Rusangu University

(A Seventh-day Adventist Institution of Higher Learning)

Monze, Zambia.
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Behavioural Sciences

COURSE OUTLINE
Course Name: SOCI 111 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
Semester Credits: Four (4)
Course Dates:
Course Time: M, Tue, wed, Thur
Meeting Room: Ground Floor Room 7
Organization: Face to Face
Course Description: A study of the development of sociology as a social science, some
concepts, and ideas associated with the study of human behaviour, and an overview of the
principles, terms, and concepts in the discipline
An Introduction to Sociology purpose: College level Sociology course is designed to introduce
students to the Sociological study of society. Sociology focuses on the systematic understanding
of social interaction, social organization, social institutions, and social change.

TEACHER INFORMATION

Name

Contact Information: Email Address :

Telephone:
Office Location:
Office Hour:

Rationale: Sociology allows you to gain a greater understanding of the complex and simple
nature of humans and their societies. By studying societal behaviour. You will be to make able
to make comparisons, attempt to solve issues and have a rationale perception of some of the
societies more frustrating habits

LEARNING OUT COMES

Upon the completion of this course ,the student should be better able:
 Student will be able to explain social facts and society related concepts.
 Student will be able to define and explain Sociological concepts
 Student will be able to define and exemplify social fact.
 Student will be able to express emphrical observations with the sociological concepts

RESOURCES

TEXT BOOKS

Cole, W. (2014). Introduction to sociology. Sociology, 1010(002), 002.

Kendrick Jr, J. R. (1996). Outcomes of service-learning in an introduction to sociology course. Michigan Journal
of Community Service Learning, 3, 72-81.

Griffiths, H., Keirns, N., Strayer, E., Cody-Rydzewski, S., Scaramuzzo, G., Sadler, T., ... & Jones, F.
(2015). Introduction to sociology. OpenStax.

Browne, K. (2005). An introduction to sociology. Polity.

Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2014). The real world: An introduction to sociology (p. 608). WW Norton, Incorporated.
 Rocher, G. (1972). Introduction to Sociology. Academic publishers.

Belet, M. (2018). The importance of relevance to student lives: The impact of content and media in
introduction to sociology. Teaching Sociology, 46(3), 208-224.

COURSE CONTENTS

UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION
 What is Sociology?
 Historical Development of Sociology as an academic Discipline
 Basic Concept and theories in Sociology
 Sociology and the other Social Sciences

UNIT 2
CULTURE

 Culture and Society

 Cultural Change and factors of the cultural change
 Functions of Culture
 Cultural Universal
 Animals have Culture

UNIT 3
SOCIALIZATION

 Role of Socialization
 Agents of Socialization
 Nature Vs Nurture

UNIT 4
SOCIALOGICAL RESEARCH

 What is Valid Research topic?

 The Research Process

UNIT 5
DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL
 Meaning and Nature of the deviance
 Theories of deviance and collective behaviour

UNIT 6
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
 Theories of the Social Stratification
 Systems of Social Stratifications
 Minority groups
UNIT 7
HEALTH AND ILLNESS

 Definition of Health and Illness

 Sociology and Medicine
 Theoretical perspectives
 Threats to health

UNIT 8
SEXUALITY

 Sex a biological issue

 Sex a Cultural issue
 Sexual Orientation
 Sexual Controversies

Course Requirements:

A. Attendance and Daily Participation. Students are expected to attend all classes and to
participate in class discussions and activities.
B. Reading of the textbook and other related materials prior to the time when the topic is
first presented. Preparation for class allows for more efficient use of class time, and
hence, greater knowledge. Assignments will be given to be carried out in class and out of
class. In-class assignments cannot be made up at a later date.
C. Quizzes will be administered as scheduled, will not be repeated.
D. Preparation of a comprehensive glossary of over 50 terms related to Educational policies
and Planning. Provide the bibliographic reference for the definition. Marks will be
awarded for the manner in which the glossary is presented in terms of creativity,
uniqueness and general appearance.

