Society and Culture

• Science


  Learning about the world through a disciplined inquiry that combines systematic theory and observation that explain how things work
• Theory


  A system of ideas or statements held as an explanation of a group of facts or phenomena
• Natural Sciences


  Study of phenomena and processes as well as objects in nature
• Social Sciences


  Study of society, social relations, and human interactions
• Pure Science


  Pursuit of knowledge and empirical truth and the development of theory
• Applied Science


  Use of scientific knowledge and theory for the solution of practical problems
• Edward Tylor


  First professor of anthropology in Oxford, England
• Franz Boas


  First professor of anthropology at Clark University, Massachusetts
• Sociology


  Considered as one of the youngest of the social sciences
• 4 Factors that Lead to the Development of Sociology

  • Turmoil of the Industrial Revolution
  • Success of American and French Revolutions
  • Imperialism
  • Success of Natural Sciences
• Scientific Method


  Using objective, systematic observations to test theories
• Auguste Comte


  Positivism - using scientific methods to reveal laws by which society interacts
• Harriet Martineau


  Political Economy, First Woman Sociologist
• Karl Marx


  German philosopher and economist, Social conflict theory, Against capitalism
• Herbert Spencer


  The Study of Sociology, Favored a form of government that allowed market forces to control capitalism
• George Simmel


  Micro-level theories
• Emile Durkheim


  Social facts, Suicide are caused by socioreligious forces rather than to individual or psychological causes, Social facts determine whether society is healthy or pathological
• George Herbert Mead


  Social Self, Mind and self are developed as a result of social processes, Symbolic interactionism
• Max Weber


  Verstehen - grasp by insight, Antipositivism
• C. Wright Mills

  Sociological Imagination - seeing the general in the particular and seeing the strange in the familiar, Author of The Power Elite
• Sociology


  Science of society and the social interaction taking place among individuals in a social group
• Areas of Concern in Sociology

  • Social Organization - study of social groups, sociology of family, economy, etc.
  • Social Psychology - studies human nature and personality, social attitudes and collective behavior
  • Social Change and Disorganization - change in culture and social relations
  • Population Studies - analyzes population number, composition, change, and quality
  • Human Ecology - Human behavior of a given population with its environment
  • Sociological Theory and Methods - theory building and testing the applicability of the principles
  • Applied Sociology - makes use of findings of pure sociological research on problems of daily life
• Theories and Perspectives in Sociology

  • Symbolic Interactionism
  • Structural-Functional Analysis
  • Conflict Theory
  • Others
• Symbolic Interactionism


  Our behaviors depend on the ways we define ourselves and others. You behave differently when you're with your mother compared to when you're with your partner.
• Structural-Functional Analysis


  Society is a whole unit made up of interrelated parts that work together
• Comte and Spencer


  Viewed society as a kind of living organism
• Normal State


  When all parts of society perform their function
• Pathological State


  When some parts fail to fulfill their function
• Functions


  Beneficial consequences of people's actions
• Dysfunctions


  Consequences that undermine a system's equilibrium
• Manifest function


  Action is intended to help some part of the system
• Latent functions


  Unintended consequences that help a system adjusts
• Conflict Theory


  According to Marx, small groups control the means of production and exploits those who are not in control
• Bourgeoisie


  Small group of capitalists
• Proletariat


  Workers who are exploited by the bourgeoisie
• Caste System

  • Brahmins - priests
  • Kshatriyas - rulers, warriors
  • Vaishyas - merchants, farmers
  • Shudras - commoners, servants
  • Untouchables/Dalits - street sweepers
• Other Perspectives

  • Post-Modernism - new condition which contemporary advanced industrial societies alleged to have reached
  • Comte and Positivism
  • C. Wright Mills and Sociological Imagination
  • Weber and Verstehen
  • Durkheim and Social Facts
• Sociology


  According to Comte, 'the scientific study of society'
• Socius


  Companion or being with others
• Social facts


  The patterns of behavior that characterize a social group