Introduction to Sociology Notes

Chapter One: Meaning, Nature, and Scope of Sociology
1.1 Definition
Sociology is a new branch of social science, which primarily focused on society (social behavior). The term Sociology comes from the Latin “socius” meaning “companionship” and the Greek “logos”, meaning “science or study”. Literally, therefore, sociology means the study or the science of human society1.
Sociology concerns on human behavior seeking to discover the causes and effects that arise in social relations among persons and in the inter-communication and interaction among persons and groups. It includes the study of the customs, structures, and institutions that emerge from interaction, of the forces that held together and weaken them, and of the effects that participation in groups and organizations have on the behavior and character of persons.
Sociology studies human society at three levels: Society as a whole, Groups and associations, and Individuals within the social settings. In general, Sociology is a scientific study or science of: social phenomenon. about human relationships. relationship between man and his human environment. human interactions, and interrelations, and their conditions and consequences. leaning about society. It is a description of ways to make society better. collective behavior. seeking to discover the principles of cohesion and of order within the social structure.
Common principle of human relationships and institutions which are studied in respect of social norms and values.
Systematic study of origin, growth and development of institution as operated by the physical, mental and moral forces.
1.2 The Subject Matter of Sociology
In general, there are three paths that are available for delineating the subject matter of sociology:
1. The historical path: whereby we seek through study of the classical sociological writings to find the central traditional concerns and interests of sociology as an intellectual discipline. The historical path offers us the opportunity to benefit from the wisdom of the past. In brief, we ask, “What did the founding fathers say?”
2. The empirical path: whereby we study current sociological work to discover those subjects to which the discipline gives most attention. In other words, we ask, “What are contemporary sociologists doing?”
3. The analytical path: whereby we arbitrarily divide and delineate some larger subject matter and allocate it among different disciplines.
Sociology emerged as a scientific discipline in early 19th century. The person who coined the word sociology was the French philosopher and thinker, Isidore Auguste Francois Marie Xavier Comte (1798-1857) who ‘freed’ sociology from social philosophy for the first time. He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of sociology.
Sociology can also be defined as referring to the formal study of how humans behave in groups. Sociology tends to focus on how human groups originate, how they are organized, and how they relate to one another. It is the scientific study of human societies and human behavior in the many groups that make up a society.
1.3 The Sociological Imagination
It is an approach to the understanding of human behavior by placing it in its broader social context. To find out why people do what they do, sociologists look at social location, where people are located in history and on a particular society. Sociologists focus on such characteristics of people, as their job, income, education, gender, and race. The center of the sociological perspective lies the question “how people are influenced by society”. We usually think and speak of peoples’ behavior although it is caused by their sex, or their race, or some other factor transmitted by their genes. The sociological perspective helps us to escape from this narrow personal view by exposing the broader social context that underlies human behavior. It helps us to see the links between what people do and the social setting (social structure) that shapes their behavior.
According to the American sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916-1962), the sociological imagination is an unusual type of creative thinking that sociologists rely on in attempting to understand social behavior. It is awareness or the ability to see relationship between an individual and the wider society.
It is by sociological imagination that men now how to grasp what is going on in the world and to understand what is happening in themselves as a minute points of intersections of biography and history within society"(Mills, 1959:7).

From Mills’ perspective, the key element in the sociological imagination is the idea of ‘value free’. In other words, it gives much more emphasis on the ability to view one’s own society as an outsider, rather than from a limited perspective of personal experience and cultural biases. Hence, 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 … It is the capacity to range from the most impersonal and remote transformations to the most intimate features of the self-and to see the relations between the two (Mills, 1959).

