around you? • What is their story? • How do these stories affect you? Sociology Etymological Definition • “socius” (Latin) = “group / partners” • “logos” (Greek) = “study”
• “sociology” – coined by August Comte
(French philosopher, 1798-1857) Essential Definition • Scientific study of patterns of human interaction that deals with the study of group life (Joseph Fichter). Sociology • “scientific” – Body of knowledge of patterned structure – Utilizes scientific methodology – Investigates the social world – Inquires how groups are formed – Determines how groups affect the individual and vice versa Sociology • “Human interactions” – Social relations – Story of people – Ways toward each other – Social behavior (and not of the individual) – Changes taking place within society Sociology Sociology is the systematic study of human society and social interaction. It is based on the idea that our relations with other people create opportunities for us to think and act but also set limits on our thoughts and action. Sociology • Howard Becker defined sociology as the study of people “doing things together.”
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Sociology? Sociology • This reminds us that society and the individual are inherently connected, and each depends on the other.
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Sociology? Sociology • Sociologists study this link: how society affects the individual and how the individual affects society.
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Sociology? A society is a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Society Is…. A society is a group of people who share a culture and live more or less together. They have a set of institutions which provide what they need to meet their physical, social, and psychological needs and which maintain order and the values of the culture. 13 Social structures are the more or less stable patterns of people’s interactions and relationships. 14 Institutions are the principal social structures that organize, direct, and execute the essential tasks of living. 15 Some institutions are: Family, Educational, Economic, Religion, Law, Political Systems 16 Cool Insights from Sociology • Society makes us who we are by structuring out interactions and laying out an orderly world before us
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Sociology? Cool Insights from Sociology • Society is a social construction, that is an idea created by humans (i.e. doesn’t exist in the biological world but only in the social world) through social interaction and given a reality through our understanding of it and our collective actions.
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Sociology? What Does Society Look Like? • While the idea of society is familiar, describing it can be difficult. Ultimately society is made up of many different components, such as culture, race, family, education, social class, and people’s interactions. • People who share a culture and territory
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Sociology? Meaning through Interaction • People actively and collectively shape their own lives, organizing their social interactions and relationships into a meaningful world. • Sociologists study this social behavior by seeking out its patterns. • Patterns are crucial to our understanding of society
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Sociology? Society • Society is a group of people who shape their lives in aggregated and patterned ways that distinguish their group from other groups.
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Sociology? Areas of Sociology 1. Social organization study of the various social institutions, social groups, social stratification, social mobility, bureaucracy, ethnic groups and relations. Areas of Sociology 2. Social Arts 3. Social Structures – arrangement in the society 4. Social Processes – refers to the recurrent and patterned interactions or responses of individuals to one another which have attained stability Areas of Sociology 5. Social Relationship - Provide sociological information that will help in understanding society objectively through the use of scientific investigation Areas
1.Physical 1. Social organization
anthropology 2. Social psychology 2. Cultural 3. Social change and social anthropology disorganization 3. Archeology 4. Human ecology 5. Population and 4. Linguistics demography 6. Sociological theory and method 7. Applied sociology SOCIOLOGY ANTHROPOLOGY • Focuses on social • Focuses on culture processes • Recent social science • Recent social science • Understand way of life, • Understand way of life, society culture society culture • Complimented by • Complimented by sociological researches anthropological research • Originated from • Originated from Western primitive groups (pre- civilization (historical) historic) • Method: particular • Method: generic (sampling) (holistic) Anthropology and Sociology • Both sciences attempt to understand way of life as manifested by the interdependence of society and culture • Sociology zooms in at social process, whereas, Anthropology focuses on culture • Anthropological studies are used by social scientists and vice versa • Thus, both sciences are intimately related to each other—i.e., humanities.