Course Evaluation:
Final grades will be determined using the total percentage points you earned during the
duration of the course.
Assessment Criteria %
Assignments/ Reports 10 %
Midterm Exam 30%
Quizzes/ Glossary/Attendance 10 %
Final Examination 50 %

Letter Grade Percentage Range B- 65-69

A 90-100 C+ 60-64
A- 80-89 C 50-59
 B+ 75-79 D 45-49
B 70-74 F 0-44

Additional Information:

1. Term Papers: Due Date:

Students will write two (2) term paper(s) of between 6 – 8 pages, typed with double space, Font
size 12, Times New Roman, should follow APA, Use title case for subheadings. These paper
should show scholarly elements of academic writing with correct citations, references,
interpretations of facts where necessary and academic coherence accepted by higher institutions
of learning (see guidelines on how to write essays/term papers). Use a minimum of six (6)
sources/references in your paper. You may choose the topics of your interest, must be related to
the course contents, get the prior approval.

2. Assignment Questions: Due Date:

Answer these questions.

3. Reading Reports: Due Date:

Submit three reading reports using the journal articles. These articles are related to the content
areas listed on your course outline. (Compulsory).
4. Glossary: Due Date:
Prepare a comprehensive glossary of over 50 terms related to this course content. Each term is
defined or a short notes is written (3-4 sentences). State the bibliographic references. Marks
will be awarded for the manner in which the glossary is presented in terms of creativity,
uniqueness and general appearance.
5. Interview: Due Date:
.

Important Class Procedures

 Cellular phones disrupt concentration and therefore must be TURNED OFF in class.
Please cooperate with us.
 Lateness and tardiness attract a penalty; they affect performance and therefore grades.
(See bulletin.)
 Quizzes will not be repeated.
 Submit all assignments electronically ([email protected]), as attachments (Your name and
assignment in subject line) in Times New Roman size, 12 Font, double spaced.
 Use the APA Style(6th Ed) for all your written works. Get information on APA style in
the library or the English Department.
 If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to discuss them with me at
any time, as we are all a part of the teaching/learning process. Your success is
my success and your failure is mine too, so let us work together for the success of
us all.

Academic Honesty and Integrity:

All graduate students are expected to maintain a high level of responsibility with respect to
academic honesty. Students engaged in cheating or academic dishonesty of any form will be
subject to disciplinary penalties which include the possibility of failure for the course and/or
dismissal from the University. Cheating, dishonesty, plagiarism, copying portions of another
student’s work are totally unaccepted and will be dealt with seriously. A minimum penalty will
be a zero for the course work submitted. Further action may be taken at the instructor’s
discretion. In view of the fact that such dishonesty harms the individual, all students and the
integrity of the University, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.

While you are a student in my class, it shall be considered academic dishonesty for you to
review, use, or discuss with another person any written assignments from any course (graduate or
undergraduate) that I am teaching or that I have previously taught.

After the completion of my class, it shall be considered academic dishonesty for you to allow a
current student of mine to review a paper you wrote for one of my classes.

In addition, any time you put your name on a test or written assignment for this course, you are
asserting that it is your own work. If that is not the case, it shall be considered academic
dishonesty. Plagiarism is considered academic dishonesty and plagiarized works will not be
graded.

Standards: The following standards will be used for evaluating the papers expected in this class:

Grade A Grade B Grade C Grade D

Tightly focused Generally focused Somewhat focused Scattered random
writing relating to a on single topic on broad topic writing without
narrow topic focus
A high degree of Indicates good Concept discussed Little if any
conceptual ability to but not well conceptualization
development conceptualize developed
Properly Outside sources Outside sources No credit given to
documented where given proper credit alluded to sources used
sources used
Excellent Good organization Moderately well Poorly organized
organization and and logic organized, but with little or no
logical progression logical progression logic evident
of thought is not evident
Excellent use of A good job of Much paraphrasing Mostly paraphrased
prose in capturing summarizing the of other material or copied; not
the essence of material reviewed really the authors
referenced material own work
Syntax and Only a few errors A number of errors, Many errors, poor
grammar of minor not well edited grammar and
excellently done. significance sentence structure
 Well edited
material
Complete yet Concise and Topic appears to be Incomplete
concise discussion generally one-sided with discussion of the
of issue recognizes most aspects of the topic issue. Major points
aspects of the topic missing. Overly ignored
verbose
Opinion based on Generally good Evidence only Opinion entirely
fact, research, or evidence given in somewhat support unsupported
scholarly authority support of opinion opinion

