...the part of sociologist with regard to the scope of sociology because it is so elastic a subject that it is hard to establish just where its precinct begins and ends. Everything and anything under the sun seems to fall under the purview of sociology. However, such assumption is nullified. There are two main schools of thought regarding the scope of sociology: the specialistic or formalistic school and the synthetic school. The Specialistic/Formalistic School This school of thought was led by the German sociologist George Simmel. The other main advocates of this school were Vierkandt, Max Weber, Small, Von Wiese and Tonnies. They were of the opinion that sociology was different from other branches of social science and deemed it necessary to confine to the enquiry of certain defined aspects of human relationship. It was to study only the abstract forms of social relationships but not their contents. They regard sociology as pure and independent science. According to Simmel, sociology is distinct from other social sciences for the reason that it has its own abstract mode of dealing with the same topic of social relationship which other social science like history, economics, political science etc. too deals with, but in their own way. To him sociology is a specific social science that describes, classifies, analyses, and delineates the forms of social relationships. Vierkandt maintains that sociology is a special branch of knowledge concerned with the ultimate...
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...Sociology is defined as the study of human values, relationships, beliefs and society. Sociology Defined. — Definitions of sociology are many. While it would be hardly correct to say that there are as many as there are sociologists, it is safe to say that they are as numerous as the various points of view of the respective groups of sociologists. Generally, sociologists, instead of giving a formal definition of sociology, have entered into an extended discussion of its nature. Some, however, have used a colorless definition like " Sociology is the science of society," or " the scientific study of society," or " the science of social phenomena." Others, using more words, add but little, as for example, " Sociology is the name applied to a somewhat inchoate mass of materials which embodies our knowledge about society." Other definitions somewhat more definite, yet unsatisfactory in many ways, are, " the science of social process " and " the science of social relation." Better than these are, " Sociology is the study of men considered as affecting and as affected by association," or, " the study of human association, including whatever conduces to it or modifies it." Of the formal definitions that have been given by scientific men, none is more comprehensive than that of Professor Giddings, which follows : " Sociology is an attempt to account for the origin, growth, structure, and activities of society by the operation of physical, vital, and psychical causes working together...
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...Ethics related to Sociology Introduction Living in this world without any companion is like a world without color. It is like you have drowned from the deepest part of darkness. As the saying “No man is an island”, it is proven that a person can’t live within itself. You must have friends and socialize with them in order for you to make a wonderful living. Having interaction with other people—sharing some beliefs and practices may consider as part of sociology. Sociology itself means “the study of society”, where it came from the Greek word “socio” means “society” and “-logos” mean “the study of”. Sociology is the scientific study of society, of the ways of which society is organized and operates, and of the factors contributing to both societal stability and social change. It is concerned with patterned social regularities rather than with unique personal experiences. Simply means that sociology is the study of the things around the society. Studying the society also involves ethical values where people will be taught how to live doing the right thing over the wrong one. Though people have their own ways of living, each of us may consider that ethics is very important in everyone’s life. Based on Emerita S. Quito, the author of the book “Fundamentals of Ethics”, ethics is from the Greek word “ethos” meaning a characteristic way of doing things, or a body of customs. In general, ethics is meant to be applied in order to teach the people how to live essentially doing the...
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...Ethics related to Sociology Introduction Living in this world without any companion is like a world without color. It is like you have drowned from the deepest part of darkness. As the saying “No man is an island”, it is proven that a person can’t live within itself. You must have friends and socialize with them in order for you to make a wonderful living. Having interaction with other people—sharing some beliefs and practices may consider as part of sociology. Sociology itself means “the study of society”, where it came from the Greek word “socio” means “society” and “-logos” mean “the study of”. Sociology is the scientific study of society, of the ways of which society is organized and operates, and of the factors contributing to both societal stability and social change. It is concerned with patterned social regularities rather than with unique personal experiences. Simply means that sociology is the study of the things around the society. Studying the society also involves ethical values where people will be taught how to live doing the right thing over the wrong one. Though people have their own ways of living, each of us may consider that ethics is very important in everyone’s life. Based on Emerita S. Quito, the author of the book “Fundamentals of Ethics”, ethics is from the Greek word “ethos” meaning a characteristic way of doing things, or a body of customs. In general, ethics is meant to be applied in order to teach the people how to live essentially doing the...
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...The science of sociology came in the wake of the immense changes in society during the 19th century. As Karl Marx focused on the consequences of the Industrialization and the living conditions for the working class, Emile Durkheim was more focused on the dissolving ties between humans in society. Despite their different perspectives, these early thinkers had a common fundamental concern about the future, in means of the changes and the subsequent consequences for the individuals and society. These classics generated the basis for the typical sociological type of thinking; seeing the connections between major changes in society and the individual acts and living conditions. In short term - sociology is both the study of individuals and the society as a whole. As a newcomer to the special field of sociology, I find the term of sociological imagination as the most applicable and understandable term to understand the complex and broad field of sociology. Thereby i state my thesis: Is social imagination the best and simplest way to understand the field of sociology? Sociological imagination was coined by C. Wright Mills (1959) as the process of linking individual biographies to the larger social contexts. By this perspective one can say that the sociological imagination can help explain humans and society by seeing "the human in society and the society within humans". According to Peter Berger this connection can be portrayed by thinking that: "Every individual biography is...