As we learn to use the sociological perspective or imagination, we readily apply it to our daily lives. Doing so provides four general benefits.
a. The sociological perspective becomes a way of thinking a 'form of consciousness’ that challenges familiar understandings of ourselves and of others, so that we can critically assess the truth of commonly assumptions.
b. The sociological perspective enables us to assess both opportunities and the constraints that characterize lives. Sociological thinking leads us to see that, better or worse, our society operates in a particular way. It helps us to see the pattern and order found in all societies. Moreover, in the game of we may decide how to play our cards, but it is society that deals us the hand. The more we understand the game, then, the more effective players we will be. Sociology helps us t understand what we are likely and unlikely to accomplish for ourselves and how we can pursue our goals most effectively.
c. The sociological perspective empowers us to be active participants in our society. Without an awareness of how society operates, we are likely to accept the status quo. We might just think that this is how all societies are, or how all people behave 'naturally'. But the greater our understanding of the operation of society, the more we can take an active part in shaping social life.
d. The sociological perspective helps us to recognize human differences and human suffering and to confront the challenges of living in a diverse world.

1.4 Significance of Sociology
Some of significances of sociology, including the following (Indrani, 2003: 5-6):
Sociology as a scientific study of society is of great importance or a clear understanding and planning of society.
Sociological knowledge is necessary to understand the diverse social experiences of a large variety of institutions and organizations as well as policies, for social betterments are made on that basis.
It is of great importance in the solution of several social problems. It traces several social problems and suggests remedies. It is the task of sociology to study social problems through the methods of scientific research and to find out solutions for them.
It provides knowledge of individual’s relation to society and such knowledge is necessary for every individual’s relation to fellow beings. And to obtain the human understanding between individuals and different cultural groups.
Sociology has made great contribution to enrich human culture and to have rational approach to the questions concerning oneself, one’s religion, customs, moral and institutions.
Sociology is useful as a teaching subject. It is being accorded as important place in the curriculum of colleges and universities because it: keeps us up-to-date on modern situations; contributes in making good citizens; contributes to the solution of community problems; adds to the knowledge of the society; helps the individual to find his relations to society; and
Identifies good government within the community.
1.5 The Scope of Sociology
Basic and Applied Sociology
Basic (pure) sociology is concerned with increasing theoretical understanding of society or social phenomena – knowledge on its own sake. It refers to research carried on to expand man’s frontiers of knowledge irrespective of the immediate application/ of utility of that knowledge, or the research output. Applied Sociology, on the other hand, is concerned with applying sociological knowledge or methods to solve practical problems. It refers to a research carried on in an effort to make practical application of scientific knowledge, to know and improve some social phenomena.
Pure and applied sociology are not mutually exclusive, but complement each other.
Macro and Micro sociology
Some sociologists concentrate on the study of small groups and the patterns and processes of human social relations, i.e. face to face interactions between humans. This part of sociology is known as Micro sociology. Other most sociologists concentrate on large groups, events or societies as a whole. This large scope sociology is known as macro sociology. Macro sociologists attempt to explain the fundamental patterns and processes of large-scale social relations.
1.6 The Relationship of Sociology with Other Disciplines
As one of the social sciences, sociology shares the basic common element that all the social sciences attempt to understand human behavior. In so doing, the social science may use each other’s methodology to understand human behavior. They differ from one another, however, in their unique approach, the concepts they use, the questions they pose, and the solutions they reach and suggest. For instance, if the social problem to be investigated is the problem of low productivity, the economist may suggest the improvement of the machinery, where as the sociologist may suggest the creation of good working conditions as solutions to the problem. The relationship of sociology with other disciplines has been demonstrated on the following pages.
Sociology and Anthropology
Anthropology is the closest to sociology of all other social sciences, both in theoretical orientation and methodology since the two disciplines are very much related. Sometimes, sociology is considered as the major field while anthropology being its subdivision and vice versa. Yet, they do exhibit differences.
Similarity: both fields are concerned with human behavior and socio-cultural life. Except physical anthropology and Archeology which are not associated with sociology, cultural/social anthropology is very much related to sociology.
Differences in term of focus of areas, coverage and methods:
Target society: Anthropology is highly concerned with primitive societies where as sociology is very much interested in modern societies. This does not, however, mean that each is confined only to their traditional subject matters. For instance, there is urban anthropology. This happened for the simple reason that the demarcations between rural and urban become blurred. Rural sociology has become one of the main branches of sociology.
