SOC 202 Introduction to Sociology II PDF

SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY&ANTHROPOLOGY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE NIGERIA LAPONISM SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II...

SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY&ANTHROPOLOGY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE NIGERIA LAPONISM SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II Prof. M.A.O. ALUKO Restricted Circulation LAPONISM 1 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 11 COURSE OUTLINE Chapter 1: Definition of Concepts in Sociological Research Chapter 2: Methods and Research Techniques in Sociology Social Survey Observation Experimentation Chapter 3: The relationship between Methodological and Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology Major Analytical Divisions in Sociology Chapter 4: Sociological Theories Functionalism Conflict theory Symbolic Interaction Social Exchange Action theory Chapter 5: Social Problems and Welfare Chapter 6: Uses of Sociology and Careers for Sociologists LAPONISM 2 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM CHAPTER ONE CONCEPTS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH 1. Variable: A dimension along which an object, individual or group may be categorized, such as income, height or weight. It is a characteristic which can be measured and which may vary along a continuum. The concept is used in empirical social research to denote the representation of a social factor such as, social class, employment status, years of education, which can be observed to affect other measures, such as income level (which may be influenced by all those mentioned). 2. Case Study: The study of a single instance of a phenomenon either for its own sake (e.g. a particular person or strike). It is a research design that takes as its subject a single case or a few selected examples of a social entity- such as communities, social groups, employers, events, life-histories, families, work teams roles or relationships- and employs a variety of methods to study them. 3. Respondent: A respondent is a research subject, that is, a person from whom the researcher wants elicit some information. A respondent is a person who answers a questionnaire or a request for information of some kind. 4. Questionnaire: A form containing questions to be administered to a number of people mainly in order to obtain information and record opinions. Sociologists in general use questionnaires to; (a) Examine the general characteristics of a population (e.g. age, sex, occupation, income, etc.) (b) Examine attitudes; LAPONISM 3 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM (c) Establish the relationship between two variables ( e.g. religion and family size or education and political participation); (d) Test theories. 5. Interview: A method of collecting social data at the individual level. This face-to-face method ensures a higher response rate than postal questionnaires, but can introduce interviewer bias by the effect different interviewers have on the quality, validity and reliability of the data so collected. 6. Survey: A method of sociological research involving the administration of questionnaires to a population being studied. 7. Sampling: Taking a proportion of individuals or cases from a larger population, studied as representative of that population as a whole. It is a method for collecting information and drawing inferences about a larger population or universe, from the analysis of only thereof, the sample. 8. Quantification: The transformation of observations into numerical data to assist analysis and comparison. 9. Research Design: The explicit procedures that are used in collecting empirical data. It is a strategic plan for a research project or research programme, setting out the broad outline and key features of the work to be undertaken, including the methods of data collection and analysis to be employed, and showing how the research strategy addresses the specific aims and objectives of the study, and whether the research issues are theoretical or policy oriented. LAPONISM 4 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM 10. Reliability: The dependability of data collected, or of the test or measurement used to collect it. A reliable measure is one which gives the same results if the same individuals are measured on more than one occasion. 11. Validity: The extent to which a measure, indicator or method of data collection possesses the quality of being sound or true as far as can be judged. 12. Correlation: The association between two variables such that when one changes in magnitude the other one does also, i.e. there is a concomitant variation. Correlation may be positive or negative. Positive correlation describes the situation in which, if one variable increases, so also does the other. Negative correlation describes the situation in which the variables vary inversely, one increasing when the other decreases. 13. Objectivity: Accounts of the external world held to represent the world as it exists independently of our conceptions. It is knowledge claimed to meet criteria of validity and reliability, and held to be free from bias. 14. Subjectivity: The perspective of the person (subject); lack of objectivity. It is often used pejoratively within positivist sociology to derogate biased observation or methodology. 15. Empiricism: In Sociology, the term empiricism is often used, loosely, to describe an orientation to research which emphasizes the collection of facts and observations, at the expense of conceptual reflection and theoretical enquiry. In Sociology, empiricism has been widely adopted as a philosophical approach by those who advocate methodological naturalism: the development of Sociology as a scientific discipline. 16. Tabulation: This is the arrangement of information in lists and columns. LAPONISM 5 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM 16. Percentages: A percentage is a fraction expressed as a particular number of hundredths. 17. Research: This is an attempt to know new things, facts, information, etc. in a scientific manner. It is a systematized effort or initiative to acquire new knowledge. 18. Social Research: This is a systematic method of exploring, analyzing and conceptualizing social life in order to “extend, correct, or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in the construction of a theory or in the practice of an art”. 19. Hypothesis: An idea, or a guess, about a given state of affairs, put forward as a basis of empirical testing. 20. Triangulation: The use of multiple research methods as a way of producing more reliable empirical data than is available from any single method used in isolation. 21. Science: The application of systematic methods of research, and careful logical analysis, to the study of objects, events or people; and the body of knowledge produced by such means. 22. Fieldwork: Research that is carried out in the field, as opposed to the laboratory, library etc. Fieldwork is the investigation of real-life situations through observation and informal or unstructured interviewing. 23. Focus Group: A research method in which selected groups participate in focused discussion on a research issue. 24. Qualitative Research Techniques: Any research in which sociologists rely on their skills as emphatic interviewer or observer to collect unique data about the problem they are investigating. LAPONISM 6 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM 25. Quantitative Research Techniques: Any research method that results in the data being expressed in numerical form. Here reliance is placed on the research instrument through which measurement is made, i.e. the structured questionnaire, the structured observation, or the experiment. 26. Analysis: A stage in the scientific method in which the data collected are systematically assessed in order to determine what has been discovered. 27. Data: Information about the empirical world. 28. Historical Research: A type of research design in which information about the past is gathered systematically. 29. Scientific Method: The procedures employed in the collection of data. These procedures are designed to test theories or, at the very least, to collect data in ways that are objective and replicable by other researchers. 30. Research Ethics: The application of moral rules and professional codes of conduct to the collection, analysis, reporting, and publication of information about research subjects’, in particular active acceptance of subjects’ right to privacy, confidentiality, and informed consent. 31. Response Rate: The percentage of an eligible random sample that agrees to participate in an interview survey. 32. Replication: Repetition of the same basic study or experiment to check its accuracy or to estimate the experimental error. 33. Sample: This is a part of a population observed for the purpose of making scientific statement about the population. LAPONISM 7 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM 34. Coding: a research procedure in which the data collected are prepared for counting and tabulation by classification and codification. 35. Content Analysis: a research technique used to describe and analyze objectively systematically and quantitatively the content of written. Spoken or pictorial communications such as novels, editorial, movies, comic books and public speeches. 36. Data: Information collected from observation or measurement from which an attempt is made to develop generalizations or conclusions. 37. Objectivity: the goal of scientific investigation, sociological or otherwise, is often said to be objective knowledge, free of bias or prejudice. 38. Quantification: the process of transforming natural and social dynamics into number systems. 