SOCIOLOGY

SOCIOLOGY
Definitions: Ety. (Lat.) SOCIUS (group,partner, ally, associate); SOCIETAS (society); (Gk.) LOGOS (science/study).

 Real/Essential Definitions: * sociology is the scientific study of patterned, shared human behavior. (Joseph Fichter) * the scientific study of patterns of human interaction that deals with the study of group life. (popular) * deals with the study of the patterns and processes of human relations. (Rodney Stark)

* sociology is a body of scientific knowledge with theories based on scientific investigations and observations rather than on armchair speculations. (Lundberg) * is the science of society and the social interactions taking place therein. (popular)

AREAS OF SOCIOLOGY
1. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 2. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 3. SOCIAL CHANGE and SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION 4. HUMAN ECOLOGY 5. POPULATION or DEMOGRAPHY 6. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY and METHOD 7. APPLIED SOCIOLOGY

Relationship with Other Social Sciences

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Psychology History Economics Political Science Sociology

Relationship between Sociology and Anthropology

Similarities and Affinities: - Both are recent as far as the social sciences are concerned. - Both attempt to understand the way of life of various cultures or various societies. - The two sciences borrow heavily from each other; ex. concept of culture. - Concepts in one discipline are used in the other. Sociology emphasizes society and social processes, while that of anthropology is that of culture. It is a fact that society and culture are interrelated and interdependent concepts.

Dissimilarities: - Anthropology started with the study of primitive or non-literate groups, considered as exotic and weird by Westerners. - Sociology started as the study of Western civilization and later, of advanced and contemporary societies.

- Although both sciences are interested in the study of social issues such as population growth, environment, degradation, urban poverty, and similar subjects, in terms of their methods the two sciences differ. - Sociology allows sampling of the subject of study, anthropology makes use of the holistic approach. Participant observation is common in anthropology.

- As a whole, the two sciences have common subject matter. Both disciplines synthesize and generalize data about human behavior and social systems. Both are related to the humanities.

Methods of Inquiry in the two Sciences

Sciences require a rigid, accurate, and critical analysis of data.
Scientific investigations require the following: 1. Empirical investigation 2. Objectivity 3. Ethnical neutrality 4. Sociological imagination

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION IN BOTH SCIENCES FOLLOWS CERTAIN STANDARDS

1. Identification of the problem 2. Gathering of data a. Observation b. Participant observation c. Interview d. Historical method e. Comparative method f. Archival research g. Content analysis 3. Analysis of data

Relevance of Sociology and Anthropology

1. Introduces us to various concepts and principles vital in our understanding of culture and society. 2. Expands our view of the world, thereby appreciating society and culture better. 3. Makes us understand better why people of different groups and culture behave the way they do (hence,adjust ourselves to their peculiar ways and patterns).

4.Gives us an insight that our group is different from others (hence respect the identity and unique nature of other groups and members of such groups). 5.Promotes inter-ethnic and cultural understanding; promotes national unity and progress, and international understanding through promotion and cross-cultural knowledge.

ORIGIN and DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Early Beginnings of Anthropology - date back to the periods of discoveries and explorations from the 15th century to the 18th century and to the days of the Western explorations, missionaries, and colonial conquerors.

 The discoveries of antique tools and other artifacts in France and other parts of Europe in the beginning of the 19th century proved the existence of man a million years ago. Modern anthropology in both its physical and cultural aspects started only around the 20th century. Modern anthropology was pioneered by Lewis Morgan, Sir Edward Tylor, and Herbert Spencer.

 Most of the early anthropologists were armchair theorists. They adopted a common sense theme of an evolutionary view of humanity and human behavior. Later, a higher level of research began using careful and thorough gathering of the data about individual cultures. This new approach was adopted by Franz Boas and Alfred Kroeber. They were followed by Bronislaw Malinowski, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, Ralf Linton, and other anthropologists.

DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Henri Saint-Simon (1760-1825) Auguste Comte (1798-1857) Early Tradition: 1. Auguste Comte (1798-1857) 2. Herbert Spencer (1832-1903) 3. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) 4. Karl Marx (1818-1883) 5. Max Weber (1864-1920) 6. Ferdinand Toennis (1855-1936) 7. George Simmel (1858-1918) 8. Edward Tylor (1832-1917)

9. William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) 10. A.R.Radcliffe-Brown (1881-1955) 11. Friedrich Engels (1820-1903) 12. Thornstein Veblen (1857-1929) 13. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) 14. Pitirim Sorokin (1889-1968) 15. Talcott Parsons (1902-1979)

Most Significant Forerunners of Sociology

AUGUSTE COMTE (1798-1857) - French philosopher - believed in applying the scientific method to the study of society and social relations. - Coined the word SOCIOLOGY , and is credited to being the father of sociology.

- published the book POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY,

in which he summarized the stages of development of all knowledge about humanity. - advocated the use of POSITIVISM or the EMPIRICAL METHOD for studying and understanding society.

- His theory was that societies contain social statistics, the study of the structure of society and the forces for social order and the stability, and the social dynamics which refers to the forces of conflict and change. (Kendal 2000:9)

- The progressive development of science was analyzed in his law of the three stages of humanity: 1. theological or fictitious 2. metaphysical or abstract 3. scientific or positive

- Each mental stage has an accompanying type of social organization and political dominance. -The supernatural is the basis for explaining and understanding everything in the theological stage. * the model or standard social unit for conformity has always been the family. * political dominance was invariably lodged in the priests or the military leaders during the earliest stage.

-Comte believed that social physics or positivism would be the key to humanitys ongoing program. - Positivism involves the study of phenomenon by rigid observation and experiment as used in the natural sciences.

