Unit 2: Basic Concepts in

Sociology
Meaning and definition of society,
community, Culture,
Group, norms, values, status, role, ethnicity,
gender, class and caste
 SOCIETY ( MEANING AND DEFINATION):

• The term ‘society ’is the most fundamental one in sociology. Society is a
web of social relationship and networking between individuals.
• Society refers to the people who interact in a specific territory and share
culture based on limited social norms and values.
• Society refers to people who interact in a defined territory and share
culture. Society makes our life livable
• The term ‘society’ is derived from the Latin word’ socius’, which means
companionship or friendship. Companionship means sociability.
• Man needs society for his living, working and enjoying life. Society has
become an essential condition for human life to arise and to continue.
Human life and society always go together.
• According to MacIver, Society is “a web of social relationship.”
• According to Giddings “ Society is the union itself, the organization, the
sum of formal relations in which associating individuals are bound
together”
CHARACTERSICTICS / NATURE OF SOCIETY

• Society consists of people.

• Mutual interaction and Mutual awareness.
• Society depends on Likeness.
• Society rests on difference too.
• Co-operation and Division of labor.
• Society implies Interdependence also.
• Society is dynamic.
• Social control.
• Cultural Identity.
 Fundamental Factors of Society

1. Individuals
2. Mutual Interaction and Co-operation
3. Social Norms and Values
4. Usages
5. Social Division
6. Social Control
7. Awareness
 TYPES OF SOCIETY:

Sociologist Gerhad Lenski uses the term socio-cultural evolution to mean change
that occurs as a society gain new technology. He points to the importance of
technology in shaping any society. According to him there are five types of
society:
1. Hunting and Gathering Societies:
(In the simplest of all societies, people live by hunting and gathering, making use
of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation for food.)
2. Horticultural and pastoral Societies:
(people develop the horticulture, the use of hand tools to raise crop and as they
shifted to raising animals for food instead of hunting them)
3. Agrarian Societies:
(Large scale cultivation using plows, harnessed to animal or more powerful energy
sources.)
4. Industrial societies:
(Which developed first in Europe 250 years ago , use advanced sources of energy
to drive large machinery)
5. Postindustrial societies:
(Its represent the most recent stage of technology development, technology that
 COMMUNITY( MEANING AND DEFINATION):
• Traditionally a "community" has been defined as a group of
interacting people living in a common location.
• According to Bogardus (Sociology, 1952), “a community is a social
group with some degree of we feeling and living in a given area”.
• Talcott Parsons stated that community can be defined as a
“collectivity, the members of which share a common territorial
area as their base of operation”.
Elements of Community
1. Territory
2. Individuals
3. We-Feeling
4. Commonness:
5. Ideology
 Features of Community

1. Group of People
2. Permanency
3. Naturality
4. Likeness
5. Wider Ends
6. Particular name
 Types of Communities

• Communities can be divided on various grounds. On the basis of

area of residence, community can be divided into urban, semi-urban
and rural.
1. Urban Community: Urban areas are the hub of tertiary activities.
Usually closely spaced, densely populated areas, they have a very
busy lifestyle and do not have a strong sense of community
coherence.
2. Suburban Community: Sub Urban areas are usually at the outskirts
of urban areas, characterized by the industrial and manufacturing
sector. They are semi-urban, semi-rural.
3. Rural Community: Rural areas are a closely-knit community with a
strong sense of cultural cohesiveness and community identity which
provide the base/raw material for Urban and Suburban economies.
 CULUTURE ( MEANING AND DEFINITION):

• Culture is a main identity of human being. It is a system of

behavior shared by a member of the society.
• Culture is the unique quality of human being which separates
him/her from other animals.
• Culture is the way of thinking, the way of behaving, the way of
acting and the material object that together forms a people
ways of life. Culture means creation of human being .
• According to Anthropologist E.B. Tylor’s “ Culture is that
complex whole which includes knowledge, arts, laws, morals,
customs, values, belief and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by man as a member of society”
• According to E.A. Hoebel “ Culture is the sum total of
integrated learned behavior patterns which are characteristic
of the members of a society”
 Features of culture:

• Culture is a way of life.

• Culture is universal.
• Culture is shared by members of a society.
• Culture shape how we act. Think and feel.
• Culture is a human trait.
• Culture is a product of evolution.
• Culture is transmissive.
• Culture is dynamic and adaptive.
• Culture varies from society to society
 Main Elements of Culture:

• Language
• Symbols
• Customs
• Norms, Values , and Beliefs
• Social Control
• Material Infrastructure
 TYPES OF CULTURE:

1. Material Culture (Tangible things): The physical

things created by member of society, which is visible
and touchable things such as road, building, T.V.,
mobile, dress, temple.
2. Nonmaterial Culture( Intangible things): The ideas
created by member of society which is abstract or
invisible such as love, belief system, feelings,
emotion, language etc
 Organizational culture:
• Culture in your business means shared values and goals you embrace as an
organization. You must create a culture that contributes to your success. The
larger your business grows; however, the more likely your organization will
develop small groups that share their own values.
• Organizational culture refers to the beliefs and values that have existed in an
organization for a long time, and to the beliefs of the staff and the foreseen
value of their work that will influence their attitudes and behavior.
• Administrators usually adjust their leadership behavior to accomplish the
mission of the organization, and this could influence the employees’ job
satisfaction.
• It is therefore essential to understand the relationship between organizational
cultures, leadership behavior and job satisfaction of employees.
• The culture within an organization is very important, playing a large role in
whether it is a happy and healthy environment in which to work. In
communicating and promoting the organizational ethos to employees, their
acknowledgement and acceptance of it can influence their work behavior and
attitudes.
 GROUP(MEANING AND DEFINITION)

