Sociology

LECTURE 1 -4
01.08.2016 11.08.2016

Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human social
life, groups and societies and its subject matter is
our own behaviour as social beings.
Social relationships, their specific forms, varieties
and patterning, Social interactions, social groups
and social behaviour.
Sociology as a science emerged in response to
the vast social upheaval that radically changed
the shape of the societies in Europe.
Auguste Comte father of sociology

Sociology Definitions
Sociology has been defined in a number of ways by different sociologists.

Emile Durkheim defines sociology as the science of social

institutions.
Kingsley Davis: sociology is a general science of society.
Max Weber defines sociology as the science which attempts
the interpretative understanding of social action in order
thereby to arrive at a casual explanation of its course and
effects.
Park : sociology as the science of collective behaviour.
Jones : sociology as the study of man in relationship to men.

Practical implication of
sociology
Sociology studies society in a scientific way
Sociological research provides practical help in assessing the
results of policy initiatives.
Sociology has drawn our attention to the intrinsic worth and
dignity of man.
Sociology gives us an awareness of cultural difference that allows
us to see the social world from many perspectives.
Sociology can provide us with self enlightenment increased self
understanding
Sociologists concern themselves directly with practical matters as
professionals.
The study of society is of paramount importance in solving social
problems.

Sociological
perspectives
Functionalist perspective: society consists of
organs/structures which performs unique functions in
the society.
Conflicts perspective: social problems emerge from
continuing conflicts between groups in the society.
Feminist perspective: this theory examines the gender
as the source of inequality, group conflicts and the other
problems in the society.
Interactionist perspective: how we use the language,
words and symbols to create and maintain our social
reality/social being.

Society
Society refers to people who live in a defined territory and share
culture.
Man needs society for his living, working and enjoying his life.
Society is a collection of individuals united by certain relations or
mode of behaviour which mark them off from others who do not
enter into these relations or who differ from them in behaviour
Morris Ginsberg
Society is a web of social relationship MacIver
The term society refers not to group of people, but to the complex
pattern of the norms of interaction, that arise among and between
them. Lapiere

Characteristics of the
society
Society consists of people
Mutual recognition
Mutual interaction
Mutual Awareness
A sense of belonging together
Depends on likeness and differences
Interdependence
Co-operation
Society is dynamic
Social control
Culture

Classification of
society
By their chief mode of
substance
Hunting & gathering society
Pastoral society
Agriculture society
Industrial society

Based on basic pattern of social organisation

Homogeneous
Heterogeneous

Community
A community is the total social life of a locality.
A community not only includes a system of
rules and a definite structure by which its
members may live a common life, it also admits
within its members may pursue both their
individual and social life.

Community
definitions
Community is social group with some degree of we
feeling and living in a given area Bogardus
Community is the smallest territorial group that can
embrace all aspects of social lifeKingsley Davies
Community is an area of social living marked by
some degree of social coherence MacIver
Community is an organic, natural kind of social
group whose members are bound together by a
sense of belonging created out of everyday contacts
covering the whole range Ferdinard Tonnis

Characteristics of
community
Locality
Community sentiment
Common way of life
Common interest
Feeling of oneness
Stability
Size of the community
System of rules and regulations

Society
It is a web of social relationships
A definite geographical area is not
the essential part of the community.

Community

Community sentiment may or may

not be present in the society.

Community consist of group of people living in a particular area

with some sense of we feeling.

Society is abstract.

Community sentiment is essential element of community.

Society is wider.

Community is concrete.

There can be more than one

community in a society.
It involves both likeness and
differences.
Common and diverse interests are
present in the society.

Definite geographic area is the essential part of the community.

Community is smaller than society.

Likeness is more important than differences
There is more common interest among members of community

Social Institutions
An institution is a procedure, an established
way of doing things, a pattern of behaviour,
a deeply ingrained societal custom that
becomes part of the social structure.
Institutions represent the social structure
and the machinery through which human
society organises, directs and executes the
multifarious activities required satisfying
human needs.
Needs (emotional, economic, familial,
religious etc.) are the basis for the social

Social Institution definition

Ginsberg: Institution may be described as
recognized and established usages
governing the relations between individual
and groups.
MacIver and page: Institutions may be
defined as the established forms or
condition of procedure characteristic of
group activity.