Guidelines for Class Discussions:

Students are expected to use appropriate terms and language within all course discussion. Racial
slur, derogatory naming or remarks disrespectful of the rights and dignity of “others” will not be
tolerated. Beliefs and worldviews divergent from yours may be shared, and respect for those
differences is to be maintained within the classroom. No eating, No cell phone communications
during the class session
“The greatest want of the world is the want of men,--men who will not be bought or sold; men
who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name;
men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the
right though the heavens fall.” - Education, p. 57. (White, 1903)
Hope you have a great Quarter!
Unit 1 The sociological perspectives

Sociology is the systematic study of social behavior and human

group’s .humansare self-aware

The sociological perspective is an approach to understanding human behavior by

placing it within a broader social context .At the center of the sociological
perspective is the question of how people influenced by their society .A society
is a group of people who share a culture and territory .

To find out why people do what they do, Sociology looks at the social location,
where people are located in a particular society,

Sociology and other sciences

A science is the application of systematic methods obtain knowledge and the

knowledge obtained by those methods
There are two kinds of sciences

1. Natural sciences: the intellectual and academic disciplines designed to

comprehend, explain and predict events in our in natural world.Examples of
natural sciences are physics,biology chemistry etc.
2. Social sciences :the intellectual and academic disciplines designed to
understand the social world
Examples are political sciences,economic anthropology.

Goals of sociology
1.Explain why things happen
2.Make generalizations about events
3.Predict the likely hood of an event occurring

Development of Sociology
1. Industrial revolution by the mid-19th century .Europe was shifting from
being an agriculturally based society to a more industriallyone.
2. Imperialism was a second factor in that as Europe was expanding its
geographical conquests, they came across people of different cultures.
3. Development in the natural sciences also promoted social sciences to
come up with ways to explain social phenomena

Time line for the Development of Sociology

1.Auguste comte 1798-1857

The French man is also known as the founding father of sociology.
.First used the term sociology to refer to the study of society.
The idea of applying the scientific method to the social world was
through what he termed as positivism

2.Herbert Spencer 1820-1903

He is the second founding father of sociology, he grew up in England

He believed that the societiesoperate according to fixed laws and move
from” barbaric “to more civilized societies
He was a social Darwinist

3.Karl Marx 1818-1883

According to him,the engine of the society is driven by the conflict

between the owners of the means of productions-bourgeoisies and the
worker proietariat.

The bitter struggler can be only end when the workers unite to
overthrough the owners of the means of production to create a classless
society.

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles
Freemen and slave ,patrician and plebian ,lord and serf ,guild –master (3)
and journey man,in a word,oppressor and oppressed,stood in constant
opposition to one another,carried on an uninterrupted,now hidden,now
open flight ,a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary
reconstruction of the society at large ,or in the common ruin of the
contending classes.

4.Emile Durkheim 1858-1917

He has a primary goal of getting sociology recognized as a separate
academic disciple .He also had the goal of studying how individual
behavior is shaped by a social forces.One of his enduring studies was on
suicide .he found that suicide rates are different from nation to nation
even within a nation.

Durkheim identified that social integration which is the degree to which

people are tied to their social groupas a key social factor in suicide.

Anomie is a condition of society in which people become detached, cut

loose from the norms that usually guide their behavior.
It is Durkheim who clearly established the logic of the functional
approach to the study of social phenomenaalthough functional
explanations it will be recalled, play a major part in Spencer ‘s approach,
and the lineaments of functional reasoning were already discernible in
the work of Comte. In particular, Durkheim set down a clear
distinction between historical and functional types of inquiry and
between functional consequences and individual motivations.

