MODULE 4: SOCIOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF
SOCIETY ➢ Society is formerly defined as constituting a
SOCIOLOGY
➢ The study of society and culture.
➢ (Latin) Socius – that may variously mean
society, association, togetherness or
companionship.
➢ (Greek) Logos – speak about or word.
➢ “Scientific study of society, including patterns
of social relationships, social interaction, and
culture.” (Calhoune, Craig. 2002)
➢ “It refers to a scientific inquiry that covers
human social activities.” (Auguste Comte,
1830)
SOCIETY
➢ a group of people who live within some type
of bounded territory and who share a
common way of life.
➢ A product of human interactions as humans
subscribe to the rules of their culture. It is an
organization that caters to a human’s need
for belongingness in a group.
AUGUSTE COMTE
➢ the father of sociology.
➢ He believed society can be studied in the
same way as the natural
world…(empirically)
➢ He called sociology – social physics.
✓ Divided mankind’s progress into three
historical stages:
1. Theological – relies on supernatural
agencies to explain what man can’t
explain otherwise.
2. Metaphysical – man attributes effect to
abstract but poorly understood causes.
3. Positive – because man now
understands the scientific laws which
control the world.
SOCIETY AS A CONCEPT
➢ Society is a tool to grasp the complexity of
the phenomenon it represents and a means
to explore its many other dimensions hidden
by its normative use.
➢ As a concept, society represents an ideal
type, which more or less depicts the form,
process and dynamics of the social reality it
embodies.
SOCIETY AS A FACTICITY
fairly large number of people who are living
in the same territory, and relatively
independent of people outside their area,
and participate in a common culture.
➢ Society is seen as an outcome of multiple
interactions of people upon which
succeeding interactions are made
meaningful and possible.
➢ The twin concepts of social forces and social
facts are the mechanics of operation of
society as a factual entity.
Sociological imagination – refers to the ability of
sociologist to understand society systematically. (C.
Wright Mills, 1959)
➢ This ability involves the process of detaching
oneself from the common understanding of
society and creates an alternative approach
that would situate a behavior or an event
within a great social framework.
3 MAJOR THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN
SOCIOLOGY:
1. Structural Functionalism – explains how
the relationships among the parts of society
are created and how these parts are
functional (meaning having beneficial
consequences to the individual and the
society) and dysfunctional (meaning having
negative consequences).
o It focuses on consensus, social
order, structure and function in
society.
o This view sees society as a system
with parts, and these parts have their
respective functions to perform.
2. Social Conflict Theory – sees society in a
framework of class conflicts and focuses on
the struggle for scarce resources by different
groups in a given society.
o It focuses on class conflict,
alienation, competition and
domination.
o The conflict perspective sees society
as an arena, social actors are
gladiators fighting for their very lives.
The winner takes the rewards and is
assured of freedom. Rather than
emphasizing competition, this view
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 sees conflict as something positive
and advantageous.
o Conflict brings about a new set of
relations and interactions, which
produces new dynamism in society.
o The conflict theory invokes the social
processes rather than functions and
interdependence.
3. Symbolic Interactionism – stresses the
analysis of how our behaviors depend on
how we define others and ourselves. It
concentrates on process, rather than
structure, and keeps the individual actor at
the center.
o It focuses on symbols, processes,
interaction and meaning.
o Symbolic interactionism does not
deal with either order or conflict,
instead, it explores the issues of
meaning-making and why this is
crucial in understanding order or
conflict as processes that brought
about society.
o Symbols, like meaning, are
interpreted intersubjectively by social
actors.
SOCIOLOGIST AND THEIR THEORIES:
1. Auguste Comte, French social sociologist
(1798-1857)
o He argued that sociology can and should
study society and social phenomena
following the pattern and procedures of
the natural science.
o He believed that a theoretical science of
society and the systematic investigation
of human behavior were needed to
improve society.
o Key concepts: Social Static and Social
Dynamic
2. Karl Marx, German sociologist (1818-1883)
o He argued that people should make
active efforts to bring about societal
reforms.
o According to Marx, economic forces are
the keys to underestimating society and
social change.
o He believed that the history of human
society has been that of class conflict.
o Key concepts: Social Conflict Theory,
alienation, historical materialism.
3. Harriet Martineau, British sociologist (1802-
1876)
o She was an active advocate of the
abolition of slavery and she wrote on
many crosscutting issues such as racial
and gender relations.
o She helped popularize the ideas and
writings of Comte by translating them
into English.
4. Herbert Spencer, British Social Philosopher
(1820-1903)
o He viewed society as an organic
system, having its own structure and
functioning in ways analogous to the
biological system.
o Lowest form (“barbarism”), highest form
(“civilized”)
o Key concept: Social Darwinism – is
the attempt to apply by analogy the
evolutionary theories of plant and animal