Classification Of
Institutions
Primary : most basic institutions
which are found in the primitive
societies also.
Family-in determining kinship
Religion-in regulating our relationship
to supernatural power
Economic-in regulating the
distribution of goods and services
Education in transmitting
knowledge from one to another
Government providing for
legitimate use of power

Secondary : developed as the societies grew in size and

complexity.
Marriage, divorce
Church, temple, mosque
Property trading , banking
School, college, universities
Interest groups, party system, democracy

Characteristics of
institutions
1. Social in nature
2. Universality
3. Institutions are standardized norms
4. Institutions as means of satisfying needs
5. Institutions are the controlling mechanisms
6. Relatively permanent
7. Abstract in Nature
8. Oral and Written Traditions
9. Synthesising symbols
10.Institutions are interrelated

Functions of
institutions
Institutions provide and prescribe the ways of
fulfilling the human needs.
Institutions organise and regulate the system of
social behaviour
Institutions contribute to a system and order in
society.
Institutions assign roles and statuses to the
individual
Institution serve as a means of regulating and
controlling mans activities.

Social system
System functions as a whole with the interaction of
the subsystems which are interrelated and
interlinked to each other.
Herbert Spencer social system as analogy of
human system
Montesquieu formulated the concept of social
system
all the features of social life are united into a
coherent whole.
Human society is network of social interactions.
Individuals interact and influence each other.

Social systemDefinition
David Popenoe: Social system refers to any
kind of social grouping.
W.F. Ogburn A social system may be
defines as a plurality of individuals
interacting with each other according to
shared cultural norms and meaning

Social systemCharacteristics
1.Social system consist of two or more individuals among whom we find an
established pattern of interaction.
2.Individuals in their actions take account of how the others are likely to act or
behave.
3.Individuals in the social system behave in accordance with the shared
cultural norms and values.
4.Individuals in the system act together in pursuit of common goals or
rewards.
5.Social system as a concept may represent the entire society or a number of
sub-systems.
6.A social system has its own boundary with the help of which it can be
distinguished from other social systems.
7.The term social system denotes a sociological concept that has been
evolved to study society.

Elements of social
system
1. Social act /action
2. Actor
3. Status role

Social structure
The orderly and fairly predictable patterns of
interaction emerge in a social system.
It isthe patterned and recurring way in which
individuals and group interact

Social structure Definition

Talcott Parsons: The term social structure
applies to the particular arrangement of the
interrelated institutions, agencies and social
patterns as well as the statuses and roles which
each person assumes in the group.
Radcliff Brown: Social structure refers to the
arrangement of persons.
Raymond Firth: Social structure is concerned
with the ordered relation of parts to the whole,
with the arrangement in which the elements of
social life are linked together.

Social structure
-characteristics
Social structure is an abstract and intangible
phenomenon.
Individuals are the units of association and
institutions are the units of social structure.
These institutions and associations are
interrelated in a particular arrangement and
thus create the pattern of social structure.
It refers to the external aspect of society which
is relatively stable.

Social group
A social group is a plurality of persons who have
a common identity, at least some feeling of
unity, certain common goals and shared norms,
and fairly high level of interaction.

Social groupDefinition
Harry M Johnson: A social group is a system of
social interaction.
Marshal James: two or more people between
whom there is an established pattern of
interaction.
R.M Maclver and Page: any collection of
human beings who are brought into human
relationships with one another.

Social groupCharacteristics
Collection of individuals
Interaction among members
Mutual awareness
We -feeling
Group unity and solidarity.
Common interest.
Collective behaviour
Size of the group
Groups are dynamic
Groups are stable or unstable..
Groups influence the personality

Social groupclassification
Primary group: essential for the wellbeing of
the people.
Secondary groups: groups which provide
experience lacking in intimacy