Introduction to Sociology

• Sociology is the scientific study of social phenomena.
• Sociology is a social science concerned with the systematic study of human society.
• Sociology examines behaviors and interactions within households, institutions, communities, and wider society.
• Sociology is valuable to other disciplines like economics, political science, psychology, management, and social work.

Why Sociology is Necessary

• Sociology helps investigate how social forces influence behaviour.
• Macionis and Plummer state that one's placement in society affects individual experiences.
• Factors like geographical location, social class, and culture can affect life chances.
• Sociology helps us recognize and examine these influences.

Importance of Sociology

• Sociology is the systematic study of social phenomena (including problems).
• Sociology helps us understand problems of social exclusion and marginalization.
• Sociology helps investigate and understand social crises.
• Sociology can explain social responses to poverty, exclusion, marginalization, prejudice, and discrimination.

Social Problems

• Crime, violence, and anti-social behavior are examples of social problems
• Poverty is a social problem.
• Injustice and social exclusion can be seen as social problems.
• Teenage pregnancy and adolescent parenting can be social problems.
• High-risk behaviors and HIV/AIDS are social problems.
• Unemployment is considered a social problem.
• The existence of street and working children define social problems.
• Domestic violence and abuse are social problems.
• Pedophilia, incest, and carnal abuse are social problems.

Contributions of Sociology

• Sociology contributes through research and investigation.
• Social policy formulation is a contribution of sociology.
• Monitoring and evaluation are contributions of sociology.
• Sociology contributes through advocacy and change.

Emergence of Sociology as a Discipline

• Sociology emerged in the West during the 19th century.
• It was influenced by the Enlightenment and philosophers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire.

The Enlightenment's Worldview

• Rationality and reason were highlighted.
• Empiricism (the need for facts) was necessary.
• Science, progress, and universalism (general laws) were highlighted.

Two Positions: Positivist and Humanist Traditions

• Positivism is a logical system basing knowledge on direct, systematic observation.
• Positivism seeks law-like statements of social life that can be tested.
• Scientific knowledge rests on verifiable empirical evidence.
• Interpretivism/Humanism states that studying the human world differs from studying the physical/biological world.
• Interpretivism/Humanism focuses on the human and the symbolic.
• Social science must produce knowledge that seeks to understand meaning.

Key Thinkers in Sociology

• Auguste Comte believed that the study of sociology is a science.
• Auguste Comte stated society conforms to laws.
• Auguste Comte wanted to know how society was held together (social statics) and how society changes (social dynamics).
• Ferdinand Toennies produced the theory of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft.
• Ferdinand Toennies viewed the modern world as losing gemeinschaft, or human community.
• Ferdinand Toennies stated that industrial society is impersonal and self-interest reigns, which he dubbed gesellschaft.
• Herbert Spencer suggested time witnesses the survival of the fittest.
• Herbert Spencer's statement came to be known as social Darwinism.
• Herbert Spencer stated that if left to compete, the most intelligent, ambitious, and productive people will eventually dominate.
• Emile Durkheim focused on the issue of social solidarity and how societies "hang together."
• Emile Durkheim stated societies moved from mechanical (similarities and intimate social relations) to organic society (increased differentiation and division of labor).
• Talcott Parsons was a major US proponent of the functionalist perspective.
• Talcott Parsons treated society like a system, identifying basic tasks all societies must perform to survive.
• Talcott Parsons argued that all societies must adapt, achieve their goals, maintain themselves, and have well-socialized members.
• Max Weber saw societies as becoming increasingly dominated by rational thought.
• Max Weber highlighted the growth of bureaucracies, which brought benefits but also increasing disenchantment.
• Max Weber was concerned with how human actions and meanings played their role in social life.
• Karl Marx said, "The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle."
• Karl Marx sought to understand society.
• Karl Marx asserted, "The philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point is to change it."