Max Weber-1864-1920

Most important contributions. To sociology was the study of the rise of

capitalism. He argued that religions one of the most important factors in
the rise of capitalism .He contrasted the catholic and protestant belief
system in the development of capitalism. In his
Effort to escape from the individualizing and particularizing approach of
German Geisteswissenschaft and historicism, weber developed a key
conceptual tool, the notionof the ideal type. It will be recalled that weber
argued that no scientific
System isever capable of reproducing all concrete reality,not can any
conceptual apparatus ever do full justice to the infinite diversity of
particular phenomena. All science involves selections as well as
abstraction. Yet the social scientist can easily be caught in a dilemma
when he chooses his conceptual apparatus. When his concepts are very
general as when he attempts to explain capitalism or Protestantism by
subsuming them under the general concepts of economic or religion he is
likely to leave out what is most of the historian and particularizes the
phenomenon under discussion, he allows no room for comparisons with
related phenomena. The motion of the ideal typewas meant to provide
escape from this dilemma.
An ideal type never corresponds to concrete reality but always moves at
least one step away from it .It is constructed out of certain elements of
reality and forms a logically precise and coherent whole, which can never
be found as such in that reality .There has never been a full empirical
 embodiment of the protestant ethnic, of the” charismatic leader”. Or of
the exemplary prophet.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
A theory is a general statement about some parts of the world fit together
and how they work an explanation of how two or more focus are related
to one another .

Sociologistsuse 3 major theories in explaining human behavior

SYMBOLIC INTERACTION
They view symbols i.ethings to which we attach meaning as an basis of
asocial life symbol’s re important because
1. Without symbols our social interactions would be limited and
ineffective.
2. Symbols help us coordinate our actions with others and enables us
plan for thefuture
3. There would be no books, movies, schools etc.
4.The self which is an important part of one’s personality is a symbol
Culture plays a significant role in how we construct and interpret symbol e.g.
Marriage love, divorce. Etc

2.Functionalism /structure functionalism

The central idea is that society is a which unit made up of different parts which
should work to the good of the whole to create homeostasis

Comte and Spencer likened society to a human body and state that just like the
body has different parts that perform different functions so does the society
These functions are two fold Latent and manifest

If an action is intended to help some part of the system, it’s called manifest
function and if it’s unintended then it is called latent,.

3.Conflict

Stresses that society is made of two groups that are struggling for scarce resources.
The two groups are the owners of the means of production and the workers.

DEFINATIONS BY THE DIFFERENT SOCIOLOGISTS.

1. Auguste comte : founding father of sociology subject to natural and invariable

laws ,the discovery of which is the object of investing

2. Kingsley Davis: Sociology is a general science of society

3. Harry .M. Johnson deals with the social groups

4. Emile Durkheim: sociology deals with the social institutions

5. Park: sociology deals with the science of collective behavior

6. Marshall Jones: sociology deals with the study with the man in relationship to
men

7.Ogburn and Nimskoff :the study of scientific study of social life.

NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY

1.Sociology is an independence science ,2.Sociology is a social science and not a

physical science,3 Sociology is a categorical and a normative
Discipline ,4sociology is a pure science and not an applied science ,5.sociology is
relatively an abstract science and not a concrete science ,6.sociology is a
generalizing and not a particularizing or individuating science

7. Sociology is a general is science and not a special social science

8. Sociology is both the arational and empirical science

USES OF SOCIOLOGY

1. Society studies society in a scientific way

2. Sociology throws more light on the social nature of man

3. Sociology improves our understanding of the society and increase the power of
social action

4. The study of sociology helps us to know not only our society and men but also
others

5. The need for the study of sociology is greater especially in underdeveloped

countries

SOME BRANCHES OF SOCIOLGY

1.Historical sociology has emerged as one of the branches of sociology .In the
sense ,all sociological research is historical for the sociologists normally go into
the records pertaining to the events that have happened or have been observed ,The
term historical sociology is ,however usually applied the study of social facts
which more than fifty years old .

Sociology of knowledge: is one of the recently emerged branches of

sociology .This branches presupposes the idea that our knowledge is in the
measure a social product .

