SOCIOLOGY

Sociology – derived from two terms logus w/c means science/study & socios w/c means group or
partners; deals with the study of group.
- science of society and the social interactions taking place therein. It deals with the study of
people living in interdependence. It may focus its attention on all kinds of social
interactions.
- body or scientific knowledge with theories based on investigations and observations
According to Joseph Fichter – sociology is the scientific study of patterned, shared human
behavior
According to Rodney Stark – sociology deals with the study of the patterns & processes of human
relations
Auguste Comte – a French man sociologist who first used the term sociology
Microsociology – study of small group, looks at group life close up
Macrosociology – study of large groups , larger view of society, patterns and processes of large-
scale social relations
KINDS OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS SOCIAL FACTS
1. Social arts 1. Attitudes
2. Social relationship 2. Beliefs
3. Social organizations 3. Values
4. Social structures 4. Norms
5. Social processes 5. Social institutions
SOCIOLOGY AS A SCIENCE
Science – body of knowledge/facts; based on the belief that patters exist in the world
Scientist – study certain people or events
Natural scientist – study the natural world
Biologists – study the source & physical traits of plants & animals
Geologists – study minerals & the makeup of Earth’s crust
Social scientist – study the social world
AREAS OF SOCIOLOGY
1. Social organization – study social institutions, social groups, social stratification etc.
2. Social psychology – study of human nature as an outcome of group life
3. Social change & social disorganization – study change in culture & social relations &
disruptions
4. Human ecology – study nature & behavior of a given population & it’s relationships to the
groups present social institutions
5. Population/demography – study of population member, composition, change & quality
6. Sociological theory & method – applicability & usefulness of the principles & theories of group
life
7. Applied sociology – utilizes the findings of pure sociological research in various fields
ANTHROPOLOGY – taken from two greek word logos w/c means study and Anthropos w/c means
man; study of man, works, body,behavior, values, time & space; discipline of infinite curiosity
about human beings
FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
1. Human evolution – how man evolve
2. Physical anthropology – geographical population w/in processes & physical change & aspect
BRANCHES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
1. General anthropology – classified traditionally into two:
a. Physical anthropology b. Cultural anthropology
1. Physical anthropology – also known as biological anthropology; deals w/ man’s biological
foundations, racial classifications & differentiations
1.1 Racial History – study the nature of races
1.2 Paleontology – deals with the origin of man
1.3 Human Genetics – deals with the study of various ways of inheritance that take place in
man
2. Cultural anthropology – This is also known as social anthropology. It deals with one of the
most significant and revolutionary concepts in the social sciences the concept of culture.
2.1 Ethnography – culture of people or an ethnic group
 ethnographer – type of researcher who usually spends a year or so living with, talking to,
and observing the people whose customs he or she is studying
2.2 Ethnology – analysis, comparison & contrast of cultures of people
 Ethnologists - seek to understand how and why peoples today and in the recent past
differ in their customary ways of thinking and acting
2.3 Social Anthropology – higher level of abstraction than ethnology, evolves
generalizations about social life & conduct
2.4 Cultural Anthropology – total life of man in time & space
3. Archeology – study of man’s culture in the past
 Fossils are remnants of the past
 Artifacts are man-made and man conceived
 Historical Archaeology: studies the remains of recent peoples who left written records
4. Linguistics – recorded & unrecorded languages all over the world; relationship between
language & culture
Historical linguistics – how languages change over time
RELATIONSHIP W/OTHER SCIENCES
1. Psychology – processes occurring within individual; study of human behavior
2. History – study of past events
3. Economics – study of single social institutions.
 Economist – concentrate on the production, distribution, & allocation of material goods
& services of a society
4. Political science – study of politics & government
5. Sociology – to establish the human context of what they are attempting to explain
METHODS OF INQUIRY IN THE TWO SCIENCES
1. Empirical Investigation – through direct experience or observation
2. Objectivity- sociological & anthropological investigations, data must be presented, analyze &
interpreted
3. Ethnical Neutrality – related to objectivity; one must remain neutral
4. Sociological imagination – formulated by Wright Mills; enables the individuals to examine his
own experiences
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION IN BOTH SCIENCES FOLLOWS CERTAIN STANDARD
PROCEDURES
1. Identification of the problem – problem is represented by the gap between exist and what
actually exists in a given social situation. The problem has to be clearly identified and defined.
Hypotheses may be formulated, in this part, a theoretical or conceptual framework will be very
useful.
2. Gathering of data – immediate goal is to provide a simulation of model
Techniques in Data Gathering
a. Observation – very common, makes use of different senses, can be direct observation,
ocular observation, or participant observation.
b. Participant observation – staying & living in the community; w/out letting them know
they are studied
c. Interview – very commonly adopted, structured/unstructured, questions maybe open
ended or close ended
d. Historical method – need background information about past events of the people or
social phenomena.
e. Comparative method – involves noting the similarities & differences between societies
f. Archival research – utilizes old record & documents
g. Content analysis – systematic technique for analyzing message context & message
handling, research tool for observing and analyzing the overt communication
3. Analysis of data – from the data collected, the researcher makes inferences about certain social
phenomena.
Chapter 3 Culture

