NMAT REVIEWER SOCIOLOGY THE ROLE AND SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY A. Nature of Sociology Sociology - Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions. Sociology’s subject matter is diverse, ranging from crime to religion, from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture, and from social stability to radical change in whole societies. Nature of Sociology According to Robert Bierstedt: ● Sociology is an independent science ● Sociology is a social science not a physical science ● Sociology is a categorical and not a normative discipline ● Sociology is a pure science and not an applied science ● Sociology is relatively an abstract science not a concrete science ● Sociology is a generalizing and not a particularizing or Individualizing Science ● Sociology is a general Science and not a special Social Science ● Sociology is both a Rational and an Empirical Science B. Branches of Social Science 1. Political Science - study of social arrangements to maintain peace and order within a given society 2. Economics - study of the ways in which men and women make a living 3. Sociology - systematic study of relationships among people; Assume that behavior is influenced by people’s social, political, occupational and intellectual groupings and by the particular setting in which they find themselves at one time or another 4. Anthropology - Study of the relationships between biological traits and socially acquired characteristics ● Physical anthropology - influence of evolution of natural environment on physical characteristics of humans ● Cultural anthropology - study remains of extinct civilizations that left no written records (Archeology) 5. Geography - study of the natural environment and how it influences social and cultural development 6. Psychology - study of mental processes and behavior with the goal of describing, explaining, predicting and changing behavior 7. History - Study of past events; systematic attempt to learn about and verify past events and to relate them to one another and to he present ● Involves: Identifying, classifying, arranging, patterning B. Scientific method 1. Observe 2. Define problems 3. Review the literature 4. Observe some more 5. Develop theoretical framework and formulate hypothesis 6. Choose research design 7. Collect data 8. Analyze data 9. Draw conclusions 10. Present findings C. Research Methods 1. QUANTITATIVE ● Correlation - determine trends among variables; not causal relationship ● Experiment - allows causal inference; control ○ Independent variable - manipulated; Dependent variable - measured 2. QUALITATIVE ● Observation (Laboratory or Naturalistic) ● Case studies ● Surveys (interviews and questionnaires) ELEMENTS OF SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS Society, culture and Cultural Change A. SOCIETY - a group of people involved in social interaction which also shares the same geographical territory, and sometime, shares similar cultural practices and identities SOCIOLOGICAL TYPES OF SOCIAL TIES (Ferdinand Tonnies) ● GEMEINSCHAFT: a group in which individuals take into account the needs NMAT REVIEWER SOCIOLOGY and interests of the group as much as, iif not more than, their own self interest (equates to rural communities) ● GESELLSCAFT: a group in which, for the individual, the larger group never takes precedence over the individual’s self interest, and these groups lack the same level of shared mores (equated to urban communities) B. CULTURE - Total Pattern of human behavior and its products embodied in thought, speech, action and artifacts that are passed on from generation to generation - The shared language, norms, values & other ways of thinking and doing that is passed on from adults to children; slowly accumulates over many generations - A product of human societies and of the individuals who compose them - Character & personality of all humans are in large part reflections of the society in which they live - Cultures creates societies and societies depend on culture C. CULTURAL EVOLUTION - Gradual accumulative process of how culture is changed D. SOCIALIZATION - Process that shapes personality of individuals so that they can adjust to and become members of a society E. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE 1. Social norms a. Conventions - simple everyday customs of a group of people that represent usual ways of behaving; b. Mores - customs that need to be observed by all society for the culture to survive; Violations are not legally sanctioned by incur social punishment through peer disapproval c. Laws - more exact; generally recorded, codified & enforced as a means of securing public obedience; violations are legally sanctioned (fines, imprisonment) 2. SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS - An established complex pattern of behavior in which a number of persons participate in order to further important group interests, provide order, coordination & avenue for social change 3. MATERIAL PRODUCTS - From knowledge of how to