39. Qualitative data: Data that are not in numerical form. Qualitative data are data in the form of descriptive accounts of observations, interviews, or written material. 40. Quantitative Data: data in numerical form. Quantitative data are obtained through enumeration and measurement. Data may be collected directly in quantitative form or data originally in qualitative form may be quantified. LAPONISM 8 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM CHAPTER TWO METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF DOING RESEARCH IN SOCIOLOGY What is a method? According to Wilmot (1985) a method is simply an organized way of achieving set objectives, and must be adapted to fit those objectives. What is methodology? According to Jary & Jary (2000), methodology is the philosophical evaluation of investigative techniques within a discipline; a concern with the conceptual, theoretical and research aspects of knowledge. It is the techniques and strategies employed within a discipline to manipulate data and acquire knowledge. What then are Research methods? Research methods are the techniques used to study questions of interest to the sociologist; for example, experiments, social surveys, observation, and analyses of document and historical data. (Ritzer et al 1979). It is the investigative techniques employed within an academic discipline. Sometimes sociologists work in laboratories, where they conduct closely controlled experiments using human subjects. They also conduct experiments in more natural settings. They conduct social surveys. They make observations of naturally occurring human behaviour. They analyze collected data (e.g. from censuses and official statistics) and documents such as speeches, newspapers, autobiographies, and they sometimes observe and analyze the histories of ongoing events of total societies. Sociological knowledge has experienced a tremendous growth in recent years. Much of this welcomed situation is due to the extensive development of research methods and techniques in sociology, as well as in the allied social and behavioral sciences upon which it LAPONISM 9 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM draws. As a matter of fact, Sociology is a discipline that usually draws eclectically from several perspectives and relies on impulses from other allied disciplines. It is therefore necessary to have some understanding of the nature of these research methods, the various techniques and procedures, in order to evaluate the knowledge or the findings which they help produce. How we know has significant for what we know. THE LOGIC AND METHODS OF SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY Sociology is one of the few fields of human inquiry that can be pursued intellectually in a number of different ways. There is in fact a very wide range of markedly different approaches to sociological investigation, for each of which certain techniques as appropriate, while others are not. This variety of approaches can be reduced to two polar extremes, each reposing upon different fundamental philosophical assumption about the way we acquire knowledge about human social conduct. The first approach is known as ‘Positivism’ or the ‘Scientific method’ popularly associated with Auguste Comte. The scientific orientation is the dominant one in sociological analysis and research today. This approach, regards the procedures used in social sciences as fundamentally of the same kind as those used by natural scientists. It assumes that social phenomena constitute a reality which exists in its own right, quite independently of how the observer acquires information about it. The scientific method in Sociology is concerned with an objective discovery of laws or general principles, of human social behaviour. Those who adopt this stance feel justified, therefore, in using the procedures of the natural sciences to collect data relating to social phenomena and to analyze these data. Their analyses are therefore phrased in terms of ‘variables’ and use statistical procedures LAPONISM 10 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM to establish relationships among the variables and express their findings in terms of causal explanations. The basic outline of this philosophy is that ‘reality’ is constituted of phenomena which are causally linked to one another. What is ‘real’ can only be demonstrated to be real by reference to empirical evidence of its existence. While other kinds of explanation obviously exist, they are not admissible for the positivistic scientist unless they are based on empirical observable – evidence. Even though it is generally believed that God made the world, that is not an acceptable positivistic scientific explanation since there is no empirical evidence to verify it. The establishment of scientific knowledge thus involves the empirical explanation of how phenomena cause other phenomena – and can be expressed in form ‘if A happens’, then B happen’, Science involves the uncovering of such cause-and-effect relationships between Science involves the uncovering of such cause-and –effect relationship between phenomena in reality that always hold true. Such universal statements are called scientific laws. The positivistic methodology consists of three separate stages: (i) a stage at which discovery is made (ii) a stage at which validation is made (iii) a stage at which explanation is made The second approach is known as the ‘humanistic method’ or ‘interpretive’ method. This method relies primarily on subjective analysis, including such processes as intuition, speculation, impression, insight and common sense as the principal elements. Sociologists who work within this framework therefore lay particular emphasis on the observer’s direct LAPONISM 11 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM understanding, often intuitive, of the phenomena as falling into particular patterns, as wholes, while the observer must interpret to bring out their wider and deeper significance. According to Max Weber, Sociology should develop the method of “interpretative understanding” for studying human behaviour. This term is called VERSTEHEN. The humanistic orientation seeks chiefly to describe, usually in highly subjective terms, behavioral phenomena. While subjective analysis may be typical and distinctive perspective of the humanists, just the opposite is true of the scientist. The scientist employs objective analysis in his work which, performed in a highly systematic fashion, seeks to establish facts, and demands empirical proof as the basis of his knowledge. However, subjective analysis is not irrelevant in science. Quite to the contrary intuition and common sense play a fundamental role in the formulation of hunches and hypotheses which are the starting points of research. Moreover, subjective analysis, in one form or another, is often incorporated into the scientific method. More basically, however, and at the risk of oversimplification, it may be said that each of these two major modes of investigation involves essentially a different epistemology – that is, a set of principles by which we come to know or to understand the phenomena in question. Collection of Data/ Sources of Data. The scientific method involves a series of activities concerned with accumulating evidence- the individual bits of information that are necessary to put the hypotheses to an empirical test in a manner consistent with the research design. These elements of empirical observation constitute the facts of scientific research. Data collection may take many forms, depending upon the nature of the research design/problem and its theoretical objectives. A variety of techniques and tools are LAPONISM 12 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM available to the sociologist for this purpose. Among the principal types of data collection used by sociologists are: 1. Social Surveys or Survey Research 2. Observation- Participant and Non-Participant 3. Experimentation-Field and Laboratory 4. Hypothetico-deductive method 5. Field and Laboratory Research 6. Content Analysis 7. Computer Simulation 8. Interviewing 9. Historical Documents: Case studies, Life Histories and Contemporary records and 10. Ethnography. All of these, in one way or the other, are concerned with socio-metrics, or the empirical measurement of relevant phenomena. We will now deal with some of these methods of data collection in turn. 1. Social Survey: The social survey is a systematic collection of facts about people living in a specific geographic, cultural, or administrative area. Social survey involves the observation or survey of a sample of social particulars from which generalizations about the entire universe of particulars can be made. Social survey is clearly based on induction and the rules of inductive logic apply to the method of selecting the sample, collecting evidence, and making generalizations. LAPONISM 13 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM The basic procedure in surveys is that people are asked a number of questions focused on that aspect of behaviour the sociologist is interested in. A number of people, carefully selected so that they are representative of the population being studied, are asked to answer exactly the same questions, so that the replies of different categories of respondent may be examined for differences. Since one of the virtues of the survey lies in the number of respondents that can be included, it follows that both the method of getting the questionnaires completed, and consequently the formulation of the questions to be asked, must be very carefully worked out. Survey research and opinion polling are concerned fundamentally with measuring the behaviour of people in terms of the systematic analysis of such things as attitudes, values, opinions, beliefs and customary practices. Survey research is either of the cross-sectional or longitudinal variety. The principal tools used in survey research are the interview and the questionnaire. 