Culture - derived from the latin word cultura which means care, or cultus “civilization”. Universal uniquely
human characteristics.
Edward Tylor- knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs
Robert Redfield- organized body of cobventional understandings manifest in art and artifacts

2 types of Culture
1. Material culture - physical objects or artifacts; things that human beings create
2. Non material culture - consists of words people use: ideas, customs, behavior, laws, lifestyle

Components of Culture
1. Norms - described as social norms. Guides or models of behavior; what is proper or not/ right or wrong.
The following are forms of social norms:
A. Folkways - customary patterns of everyday life
B. Mores - codes of ethics and standards of morality
C. Laws - norms that are enforced formally by a special political organization.
D. Values - what is right, good and moral
Major Value Orientations
1. Achievement and success - personal achievements, esp occupational success.
2. Activity and work - closely related to achievement and success is the high evaluation that
many people place in work.
3. Moral orientation - right and wrong, good and bad.
4. Humanitarianism - ideal for any person is material generosity.
5. Efficiency and practicality - standard by which some people judge their activity.
Filipino values by Jaime Bulatao
1. Emotional closeness and security in the family.
2. The authority value
3. Economic and social betterment
4. Patience, suffering, endurance
2. Languages - system of symbol that have specific and arbitrary meaning.
3. Fashions, fads, crazes- short lived social norms which people are expected to comply with.
Characteristics of culture
1. Culture is learned and acquired 5. culture gratifies human needs.
2. Culture is shared and transmitted. 6. culture is adaptive.
3. Culture is social 7. Culture tends toward integration.
4. Culture is ideational 8. Culture is cumulative.

Adaptations of Culture
Parallelism - independent development of a culture into a widely separate culture
Diffusion - common process of patterns and traits
Fission - process that can be traced historically
Convergence - fusion of two or more cultures into a new one.

Methods of Acquiring Culture

1. Imitation - imitates the things around them
2. Indoctrination - form of formal teaching or training
3. Conditioning - individual acquires a certain pattern of beliefs, values, behavior and actions.
Chapter 4 The Human Group

Group - composed of two or more persons interacting with each other, guided by a set of norms.
Social group- two or more people who interact recurrently in a patterned way
Social category- sharing of traits
Social aggregates- people who might be assembled in a certain place
Statistical group- people classified together because they share certain characteristics

Characteristics of Groups
1. Permanence
2. Means for identifying members
3. Mechanisms for recruiting new members
4. Goals and purposes
5. Social status and roles
6. Means for controlling members behavior

Common bases for groups-

1. Common ancestry - strongest tie that binds human beings; blood group: related by marriage, birth or
adoption.
2. Territorial proximity - physical territory
3. Common interests - basis for great variety of modern social groupings;

Basic Classification of social group

1. Primary and secondary groups - Charles H. Colley defined primary group as a group that is characterized
by “intimate face to face relationships and close association and cooperation” ; spontaneous, personal, and
intimate
3 basic primary groups
 A. Family B. children’s paly groups C. neighborhood or community groups

Secondary groups - relationships are impersonal and widely separate.

2. In- groups and out -groups - some groups go a long way toward distinguishing themselves and other
groups.; may be based on unique racial, ethnic, religious or social characteristics. In-group- group that
members use a point of reference.; there is a “we feeling”. Out-groups - exists in the perceptions of the in-
group members and takes on a social reality.
3. Informal and formal groups - based on the form of the organization of the group. Informal group - arises
spontaneously out of the interactions of two or more persons. Formal group - groups where the purpose and
objectives are explicitly labeled.
4. Gemeinschaft and gesselschaft - these concepts of groups were espoused by Ferdinand Toennis. He
looked at the pattern of social ties and organzations. Gemeinschaft - relationships are close, durable and
highly valued; members live together and develop common interests, memories and histories.