Sociology of the law looks at law and legal systems is a part of the society and
also as a social institution related to other institutions and changing with that them .

What has sociology got to do with me or with my life ,As a student .you might well
have asked this question when you signed up for your introductory sociology you
signed up for your introductory sociology course .To answer it ,consider these
points .Are you influences by what you see on the television .DO you use the
internet ?Do you vote in the last election ? Are you familiar with the binge
drinking on the campus ?Do you use alternative medicine ?These are the just few
of the every day life situations described in this bookthat sociology can shed light
on .But as the opening excerpt indicates ,sociology also looks at large social issues
.We use sociology to investigate why thousands of jobs have moved from the
united states to developing nations.what social forces promote prejudice ,what
leads someone to join a social movement and work for the social change ,how
access to computer technology can reduce social inequality ,

Socology is very simple ,the systematic study of a social behavior and human
groups ,It focus on the social relationships ,how those relationships influence
people’s behavior ,and how societies .the sum total of those relationships develop
and change

The sociological imagination

An awareness of the relationship between an individual and wider society

Eg: sport events, on the college campus in the US thousands of students cheer well
trained foot ball players.

The sociological imagination allows us to go beyond personal experiences and

observations to understand broader public issues .Divorce is an unquestionable
experience .the sociological experience is an empowering tool.

You are walking down the street in your city or home town .In looking around
you .you can’t help noticing that half or more of the people you see are over weight
.how do you explain your observation ?how do you think you would explain it

UNIT 2 CULTURE

Culture is defined as the totality of learned,socially transmitted

customs ,knowledge ,materials objects and behavior.Culture is the totality of
values,beliefs, way of life and even material possession passed from one
generation to the next by use if symbols .Culture is the product of the of interaction
to the next use of symbols .Culture is the product of the interaction ,both materials
and non-materials.(meanings,beliefs, values ideas,norms,etc.

It includes the ideas the value , customs,artifacts

Society is the largest form of human group.

Attitudes towards culture

 Ethnocentrism :The tendency to assume that one’s own culture and the way
of life represent the norm or superior to all the other culture
 Cultural Relativism:allows us to view people from the perspective of their
own culture.

Culture is :
 Shared
 Learned
 Intergenerational

A Human construction thousands of years in the making: Biology

(brains,hand,vocal )

Universal: practices at general level languages ,food ,housing,sport, families,etc Vs

variation at the specific level.Insults in various cultures.

Culture as a stable system:

 It is our world ,taken as natural (house smells)

 Resists change
 Cultural lag :material Vs .Non –material culture.

Elements of non materials culture

1.languages:

This is a system of a symbols that can be strung togather in an infinite number of

ways for the purpose of communicating abstract thought .
Language proceeds thought in that is influenced behavior and interpretation of
social reality .The importance of language is as follows :

1.Provides a social or shared past

2.Provides social a social or shared future

3.Allows shared perspectives or understanding

2.Norms

These are established standards of behavior that develops out of a group’s

values

3.Sanctions

Are expressions of disapproval given to people for upholding or violating

4.Values

Norms that are not strictly enforced are called folkways .While Mores are those
strictly enforced

US core values

1.Acievement and success

2.Individualism
3.Activity and work
4.Science and technology
5.Humanitarianism
6.Democracy
7.Equality
Cultural universals :

This is a value ,norm or other cultural trait that is found in every group

Animals and culture

The debate of whether animals do have aculture has been of interest to

sociology .Astudy done by Gcodall in 1957 provides some answers .She lives in
the remote areas of Tanzania to study chimpanzees and for thirty years she did just
that .She found the following :

1.Wild chimpanzees made and used tools that is ,modified object s and used them
for specific purposes
2.have a shared culture ,that is ,they continue to share with the young one what is
expected of them
3.Even if animals may not
Cultural change aLag
Cultural lag is a term used by Williams Ogburn for the situation which non
material culture lags is a term changes in material culture .

Cultural changes

 Innovation : The process of Introducing new elements into a culture through

either discovery or invention .
 Discovery
 Intervention
 Diffusion

UNIT 3 : SOCIALIZATION

This is a process through which one learns attitudes, values and behaviors
appropriate within cultural context which help one develop distinctive
personality (attitudes, temperament, needs etc.

