What is Sociology?

Sociology is the study of human social life. Because human social life is so expansive,
sociology has many sub-sections of study, ranging from the analysis of conversations to
the development of theories to try to understand how the entire world works.
A dictionary defines sociology as the systematic study of society and social interaction.
The wordsociology is derived from the Latin word socius (companion) and the Greek
word logos (study of), meaning the study of companionship. While this is a starting
point for the discipline, sociology is actually much more complex. It uses many different
methods to study a wide range of subject matter and to apply these studies to the real
world.
The social world is changing. Some argue it is growing; others say it is shrinking. The
important point to grasp is: society does not remain unchanged over time. Sociology
has its roots in significant societal changes (e.g., the industrial revolution, the creation of
empires, and the enlightenment of scientific reasoning). Early practitioners developed
the discipline as an attempt to understand societal changes. Some early sociological
theorists (e.g., Marx, Weber, and Durkheim) were disturbed by the social processes
they believed to be driving the change, such as the quest for solidarity, the attainment of
social goals, and the rise and fall of classes, to name a few examples. The founders of
sociology were some of the earliest individuals to employ what C. Wright Mills (1959)
labeled the sociological imagination: the ability to situate personal troubles within an
informed framework of social issues.
Mills proposed that "What the people need is a quality of mind that will help them to use
information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going
on in the world and of what may be happening within themselves.
Just as the rain dance is an attempt to understand how the weather works without using
empirical analysis, armchair sociology is an attempt to understand how the social world
works without employing scientific methods.
It would be dishonest to say sociologists never sit around (even sometimes in comfy
armchairs) trying to figure out how the world works. But in order to test their theories,
sociologists get up from their armchairs and enter the social world. They gather data
and evaluate their theories in light of the data they collect. Sociologists do not just
propose theories about how the social world works. Sociologists test their theories
about how the world works using the scientific method.
Sociologists, like all humans, have values, beliefs, and even pre-conceived notions of
what they might find in doing their research. But, as Peter Berger (1963) argued, what
distinguishes the sociologist from non-scientific researchers is that "sociologist tries to
see what is there. He may have hopes or fears concerning what he may find. But he will
try to see, regardless of his hopes or fears. It is thus an act of pure perception..."
Sociology, then, is an attempt to understand the social world by situating social events
in their corresponding environment (i.e., social structure, culture, history) and trying to
understand social phenomena by collecting and analyzing empirical data.

Features of Sociology
Refer the textbook

Sociological Imagination
Mills defined sociological imagination as how individuals understand their own and
others pasts in relation to history and social structure (1959). By looking at individuals
and societies and how they interact through this lens, sociologists are able to examine
what influences behavior, attitudes, and culture. By applying systematic and scientific
methods to this process, they try to do so without letting their own biases and preconceived ideas influence their conclusions. Mills believed in the power of the
sociological imagination to connect "personal troubles to public issues."
The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical
scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of
individuals" (Mills 1959). As Mills saw it, the sociological imagination could help
individuals cope with the social world by helping them to step outside of their personal
worldview and thus seeing the events and social structure that influence their behavior,
attitudes, and culture.
The sociological imagination goes beyond armchair sociology or common sense. Most
people believe they understand the world and the events taking place within it. Humans
like to attribute causes to events and attempt to understand what is taking place around
them. This is why individuals have been using religious ceremonies for centuries to
invoke the will of the gods - because they believed the gods controlled certain elements
of the natural world (e.g., the weather).
The advantages of using popular films to enhance students' comprehension of
sociological topics is widely recognized. Those who teach courses in social problems
report using films to teach about war, to aid students in adopting a global perspective
and to confront issues of race relations. There are benefits of using film as part of a
multimedia approach to teaching courses in popular culture. It also provides students of
medical sociology with case studies for hands-on observational experiences. It
acknowledges the value of films as historical documentation of changes in cultural
ideas, materials, and institutions.
Feature films are used in introductory sociology courses to demonstrate the current
relevance of sociological thinking and to show how the sociological imagination helps us
make sense of our social world. The underlying assumption is that the sociological

imagination is best developed and exercised in the introductory class by linking new
materials in the context of conflict theory and functionalism.

Differentiate between:
1. Sociology and History
2. Sociology and Political Science
3. Sociology and Economics
Refer textbook (Can also be asked as compare Sociology and other social sciences.)
Max Weber
Max Weber, one of the three main "fathers of sociology," contributed to our
understanding of the sociological perspective, to the nature of social change, and to the
nature of social inequality. Max Weber (1864-1920) helped us to understand the nature
of society. He disagreed with the approach of Marx, but in different ways than Durkheim
did. Rather than deny the importance of material factors, as with Marx, and rather than
deny the notion of social facts external to individuals, as with Durkheim, he added that
we should look at ideas, especially the meanings we put onto things, and the role of
changes of ideas that contribute to society and to social changes. In his interest in the
meanings people put to things, Weber used the German word, "verstehen," to discuss
our deeper understanding of those meanings. Since culture is based on symbols, and
symbols must have meanings in order to be symbols, then our understanding of them is
an essential element of understanding society.
In English, in sociology, today we continue to use his word, "verstehen," to analyse this
important element of culture and society. To oppose the approach of Marx in the
understanding of the industrial revolution, Weber suggested that first came a radical
change of ideas. This was manifested in the Protestant Reformation, and the preaching
of protestant leaders, especially John Calvin, in opposition to the prevailing thoughts
and practices of the Catholic Church at the time. Among the various values advocated
by the Protestants, were ideas of self sufficiency, frugality and independent relations
with God instead of through a priest. Frugality was an essential attitude needed to
encourage saving and investment, an important element of capitalism and the industrial
revolution.
They said, furthermore, that they did not need a large, corrupt and decadent
organisation to tell them how to think, and that independence of thinking contributed to

