Sept 6th 2018

LECTURE 2
Outline of today’s class

 Brief explanations of issues: re: course outline

etc.

 Brief overview of last lecture

 The subject matter of Sociology

 Sociology and other disciplines

Tutorial Times and start date

Start Date: The week beginning Sept 10th

Times:
Mon: 12-1
5-6
6-7

Tues: 5-6
6-7
7-8
Course Outline

 Should have been placed on

eLearning

 Will be emailed
 Until eLearning gets sorted out

 Please send emails all queries to:

uwisociologyclass@gmail.com
Rules

 No recording of lectures

 No videotaping of lecturer or
lectures
Brief Overview of Course Modules

 Module 1: The Sociological Approach

 Module 2: Macro and Micro Sociological
Approaches
The Founding Fathers of Sociology
 Module 3: Methodology
 Module 4: Groups and Social Interaction
 Module 5: Sociology in the Caribbean
 Module 6: Social Change and development
 Sociology
 offers a range of research techniques that
can be applied to virtually any aspect of
social life:

 street crime and delinquency,

 corporate downsizing,
 how people express emotions,
 welfare or education reform,
 how families differ and flourish
 Sociologists have learned an important
lesson:

 All human behaviour occurs in a social

context (Andersen and Taylor 2008, 2).
 By that we mean that human
behaviour is guided by the
culture, groups and the
institutions that they are part of.
The importance of sociology:

 lies in its ability to demonstrate to

us how society influences our lives.
 Sociology

It also aids an understanding of how major social changes:

 industrialisation
 Globalisation
 increasing use of technologies
 wars
 diversity
 migration

can change our lives and the very society which we

inhabit.
Sociologists are interested in:

 The routines of everyday life

 How people are dealing with social change

 How racism impacts on individuals’ lives

 How language is used to differentiate a gender

division of labour
Sociology and other disciplines

 Psychologists, anthropologists, political

scientists, and economists, all are
interested in social behaviour and social
change processes.

 They are all social science disciplines.

Psychology

 Psychology is interested in individual

behaviour

 but does not generally include a societal

analysis.

 The psychological perspective tends to show

that behaviour comes from personality
differences.
Anthropology

 the study of human cultures

 Anthropologists perceive culture to

be the foundation of society

 they are interested in examining how

people adapt to cultures.
Anthropology and Sociology

 Sociologists focus on societal forces

and how those impact on various
aspects of culture

 while anthropologists are generally

involved in describing cultural aspects
of different cultures.
Political science and Economics

 is interested in how a society organises its

governance structures

 while economics is the study of

production, distribution and consumption
of goods and services.
Both political scientists and economists
study specific institutions.

Sociologists are interested in all institutions;

arguing that all institutions shape human
behaviour.
 So

 It is NOT the subject matter that makes them

different but

 The Perspective