The role of socialization

What makes us who we are ?Is it the genes we are born with?Or the
environment in which we grow up? Researchers have traditionally clashed over
the relative importance of biological inheritance and environmental factors in
Human development a conflict called the nature Vs Nurture or Heredity Vs
environment.

Environment: The Impact of Isolation the case of Gene

C.H COOLEY: LOOKING –GLASS SELF

 Looking glass self is used to describe the process by which a sense of self
developers .The looking glass self has 3 elements:

1. We imagine how we appear to those around us .

2. We interpret other’s reactions
3. We develop a self concept.
G.H .MEAD:
Use the concept of role taking to explain the development of self .In play
children learn to take the role of the other,that is to put themselves in someone
else shoes to understand how someone else feels and thinks and to anticipate
how the person will act. As they develop this ability at first children are able to
take only the role of significant others that is, individuals who significantly
influence their lives.

To take on the ability to take on roles eventually extends to being able to take
the role of an abstract entity ,the group as a whole. Mead calls the perception of
how people in general think of us as a generalized other.

Learning to take the role of the other goes through 3 stages

1.Imitation children under 3 can only mimic and don’t understand the meaning
of these gestures
2.Play during the second stage from between 3-6 children take specific
Roles of specific people
3 .with the early Games –that begins with the early schoolyearswhen organized
teams.

Mead alsodistinguishing between

The I(subject)and the Me(Object) in the development of the self

Piagent and the development of reasoning skills

The question that intrigued Jean pageant was how reasoning skills develop. She
noticed that children would give consistent wrong answers intelligent tests. The
means that children follow some sort of incorrect rule in figuring out answer.
She suggests thatthere are 4 stages in the development on reasoning skills

1.Sensormortorstage birth to 2years

2.The preoperational stage 2-7years

3.Concrete operational 7-12 years

4.Formal stage after the age of 12 years

Sensorimortoro.2 sensory and physical contact ,no language thinking ,little

differentiation self /world discovers feet ,no sense of results of their acts object
permanence

Preoperational 2-7,lack ability to do simple mental operations,no understanding

of abstract concepts speed,weight,value,bigger is heavier ,nickel more than
dime,water and container volume,trees waving makes the wind ,today is my
birthday Vs Wednesday .Like Mead egocentric can’t take perspective of other
How many brothers do you have how many does your brothers have –back to
Mead

Concrete operational 7-12 reason about concrete situations but not abstract or
hypothetical ,basic adult function :calculate causality ,quantity BUT NOT death,
justice etc. in abstract only tired to specific experience ,Develops sense of others
perspective ,Back to Mead

Format Operational adolescence, abstractthought, theories, hypothesis,

mortality,goals, able alternative social relations, philosophic reasoning ,and
questioning: If God why evil ,if parents know best why do they make mistakes.

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION

These social group and organizations profoundly shape our sense of

self:Weemerge as individuals within their midst .As Social being we are always a
part of the social context in which we find ourselves.

Family Primary, informal introduction into society ,unconscious training .habit

training impose schedules.

School functional formal, awareness ofothers, Values .

Peergroups:Significant in individual society.

Work place :full timeand adult hood Introduction to adult reality .

Mass media: Homogenization

ResocializationIs the process of learning new norms ,values ,attitudes ,and

behavior .Intense resocialization takes place in total institutions .Most
resocialization is voluntary and some as prisoners is not .

UNIT 4 METHODS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

In 1971 FrancesHeussenstamm was interested in discovering whether or not bias

and prejudice impact the very in which the police viewed and responded to
everyday life events.Heussenstamn conducted a field experiment .After selecting
15 students with exemplary driving records ,He placed a black panther bumper
sticker on each car .The students followed their normal driving patterns .After 17
days the 15 drivers had amassed 33 traffic citations .

In order to interpret and dicuss social reality we must have a picture ,some sort of
pattern or an image of the in relationships amongst the many variables that
circumscribe human interaction .