2. Observation It is the most primitive, as well as the most sophisticated, of research techniques. Observation fundamentally involves the use of one’s senses to record information: Seeing, feeling, tasting, touching, and smelling are the basic vehicles of observation. Rao (2006) defined observation as a systematic, direct, definite and deliberate examination of the spontaneous occurrences at the time of occurrence. Observation may be classified into two major categories. Simple observation: This is a causal and informal type of observation that involves no standardization of observational techniques, and no control over the pertinent variables in the research situation. LAPONISM 14 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Systematic Observation – This is a formal and more precise type of observation that places controls on both the observer and the observed phenomenon, usually involving various types of instruments and highly refined procedures. There are also two types of simple and systematic observation – these are participant and Non-participant observation. Participant observation involves a situation in which the observer plays an active role in the behaviour that one is attempting to study. The expectation is that a greater depth of experience can be obtained from such personal experience in the natural setting. Non-participant observation involves the contrary situation in which the observer takes a totally passive and non-involved part in the behaviour that he observes. 3. Experimentation: All sciences use experiments. The experimental method provides a reliable way of studying the relationship between two variables under carefully controlled conditions (Rao 2006). The experiment is a form of observation which essentially involves the manipulation of social phenomena or social situations in order to measure their effect in selected respects. This type of data collection permits control over one or more elements under investigation. It is obviously, not suitable for some types of sociological research e.g. the analysis of riots, violence or panic behaviour. There are three principal elements or variables in experimental analysis. A variable is any phenomenon or condition whose properties or values may vary rather than being immutably fixed. Age, sex and religion are common examples of socials variables. The three types of variable are: 1. Dependent Variable: – This is determined by or dependent upon other variables. In a cause-and-effect relationship, the effect is the dependent variable. The LAPONISM 15 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM dependent variable in sociology is usually a form of human action, such as an attitude or behaviour. In short, it is the response, output, or outcome variable. Dependent variables are those characteristics predicted when statements of hypotheses are made, which can change as the researcher manipulates the independent variables.l 2. Independent Variable: This represents the causal factor in a cause-and effect relationship. In some experimental situations, however, the independent “variables” is considered the given, constant, or invariant factor for the analytical problem at hand. 3. Intervening Variable: This is a test factor or experimental element that is introduced into the experiment in order to determine its ability to produce a dependent variable as a consequence of its interaction with the independent factor. Intervening variable is a variable which affects the relationship between an independent variable and is not directly seen or controlled. We have two types of experiment. These are: (1) Field research; and (2) Laboratory research Field research is conducted in the true context of the behaviour under study while laboratory research consists of observation and or experimentation that are conducted in the somewhat artificial confines of a laboratory. 4. The Hypothetico-deductive method In this method theories are taken from the existing ‘schools’ or perspectives such as Marxism, functionalism, conflict or consensus theory. From these theories relevant hypotheses are derived which are tested against evidence collected in the field or from the library. The test will either verify or refute the hypothesis. LAPONISM 16 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM 5. Interviewing Social surveys may depend either on questionnaires which are self-administered, or on schedules which are completed by trained interviewers or by the research-worker personally. Interviewing, then, is not a method of data-collection distinct from social surveying, but rather a technique which may from the brief formal contact as when the interviewer is working for a firm of public opinion consultants and simply asks a few highly specific questions on a limited range of topics- to a long and rather rambling interview in which the research-worker allows the respondent to develop points and take up others as the chooses. The brief formal interview, in which the wording of the questions and the order in which they are asked is fixed, is called structured’ interview, while the freer discursive interview is called an ‘unstructured interview. In the interview approach, heavy reliance is placed on the subject’s verbal report for information about the stimuli or experiences to which he is exposed and for knowledge of his behaviour, usually the investigator has not observed the events discussed. The starting point is the subject’s self-report followed by interpretation in the light of other knowledge about him; inferences may be drawn about aspects of his report. 6. Ethnography This is basically a descriptive method, involving very little analysis or knowledge of arcane techniques, it is relatively easy starting point. What is required is the observation and recording of the history, geography, social organization, economy, political system, culture and religion of the people under focus or study. Since the investigator is very likely to be a member of the society, he is already familiar with the way of life of the people. The LAPONISM 17 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM advantages of this method are first of all its simplicity as it requires no complex interview schedules or questionnaires or computers. It helps the student to develop his powers of observation by looking at familiar situation in new, more informed, more objective light. The investigator is able to isolate essential, universal aspects of his or her own culture. The disadvantage of this perspective is that the investigator may idealize his or her own culture; leading to a kind of ethnocentrism. He or she may suppress unflattering information about his or her society as he or she may not want to present his or her own society in bad light. Existing Material The amount of material potentially available for secondary analysis is enormous, since it includes all the information about social relationships and social actions from any source whatsoever, whether it has been assembled for sociological purpose or otherwise. For convenience we can classify these are: (i) Statistical records (ii) Historical sources (iii) Contemporary records and personals documents. Statistical sources – Government statistical particularly censuses – or statistics produced by large organizations provide one important kind of data which sociologists can use in their analyses, and which in fact they commonly do use. An outstanding example of the imaginative use of official statistics, in the positivist tradition, is the study of suicide made by the famous French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) in the last decade of nineteenth century. Historical documents or Documentation. Documentation is another source of data that the sociologists frequently utilize. These materials comprise such “precoded” or previously collected information as personals and LAPONISM 18 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM public records that often provide the only source, or the only available source, for certain kinds of data. Records and accounts of a qualitative i.e. non-statistical kind-for example, relating to beliefs, values, social relationships or social behaviour – may also provide data for sociologists, especially those working within an interpretive framework. Such records and accounts maybe contemporary or may refer to earlier periods. Contemporary records are seldom used as the sole source of information in sociological research; they are usually one source of a particular kind of information. Contemporary and historical records are sometimes analyzed through systematic procedures known as ‘content analysis’. This involves constructing categories for classifying information about certain themes in advance. The records are then perused and the incidence and use of the categories and theme noted. Personal documents, or biograms as they are technically called, describe events in which one personally participants and include such things as diaries, autobiographies, and letter. Here the use of ‘theme or content analysis’ is particularly appropriate. Public documents include written reports, newspapers, books, magazines, pamphlets, journals and officials statistics, such as census data. Particularly useful here are various kinds of data that more recently have come to be known as social indicators. These mechanisms involve such information as figures and rates for such things are population, housing, marriage, divorce, death, illness, income, expenditures, work, unemployment, social security, welfare, social mobility, use of leisure time, and social