. Society is a structure of interrelated parts that meet the needs
of those who live in that society.
b. Society is a competition for scarce resources.
c. Face-to-face relationships among individuals within a society is
very important.
d. One must examine gender to understand human behavior and
society.
Explanation of answer:
Structural-functional theory views society as a structure with interrelated parts
designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that
society.

40. Practice Question 7
The idea that people ascribe meaning to things based on interactions with others and
society is the main idea behind _________.
a. Symbolic interactionism
b. Conflict theory
c. Structural-functionalism
d. Class theory

41. Practice Question 7 Answer
The idea that people ascribe meaning to things based on interactions with others and
society is the main idea behind _________.
a. Symbolic interactionism
b. Conflict theory
c. Structural-functionalism
d. Class theory
Explanation of answer:
Symbolic interactionism focuses on how people relate to society and
give meaning to their interactions with others.

42. Discuss: Micro and Macro-level Theories
• Describe the differences between micro-level and macro-level
theories. Illustrate your point with examples.

43. Class Activity: Theorists in Conversation
• Create a simulation of a social media conversation between two
different sociological theorists on the nature of society.
Options can include
• Émile Durkheim
• Auguste Comte
• Harriet Martineau
• Karl Marx
• Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• Max Weber
• Structural-Functionalists theorists
• Conflict theorists
• Symbolic Interactionalist theorists

44. Quick Review
• What is sociology, including some of its central concepts?
• How has sociology developed through the work and theories of classical sociologists?
• What is the value in studying sociology?
• What is sociological imagination?
• How is sociological imagination used?
• What are sociological theories?
• What are the main constructs in structural-functional theory?

45. Quick Review, continued
• How is structural-functional theory used to understand sociological concepts?
• What is conflict theory?
• How does conflict theory explain sociological concepts?
• What is symbolic interactionism?
• How do symbolic interactionism theorists view sociological concepts?
• What are the differences between theoretical perspectives in the study of a particular
social issue?