Scale of Coverage: sociology often studies communities by taking a [particular problem of that community where as anthropology studies smaller communities but from holistic prospective (anthropology is concerned with all social life including the social, political economic, etc affairs). Sociology is wider in scale / coverage while anthropology deeper but smaller in scale.
Method of investigation: In most cases, sociology uses the survey method (questionnaire, interviews) where as anthropology uses participant observation to study socio-cultural phenomena. Emphasis in the usage of quantitative and qualitative methods- sociology emphasizes in the usage of quantitative where as anthropology emphasizes the use of qualitative methods because participant observation is quite difficult to quantity.
Sociology versus Economics
Both sociology and economics are interested in the economic problems in society (issues of poverty and income distribution). Both of them use the application of quantitative models in analyzing and interpreting research findings. Both study the system and subsystem of the economy. However, they are different in their focuses that:
Economics is the study of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in society. Economists generally focus in the study of pure economic variables (demand, supply, monetary flow, price, input – output ratios, etc.). Sociology, on the other hand, focuses on social factors or issues that either promote or hinder economic activities or development. The factors could be the relationships existing between management and worker in a certain economic activity or the social status of workers, etc. Moreover, sociology studies the social factors that influence economic growth like employer-employee relationship, the role of other social institutions (e.g. the family) on production.
Sociology and Political Science
Similarity: both disciplines study the behavior of people in group. Differences-political science is the study of state (i.e. it is primarily concerned with the study / of or the science of society as a whole.
Differences: political science focuses primarily on formal political institutions systems of the administration and political ideas theories where as sociology incorporates in its studies both formal and informal institutions like tribe and ethnic groups. Political sociology stresses on emphasize on the study of political behavior which includes voting, behavior which includes voting, behavior, political party membership, popular participation in decision making and the like.
Sociology and Psychology
Psychology looks into the cause of behavior, emotions, motivations, perceptions, and personalities of individuals. Psychology and sociology meet in social psychology.
Social psychology: - studies individual personalities as changed by the social study action.
Sociology – has no primary interest in the individual, or in his personality, or in his individual behavior but concerned with the nature of the group to which individuals belong and the nature of society on which they live.
In short psychology studies the individual social psychology the individual in the social group, and sociology the groups themselves and the largest social structure in which both the individual and the group process occurs.
Sociology and History
History is concerned with the description of the record of past events, the when and where of events as they happened in chronological order.
Sociology, on the other hand, though to all intents and purposes uses past records, is primarily interested in those events in so far as they exemplify social processes resulting from the interaction and association of people in various situations under various conditions i.e. is not interested in the events themselves but rather in the patterns they exhibit, for instance, social events such as revolutions, war, careers and lives of famous men.
The historian describe events as they were by themselves, the sociologist investigates its results. E.g. sociology studies not careers but leadership in general and the social phenomena that hel0ped the career holder to occupy that position.
The social phenomena to be studied should be such that it can be universal applicable to different societies in different parts of the world.
In summary, history and sociology may be distinguished by the observation that the former is a particular discipline, the latter a generalizing one. History is descriptive where as sociology an analytical one. History investigates the unique and the individual, sociology the regular and the recurrent.
Remarks
Sociology has many similarities to the other social sciences. Like political scientists, sociologists study how people govern one another, especially the impact of various forms of government on people's lives. Like economists, sociologists are concerned with what happens to the goods and services of a society; however, sociologists focus on the social consequences of production and distribution. Like anthropologists, sociologists study culture; they have a particular interest in the social consequences of material goods, group structure, and belief systems, as well as in how people communicate with one another. Like psychologists, sociologists are also concerned with how people adjust to the difficulties of life.
Given these overall similarities, then, what distinguishes sociology from the other social sciences? Unlike political scientists and economists, sociologists do not concentrate on a single social institution. Unlike anthropologists, sociologists focus primarily on industrialized societies. And unlike psychologists, sociologists stress factors external to the individual to determine what influences.