participation of various kinds. LAPONISM 19 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Personality Inventories: Much of information that comprises sociological data is derived from the measurement of personality variables. The study of attitudes, values, beliefs, opinions, motivation and, and self-concepts, as well as subjective states such as alienation and anomie, essentially involve assessments of personality dynamics and psychological phenomena. Other methods of data collection, too technical for elaboration here, include scalo- grams, socio-metric devices, indicators and indices. As a matter of fact, there is a rather large, and constantly expanding, body of research tools and technique that are utilized for data collection in the field of sociology. Each one has its strength, weaknesses, and limitations that determine its appropriateness for particular kinds of research problems. Types of Data 1. Primary and (2) Secondary data Primary data refers to the first hand information collected or gathered by an investigator directly from the field work, survey research or observation or opinion poll. Secondary data refers to the information gathered or collected from secondary sources such as statistical records, documents or what is known as “Existing Material” Analysis of Data Once the data have been collected, the next process, or set of processes, is to perform an analysis of them. Facts, however valid and reliable, do not speak for themselves. Accumulated data need to be interpreted in order to have an explanatory meaning. Specifically, there is the need to discern the independent-dependent, cause-and-effect, relationship within the observed phenomena. LAPONISM 20 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM All data analysis fundamentally consists of data reduction which includes a complex set of processes by which the many individual data are reduced to a more manageable form. Basically, in sociological research, we are measuring qualitative phenomena which need to be quantified in one way or another in order to be amenable to scientific treatment. There are, however, two basis modes of data reduction and data analysis: quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. Quantitative analysis – This consists of techniques for the reduction of the data through such methods as categorization and classification. These processes are known more technically as coding. Quantitative analysis also involves the manipulation of data through statistical analysis and tabular presentation. Qualitative analysis – This consists of the logical ordering of the data which includes such processes as conceptual specification and theoretical interpretation. Basic methods of qualitative analysis include the techniques of cross-tabulation and correlation that seek to relate meaningfully one set of data to another. Qualitative methodologies refer to research procedures which produce descriptive data: people’s own written or spoken words and observable behaviour. The subject of the study, be it an organization or an individual, is not reduced to an isolated variable or to an hypothesis, but is viewed instead as part of a whole. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis yields empirical generalizations which are simply descriptive, but factual, statements concerning the phenomena under analysis. Examples of empirical generalizations are: 1. Rural families are larger than urban ones 2. Children from broken homes are usually delinquent LAPONISM 21 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM 3. Most academicians usually have small families. The Organization of Research The following are steps in the organization of a typical final year undergraduate research essay: 1. Statement of the problem 2. Review of literature 3. Formulation and operationalization of concepts 4. Collection of data 5. Analysis of data 6. Recommendations and Conclusion Motivation for Sociological Research 1. Personal experiences- issues arising from the personal experiences of the individual which needs to be checked against reality. 2. Public issues and social problems that demands solutions and answers e.g. crime rates 3. Theoretical problems- theoretical issues that needs to resolved or addressed 4. Issues arising from the literature and existing body of knowledge- sometimes the need to fill gaps and omissions in the literature or even replication. 5. Curiosity- the desire to discover or learn something new 6. Desire to make significant contributions to knowledge 7. Revelation 8. Intuitions LAPONISM 22 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM 9. Comparative analysis 10. Historical analysis. LAPONISM 23 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM CHAPTER THREE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN SOCIOLOGY What is Methodology? According to Bogdan and Taylor (1975) the term methodology in a broad sense refers to the process principles and procedures by which we approach problems and seek answers. In the social sciences the term applies to how one conducts research. As in everything we do, our assumptions, interests, and goals greatly influence which methodological procedures we choose. When stripped to their essentials, most debates over methods are debates over assumptions and goals, over theory and perspective. For Rao (2006), a methodology is a system of rules, principles and procedures that guides scientific investigation. The sociologist is interested in what happens in social world and why it happens. Research methodology provides guidelines for collecting evidence about what takes place and for explaining why it takes place. Two major theoretical perspectives have dominated Sociological studies. One, positivism seeks the facts or causes of social phenomena with little regard for the subjective states of individuals. According to Durkheim, the Sociologist should consider “social facts” or social phenomena, as “things” that exercise an external coercive influence on human behaviour. The second theoretical perspective which stems from the interpretive tradition is ‘phenomenology’. According to Max Weber, the phenomenologist is concerned with understanding human behaviour from the actor’s own frame of reference. As Douglas (1970) LAPONISM 24 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM writes – “The ‘forces’ that move human beings, as human beings rather than simply as human bodies…are “meaningful stuff”. They are internal ideas, feelings, and motives. The phenomenologist examines how the world is experienced. For him or her important reality is what people claim it to be. Since the positivists and the phenomenologists approach different problems and seek different answers, their researches will typical demand different methodologies. The positivist searches for “facts” and “causes” through methods such as experimentation, observation, social surveys, inventories, and demographic analysis, which produce quantitative data and which allow the investigator to statically prove relationship between operationally defined variables. The phenomenologist, on the other hand, seeks understanding through such qualitative methods as participant observation, open-ended interviewing and personal documents. These methods yield descriptive data which enable the phenomenologist to see the world as subjects see it. We are however not denying the fact that positivists can use qualitative methods to address their own interests. What we are saying categorically is that each of the theoretical perspectives is based on certain kinds of methodological procedure suitable or appropriate for it. In this way, methodological perspectives are strongly related to theoretical perspectives. For example, observation or experimentation appears to be the more appropriate methods for positivism while personal interviews, participant observation, survey questionnaires are the most appropriate for researches in the interpretive camp. In short, qualitative methods – such as participant observation and personal documents, including unstructured interviewing are the more appropriate methods by which LAPONISM 25 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM one gain the interpretative understanding of human behaviour. The argument is that when we reduce people to statistical aggregate, we lose sight of the subjective nature of human behaviour. Qualitative methods allow us to know people personally and to see them as they are developing their own definitions of the world. We experience what they experience in their daily struggles with their society. We learn about groups and experiences about which we may know nothing. This approach directs itself at setting and the individuals within those settings holistically, that is, the subject of the study, be it an organization or an individual, is not reduced to an isolated variable or to an hypothesis, but is viewed instead as part of a whole. Finally, qualitative methods enable us to concepts whose essence is lost in other research approaches. Such concepts as beauty, pain, faith, suffering, frustration, hope and love can be studied as they are defined and experienced by real people in their everyday lives. Positivistic methodologies – which are usually quantitative analysis of data, include such methods as observation, experimentation, survey research, official statistics and records. It is the direct opposite of the interpretive school… Some of the major theoretical perspectives commonly associated with the interpretive school are Phenomenology, Symbolic interactionism and Ethnomethology while Functionalism, Conflict theory, Marxism and Social Exchange theory falls into the positivistic tradition. There is no single sociological theory, nor one that clearly dominates the field. Many sociologists in fact are able to accept and