The groups influence on the individual

Social facilitation- stimulated by the presence of others
Social inhibition-which the presence of others blocks or retards one’s performance.

Linkages in Group
1. Diagramming social relationships- Moreno contended that social scientists could only study the mix of
feelings.
Sociometry-mix of feelings that persons have about one another
2. Social networks - consists of all those people to whom he/she directly and indirectly linked.

Some dimensions of groups

1. Size- vary in terms of their sizes
2. Nature of goals- interaction is influenced by its size and structure.
3. Identifiability of members - sociologists often catalogue social relationships using the yardsticks
4. Cohesiveness - degree to which members of a group cooperate.
5. Leadership styles- focused on which leadership traits mark a “good” leader

Formal Structure: Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy - refers to a formal, rationally organized and highly organized social structure with clearly
defined patterns of activity
1. Specialization
2. Merit appointment
3. Impersonality
4. Chain of command to see that orders are faithfully followed
Webers Model of Bureaucracy
1. A clear-cut division of labor
2. Hierarchical delegation of power and responsibility
3. Rules and regulations
4. Impartiality
5. Employment based on technical qualifications
6. Distinction between public and private sphers
Bureaucracy Today
1. Alienation - jobs specialization maybe efficient
2. Ritualism-produce overconformity to rules
3. Incompetence-workers are hired in the organization because they are technically competent

Chapter 5 Socialization

Socialization - man is social in being, subject to human contact and relations; the action, process and the
result of relating with others. Social means formation of interdependence relationship with fellows.
Lization means action process and result.
- the long and complicated process of social interaction through which the child learns the intellectual,
physical and social skills needed to functions.

Social Institutions
1. Socialization as a catalyst of social change - conservative process
2. Socialization as a life long process - biological and social sequence of birth, childhood, maturity ,old age
and death.
3. Socialization as the development of social identity -learning process of infants
4. Socialization as the learning of social roles - individuals occupy several social positions
5. Socialization as the acquisition of technological skills - technology is the body of methods for obtaining
desirable goods/services
6. Socialization as the internalization of norms- successful transmission of cultural traits

Importance of socialization
1. Socialization is vital in culture
2. Socialization is vital to personality
3. Socialization is vital to sex-role differentiation

Process of socialization
1. Imitation - duplicate exact behavior of others
2. Suggestion - process outside the learner
3. Competition - two or more individuals vie with one another in achieving knowledge

Components of socialization
1. Goals and motivation - related and used interchangeably. The goal is the state of affairs one wishes to
achieve.
2. Contexts- social interaction takes place makes a difference
3. Norms - rules that regulate the process of social interaction.
Types of social interaction
1. Focused interaction- when two or more individuals agree to sustain an interaction with one or more
particular goals in mind
4 basic types of focused interaction
1. Exchange - expressed purpose of receiving a reward or return
2. Cooperation - people act together to promote common interests
2.1 spontaneous cooperation - oldest, most natural and most common form of cooperation
2.2 Traditional cooperation - tied to custom
2.3 Directed cooperation - joint effort under the control of people in authority
2.4 Contractual cooperation - planned cooperation in which each persons specific obligations
3. Conflict - struggle with one another
3.1 Coercion - occur when one of the parties in a conflict is much stronger than other
4. Competition - form of conflict in which individuals or groups confine their conflict within agreed-upon
rules.
2. Unfocused interaction - way of goals other than to catalogue other people and make a decent impression
on them

The Dynamics of Socialization -

1. Functional approaches - perspective of the group rather than individual
2. Symbolic interaction - analysis of what people say and do
3. Conflict theory of socialization

Agencies of Socialization
5 major categories
1. The family - basic unit of society; primary agency for socialization
2. Peer groups - plays a very important role in the process of socialization
3. The media- television, radio and other broadcast media.
4. The school - institution that is established explicitly for the purpose of socializing people
5. The workplace - learning the skills and orientation to one’s job.
6. The church - religious belief
7. The neighborhood - street corner education