development to the explanation of
human society and social phenomena.
5. Emile Durkheim, French sociologist (1858-
1917)
o Key concept: Social facts – he meant
the patterns of behavior that
characterize a social group in a given
society distinct from biological and
psychological facts. They should be
studied objectively.
6. Max Weber, German sociologist (1864-
1920)
o Social action – refers to any “action
oriented to influence or influenced by
another person or persons. It is not
necessary for more than one person to
be physically present for action to be
regarded as social action.”
o He argues that we cannot understand
human behavior by just looking at
statistics. Every activity and behavior of
people needs to be interpreted.
o He argued that a sociologist must aim at
what are called subjective meanings,
the ways in which people interpret their
own behavior or the meanings people
attach their own behavior.
o Key concept: Social action,
Subjective meanings
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SOCIAL INTERACTION
➢ Ways and means by which humans interact
with each other within the confines of a
society.
➢ Interaction is not merely defined by an actual
physical contact, as it covers every human
interchange that is within mutually subjective
orientation. This implies that as long as the
parties involved are aware of each other,
interaction is possible.
Elements of social interaction:
1. Space is not an issue.
2. There can be multiple and simultaneous
interactions.
3. A dialogue can have an active end and
an inactive end.
4. Subjective positionality is present in any
interaction.
5. The meaning we ascribe to the actions of
others are informed by the values and
norm that are upheld in our society.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
➢ Refers to the interrelationship of parts of
society.
Categories of status:
1. Roles – a set of accepted behaviors that
define the individual’s responses and
inclinations.
2. Group – a basic unit of an organization.
It involves at least two individuals who
are in constant interaction based on their
statuses and roles.
3. Institutions – are established when
roles, statutes, and groups are
perpetuated within the context of a
society. It is the building blocks of a
society.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND AGENCY
➢ This is the foundation of every society from
which emanates the possible roles, statuses.
Institutions, and organizations.
➢ It is the determining factor by which every
other part of a society gains its context.
➢ Foundation of a building: height, width, and
shape.
SIX SUBDISCIPLINES OF SOCIOLOGY:
1. Social Organization – the study that involve
social structures such as institutions, social
groups, social stratification, social mobility,
and ethnic groups.
2. Social Psychology – the study of the impact
of group life to a person’s nature and
personality.
3. Social change and disorganization –
inquires on the shift in social and cultural
interactions and the interruption of it process
through delinquency, deviance, and
conflicts.
4. Human ecology – the study of human
behavior to existing social institutions.
5. Population or demography – inquires on
the interrelationship between population
characteristics and dynamics with that of a
political, economic, and social system.
6. Applied sociology – uses sociological
research and methods to solve
contemporary problems. It often uses an
interdisciplinary approach to better address
social problems.
TWO METHODS IN SOCIOLOGY:
1. Positivist Orientation – perceives society
as a quantifiable subject from which
objective conclusions can be made.
➢ Positivist perspective uses methods
employed by the natural sciences to
understand social phenomenon.
➢ Auguste Comte introduced the said
perspective taking into consideration
that society is like an organism that
could be measured through logic and
mathematics.
➢ Macro-level analysis of society.
➢ Durkheim (1951), identified examples
of 4 types of suicide:
NORM
Many Rules
(Fantastic)
INTEGRATION Strong Ties
Weak Ties (Altruistic)
(Egoistic)
No Rules
(Anomic)
Figure 1.0 Durkheim’s schema on suicide
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 2. Anti-positivist Orientation – promotes a
subjective approach wherein social
phenomena are understood through
individual experiences.
➢ With this, it counters the positivist
assumption that general laws can be
made to understand human behavior.
➢ Such orientation requires qualitative
methods in gathering data such as
interviews, participant-observations,
and other tools for ethnography.
➢ Micro-level analysis of society.

RULES: INVISIBLE HAND OF SOCIETY

• Rules – are guides in the performance of
roles in everyday actions and interactions.
They provide order in a system characterized
by the presence of many actors with different
businesses and agenda to pursue.

• Unseen/Unwritten Rules – they give

invaluable insights into the nature of social
behavior. Without realizing it, almost 90% of
our day-to-day actions are governed and
shaped these invisible rules, that by simply
how people act, behave, and interact, you
may gain sufficient information as to what
unseen rules are in operation in particular
situation. Ex. Riding public transportation,
when reciting in class, when using the toilet,
when crossing the street, etc.

VALUE OF SOCIOLOGY FOR THE 21ST

CENTURY
➢ Sociology was established at a time when
society was changing drastically due to
technological and political developments.
➢ Sociology finds its value today in providing us
with a conceptual tool in understanding the
plight of humans as they adapt to their
varying environments and social conditions.