THE SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY provides a systematic, organized sense

of steps that insures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a
problem. It provides a shared basis for the discussion and analysis.and help to
promote readability and validity (consistency and accuracy ).The information
provided through this method ,the patterns and interrelationships are then explored
through Theoretical analysis .Theory directs research and research informs theory
(Reflexivity).

A science is any empirical information collectedwhich is based on observation and

has as a focus on causality (all events have causes ,same cause,..Same event )
relationships between variables ,what causes (is associated with what independent
dependent variables .
Any behavior is a sociological topic,eventdisreputable behavior ,for examples
spouse abuse.sociological research is based on the sociologists interests access to
subjects.Appropriatemethods’ and ethical considerations

Common sense Vs Research

Common sense does not provide reliable knowledge .When subjected to scientific
research methods,common senseideas are often limited and sometimes false.

The following are the 8 steps that are involved in the scientific research

1.Selecting the topic –what you want more about?Most research is out of curiosity
and this drives them through the process .

2.Defining a problem –Defining in specific terms what you want to learn that you
have chosen ,

3.Reviewing literature-see what has been written on the subject .This can be help
you narrow down the problem.

4.Formulate hypothesis -

A hypothesis is a statement of what you expect to find according to prediction

from a theory .A hypothesis predicts relationship between or among
variables .Variables are the factors that change or vary from one person or
situation to another .Hypothesis will need operational definations that is precise
ways to measure their variables.

5 .Choosing research method –this is the means by which data is collected

6.Collecting data – sociologists take a great care to assure both validity and
reliability of their data.Validityis the extent which operational definitions measure
and what they are intended to measure.Reliabilityrefers to the extent to which
different studies come up with similarities results.

7.Analyzing results- After data is collected ,it’s time to analyze it .sociologists use
qualitative and quantitative techniques .Qualitative analysis is especially useful
for data gathered by participant observation .Quantitative analysis is all about
numbers.

8.Share results This stage involvessharing of results with the scientific Community
througha report.It involves showing how the findings are related to the literature
reviewed finding should be available for replication ,that is others can repeat see if
they come up with the same results ,

Six Research methods

1. Survey is the collection of the data by having people answer a series of

questions.Before using this method ,one mustdeal with practical matters that
face all theresearchers,

Selecting a sample

 Asking neutral questions

 Using questionnaires or interviews
 Establishing rapport

2.Participator and observation This method involves that researchers settings

while observing what as happening in that setting.

3.Secondary analysis:Here the researchers analyzes data that have already been
collected by the others .

4.Documents –written sources are a fourth research method sociologists use,

5.Unobtrusive measures –This involves observing the behavior of people whodo

not know they are being studied

6.Experiments –This method is useful determining cause and effect relationship.

Causations has 3 necessary conditions and these are

i.Correlation in two variables exist togather ,they are correlated ,

ii.Temporal priority which means that one thing happens before something else
happens .

iii.Spurious correlations ,that is the cause may be some underlying this variable
that is not easily visible
Experimentshas 2 variables that is independent and dependent variable.

Problems doing social research

 Hawthronre Effect
 People and social behavior –complex; question of ultimate causes?
 Objectivity –Researchers part of the phenomenon

Ethics in research
 Harm
 Privacy
 Informed consent
 Deception

Application of Research

 Maintain objectivity and neutrality in research.

 Respect the subject‘s right to privacy and dignity .
 Protect subjects from personal harm.
 Acknowledge collaboration and assistance.
 Disclose all sources of financial support.
UNIT 5.DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL
Deviance is aterm that refers to any violations of norms.

Deviance is relative from one society to the next in that what may viewed
deviant in this society may not be the next.