people starting their own businesses, and contributing to the growth of the capital
owning class.
The Protestant Reformation, according to Weber, was the main cause of the Industrial
Revolution and the rise of Capitalism, a very different approach from that of Marx.

A third contribution of Weber was about the social nature of inequality. He saw class
based upon three factors, power, wealth and prestige. In modern sociology, we now see
social inequality as having three major elements, wealth, power and prestige. Labour
conflicts now tend to be between workers and the managers, the latter being paid to
take the side of owners, who are now mainly the holders of stocks and bonds. Webers
writings contributed to the Symbolic Interactionist Perspective, one of the three classical
perspectives in Sociology.
Weber also contributed to the sociological observation and analysis of organisations.
Among his many works, he studied the nature of bureaucracies to investigate the
reasons why they held so much power. He looked at how bureaucracies grew and
become stronger along with the industrial revolution.
He identified five elements of bureaucracies which gave them strength. hierarchy of
authority; division of labour; written rules; written communications; and impersonality.
Weber used a multidimensional approach to analyzing society. His interpretation of
sociology merged the economic, cultural, and political organizations of society together
as being what shaped social institutions and social change. Another major contribution
by Weber was his definition of "social action" as a behavior to which people give
meaning; e.g., placing a bumper sticker on your car that states pride in the U.S. military
troops.
mile Durkheim
As a functionalist, mile Durkheims (18581917) perspective on society stressed the
necessary interconnectivity of all of its elements. To Durkheim, society was greater than
the sum of its parts. He asserted that individual behavior was not the same as collective
behavior, and that studying collective behavior was quite different from studying an
individuals actions. Durkheim called the communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a
society the collective conscience. In his quest to understand what causes individuals to
act in similar and predictable ways, he wrote, If I do not submit to the conventions of
society, if in my dress I do not conform to the customs observed in my country and in
my class, the ridicule I provoke, the social isolation in which I am kept, produce,
although in an attenuated form, the same effects as punishment (Durkheim 1895).

Durkheim also believed that social integration,or the strength of ties that people have to
their social groups, was a key factor in social life.
Following the ideas of Comte and Spencer, Durkheim likened society to that of a living
organism, in which each organ plays a necessary role in keeping the being alive. Even
the socially deviant members of society are necessary, Durkheim argued, as
punishments for deviance affirm established cultural values and norms. That is,
punishment of a crime reaffirms our moral consciousness. A crime is a crime because
we condemn it, Durkheim wrote in 1893. An act offends the common consciousness
not because it is criminal, but it is criminal because it offends that consciousness
(Durkheim 1893). Durkheim called these elements of society social facts. By this, he
meant that social forces were to be considered real and existed outside the individual.
As an observer of his social world, Durkheim was not entirely satisfied with the direction
of society in his day. His primary concern was that the cultural glue that held society
together was failing, and that people were becoming more divided. In his book The
Division of Labor in Society (1893), Durkheim argued that as society grew more
complex, social order made the transition from mechanical to organic.
Pre-industrial societies, Durkheim explained, were held together by mechanical
solidarity, a type of social order maintained by the collective consciousness of a culture.
Societies with mechanical solidarity act in a mechanical fashion; things are done mostly
because they have always been done that way. This type of thinking was common in
preindustrial societies where strong bonds of kinship and a low division of labor created
shared morals and values among people, such as hunter-gatherer groups.
When people tend to do the same type of work, Durkheim argued, they tend to think
and act alike. In industrial societies, mechanical solidarity is replaced with organic
solidarity, social order based around an acceptance of economic and social differences.
In capitalist societies, Durkheim wrote, division of labor becomes so specialized that
everyone is doing different things. Instead of punishing members of a society for failure
to assimilate to common values, organic solidarity allows people with differing values to
coexist. Laws exist as formalized morals and are based on restitution rather than
revenge.
While the transition from mechanical to organic solidarity is, in the long run,
advantageous for a society, Durkheim noted that it can be a time of chaos and
normlessness. One of the outcomes of the transition is something he called social
anomie. Anomieliterally, without lawis a situation in which society no longer has
the support of a firm collective consciousness. Collective norms are weakened. People,
while more interdependent to accomplish complex tasks, are also alienated from each
other. Anomie is experienced in times of social uncertainty, such as war, or a great

upturn or downturn in the economy. As societies reach an advanced stage of organic

solidarity, they avoid anomie by redeveloping a set of shared norms. According to
Durkheim, once a society achieves organic solidarity, it has finished its development.