follow different theories simultaneously. The LAPONISM 26 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM theory they use depend upon what they are studying (individuals, groups, or societies) and upon the questions they wish to answer at the time. MAJOR ANALYTICAL DIVISIONS: Sociology, like some other disciplines in the social sciences, is frequently divided for analytical and theoretical purpose into micro-and macro dimensions. While this distinction is helpful in terms of the extent to which sociological explanations may be generalized or extended to include, or to exclude, certain categories of social behaviour. Each of these dimensions, or levels of analysis, is distinguished further by the different theoretical approaches and methods of investigation that they employ. Micro-sociology – This is concerned with the analysis f the elementary forms and processes of social behaviour. Activity here concentrates on social interaction-that behaviour which takes place, relatively informally, on the interpersonal level in face-to-face contexts and those of small groups. Microscopic sociology is therefore a focus on smaller social units, particularly on individuals and their experiences within groups, organizations, cultures and societies. The emphasis here is similar to that of the psychologists who focus particularly on individuals. Macro-sociology- This is also known as systematic sociology. It studies society as a whole, and is thus concerned with broad-scale or grand-scale analysis. The point of focus at this level is on relatively formal structured and processes of social dynamics that are more typical of complex organization, such as bureaucracies, institutions, communities, culture, social movements, and social change. Micro-sociology and Macro-sociology overlap somewhat in scope and concern, just as their respective phenomena interpenetrate the reality of social behaviour. Just as macro- LAPONISM 27 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM sociology is the context for the other, so, too, the social interactional concerns of micro- sociology have no ultimate meaning except in terms of total context of social dynamics. Sociological Theories at the Microscopic Level Certain theories of sociology are especially related to the microscopic level of sociological analysis. These particular theories are not inevitably bound to the microscopic level, but there is a strong tendency for sociologists concerned with the behaviour, action, and interaction of individuals to use them. Some of the social theories must often associated with the microscopic level are: 1. Exchange Theory 2. Symbolic interaction theory 3. Phenomenology-ethomethodology theory and 4. Action theory Methods of Research at Microscopic Level: In the same way as particular sociological theories are linked to individual behaviour, individual actions, and interactions, certain research methods seen particularly suited to this level of sociological analysis. The two methods that have most often been applied at this level of sociological analysis are (1) the experiment and (2) participant observation. However other methods such as the interview-questionnaire, for example are used to study both individuals and interactions among individuals. Methods of Research at the Macroscopic Level. These are:- (1) Historical-Comparative Method and (2) The Interview and the Questionnaire LAPONISM 28 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Definition of the Methods. 1. Field Experiments – Research in which elements and conditions of a social setting are controlled by the researcher.It differs from the laboratory in that the setting is more natural. 2. Laboratory Experiments – Research in a setting in which the researcher attempts to closely control all elements and conditions. Ideally, in a laboratory setting the effects of the experimental factors can be isolated from other possible causal factors. 3. Participant Observation – A research technique in which an observer joins in and becomes immersed in the group he or she is studying. There is usually an attempt to analyze the viewpoints and through processes of the actors as well as the social world the actors create. 4. Verstehen method: A way of gaining insight into human action by understanding the socio-cultural setting in which is occurs. The researcher is concerned with how the social setting is understood or interpreted by the actors. 5. Historical-Comparative Method. A method of sociological research in which events of a particular time and place are studied and compared with similar events in another time and place. The object of the comparison of different events is to show the most basic social features of different societies, or societies at different times. 6. Interview method. A data collection method in which a researcher questions a respondent directly. This sociological research method is used to study both macroscopic and microscopic units of society. LAPONISM 29 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM 7. Questionnaire method –A self-administered sociological research method that solicits written responses to printed questions. 8. Quantitative Sociology – Studies that apply mathematical and statistical techniques to empirical observation of society. 9. Research methods – The techniques used to study questions of interest to analysis of documents and historical data. Types of Questions Describing, explaining, predicting, and prescribing require four kinds of questions. A descriptive question asks for factual information. How many people attended the Independence Day celebrations? An explanatory question asks why something happens. It starts from the answers to descriptive questions. Why did the Islamic fundamentalists reject all overtures from the west? A predictive question asks about what will happen. Will the conflict in the Niger Delta continue to escalate in the new civilian dispensation? A prescriptive question determines what ought to happen or be done. What should the federal government do to curtail violence in the Niger Delta? LAPONISM 30 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM CHAPTER FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES What is a theory? A theory in Sociology is a set of ideas or concepts that are useful in understanding and explaining a broad range of social phenomena. Theory may be defined as a set of logically interrelated concepts empirical reference that purports to explain phenomena. A theory is a system of related ideas that unable one to explain and predict phenomena. Theory assumes the principles of causation and explanation seeks to establish the relation of cause and effect with a stated degree of certainty. Sociology, as with all other fields of the social and behavioural sciences, can be undertaken with a number of different theoretical perspectives or conceptual orientations that serve to explain the phenomena of is concern Orientation are neither right nor wrong. They are merely ways of looking at phenomena or of proceeding to their analysis. Each theoretical orientation begins with a different set of assumptions, each has a different focus of analysis, and each asks essentially different questions. The ultimate value of any orientation as a sociological tool however is in terms of its utility – how well it contributes to, and facilitates, the sociological task of explaining human social behaviour. Each perspective therefore has its own advantages and its own limitations. Majority of sociologists today do not stick completely to any one perspective. They prefer to combine the perspective of one or more orientations and to proceed with an eclectic approach that utilizes whichever orientation appears to be the most productive in a given theoretical situation. LAPONISM 31 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM The principal theoretical approaches that are prevalent in sociology today may be conveniently categorized in terms of those that are strictly sociologist in character and those which are strictly sociological perspective while the latter emphasize a primarily micro-sociological orientation. The following are brief descriptions of the principal theoretical orientations that are utilized in the field of Sociology today. MACRO-SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES 1. Functionalism and Structural Functionalism This is the dominant or most prevalent theoretical orientation in Sociology today. Its basic assumption is that order, regularity, and balance are the principal forces of social activity, and, hence, that they should constitute the basic foci of sociological investigation. The theory postulates a parallel or correspondence in the essential nature of society and a biological organism. The structured-functional orientation conceives of society as a system, or complex organization, composed of many inter-related parts or structures assumed to be composed of many component parts, or structures, all working in an interdependent manner and thereby contributing to the total function of the social system. The structural-functional perspective utilizes, either simply or in combination, evolutionary or organismic models of society. Stability, equilibrium and harmonious function are inherent in the social system, and its orderly, highly efficient function is maintained by a set of shared values and beliefs or a basic consensus, among its constituents 2. Conflict Theory This perspective, completely antithetical to structural-functionalism, focuses on the elements of change and revolution. It has its main roots in the contributions of Karl Marx LAPONISM 32 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM and Engels (1848) who explored the positive contributions of conflict as a unifying force in social behaviour and one with potential, for contribution to the survival of societies. The conflict orientation assumes that the fundamental dynamics and conditions of human life are discensus and competition rather than consensus and integration. Conflict is a continuing and inevitable dimension of social life; and all societies are in a constant state of change. Conflict theorists maintain that societies continuously experience an inevitable competition for scarce resources, especially power, wealth, and prestige. Poverty and racial discrimination would be offered as two prevalent manifestations of these dynamics. While conflict necessarily involves tension and hostility, it need not result in violence. Harmonious equilibrium, according to conflict theorists, is an illusion. Social order is essentially a product of coercion and restraint, not consensus, or shared values. The society involved in an endless competitive struggle. The society is involved in an endless competitive struggle for social advantages between various social segments of society e.g. socio-economic classes, racial and ethnic categories and even the sexes, and not a continuous or steady effort at maintaining harmony of equilibrium. Society, then, is perceived to be inherently unstable, and in a perpetual state of change. 