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...What is Sociology? To try and understand sociology, it is better to decipher what sociology is not first. Sociology is not social work, nor is it social policy. Although it is a system of strategies being used to reach a particular goal, sociology is not a science. Sociology is however the study of the world that we create, the study of the development, structure and functioning of human society. Like most academic disciplines, sociology developed two strands -theoretical and empirical. The theoretical is the four theories which give us different views on how to see why societies are the way they are. Functionalism is first and they believe that the structures of society are set up to allow society to run as smoothly as possible. Emile Durkheim was keen on the idea that individuals internalise the norms and values of society. This means they become a part of who you are - your personality and your identity. Marxism is the second theory, they think people are socialised into a culture based on their social class. They believe people’s identity depends on their class position in the capitalist system. Feminism is a perspective that views society as traditionally unequal between men and women, and strives for equality between the sexes. Feminism, as a theory in sociology, tries to point out the inequalities and find solutions so that everyone from both sexes are treated fairly...
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...Introduction to Sociology Nandy Nedd Essay Outline #1 Title: “Sociology is the systematic observation of social behavior” Introduction: Sociology is the science of society. Body: * Science is defined as the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena, Sociology is a science because it uses the methodologies of observation, experiment, comparison and historical research to understand social behavior whereas Interpretive Sociology goes on assumptions about how we come to know about social phenomena. * Using the positivist approach which assumes that an objective reality exists “out there”, Sociologists study this reality without changing it any way, they strive to remain objective so that their own attitudes and beliefs do not influence their results whereas in the Interpretive approach, lived experience may be distorted by false consciousness and ideology * In A general View of Positivism, Comte (1798 – 1857) argues that “the primary object of positivism is to generalize our scientific conceptions and to systemize the art of social life, According to him; true knowledge is based on experience of senses and can be obtained by observation and experiment, while it is for our heart to suggest our problems, it is for the intellect to solve them. * In his book “Rules of Sociological Method”, Durkheim writes –“The first and most fundamental rule is – consider social facts as things.” By...
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...Social policies are the plans and actions of government agencies, which aim to address social issues, ranging from poverty to racism. Sociology has been linked to the beginning of social policies, especially in more recent years. For example, the concept of marketisation within the school system in the early 1990’s and the reduction in funding for Higher Education Tuition Fees was influenced by contemporary sociology. Donnison believes that there are four factors that he feels shape social policy. These are changing political agendas, changing circumstances, growing knowledge and new questions. There are different sociological opinions that view the relationship between sociology and social policy differently, which means there is no simple view. For example, social policies are introduced to the belief that they will improve society by tackling social problems: affecting the welfare of the population of the country where the policy is being introduced. However, Feminists and Marxists believe that social policy is not just about improving the welfare of citizens, as they believe it is about social control; deterring rather than helping individuals. Giddens’ supports Donnison by stating that there are four practical uses of studying sociology. These include: understanding social situations, being aware of cultural differences, assessing the effects of policies and increasing self-knowledge. By understanding social situations, we are able to understand the world around us...
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...Sociological School of Law 8. American Realism 9. Scandinavian Realism 10. Historical and Anthropological Jurisprudence 11. Marxist Theories of Law and State 12. Feminist Jurisprudence 13. Postmodernist Jurisprudence 12 SUGGESTED READINGS 1. Lloyd's introduction to jurisprudence 2. Jurisprudence by Dias 3. Jurisprudence by Mahajan 4. Jurisprudence by Bodenheimer 5. Jurisprudence by Wayne Morrison 6. Concept of Law H.L.A. Hart 7. Social Dimension of law by Julius Stone 8. Law in the Changing Society by Friedman 9. Law in the making by C.IZ. Allen 10. 1300ks on Constitutional Law in India and Constitutional JUrispruden:] \/ --CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-l 1. Preamble - Importance- amenability 2. Fundamental Rights -concept -Nature -Necessity and justification -Fundamental rights under Indian Constitution. 3. Definition of State -Other authorities -Application of ejusdem gencrisInstrumentality of Govt. -Private...
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...new challenges of traditional bureaucracy and their subsequent ‘hollowing out of the State’ as an effective institution, democratic administration theory has attempted to construct a new basis of administrative rule in which both the ‘expert’ and ‘client’ becomes leveled in their discourse through democratic and even radical reform of the administrative process itself. This newfound principle of political rule is in stark contrast to Max Weber’s belief in the eventual “leveling of the governed” in their submission to a rational-legal order. According to Weber, this system will be administered by bureaucratic experts These experts would reign within a stratified structure of “officially” authorized methods of discipline. Despite this fundamental difference in...