produce and use a variety of material products like food, clothing, houses, tools, machines and works of art 4. LANGUAGE - Body of words and system for usage common to a people of the same community/nation/geographical location or cultural tradition 5. SOCIAL VALUES - The motivating power that makes institutions function effectively F. CULTURAL INTEGRATION - The degree to which a culture is internally consistent & homogenous - Diverse versus unified culture - Cultural universals - Aspects/ Traits that are similar among all cultures - Cultural alternatives - cultural characteristics nor necessarily shared by other cultures - Enculturation - people learn about their own culture formally and informally - Acculturation - learning about a host culture which require these actions G. SOCIAL CHANGE ● Needed in order to adjust to new situations ● Rate of social change - started slow then gains momentum through the course of human social development ● Factors that affect social changes ○ Development of agriculture ○ Invention of writing and printing ○ Rise of modern science ○ Industrial Revolution (Started in England, mid-1700s) ○ Rapid transportation and communication ● Current status of social change: ○ Increasing rate of technological change ○ Increasing interaction among cultures (especially in developing countries) ○ Accelerated pace of spreading of Western science and technology ○ Although there are still a lot of cultural differences across different cultures, on the whole, differences are diminishing at a more rapid rate than before ● CHANGE (old situations are replaced with new ones) ○ Is NOT equal to evolution ○ Is NOT equal to progress NMAT REVIEWER SOCIOLOGY ● THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE ○ Glorifying the past ○ Doctrine of inevitable progress (Europe & USAr) ○ Cycle theory of social change (Oswald Sppengler & Arnold Toynbee) ○ Supernatural, racial characteristics & economic conditions, cultural infusion or invention ● FACTORS CAUSING CULTURAL CHANGE ○ Technological Development ■ Discovery: Learning something that was not known before ■ Inventions: a new way of doing something or new object or mechanical device developed to serve some specific purpose ○ Cultural diffusionIdeas & ideology ○ Collective action ○ Geography & climate ● FACTORS STABILIZING CULTURE ○ Stability of social norms ○ Habit ○ Value attachment H. SOCIAL PROBLEMS - adversely affect the welfare of large numbers of people and for which it is believed a solution exists to bring about change ● CULTURAL LAG (William Ogburn) - the slowness in the rate of change on one part of a culture in relation to other parts, resulting in maladjustment within a society I. CONTRASTS AMONG CULTURES ● Ethnocentrism - belief of a group that its people and its way of life are superior to all others; judge other cultures based on evaluator's own culture and its standards ● Cultural relativism - cultures develop in a way that best suits the population’s needs and the cultural traits within a culture have a specific purpose J. The Macrosociological Perspective: Social Structure ● Social structure is defined as the patterned relationships between people that persist over time. Behaviors and attitudes are determined by our location in the social structure. Components of social structure are culture, social class, social status, roles, groups, and institutions. ● Culture refers to a group's language, beliefs, values, behaviors, and gestures. It includes the material objects used by a group. It determines what kind of people we will become. ● Social class is based on income, education, and occupational prestige. Large numbers of people who have similar amounts of income and education and who work at jobs that are roughly comparable in prestige make up a social class. ● Social status refers to the positions that an individual occupies. A status may carry a great deal of prestige (judge or astronaut), or very little (gas station attendant or cook in a fast-food restaurant). ● Status set refers to all the statuses or positions that an individual occupies. ● Ascribed statuses are positions an individual either inherits at birth or receives involuntarily later in life. Examples include race, sex, and social class of parents. ● Achieved statuses are positions that are earned, accomplished, or involve at least some effort or activity on the individual's part. Examples include becoming a college president or a bank robber. ● Each status provides guidelines for how we are to act and feel. ● Status symbols are signs that people use who want others to recognize that they occupy a certain status. For example, wedding rings that are worn, fancy cars, living in expensive homes, etc. ● A master status—such as being male or female—cuts across the other statuses that an individual occupies. Status inconsistency is a contradiction or mismatch between statuses. A disability can become a master status for some. This condition can override other statuses and determines others’ perception of this person. ● Roles ar