3. Marxism Marxism is more or less the same thing as the conflict theory. The Marxian analysis is a form of conflict theory closely based on Marx’s critique of the capitalist system and upon Marx’s premise of the likelihood of class conflict. 5. Modernization theory. LAPONISM 33 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM This is an evolutionary view that says that traditional societies change their basic structure through economic development and industrialization in order to survive. This change occurs through such processes as structural differentiation and proceeds through various stages that produce a more complex and mobile society ready to deal with industrial technology, more or less on the Western model. MICRO-SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES Symbolic Interaction. This is a uniquely sociological or psycho-social perspective that has become an increasingly popular orientation among sociologists today. It is a theory of human action and interaction that gives great emphasis to the use of symbols and language and to the way people use symbols to help define themselves, others, and their social situations. It focuses on individuals as social actors rather than on the system in which social actions occurs. It seek, thereby, to explain more about the actual processes of human social behaviour (and their meaning for participants) rather than about the structure and function of society or the social system in which they take place. The emphasis in this perspective, however, is on the specific interaction that occurs between people, and more particularly on the meanings that social behaviour has for the individual actors. Central to this position is the application of what Cooley (1992) called “sympathetic introspection” or the emphatic understanding of one’s behaviour. Any valid comprehension of human behaviour often requires an understanding of how actors perceive reality-that is how they form a ‘definition of the situation’. For as Thomas (1928) contented, “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequence”. Hence, for the symbolic interactionist behaviour can be understood only when it is studied in its whole context-not LAPONISM 34 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM only the situation as it exists in its objective forms, but also in its subjective dimensions at it seems to exist to the actor himself or herself. Ethnomethodololgy This is another variety of symbolic interaction that has been developed in recent years. That name does not mean anything mysterious, meaning only ‘the study of the methods which people in society use to make sense of what is going on around them.’ Ethno’ refers to the stock of common sense knowledge available to a member of society; ‘methodology’ refers to the methods or strategies which actors use indifferent settings to make their meanings understandable, or accountable to others. This perspective, incorporating fundamental elements of Phenomenology which maintains that all reality is subjective reality, places, a much greater emphasis on the subjective dimensions of human behaviour. It seeks to understand the unspecified, the implicit and unconsciously used, guidelines or ‘ethnomethods’ by which people construct social reality, and thereby achieve definitions of situations and the then in the process of social interaction in order to create and to sustain an orderly social life. Many of its advocates allege that Ethomethodology, while accepting many of the core elements and having much in common with the symbolic interaction approach, is nonetheless sufficiently different as to be considered an independent theoretical orientation. Phenomenology – Phenomenology is the science of phenomena or what appears. Phenomenologists also have an interest in understanding what things mean to the actor, but they particularly are concerned with the way in which people come to define social reality and then develop mental constructions, people proceed to arrange their actions and interactions into LAPONISM 35 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM meaningful patterns. Phenomenologists are intensely involved with what goes on in the mind of the person and with the meanings shared among persons. Phenomenology in diametrically opposed to Functionalism. Its stresses human freedom, intentionality and choice as opposed to the deterministic, almost compulsive quality of Functionalism. Phenomenology also concentrates on individual existence as opposed to Functionalism which concentrates on society and social forces at the expense of the individual human being. While Functionalism concentrates on the whole in relation to the neglect of the part, Phenomenology concentrates on the part to the neglect of the whole. Action Theory This is a sociological theory oriented to the study of moral complex forms of social interaction. Unlike the theoretical perspective discussed earlier on, Action theory is not oriented toward the individuals so much as toward the effect of the meaning context in which people or their actions exist. Action theorists seek to determine how individuals experience, perceive, understand, and interpret the ‘meaning context’ Weber urged sociologists to use the research method of ‘verstehen’ (understanding) in order to uncover what he termed the ‘meaning context’. Through the use of the verstehen method, action sociologists seek to put themselves in the place of the people in a particular historical context, in an effort to understand the social forces that impelled them to act as they did. Thus, Action theory is oriented to the study of historical as well as contemporary, social settings. The objective is to understand the social pressure and conditions that lead actors to behave as they do. Social Exchange Theory LAPONISM 36 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Social exchange theory focuses on the elementary forms of social behaviour, including the goals and motives of participants in social interaction. Building on the psychological principles of stimulus and response, exchange theorists have argued that people are likely to perform behaviour that have been rewarding to them in the past. Conversely, they argue that people are not likely to perform behaviour that have been painful or costly to them in the past. Thus, people are depicted as rational creatures involved in human interchange, their behaviour is seen as determined by previous experience in a give-and-take process of rewards and costs of personal interchange. One of the key concepts of Social Exchange theory is ‘reciprocity’ which refers to the ‘give-and-take’ phenomenon that is alleged to be the basic dimension of social behaviour. For instance, when you give someone a gift or do a favour for someone, you usually expect that person to reciprocate the courtesy. An example is that of people sponsoring political candidates in elections in the expectation that he can obtain political favour at a later date. Some boys give money to girls in exchange for love. Similarly, one may conform to the wishes of another in terms of certain behaviour norms, such as manners or dress styles, in return for the person’s friendships. If someone repeatedly receives something from you, and gives nothing in return, you will probably eventually stop giving. In other words, you will avoid interacting with that person. Social behaviour in the perspective of exchange is essentially a “trade off” of one kind of behaviour for another. Such reciprocity is assumed to be indispensable for sustained social interaction, which in turn is the fundamental ingredient or process of any form of social organization. LAPONISM 37 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM The two chief protagonists of this prospective are Levi Strauss who wrote on the “collectivistic” tradition in French Sociology and George Homans who wrote on the “individualistic” tradition in British and American Sociology. LAPONISM 38 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM CHAPTER FIVE SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND WELFARE Social problems are not the same things as sociological problems. The theoretical problems and scientific questions of sociology are not to be confused with social problems. Sociology is a scientific mode of analyzing social relationship, and a problem, for Sociology, is any pattern of relationships that calls for explanation; the challenging problems are those where the relevant factors and causes are not obvious. A ‘social problem’ is some piece