SOCIOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF SOCIETY

OBJECTIVES:
1. Identify the subjects of inquiry and goals of sociology.
2. Describe society as a complex whole.
3. Identify aspects of culture and society.
4. Raise questions toward a holistic appreciation of society.
5. Recognize the value of sociology for the 21 st century.

ALLOTED TIME FOR REPORTING:

120 minutes

MOTIVATION:
Pass the Message (5-10 minutes)

Assessment:
15 items Quiz

The Sociological Perspective

• The sociological perspective emphasizes that our social backgrounds influence

our attitudes, behaviors, and life chances.
• Sociology studies societies to promote social change, create new theories and
document human behavior.

According to Belle Calhoune, Sociology is the scientific study of society, including

patterns of social relationships, social interaction and culture (2002).
Auguste Comte was coined the term of sociology to refer to a scientific inquiry that
covers human social activities (1830).
In 1959, Charles Wright Mills coined the phrase “sociological imagination” to refer to the
ability of sociologist to understand society systematically. This ability involves the
process of detaching oneself from the common understanding of society and creates
alternative approach that would situate a behavior or an event within a great social
framework. Mills further argued that this imagination could be the conceptual tool by
which people could unpack the maladies of their society and address them.

Sociological Concepts
Sociology is a study of society, patterns of social relationships, social interaction and
culture of everyday life. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical
investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order,
acceptance, and change or social evolution. Sociology is also defined as the general
science of society. While some sociologists conduct research that may be applied
directly to social policy and welfare, others focus primarily on refining the theoretical
understanding of social processes. It also has discipline-based concept that aid in the
understanding of human behaivor and groups.
Society can be defined as a product of human interaction as human subscribe to the
rules of their culture. It is an organization that caters to a human's need for
belongingness in a group.

Social Comparison Theory

Social comparison theory states that individuals determine their own social and
personal worth based on how they stack up against others. People sometimes compare
themselves to others as a way of fostering self-improvement, self-motivation, and a
positive self-image. As a result, humans constantly evaluate themselves, and others,
across domains such as attractiveness, wealth, intelligence, and success.
Social comparison theory was developed in 1954 by psychologist Leon Festinger.
Subsequent research shows that people who regularly compare themselves to others
often experience feelings of deep dissatisfaction, guilt, or remorse, and engage in
destructive behaviors like lying or disordered eating.

Sociologist Perspective on Society

August Comte - society as a social organism possessing a harmony of structure and

function.
 Auguste Comte was a French philosopher born on 19th January 1978 and
died on 5th September 1857. His birthplace was Montpellier, France. He is
 known as “the father of ‘Sociology” as he was the first one to realize the
importance of relating sociology with science. He has made huge
contributions to the subject along with which he coined sociology as ‘the
science of society’ or ‘the science of human behavior’.

 In sociology, the social organism is an ideological concept in which a society

or social structure is viewed as a "living organism". From this perspective,
typically, the relation of social features, e.g. law, family, crime, etc., are
examined as they interact with other features of society to meet social needs.
All elements of a society or social organism have a function that maintains
the stability and cohesiveness of the organism

Emile Durkheim - society as a reality in its own right. Collective consciousness is a key
importance to society, which society cannot survive without.
 Emile Durkheim (1859-1917) a French sociologist and one of the dominant
figures in the field of sociology and social sciences of the late 19th century
and early 20th century opined that religion is found in all societies, primitive,
medieval or modern and the simplest form of religion is found in the primitive
society with no complexities and in its most elementary form.By complexities
what one needs to understand is that the more a society evolves the more
social structures it builds. Therefore, he asserts that any social institute (here
religion for instance) can be understood best in its most elementary form with
no influences from other social structure of the society. However, it is not to
defy the fact that all social institutions are interrelated or interconnected.
 The Division of Labour in Society (1893)
Durkheim argues that two kinds of social solidarity exist: mechanical solidarity
and organic solidarity.
 Mechanical solidarity connects the individual to society without any
intermediary. That is, society is organized collectively and all members of
the group share the same set of tasks and core beliefs. What binds the
individual to society is what Durkheim calls the "collective consciousness,"
sometimes translated as "conscience collective," meaning a shared belief
system.
 Organic solidarity is social cohesion based upon the dependence
individuals have on each other in more advanced societies. It comes from
the interdependence that arises from specialization of work and the
complementarities between people—a development that occurs in
“modern” and “industrial” societies. Although individuals perform different
tasks and often have different values and interest, the order and very
 solidarity of society depends on their reliance on each other to perform
their specified tasks.

