SOCIOLOGY

Prepared by: Pereyra, Dennis

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?
 a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and
the processes that preserve and change them. It does this by
examining the dynamics of constituent parts of societies such as
institutions, communities, populations, and gender, racial, or age
groups. Sociology also studies social status or stratification, social
movements, and social change, as well as societal disorder in the
form of crime, deviance, and revolution.
  the scientific analysis of a social institution as a functioning whole
and as it relates to the rest of society
 the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and
collective behavior of organized groups of human beings
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

 coined by the American sociologist C. Wright

Mills in his 1959 book The Sociological
Imagination to describe the type of insight
offered by the discipline of sociology. The term
is used in introductory textbooks in sociology to
explain the nature of sociology and its relevance
in daily life.
TYPES OF SOCIOLOGY
Qualitative Sociology
 At the University of Chicago, Albion Small (1854–1926)
developed Qualitative Sociology, which is concerned mainly
with trying to obtain an accurate picture of a group and how it
operates in the world. Small and his followers were particularly
interested in understanding how immigration was affecting the
city and its residents. From the middle of the nineteenth
century to roughly the middle of the twentieth century, massive
numbers of people immigrated to the United States from a
variety of countries. Chicago in particular attracted many
immigrants from Poland. Early sociologists were fascinated by
the social changes they saw taking place and began conducting
qualitative studies that involved personal interviews and
observations of ethnic rituals and ceremonies.
Quantitative Sociology
 Sociology at Harvard University developed differently. Like the
University of Chicago sociologists, Harvard sociologists wanted to
understand the immigrant experience, but they went about their
research in a quantitative way. Quantitative Sociology relies on
statistical analysis to understand experiences and trends. While
some researchers at Harvard did talk to people and observe them,
many preferred to remain within the confines of the university and
quantify their data to render it suitable for statistical manipulation.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Auguste Comte (1798–1857
 In 1838 Auguste Comte, a Frenchman, coined the term sociology, from the
Latin socius (companion or associate) and the Greek term logia (study of speech).
Comte believed sociology could unify other sciences and improve society. The French
Revolution, which began in 1789, greatly impacted Comte, as did the Industrial
Revolution in Europe (1760-1840). Questions related to economic class, social status,
urbanization, and the dangers of factory work raised new issues about society and
social interaction.
Harriet Martineau (1802–1876)
 Harriet Martineau was a writer who addressed a wide range of social science issues.
She was an early observer of social practices, including economics, social class,
religion, suicide, government, and women’s rights. Her writing career began in 1831
with a series of stories titled Illustrations of Political Economy, in which she tried to
educate ordinary people about the principles of economics.
Karl Marx (1818–1883)
 Karl Marx was a German social philosopher and economist. In 1848
he and Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) coauthored The Communist
Manifesto, which is one of the most influential political manuscripts
in history. It presents Marx’s theory of society, which differed from
what Comte proposed.
Émile Durkheim (1858–1917)
 Durkheim helped legitimize and define sociology as a formal
academic discipline by establishing the first European department of
sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895 and by publishing
his Rules of the Sociological Method (1895). In another important
work, Division of Labour in Society (1893), Durkheim articulated
his theory of how societies transform from a primitive state into a
capitalist, industrial society. According to Durkheim, people rise to
their proper levels in society based on merit.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931)
 Ida B. Wells was born into slavery in Mississippi to parents were freed after the Civil
War and who went on to be politically active during Reconstruction (1865-1877).
Wells’ parents and younger brother died during a yellow fever epidemic in 1878 when
she was just 16 years old. She became a teacher in a black elementary school (Wells
attended some college prior to her parents’ deaths) so that her five other siblings
would not be separated and sent to foster homes [1]. She relocated from Mississippi to
Memphis, Tennessee to earn higher wages, and to pursue further education. 
Max Weber (1864–1920)
 Prominent sociologist Max Weber established a sociology department in Germany at
the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich in 1919. Weber wrote on many topics,
including political change in Russia and social forces that affect factory workers. He
is best known for his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904).
The theory that Weber sets forth in this book, which describes how religious belief
shapes work habits and thus affects the larger social, political, and economic world, is
still controversial. Some believe that Weber argued that the beliefs of many
Protestants, especially Calvinists, led to the creation of capitalism. Others interpret it
as simply claiming that the ideologies (i.e., belief systems) of capitalism and
Protestantism are complementary.
FIELDS OF SICIOLOGY
Communication studies
 Academic field that deals with processes of
communication, commonly defined as the sharing of
symbols over distances in space and time.
Cultural Studies
 Concerns the political dynamics of contemporary
culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts,
and defining traits. It studies how a particular medium or
message relates to ideology, social class, nationality,
ethnicity, sexuality, and/or gender.
Development studies
 multidisciplinary branch of social science which
addresses issues of concern to developing countries.

Economics
 analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption
of goods and services.

Education
 process by which society deliberately transmits its
accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from
one generation to another, e.g., instruction in schools.
Environmental studies
 integrate social, humanistic, and natural science
perspectives on the relation between humans and the
natural environment.

Gender studies
 interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity,
sexuality and location.

Geography
 science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and
phenomena of Earth.
Human Geography
 studies the world, its people, communities, and cultures
with an emphasis on relations of and across space and
place. It is one of the two major sub-fields of the
discipline of geography.

Library Science
 interdisciplinary field that applies the practices,
perspectives, and tools of management, information
technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the
collection, organization, preservation and dissemination
of information resources; and the political economy of
information.
Linguistics
 scientific study of human language.

Management
 all business and human organization activity is simply
the act of getting people together to accomplish desired
goals and objectives.

Political science
 concerned with the study of the state, government and
politics. It deals extensively with the theory and practice
of politics, and the analysis of political systems and
political behavior.
International studies
 concerned with the study of ‘the major political,
economic, social, cultural and sacral issues that dominate
the international agenda.

International education
 comprehensive approach that intentionally prepares
people to be active and engaged participants in an
interconnected world.

International relations
 study of foreign affairs and global issues among states
within the international system
Political economy
 study of production, buying and selling, and their
relations with law, custom, and government.

Public administration
 implementation of government policy and an academic
discipline that studies this implementation and that
prepares civil servants for this work.

Psychology
 study of the mind, occurring partly via the study of
behavior.
Social psychology
 scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or
implied presence of others.

Social work
 professional and academic discipline that seeks to
improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an
individual, group, or community by intervening through
research, policy, community organizing, direct practice,
and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or
any real or perceived social injustices and violations of
their human rights.
Sociology
 scientific study of society. It is a social science which
uses various methods of empirical investigation and
critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about
human social activity.

Criminal justice
 system of practices and institutions of governments
directed at upholding social control, deterring and
mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws
with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.
Criminology
 study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of
criminal behavior in both the individual and in society.

Demography
 statistical study of all populations.
THANK
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