of social behaviour that causes public friction and /or private misery and calls for collective action to solve it. A social problem is a set of conditions that the majority or a substantial minority, disapprove as morally wrong. This includes such things as crime, population, mental illness, and so forth – all of which are social conditions thought to be undesirable or problematic by the people in a particular society. Such concerns belong to the domain of social engineering which is concerned with the improvement and reconstruction of society. A social problem is more than a set of conditions. Poverty was prevalent enough in the Middle Ages, but poverty was not then a social problem because it was regarded as God’s will. Before any problem can be regarded as a ‘social problem’, the larger percentage of the society must agree that the issues at state are morally wrong or unacceptable. A problem becomes a ‘social problem’ when it comprises a set of conditions which have aroused widespread disapprobation. Social problems is seen as something identified as harmful to society and needing something doing about it Sociological problems on the other hand, are represented by issues that are concerned with the explanation of the nature and function of human social phenomena apart LAPONISM 39 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM from any a priori judgement on the worth or desirability of the behaviour in question. Sociological problems therefore involve the explanation of the nature and dynamics of social behaviour and not the development of strategy and techniques for the control or change of social phenomena. The problem of Sociology is essentially those that are fundamentally related to breaking the behaviour code or explaining what Nisbet (1970) has called the “social bond”. Just as biologists have concerned themselves with breaking the genetic code in order to unlock the mystery of biological life, and just as chemists and physicists occupy themselves with explaining the bond or unification of chemical and physical elements, so, too, do sociologists, along with other social and behavioural scientists, seek fundamentally to unravel the mysteries of the nature, structure function dynamics, and change of human social behaviour and society. Social problems are merely one type of sociological problem. Social problems, which are usually the problem of all the social sciences, involve questions of social policy which seek a determination of the way that society should function, and which kinds of social behaviour are preferable or desirable on the one hand, and correspondingly which kinds of behaviour are considered undesirable on the other. The explanation of why divorce happens, why it happens to some people with certain social characteristics and not others, or its rise and fall, constitutes problems of explanation for the sociologists. Divorce thus throws up sociological problems. It is, at the same time, a ‘social problem’. Again, Finer (1962) argued that whilst the series of recent military take-over in African countries is a social phenomenon requiring explanation, equally interesting is the sociological problem of explaining why it is that the military, who have decisive control over the means violence, do not take over in every society. LAPONISM 40 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Since Sociology emerged largely in the context of movements of reform or modernization, we tend to retain 19th century conceptions of social science as the study of ‘social problems’. According to Worsely (1977) the kinds of issues regarded as social problems in the 19th century conceptions include: delinquency and crime, unemployment, disease, malnutrition, poverty drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, bad housing, sexual deviance, divorce etc. The major things that these quite diverse items have in common is that they are all things which the 19th century saw as bad things, and about which people used sociological inquiry in order to provide them with ammunition in an essentially political and moral debate. This debate centered on the issues of whether these things occurred because the individuals involved were personally inadequate, or whether social arrangements and not simply individuals shortcomings led them into such straits. WELFARE Welfare is defined as the state of happiness, comfort, and freedom from want. It is a state of well being. In a pure sociological sense, welfare is a ‘community-action’ approach to solving social problems. For a long time, social problems are still thought of in a way that it could be solved or tackled with an individualistic approach. Thus that social services or welfare schemes are largely focused upon a ‘case-work’ approach to solving the individual client’s personal problems. But nowadays, sociologists have usually adopted ‘community-action’ approaches to social problems. This approach takes a closer look at the political economy of the entire society and began to break away from the individualistic ‘case-work’ approach. Researchers LAPONISM 41 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM have come to realize that individual problems are not merely the product of inadequate interpersonal socials relationships socials with in the family or within the organization, but as outcomes of decisions and arrangements at national level and as part of national politics. For ‘welfare’ problems cannot be fully analyzed without relating them to the wider structure of society which produces such problems for the individual. Deviations from normal; respectable behaviour create social problems not just for the individuals who suffer, but also for their neighbours, their kin, the state etc, who have to bear the consequence of their suffering. Such tragedies, that is, are rarely purely private, either in causation or in their consequences. Nor are the individual’s problems, usually peculiar to him alone. According to Mills, the sociological imagination consists in the ability to appreciate that the ‘troubles’ that affect the individual are the outcome of much wiser arrangements within which his life is lived out, and that these arrangements affect the local family and work milieu within which most his life is acted out. Most people never get beyond seeing their personal troubles as simply personal. Even some social scientists tell people that their problems are mainly caused by personal inadequacy, by inability to adjust, that they are the outward manifestation of innate anti-social drives, etc. however, Mills contends that the development of a sociological imagination enables the individual to see that his ‘personal troubles of milieu’ are connected with ‘public issues of social structure’ that his personal history (biography) is shaped by what is happening to his society (history); that to ‘understand what is happening in themselves; men have to see themselves as ‘minute points of the intersection of biography and history within society’. (Mills 1959). LAPONISM 42 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM From the above presentation and stand, one can see very clearly that social problems create welfare problems. Individual’s problems are not personal problems as they have implications for society at large, therefore the society must try to alleviate these individual problems through concerted efforts or community action hence the need for welfare service or programmes. LAPONISM 43 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM CHAPTER SIX USES OF SOCIOLOGY What is Sociology all about? What good is Sociology? Question of this raises a whole range of issues concerning the application of sociological knowledge and its role in policy and reform. As stated earlier, a concern with social problems and social reform was an integral part of Sociology from its foundations. Many of the early sociologists were anxious about the social changes occurring around them and wanted to establish sociology as a comprehensive scientific discipline, charged with discovering sociological laws of behaviour and constructing social policy based on these laws. In other words, a scientific sociology was to be used for the re-organization of society. What are the uses Sociology? What has Sociology to offer? The first value to be considered in an intellectual discipline is its scientific value. We have already discussed the scientific value of sociology in studying social activity, social organization, social development, in a precise, systematic way. This scientific attitude replaces ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. The study learns that the customs, traditions, religions and cultures of others are not bad, simply because they are different. This realization is extremely important where multi-ethnic and multinational states are seeking to create unity out of diversity Wilmot (1985). Nigeria fits properly into this situation. Mitchell (1967) argued that Sociology enables us to appreciate the variety in forms of social life (cultural diversity and heterogeneity). LAPONISM 44 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Again sociological knowledge and skills have now come to be widely utilized as a source of objective information, as a sometimes helpful guide to action, and as an important approach to the understanding of human conduct. Fundamental to the scientific study of society has always been the hope and belief that it could contribute to the understanding and solution of social problems and to a better and more reasonable world. According to Chinoy (1967): Sociology, both as tested theory and as a body of reliable facts, possesses a double value: it can add to man’s understanding of himself and his society, and it can contribute to the solution of the problems he faces in achieving and