Lecture 2, introduction to sociology

Introduction to Sociology

Lecture 2

Review from lecture one:

Discussions were made around the concepts of society, norms, values, social institutions and examples provided.

We also looked at two major transformations: the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution as major events that contributed to the emergence of the scientific study of society in general and sociology in particular.

sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 2

This week, we will be looking at:

• Sociology & sociological imagination• The role of theory in social research.

Examples of sociological questions: • Which factors significantly determine our life

chances? • What is the role of education in our life? • How do we learn the norms and values in our

society?

Some more examples? 1. 2. 3.


Sociology: Definition: ‘ the scientific study of human life, social

groups, whole societies and the human world as such (Giddens and Sutton 2015: 4).

The study of people and societies living in social spaces, sharing similar values and beliefs.

Rather than explaining human behaviour simply in

terms of individual characteristics or motivations, sociology sees patterns of behaviour as related to the wider social context or groups in which people live (Haralambos & Holborn 2013).


Example: According to research by Gilligan (2010), differences in homicide rates are closely related to the amount of inequality in society. UNODC (2013) also reports that countries with high levels of income inequality are afflicted by homicide rates almost four times higher than more equal societies (Adopted from Haralambos and Holborn 2013: 4).


Contrary to natural sciences such as chemistry or physics, sociology involves studying ourselves and this can severely challenge our long-held views and attitudes.

Examples: Our views on social class, religion, gender… etc.

‘Studying ourselves’

Effective from September 2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 2 – Society

C. Right Mills and Sociological Imagination:

The American sociologist C. Right Milles (1916-1962), coined the term ‘sociological Imagination’ by which he refers to ‘the vivid awareness of the relationship between [personal] experience and the wider society… to be able to connect personal troubles to public issues’.

Sociological Imagination requires us:

To nurture our imagination, to think ourselves away from the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to look at them from a new point of view.


An opportunity for social interaction A habit-forming substance & a socially

acceptable drug Involves complex set of social and economic

relationships stretching across the planet. Largest source for foreign exchange for

producing countries. A branded and politicised product, influenced

by lifestyle choices e.g fair trade/ organic coffee, choosing independent coffee house or corporate chains such as Costa/ Starbucks.

Example: drinking coffee

By ‘Sociological Thinking’ we take trivial things like coffee and delve deeper into the influence that this trivial object has on society and the world.

Sociology is not a discipline that acknowledges a single body of ideas as universally accepted. While there are some theories that are more widely accepted than others, sociologists often disagree about how to study human behaviour and how to interpret research findings.

Example: Research shows an increasing divorce rate in country X. How would you interpret the data?

Analysis:

When trained sociologists use their skills to improve the world by intervening to change an existing situation e.g. research on homelessness, poverty, drug addiction… etc.

Applied researchers try out possible solutions to make recommendations for changes to government policies or service provisions.


Applied Sociology

Theorising means constructing abstract interpretations using a series of logically related statements that explain a wide variety of empirical observations or ‘factual’ situations. It is an attempt to identify general characteristics that explain regularly observed events.

The role of theory in sociological research:

Link between theory and data: Theories provide explanations rather than simply listing a series of facts and are strongly influenced by the research results they generate. For example, on crime data, theories aim to explain the reasons behind changing patters of crime in the past decades.


Take business majors for example:•Need more than just maths and economics•Need to understand people and societies•Sociology teaches us how to understand and communicate with people (staff and customers)•Business managers with a background in sociology can more readily anticipate customer needs and respond to employee demands

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Why study sociology?


Sociology provides business leaders and human resource managers an advantage working with employees through: •Increased awareness of the social and cultural aspects influencing individual actions•Avoid alienating employees or hurting company loyaltyFor example, a company may have a number of employees of a particular religion- these employees may require special accommodations regarding workdays or work attire.Managers can take this into account when approving employee annual leave requests or setting the employee dress code.



We defined sociology and discussed what sociological imagination entails.

We also learned what theories are and their role in research.

Using an example in Business and Management area, we explained how sociology could be used in a wide range of contexts and disciplines.

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Summary


Homework:

In preparation for seminar one, all students are required to prepare a 5 minutes presentation regarding their own society, cultural values and norms and the main social institutions that shaped their life experiences.



References: •Giddens, A. and Sutton, P. (2013) Sociology, Cambridge: Polity Press.•Mills, C. W. (1959) The Sociological Imagination, Oxford University Press, London.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sociological_Imagination

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_University_Press

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Lecture 2, introduction to sociology