• Human social life is group life. Individuals are involved in families,

work groups, social groups, recreational groups, and so on.
• A social group is two or more people who identify with and
interact with one another. Human beings come together in
couples, families, and circles of friends, clubs, businesses and
large organizations.
• A group is made up of people with shared experiences, loyalties,
and interests.
• According to MacIver and Page, “Social group as any collection of
human beings who are brought into human relations with one
another.”
• According to Harry M. Johnson, “A social group is a system of
social interaction.”
 Features of social groups:

• Collection of individuals.
• Interaction Among members.
• Mutual Awareness.
• ‘We Felling’
• Group unity and solidarity.
• Common Interest.
• Similar Behavior.
• Groups norms.
• Size of the groups.
• Groups are dynamics.
• Stability.
• Influence on personality
 TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUPS:
Social groups are two types, depending on their members’ degree of
personal concern for one another. According to Charles Horton
Cooley (1864-1929): 1. Primary Group 2. Secondary Group.
• A Primary group is a small social group whose members share
personal and lasting relationship. Joined by primary relationships,
people spend a great deal of time together; engage in a wide
range of activities, and feel that they know one another pretty well.
In short, they show real concern for one-another. The family is
every society’s most important primary group
• A secondary group is a large and impersonal social group whose
members pursue a specific goal or activity. Secondary relationships
involve weak emotional ties and little personal knowledge of one
another. It includes a college, class, or a corporation etc
 Characteristics of primary groups:

• Dominance of face-to-face relations.

• Small size.
• Physical proximity or nearness.
• Stability of the group.
• Similarity of background.
• Limited self-interest.
• Intensity of shared interest.
• Communication.
• Unspecialized character of the primary group.
• Direct cooperation.
 Characteristics of secondary groups:

• Dominance of secondary relations.

• Largeness of the size.
• Membership.
• No physical Basis.
• Specific ends or interests.
• Indirect communication.
• Nature of group control.
• Group structure.
• Limited influences on personality
 Norms and Value( Meaning and Definition:

• Norms are the social rules that govern people’s actions

toward one another.
• Values and norms are the central components of a culture.
Norms are social rules and guidelines that prescribe
appropriate behavior in particular situations.
• Values and norms are influenced by political and economic
philosophy, social structure, religion, language, and
education.
• A norm is a pattern setting limits on individual behavior.
Norms are ‘blueprints ‘for behavior.
• According to H.M. Johnson “ A norm is an abstract pattern
held in the mind, that sets certain limits for behavior
 Characteristics of social Norms
• Social norms are universal.
• Norms are related to the factual order.
• Norms incorporate value judgments.
• Norms are relative to situations and groups.
• Norms are normally internalized by the people.
Value:
• Values may be defined as measures of goodness or desirability. Values
provide the general guidelines for the behavior of the people.
• According to H.M. Johnson, “ Values are general standards and may
be regarded as higher order norms”
Functions of values:
• It provide goals or ends for the members to aim for.
• It provide for stabilities and uniformities in group interaction.
• It bring legitimacy to the rules that govern specific activities.
• It help to bring about some kind of adjustment between different sets
of rules.
 STATUS AND ROLE ( MEANING AND DEFINITION):

• Social status refers to a position one hold in a society or social group. It

is the honor or prestige attached to one’s position in society.
• It refers to the position occupied by a person, family, or kinship group in
social system relatives to others.
• Ralph Linton says that “ Status is the place in a particular system, which
a certain individual occupies at a particular time”
Nature of Status:
1. External symbols to identify the status.
2. Every status has its own rights, duties and obligations.
3. Social statuses are governed by norms.
4. One individual may have several statues.
5. Statuses exercise an influence upon the careers of individuals.
6. Statuses differ with their degree of importance.
7. Statues add to social order and social stability.
8. Social status has a hierarchal distribution also
 Types of social status:

1. Ascribed statues are those over which the individual

has absolutely no choice. They are derived from
membership in involuntary groups such as sex group,
age group, racial group, caste group etc.
2. Achieved status, Position that an individual occupies
through his/her own efforts, abilities, and achievements
such as class status, occupational status, educational
status, etc.
 ROLE:
A role is made up of the behaviors’ associated with a given status. It is the dynamic or
the behavioral aspect of status…. A role is what an individual does in the status he
occupies. Mitchell writes that “ A social role is the expected behavior associated
with a social position”
NATURE OF ROLE:
1. Every individual member of social group or society is bound to play social roles.
2. Some social roles are shared by a great many people.
3. Some social roles are enacted only by one or by comparatively a few individuals at a
particular time in a particular place.
4. Some social roles may be assumed voluntarily.
5. The assumption of certain roles is largely involuntary
Examples of status and Role:
Status Role
• Manager Management
• Labor Working
• Teacher Teaching
• Student Study