Chapter Two: Origin and Development of Sociology
2.1 The Emergence of Sociology
Sociology is specifically the offspring of the 18th and the 19th century philosophy and has been viewed as a reaction against the frequently non-scientific approaches of classical philosophy to social phenomenon2. Today's sociology is not something, which has been raised like a phoenix from its ashes, rather it has undergone through several stages of developments. Different philosophers and religious authorities of ancient and medieval societies made countless observations about human behaviors. However, they do not test or verify these observations scientifically, even though these observations often became the bases for moral codes of that time.
Sociology, as a distinctive way of thinking about society, was concurrent with the rise of modernity; partly, means the rise of scientific way of thinking. The idea of modernity originated as an account of the kind of institutions, ideas and behavior that grew out of the decline of medieval society in Europe. In the most basic sense, modernity is the mode of our time (here and now). It is also an attitude of critical reflection on the past and critical distance from the future. Therefore, modernity evokes the idea of radically changing time. The two political and industrial revolutions contributed for the emergence of sociology, such as:
1. The French Revolution of the 1789: the 1789 revolution was quite different from rebellions of the previous times. In the French revolution for the first time in history there took place the overall dissolution of social order by the movement guided by secular ideas.
2. The Industrial Revolution: it is usually traced to the Great Britain in the late 18th century and spread in the 19th century throughout the Western Europe and the USA. The industrial revolution is sometimes presented as a set of technical innovations. But these technical innovations are only part of the much broader sets of social and economic changes. People began to migrate from the surrounding areas to nearby urban centers. Industrialization and urbanization were at the heart of the transformations that have irreversibly dissolved most traditional forms of society. Sociology came in to being as though caught up in the initial series of changes brought about by the two great revolutions, and sought to understand the conditions of their emergence and their likely consequences.

The impacts of these transformations on many societies were both negative and positive changes. However, what attracted the attention of many early theorists were not the positive consequences but the negative effect of such changes (chaos and disorder especially in France) they were united to restore order of society. This interest in the issue of social order, therefore, became the major concern of early social analysis.
There are various social currents that put momentum in the development of sociology, including:
a) Political Revolution
One of the most influences behind the emergence of sociological thought was the political modernity (the rise of the national law and democracy), following different revolutionary movements, starting with the French revolution in1789.
The rise of the state was the leading consideration for numerous legal and political writers in the 17th and 18th centuries. The idea of French philosophers (Voltaire Montesquieu and Rousseau) included the percept (teaching, principle) that “all people are equal before the law and are innocent until proved guilty.” They also argued that illness and misfortune are not symptoms of divine maledictions, but have natural and social causes.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, these ideas led numerous projects to reform and national administration of the institutions of social life, including the foundation of statute, schools hospitals, prisons, and police force.
B) Socio-economic Modernity: the rise of capitalism, industries, cities, etc.
The industrial revolution was as important as political revolution for the emergence of social thinking (sociological theory), mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries. This industrial revolution was not a single event, but many interrelated developments that culminated in the transformation of the western world from predominantly agricultural to an overwhelmingly industrial system. Majority of the peasant left their farms behind for the industrial occupation offered by the growing factories. Bureaucracies arose to proved many service needed by industry and the emerging capitalist economic system.
The idea of free- market economy emerged. This system profited a few while impoverished the majority who worked for long hours for wage. A reaction against the industrial system and against capitalism in general followed and led the labor movement as well as various radical movements aimed at overthrowing the capitalist system. The industrial revolution, capitalism and the reaction against them all involved an enormous upheaval in western societies. This upheaval affected sociologists greatly. K. Marx, E. Durkheim, and M. Weber spent their lives studying these problems to develop programs that would help to solve them.
c) The Rise of Socialism
K. Marx was an active supporter of the overthrown of capitalist system and its replacement by socialist system. However, Weber and Durkheim were opposing to socialism. They fear socialism more than they did capitalism. In fact, in many cases, the rise of sociological imaginations in the early times was a reaction against socialism.
