Sociology LO

The student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of basic concepts of sociology and the social environment. 1. Sociology is the scientific study of human activity. also the study of the development, organization, functioning, and classification of human societies. 2. The term sociology was coined by the french philosopher known as Auguste Comte (1798-1857) He gave the name in 1839 because sociology is a science and only the sociologist who follow the scientific method can have a voice in describing and guiding human affairs. They also study the things humans have created and their effects on society. 3.The sociological imagination is the concept of being able to “think ourselves away” from the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to look at them. Mills defined sociological imagination as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.” It is the ability to see things socially and how they interact and influence each other. To have a sociological imagination, a person must be able to pull away from the situation and think from an alternative point of view.
The student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of basic assumptions of the four theories outlined in the text. 1.There are three major sociological perspectives, each of which focuses our attention on different dimensions of human activity. Sociological perspective is the framework for thinking about and explaining how human activities are organized and how people relate to one another and respond to their surroundings. The 1)Functionalism perspective interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society. Society is more than the sum of its parts. Each part of society is functional for the stability of the whole society. The different parts are primarily the institutions of society, each of which is organized to fill different needs and each of which has particular consequences for the form and