 HERBERT SPENCER (1832-1903) - English philosopher - Sometimes referred to as the second founder of sociology. - Wrote the first sociology textbook (1855) known as SOCIAL STATICS.

- Central focus of his works was on the application of Charles Darwins theory of evolution to social life. - Argued that like animals, human societies evolved from simple forms (primitive societies) to more complex forms (industrial societies).

- Believed that through natural selection, those societies that adapt to their environment and compete successfully will persist. - Argued that social life is governable by the laws of conflict and competition, and, as in the animal world, natural selection leads to survival of the fittest.

- Spencer believed that the doctrine of the survival of the fittest would eventually lead to social progress, which in his views, constituted SOCIAL JUSTICE. - Likewise, believed that social progress is inevitable through evolution due to the principle of his SUVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.

 KARL MARX (1818-1883) - German economist and philosopher - One of the influential thinkers of the 19th century whose ideas persist up to the present time. - Together with FRIEDRICH ENGELS, a lifelong friend, he wrote the COMMUNIST MANIFESTO in 1847.

- The common feature in all of Marxs and Engels works was an intense anger over the misery of the lower classes caused by the existing industrial order. - Marx believed that history is a continuous struggle between conflicting ideas and forces, and that most important change was economic.

- He recognized the existence of several social classes in the 19th century industrial society. - Social classes can be divided into: * bourgeoisie (capitalist class) * proletariat (working class)

- For Marx, political revolutions are significant in the evolution of society and is the only means to attain improvement of social conditions. - Marx said that inequality is the result of class struggles between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

- Marx prophesied that there would be collective ownership of the means of production, and then there could be a classless society. - His contribution to sociology is his conflict theory approach.

 EMILE DURKHEIM (1858- First French academic sociologist conferred a doctors degree in sociology in 1892. - Among his best books are: * Division of Labor in Society * The Rules of Sociological Method * Suicide * Elementary Forms of Religious Life

- He did not believe that social events operate under the same rules as biology or psychology. - He defined social phenomena as social facts that have distinctive social characteristics and determinants.

- For Durkheim, social facts are every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint such as customs, laws, and the general rule of behavior which people accept without question. - Hence, individuals are more products rather than the creators of society.

- Durkheim pointed out that rapid social change and specialized division of labor produce strains in society. - These strains result in the breakdown of traditional social organization, values, and authority, which eventually lead to a condition of normlessness and loss of social contral called ANOMIE.

- Durkheim had his major focus the social forces that hold together. - He believed that social solidarity was based on the shared values and beliefs of the members of society. - He identified two types of societal solidarity: 1. mechanical solidarity sameness of primitive societies 2. organic solidarity based on differences like those that prevailed in industrial societies resulting from the peoples various tasks, most of them necessary for the continuance of society.

 MAX WEBER (1864-1920) - German economist - Studied law and economics at the University of Heidelberg, where he obtained his doctorate at the age of 25. - Wrote significant books, the best known of which are: * The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

- In his book SUICIDE, he showed the relationship between the individual and the society when the values of life become precarious. - He pointed out that while suicide is a solitary act, it can be understood only by analyzing society.

* The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism * Theory of Social and Economic Organization * Methodology of the Social Sciences - Like Karl Marx, he also foresaw the development of several social classes in society, and examined the consequences of the peoples relationship to economic institutions. - Believed that power and prestige are major causes of inequality.

- Webers works dwelt on the significance of subjective meaning people give to their interactions with others. - A sympathetic understanding, verstehen, of the mind of others, Weber said, was an understanding human action by examining the subjective meaning that people attach to their own behavior and the behavior of others.

- Sociologists rely on Webers descriptive analysis of BUREAUCRACY, the organizational structure that is prevalent in modern societies.

 FERDINAND TOENNIS (1855-1936) - German, who spent all his academic life at the University of Kiel. - His first and most important writing was: GEMEINSCHAFT (expression of the will) GESSELSCHAFT (arbitrarily willed group)

 GEORGE SIMMEL (1858-1918) - Of German Jewish parentage - Professor at the University of Strassburg - For him society cannot be understood as a psychic entity independent of individual minds. - Displayed an unusual gift of bringing together instances that are seemingly so dissimilar that only a few minds could have grasped those common features which served as the basis for theoretical abstraction.

 EDWARD TYLOR (1832-1917) - One of the pioneering anthropologists of the world. - He dominated, shaped, and consolidated anthropology in Britain for the fist 50 years of its development. - His researches were: EARLY HISTORY OF MANKIND and the DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION.

- His book PRIMITIVE CULTURE (1871) was described to be one of the main foundations of the new sciences of human belief and human institutions. - He is credited for his contributions such as the invention of the term ANIMISM ( a belief in spiritual beings); his use of comparative methods with attempts at statistical correlations; and his stress on material culture.

 WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER(1840-1910) - Was a famous sociologist, anthropologist, scholar, teacher; taught political science and social science at Yale University. - He dealt extensively with a discussion and study of folkways. - For him, folkways are habits of the individual and customs of the society which arise from efforts to satisfy needs.

 A.R. RADCLIFFE-BROWN (1881-1955) - Was regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern social anthropology. - He became instrumental in making anthropology a university subject. - His first book was in effect an attempt to test in the field of Durkheimian hypothesis that the primary function of ritual is, by giving expression to the collective sentiments of a society, to contribute to social cohesion, and the maintenance of a social system through time. - For him, there are two important things to be found out about ritual procedures: 1. what it means to the people who have it, and 2. what its social consequences are.