The Three Main Sociological Perspectives

Theories in sociology provide us with different perspectives with which to view our social
world. A perspective is simply a way of looking at the world. A theory is a set of
interrelated propositions or principles designed to answer a question or explain a
particular phenomenon; it provides us with a perspective. Sociological theories help us
to explain and predict the social world in which we live.
Sociology includes three major theoretical perspectives: the functionalist perspective,
the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionist perspective (sometimes called
the interactionist perspective or simply the micro view). Each perspective offers a
variety of explanations about the social world and human behavior.
Functionalist Perspective
The functionalist perspective is based largely on the works of Herbert Spencer, Emile
Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton. According to functionalism, society is a
system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of
balance and social equilibrium for the whole. For example, each of the social
institutions contributes important functions for society: Family provides a context for
reproducing, nurturing, and socializing children; education offers a way to transmit a
societys skills, knowledge, and culture to its youth; politics provides a means of
governing members of society; economics provides for the production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services; and religion provides moral guidance and an outlet
for worship of a higher power.
The functionalist perspective emphasizes the interconnectedness of society by
focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts. For example, the
increase in single parent and dual-earner families has contributed to the number of
children who are failing in school because parents have become less available to
supervise their childrens homework. As a result of changes in technology, colleges are
offering more technical programs, and many adults are returning to school to learn new
skills that are required in the workplace. The increasing number of women in the

workforce has contributed to the formulation of policies against sexual harassment and
job discrimination.
Functionalists use the terms functional and dysfunctional to describe the effects of
social elements on society. Elements of society are functional if they contribute to social
stability and dysfunctional if they disrupt social stability. Some aspects of society can be
both functional and dysfunctional. For example, crime is dysfunctional in that it is
associated with physical violence, loss of property, and fear. But according to Durkheim
and other functionalists, crime is also functional for society because it leads to
heightened awareness of shared moral bonds and increased social cohesion.
Sociologists have identified two types of functions: manifest and latent. Manifest
functions are consequences that are intended and commonly recognized. Latent
functions are consequences that are unintended and often hidden. For example, the
manifest function of education is to transmit knowledge and skills to societys youth. But
public elementary schools also serve as babysitters for employed parents, and colleges
offer a place for young adults to meet potential mates. The baby-sitting and mateselection functions are not the intended or commonly recognized functions of education;
hence they are latent functions.
Conflict Perspective
The functionalist perspective views society as composed of different parts working
together. In contrast, the conflict perspective views society as composed of different
groups and interest competing for power and resources. The conflict perspective
explains various aspects of our social world by looking at which groups have power and
benefit from a particular social arrangement. For example, feminist theory argues that
we live in a patriarchal societya hierarchical system of organization controlled by men.
Although there are many varieties of feminist theory, most would hold that feminism
demands that existing economic, political, and social structures be changed (Weir and
Faulkner 2004, p.xii). The origins of the conflict perspective can be traced to the classic
works of Karl Marx. Marx suggested that all societies go through stages of economic
development. As societies evolve from agricultural to industrial, concern over meeting
survival needs is replaced by concern over making a profit, the hallmark of a capitalist
system. Industrialization leads to the development of two classes of people: the
bourgeoisie, or the owners of the means of production. (e.g., factories, farms,
businesses); and the proletariat, or the workers who earn wages.
The division of society into two broad classes of peoplethe haves and the
havenotsis beneficial to the owners of the means of production. The workers, who
may earn only subsistence wages, are denied access to the many resources available
to the wealthy owners.

According to Marx, the bourgeoisie use their power to control the institutions of society
to their advantage. For example, Marx suggested that religion serves as an opiate of
the masses in that it soothes the distress and suffering associated with the workingclass lifestyle and focuses the workers attention on spirituality, God, and the afterlife
rather than on such worldly concerns as living conditions. In essence, religion diverts
the workers so that they concentrate on being rewarded in heaven for living a moral life
rather than on questioning their exploitation.

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Both the functionalist and the conflict perspectives are concerned with how broad
aspects of society, such as institutions and large social groups, influence the social
world. This level of sociological analysis is called macro sociology: It looks at the big
picture of society and suggests how social problems are affected at the institutional
level.
Micro sociology, another level of sociological analysis, is concerned with the social
psychological dynamics of individuals interacting in small groups. Symbolic
interactionism reflects the micro-sociological perspective, and was largely influenced by
the work of early sociologists and philosophers, such as George Simmel, Charles
Cooley, George Herbert Mead and Erving Goffman. Symbolic interactionism
emphasizes that human behavior is influenced by definitions and meanings that are
created and maintained through symbolic interaction with others.
Sociologist W.I. Thomas (1966) emphasized the importance of definitions and meanings
in social behavior and its consequences. He suggested that humans respond to their
definition of a situation rather than to the objective situation itself. Hence Thomas noted
that situations that we define as real become real in their consequences.
Symbolic interactionism also suggests that our identity or sense of self is shaped by
social interaction. We develop our self-concept by observing how others interact with
us a label us. By observing how others view us, we see a reflection ourselves that
Cooley calls the looking glass self.