Generally, processes of industrialization and urbanization, and ideas of democracy and enlightenment were all central considerations for the 18th and 19th century social thinkers.
d) Intellectual Factors
The emergence and development of sociology was speeded up by a large number of intellectual movements and contributions. The movements include the rise of political economy, utilitarianism, liberalism, positivism, Marxism, functionalism, and action theory. The idea of positivism, which was predominantly proposed by A. Comte as a scientific study of social phenomena, was the corner stone of sociological thoughts for the most parts of sociology’s early history. The subsequent writers were either expanding on or modifying this idea only.
e) Colonization (exposure to different cultures)
The late 19th century was a period of extensive colonization. Some European countries got colony in North America, Africa, South America, and Asia. This colonialism resulted in cross-cultural contacts among peoples of these different continents of the world. During this time, academic curiosity was increased and many scholars began to study this cross-cultural contact.
f) Secularization
Before the 19th century sacred outlooks dominated western European thinking. This sacred outlook made many aspects of human society; including government believe to have been predetermined by God. However, secularism has become one of the principles of industrial societies and people became to think differently
g) The demand for sociological inquiry in planning
Governments needed to have social policies so as to solve different social problems like homelessness, crime, unemployment, etc. Therefore, governments used the applications of sociological understandings to get rid of the social problems through appropriate social policy formulation.
2.2 Founding Fathers of Sociology
As it has already been noted, philosophers and religious authorities of ancient and medieval societies made countless observations about human behavior. Their observations were not tested or verified scientifically; nevertheless, they often became the foundation of moral codes.
In the 19th century European theorists including August Comte made pioneering contributions to the development of a science of human behavior, sociology.
2.2.1 August Comte (1798-1857)
Comte was a French social theorist who lived in a period when France was at a great chaos as a result of the French Revolution. He was the man who coined the word “sociology” from Latin ‘Socius’ and the Greek “Logos” to apply to the science of human behavior.
All the sciences, according to him, share an over-all framework of logic and method; all seek to uncover universal laws governing the particular phenomena with which they deal. If we discover the laws governing the human society, Comte believe, we will be able to shape our own destiny in much the same way as science has allowed us to control events in the natural world.
Positive Philosophy is his well-known book and in this book and other of his writings he showed the possibility of the scientific study of society.
He advocated positivism in that social phenomena could be studied scientifically and proposed methods of studying it through observation, experimentation, comparison and history. By using positive (scientific) methods, Comte believed, it is possible to study and provide solutions to existing social problems. The collective facts of history and society are subject to laws and not to individual volition (free will), according to Comte.
Comte treated society as divided in to two: social statics and social dynamics. Social statics refers to the investigations of the laws of action and reaction of the different parts of the social system. The parts of the society can’t be studied separately as if they had an independent existence. Instead, they must be seen as a mutual relation forming a whole that compels us to treat them in a combination.
If social statics is the study of how the parts of the society are interrelated, social dynamics was the focus on the whole societies as the unit of analysis and to show how societies develop and change through time.
Comte was convinced that all societies moved through certain fixed stages of development, and they progressed to an ever-increasing perfection. There are three stages of development in laws of human thought: theological, metaphysical, and the positive. These stages characterize the development of both knowledge and society.

The Three Stages in the Laws of Human Development
In 1830, he published the first volume of ‘positivism’. In this book and other his writings he showed the possibility of the scientific study of the society. Comte is the first to create positivism, which is defined as the belief that social phenomena could be treated scientifically; and he proposed methods of observation, comparison, history, and experiment.
Positivism is a core idea in his sociology that he named as a queen of sciences. In his positivist explanation, he formulated of the three stages the laws of human development. According to his laws of the three stages, human evolution is like individual evolution.
Individual evolution human evolution Childhood-------------------------------------------theological Adolescence----------------------------------------metaphysical Adulthood------------------------------------------scientific (positivistic)
According to Comte, human race (society) is evolved from the three stages of evolution: theological, metaphysical, and scientific.
Theological stage (