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...POVERTY Name: Professor: Course Title: Intro to Sociology Date: 19 Nov 2012 Introduction Social issues are problems in the society today that are described as wrong, widespread and changeable. A category of conditions that people believe need to be changed. Poverty is a serious social issue in the society today. According to Peilin (2012), poverty brings hardships to families and individuals as well as political thereby negatively affecting the social stability and social development and posing a severe threat to human security (p. 243). This paper focuses on poverty as a social issue in today’s society. First, it gives a succinct introduction of the social issue, and then describes how it fits into the field of sociology. It also evaluates the sociological theories and terminology that relate to the social issue. The section that follows evaluates what is known and unknown about the particular social issue. This is followed by a discussion regarding the value of sociological research into the issue determining the available or possible practical implications of the sociological inquiry. The information presented here is strongly supported by the concepts and theories derived from reliable sources. Poverty as a social Issue Poverty is generally defined as a state of deprivation in well-being. The conventional perspective connects well-being basically to control over commodities, so the poor are individuals who do not have sufficient...
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...“Examine the relationship between sociology and social policy” Social policies are the actions of governments, such as legal laws. They have a direct impact on citizens, for e.g. may provide them with services or income. Social policies are created after Sociological research identifies social problems of society, for e.g. policies put in place to help vulnerable children (adopted/abused), as they are highly likely to end up in gangs, as drug addicts or prostitutes. According to Worsley (1977) a social problem is some piece of social behaviour that calls for collective action to solve it. In turn, policies help tackle social problems e.g. increasing payment for foster/ adoptive careers to reduce vulnerable children getting involved with crime. The founding fathers of sociology believed that sociology had a central part to play in society – in reforming social institutions, solving social problems and improving human condition. Comte (1798-1857) saw sociology as a practical subject, not confined solely to universities, but being applied to wider society to gain social progress. Emile Durkheim believed sociology contributing to social policy can solve question of order in society. Sociologists such as Giddens place a great emphasis on the practicality of studying sociology. The most significant outcome of sociology is that it allows us to understand the world around us, providing us with knowledge and insights. This understanding can take the form of factual knowledge which...
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...Assess the relationship between sociology and social policy In order to understand the role of sociology in relation to social policy, it is important to firstly distinguish between social problems and sociological problems. According to Peter Worsley, a social problem is some piece of social behaviour that causes public friction and private misery and calls for collective action to solve it. According to Worsley, a sociological problem is “any pattern of relationships that calls for explanation.” In other words, it is any piece of behaviour that we wish to make sense of. However even when sociologists conduct research into social problems, there’s no guarantee that policy makers will study their findings, or that any solutions they propose will find their way into social policies. Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy. Some of these include electoral popularity, interest groups, globalisation and cost. Different sociological perspectives hold different views of the nature of the state and their social policy it produces. As a result, each perspective tends to take a different view of the role of sociology in relation to social policy. Early positivists such as Comte and Durkheim took the view that sociology was a science and would discover both the cause of social problems and scientifically based solutions to them. As such, their approach was part of the Enlightenment project to use science ad reason to improve society...
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..."dictatorship of the bourgeoisie", believing it to be run by the wealthy middle and upper classes purely for their own benefit, and predicted that, like previous socioeconomic systems, it would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system, socialism. Marx polemic with other thinkers often occurred through critique, and thus he has been called "the first great user of critical method in social sciences. Fundamentally, Marx assumed that human history involves transforming human nature, which encompasses both human beings and material objects. Humans recognise that they possess both actual and potential selves. Marx had a special concern with how people relate to that most fundamental resource of all, their own labour power.[120] He wrote extensively about this in terms of the problem of alienation. Refers to the separation of things that naturally belong together, or to put antagonism between things that are properly in harmony. In the concept's most important use, it refers to the social alienation of people from aspects of their "human nature". In contrast to philosophers, Marx offered theories that could often be tested with the scientific method.[6] Both Marx and Auguste Comte set out to develop...
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...in evaluating other by the content of their character. (Macionis, 2010) I feel as if no matter what type of racism is practiced, it shouldn’t be tolerated and should be stopped. In order to do so we must encourage dialogue on racism and human rights. Describe how your issue fits into the field of sociology. Which sociological theories and terminology from the text apply to your social issue? The problem with racism is a complex issue. It is difficult to characterize it or place it in one category due to its far reaching effects and implications. Racism remains a serious social problem, as some people think that certain racial and ethnic categories are smarter than others. It is evident that moral issues generate social concerns, which makes it fit into the field of sociology. Sociological theory is defined as a set of interrelated ideas that allow for the systematization of knowledge of the social world. This knowledge is then used to explain the social world and make predictions about the future of the social world. The conflict theory is a major sociological theory mentioned in the text that racism applies too. Conflict theory is based upon the view that the fundamental...
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