“Organic” refers to the interdependence of the component parts. Thus, social

solidarity is maintained in more complex societies through the interdependence
of its component parts (e.g., farmers produce the food to feed the factory
workers who produce the tractors that allow the farmer to produce the food). As
a simple example, farmers produce food to feed factory workers who produce
tractors that, in the end, allow the farmer to produce more food.
George Herbert Mead - society is an exchange of gestures that involves the use of
symbols.
 George Herbert Mead believed that people develop self-images through
interactions with other people. He argued that the Self, which is the part of a
person’s personality consisting of self-awareness and self-image, is a product of
social experience.
Morris Ginsberg - society as a collection of individuals united by certain relation or
mode of behavior that marks individuals off from others who do not enter into these
relations or who differ from them in behavior.

 Morris Ginsberg defines society as a collection of individuals united by certain

relations or mode of behavior which mark them off from others who do not enter
into these relations or who differ from them in behavior. Ginsberg accordingly
defines it “as the study of society, which is of the web or tissue of human
interactions and inter-relations.” In other words, Sociology is the study of man’s
behavior in groups or of the interaction among human beings, of social
relationships and the processes by which human group activity takes place.
George Douglas Cole - society as the complex of organized associations and
institutions with a community.
 Society is an abstraction ( notion, idea, thought) Community is a concrete
entity. According to sociologist, " whenever the members of any group, small or
large, live together in such a way that they share the basic condition of a
common life, we called that group a community" Thus, a community refers to a
group of individuals living in a geographical area. They share the same physical
environment and the basic conditions of common living. A neighborhood or a
village are a good examples of a community.
  There are many types of community out of those four could be clearly
identified;
I. Rural
II. Urban
III. Nation
IV. World
 An association is a group of people, who come together and get organised for
fulfillment of specific goals or purpose. Sometimes limited numbers of goals
exists behind such organization.
 Institutions refers to established codes of conduct for carrying out group
activities. They refer to a set of rules and procedures, which provides guidelines
for human activities. Institutions are blueprint for human action. Have you ever
realized why do you go to church for worship. in fact, people unconsciously
imbibe codes of conduct for worship, which the religious institutions lay down in
society. You cannot see them but they are there which provide do's and don'ts
for your behavior
Robert Maclver and Charles Page - society as a system of usages and procedures of
authority and mutual aid of many groupings and divisions, of controls of human
behavior and liberties.
Talcott Parsons - society is a total complex of human relationships in so far as they
grow out of the action in terms of means- end relationship.

 He contributed to the field of sociological theory, particularly through his

development of a "general theory of action."

Social Organization
This concept refers to the interrelationship of parts and society. As a society is an
organization itself. It is divided into layers of contexts and position that help perpetuate
its existence. The positions created within a society constitute the category of status.
Roles are the set of accepted behaviors that define the individual's responses and
inclinations.
Group is the basic unit of an organization. It involves at least 2 individuals who are in
constant interaction based on their statuses and roles.
Institution is the building blocks of society. It is established when roles, statuses and
groups are pertuated within the context of society.

SOCIAL INTERACTION
Social Interaction is a process within the framework of a society. It's a compilation of
ways and means of how human interact with each other in a certain society.
Interaction is not defined by physical contact this implies that as long as the parties
involved are aware with each other, there is an interaction.