To be considered a deviant, a person may not even have to do anything

sociologist Erving GOFFMAN
used the term stigma to refer to attributes that discredit people. These
attributes include the violaters of norms of ability (blindness ,deafness) and
norms of appearance(a facial birthmark obesity ) ,They also include
involuntary memberships in groupssuch as being the victim of AIDS or the
brother of rapists. The stigma becomes a person’s master status ,defining
him or her as deviant .
Who defines Deviance ?
If Deviance lies not in the act but definition of act ,who then does define
it ?
In both Tribal and Industrial societies ,each has a defined set of what they
consider deviant and to enforce what is good they each have groupsset up
techniques of social control.
Social control is a group’s formal and informal means of enforcing its norms

Functionalism and social control :Functionalists stress how the many groups
in a pluralistic society co-exist .each enforces its own norms of its members
and the groups more or less attain a more or less balanced state. This view
of mediation and balance among competing

Functionalism :Emile Durkheim argues that deviance is the functionalism

to society in the following ways :
1.Devianceclarifies moral boundaries and affirm norms
2.Deviance promotes social unity
3.It promotes social change .
Conflict perspective
Karl Marx looks at the power and social inequality as the primary
characteristics of every society. They stress that the state’s machinery of
social control represent the interests of the more affluent members of the
society .
Reactions to Deviance
1. Sanctions
2. Degrading ceremonies
3.imprisonment.
UNIT 6:HEALTH AND ILLNESS
Health is a human condition measured by 4 components that is
1. Physical
2. Social
3. Mental
4. Spiritual
All the above have to be balanced for one to be considered Health.
The world health organization defines Health as state of complete physical ,
mental and social well being .
Health in any society is shaped in 5ways
1,cultural patterns defines health.
2,what is healthy is often is same as what morally good
3.Culturalstandards of health change overtime
4.A society ‘s technology affects peoples health.
Social epidemiology
Ths is the study of how health and disease are obtained through out a
society ‘s population and this is usually distributed using the following
categories
1.Age and Sex
2social class and race

Ethics issues that surrounds death

1.Where does death occur
2.Do people have a right to die
3.Euthansia(painless killing with un incurable illness
The medical establishement
Medicine is the social institution that focuses on combating disease and
improving health.
The rise of medicine dated back as far as the human memory can go and
even in tribal societies people had their own medicine to treat illness.
The scientific model of medicine has recently been temperedby more
traditional model of holisticmedicine which is an approach to health care
that emphasizes prevention of illness and takes into a account the person’s
entire physical and social environment .

Holistic medicine has the following three foundations:

1. Patients are people
2. Responsibility, not dependency
3.Personal treatment
 Medicine in a socialist societies is mostly the burden of the
government .They hold citizens have the right basic medicalcare eg .China
and Russia
Provisions of medical care in capitalist societies is such that citizens pay for
themselves egSweden,UK US
THEORETICAL ANALYSIS STRUCTURAL FUNCTION
Talcott Parsons viewed medicine asa society strategy to keep its members
healthy .In this scheme,illness is dysfunctional because it undermines
people’s abilities to perform their roles.

The sick role

Society responds to sickness by providing a sick role .that is ,patterns of
behavior defined as appropriate for people who are ill and these are:
1.Illness exempts people from the routine responsibility
2.A sick person must want to be well

3.A sick person must seek complete help .

The physician must evaluate one’s claims of being ill and if founded they
must seek ways to help using their competence

SYMBOLIC INTERACTION

Health and medical care are social constructed by the people in every day
interaction .

CONFLICT

This perspective draw a connection between health and social inequality

and ,taking a cue from Karl Marx tie the medicine to the operation of
capitalism .They have focused on three main issues and these are :

1.Acess to care

2.The profit motive

3.Medicine as politics
UNIT 7: SEXUALITY
As the old age goes birds do it and so do the trees

Sexuality is a theme found through cut society .sexuality is an iimportant part of

how we think about themselves as well how we evaluate other

Sexuality is both a biological issue and also a cultural issue.

Sex refer to the biological distinction between females and males from a biological
point of view sex is the means by which human reproduce

Sexual orientation This refers to a person’s preference in terms of sexual

partners and there are 4 sexual orientations we will cover :

1. hetero sexuality
2. Homo sexuality
3. Asexuality
4.Bisexuality
Sources of sexuality:

Biological Vs Culture

Sexual controversies

1. Teen pregnancies
2. Pornography
3.Prostitution
4.Sexuality violence and abuse.

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