maintaining the kind of society in which he hopes to live. The increasing complexity of modern society creates problems for which there are no ready-made answers. In this situation sociology obviously constitutes a useful, even essential, source of reliable knowledge for both the individual and society. Pedagogical Advantages Sociology apart from anything else is an educative discipline. It is a discipline that can satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of the curious people. People need to be educated about the societies they live in rather than relying on common sensual knowledge and speculations which are often unreliable, invalid, uncritical, inconsistent and sometimes subjective. One can undertake sociological excursions for the purpose of learning alone or as a pure academic exercise (intellectual undertaking). LAPONISM 45 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Sociologists, however, can, do and should take a key role in specifying the implications and consequences of alternative types of social policy. Such a contribution is but one aspect of the practical value of sociology. Sociological studies can assist policy makers in urban or rural resettlement, caused by slum clearance, dam construction and other development projects. Throughout the history of Sociology, there has been an ebb and flow of involvement by sociologists in solving social problems. Sociological knowledge may be sought and used for any political ends, from the conservative right to the radical left. Another area of sociology that reflects a more activist orientation is applied Sociology. Many Sociologists today identify themselves as applied Sociologists. They are involved in the every day affairs and activities of organizations, businesses, and governments. Applied sociologists use sociological knowledge to advise on policies and practices of governments, businesses and organization that employ them. They also evaluate the impact of policies and actions, both before and after they have been implemented. Mitchell (1967) argued that Sociology has a bearing on administration. It also has something to contribute to aid the social worker and the teacher. What is the nature of this contribution? There are some obvious answers. We might say that Sociology can present the social worker with some facts about society and may do so with some degree of precision. It may estimate, and indeed point to the incidence of poverty among various sections of the population. Or it may, by an examination of the relationships in various sections of the population, estimates the differential needs of the aged. To the teacher it can give information about our society, the factors conditioning the personalities of children from different social milieu, rural and urban, middle and working class, and so forth. It may LAPONISM 46 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM even provide the information which he deems necessary to impart to children so that they may be better informed about their own society and others. Sociological knowledge, therefore, has application to every facet of human existence. CAREERS FOR SOCIOLOGISTS What is Sociologist do? What are the prospects of the discipline? Students who take strong interest in the discipline naturally wonder what the job prospects are. Sociology is a discipline that is relevant to every facet of life and as such Sociologists have unlimited career opportunities in a wide every organization and in all areas of Human Endeavour. Sociologists can work as teachers, be it in the Secondary and in tertiary institutions. As a matter of act, Sociology is offered at the ordinary and advanced levels in Britain, the US and other advanced countries while degree courses and postgraduate programme are offered in most of the present day universities. Sociologists can also take up careers as Probation or Parole Officers. Many young graduates in the discipline are particularly attracted to this field of youth probation because they fell that through their sociological understanding and personal guidance the young offender may be steered towards an adulthood of productivity. Personnel work is an appropriate field of employment for a graduate in Sociology. Personnel activities involve the screening of applicants for jobs in industry, help in the preparation of job descriptions and coordinate or mediate inter-departmental matters. Sociology is also useful in Public Relations, Advertising, Mass Communications and Journalism. There are job opportunities for Sociologists in these mentioned fields. LAPONISM 47 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Since Sociologists study widely varied fields such as Sociology of law, Medical Sociology, Industrial Sociology, Criminology, Urban Sociology, Population, Sociology of Education etc. it is obvious that there are so many other areas in which Sociology will provide a valuable start and in which job opportunities are available to people in the discipline. Sociology can be helpful and a very important tool for people entering into Law or Politics. Sociologists are also needed in the civil service and ministries. They can be gainfully employed as Administrators in both public and private establishments. This includes- Welfare or Social Work, Health, Education and Public Complaints Commissions. Sociologists can also be gainfully employed as Consultants and researchers (NISER) in many organizations and government agencies. Some can work as Marriage Counsellors. Others can be employed as government advisers. Sociologists are usually appointed to important Commissions to advise their nations at all levels be it federal or state on cases like Crime, Justice, Violence, Moral decadence, population problems and other social ills in the society. Sociologists are in the position of giving out suitable advice on many of the societal problems. Sociology is a discipline that can be systemically applied in a number of different ways and at different level in different spheres of life. So the question of what the chances of a Sociologist are does not pose a problem anymore. The career opportunities of a Sociologist are unlimited. According to E.W. Steward and J.A Glynn “You can do almost anything that, at a pre- professional level is concerned with the direction of and effective organization of people”. Sociology can be applied effectively in all occupations. LAPONISM 48 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM REFERENCES Tony Bilton (1981). Introductory Sociology. Contemporary Social Theory. London:The Macmillan Press Ltd. Ritzer G. ( 1979) Sociology. Experiencing A Changing Society. London: Allyn and Bacon Inc. Mitchell G.D (1967) Sociology. The Study of Social Systems. London: University Tutorial Press Ltd. Wilmot P.F (1985). Sociology – London: A New Introduction Collins Academic & Professional Texts. Worsley P. (Editor) (1977) Introducing Sociology 2 nd Edition. England: Penguin Books. Otite O. & Ogionwo W. (1981). An Introduction to Sociological Studies. Ibadan,Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books (Nig) Ltd. Ekong E.E. (2003) An Introduction to Rural Sociology. Lagos, Nigeria: Jumak Publishers Ltd. Beattie J. (1976) Other Cultures. Aims, Methods, and Achievements in social anthropology. Routledge & Kegan Paul. Coser R. (1975)Sociological Theory 4th Edition. New York,USA: Collier Macmillan. Broom L. & Belznick P. (1973) Sociology. A text with Adapted Readings 5 th Edition. London: Harper International Edition. Peil M. et al (1982) Social Science Research Methods. An African Handbook. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Green A.W. (1952) Sociology. An Analysis of Life in Modern Society. London: McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc. LAPONISM 49 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM Bogdan R. A Taylor S. (1975) Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods. A phenomenological Approach to the Social Sciences. A Wiley-Inter Science Publication. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Direnzo C.C. (1987) Sociological Perspectives Third Edition. Ginn Press Lexington Massauchusetts. Szack Jerzy (1987) History of Sociological Thought. Greenwood Press West Port Connecticut. Benton Ted (1977) Philosophical foundations of the three Sociologies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Haralambos M. & Hedd. R.M (1980) Sociology, Themes and Perspectives. Britain: University Tutorial Press. Worchels & Cooper J. (1979) Understanding Socials Psychology. Revised Edition. Homewood, Illinois: The Dorsey Press. Wright F. J. & Randall F. (1975) Basic Sociology 2 nd Edition M & E Handbooks. London: Macdonald & Evan Ltd. Zetterberg H.L (1965) On theory and Verification in Sociology. 3rd Edition. USA: The Bedminster Press. LAPONISM 50 SOC 202: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY II LAPONISM REVIEW QUESTIONS What are the main arguments in favour of Positivism in sociological research? What do you understand by the term “VERSTEHEN”? What are the main components of ‘interpretive’ method is sociological inquiry? Discuss and explains five methods of collecting data in sociological research Distinguish between Quantitative and Qualitative analysis Enumerate the basic steps in the organization of a typical research essay What do you understand by the term phenomenology? Write short notes on two of the following: (i) Exchange theory (ii) Action theory (iii) Symbolic interaction theory (iv) Conflict theory (a) What is social problem? (b) In what ways are social problems different from sociological problems What are the uses of sociology? Write short notes on two of the following: (i) Social survey (ii) Observation (iii) Interviewing (iv) Hypothetico-deductive method To what extent is Sociology a scientific discipline? LAPONISM 51