Several points that can be made about social interaction:

A. Space is not an issue.
B. There can be multiple and simultaneous interaction.
C. A dialogue can have an active end and an inactive end.
Social structure and agency
Social structure is the determining factor by which every other part of a society gains
its context. Social structure is both a product of social interaction and directly
determines it. Social structures are not immediately visible to the untrained observer;
however, they are always present and affect all dimensions of human experience in
society.
This is to say that culture defines the norms, values, institutions, groups, and
individual behavior within a society
According to Inden (2002), agency is the realized capacity of people to act upon their
world and not only to know about or give personal or intersubjective significance to it.
The power of people to act purposively and reflectively, in more or less complex
relationships with one another, to reiterate and remake the world in which they live, in
circumstances where they may consider different courses of action possible and
desirable, through not necessarily from same point of view.
According to Moore (2007), agency is defined as individuals plor groups reflecting,
acting, modifying and giving significance to the teaching of science in purposeful ways,
with the aim of empowering and transforming themselves and/or the conditions of their
lives.. Thus agency is action-oriented.
The structure versus agency debate may be understood as an issue of socialization
against autonomy in determining whether an individual acts as a free agent or in a
manner dictated by social structure.The influences from structure and agency are
debated—it is unclear to what extent a person's actions are constrained by social
systems.

"Structures" are said to be the objective complexes of social institutions within which
people live and act. "Agents" are said to be human deliberators and choosers who
navigate their life plans in an environment of constraints. If structure and agent are
considered to be ontologically distinct levels, then we have a series of difficult questions
to confront.

SUBDISCIPLINE OF SOCIOLOGY

Social Organization it involves social structure like institutions, social groups, social
stratification, social mobility, and ethnic groups.
Social Psychology the focus of this study is the impact of group life to a person’s
nature and personality.
Social Change and Disorganization is the branch of sociology that inquires on the
shift in social and cultural interactions and the interruption of its process through
delinquency, deviance and conflicts.
Human Ecology studies that relate human behaviour to existing social institution.
Applied Sociology uses sociological research and methods to solve contemporary
problems.
Methods in Sociology

Positivist Orientation
Positivist is the study developed by the French sociologist, Auguste Comte. It is based
on systematic observation of social behavior. Positivism argues that phenomena can be
studied through direct observation, and that these observations can be pulled together
into theories or facts that can help us understand how the world works. It is the view
which believes that scientific knowledge is the only authentic knowledge.

Positivism on Suicide, Durkheim (1951)

An example of a work that uses positivism is that of Durkheim (1951) on suicide,
wherein he identified four types of suicide that are triggered by the type of society that
one is living in.

Anti-Positivist Orientation
Anti-positivist promotes a subjective approach wherein social phenomena are
understood through individual experiences. With this, it counters the positivist
assumption that general laws can be made to understand human behavior. Such
orientation requires qualitative methods in gathering data such as interviews,
participant-observations, and other tools of ethnography.

Work On Suicide, Pearson and Lui (2011)

Unlike the work of Durkheim that has a potential for general application in
understanding suicide phenomena across geographic regions, the work of Pearson and
Lui remains to be applicable to the case of Ling's society. This situates anti-positivist
works within the micro level of analysis.

VALUE OF SOCIETY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Society is in the constant process of change. Contemporary society is constantly facing
reality altering developments not just in technology but also in its environment as
brought about by climate change. Sociology finds its value today in providing us with
conceptual tool in understanding the plight of humans as they adapt to their varying
environment and social conditions. Through the scientific analyses of social
phenomena, sociology provides policy makers with concrete bases for decisions that
affect human population and alter their social landscape.
 SOCIOLOGY
AND THE STUDY
OF SOCIETY

Leader:
Carlo Caesar Alas
Member:
Daniella Rose Adlao
Jay Adoremos
Mery Christel Estrada
Janna Mae Pillas
Erick Jhon Taga-an
Jacqueline Tatad
Vanessa Titom
Angeline Vallecera