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Introduction to Sociology Lecture 1 - Outline of Sociology

Introduction to Sociology Lecture 1 - Outline of Sociology. Phua Kai Lit, PhD (Johns Hopkins) ADTP Sunway University. COURSE MATERIAL (online). phuakl.tripod.com/sunway_phua.html Details on all the assignments that make up your final grade (IMPORTANT!). Lecture Objectives.

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Introduction to Sociology Lecture 1 - Outline of Sociology

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  1. Introduction to Sociology Lecture 1 - Outline of Sociology Phua Kai Lit, PhD (Johns Hopkins) ADTP Sunway University

  2. COURSE MATERIAL (online) • phuakl.tripod.com/sunway_phua.html • Details on all the assignments that make up your final grade (IMPORTANT!)

  3. Lecture Objectives • Understand what the academic discipline called “Sociology” is all about • The Sociological Perspective • How sociology differs from anthropology and psychology • Gain an idea of what sociologists study • How to think like a sociologist - socio variables • Research methods in sociology (in brief) • How can sociological findings contribute to society

  4. What is “Sociology”? • Scientific (systematic, empirical, objective) study of society, social groups, social behavior and other social phenomena • For example, study differences between agricultural society and industrial society; gangs; religious groups; social change and what factors affect this

  5. What is the Sociological Perspective? • Common sense versus the Sociological Perspective (how social forces shape people and influence their behavior) • Common sense - main ethnic groups (“races”) in Malaysia are “Malays”, “Chinese”, “Indians”. Main groups in USA are “whites”, “blacks”, “Asians”, “Native Americans” • Sociological Perspective - ethnic group identity is “socially constructed” (human-made) and can come into being, change over time, and even disappear completely!

  6. How is Sociology different from Anthropology andPsychology? • Sister disciplines - especially Anthropology • Anthropology - studies different aspects of human culture. Material culture, non-material culture • Psychology - studies human behaviorand what factors (internal and external) affect this, the focus tends to be on the individual

  7. What do sociologists study? • All sorts of things • Useful to engineers: how technology affects society Technology ---> Society e.g. AI and the future of work. Society ---> Technology e.g. why are some societies more inventive than others? • Useful to business people: social change Population ageing & how this affects business; WWW (Internet) and modern business

  8. Variables sociologists focus on Thinking like a sociologist: • Ethnicity (“race”) • Social class • Gender (“sex”) • Age • Location • Educational level • Marital status • Religious orientation (religiosity) • Sexual orientation 8

  9. Research Methods in Sociology (in brief) 1. Field Research a. Observation: simple observation versus participant-observation b. Ethnography (extended observation of whole community) c. Case study: In-depth study of single event or situation using archives, documents, interviews etc. Can be historical. 2. Survey research (questionnaires) 3. Experiments 4. Secondary data analysis 9

  10. Usefulness of Sociological Findings (examples) • Social class differences in behavior e.g. health-related behavior (smoking, drinking) • Changes in behavior of females over time (education, labour force participation) • Population - fertility, population aging, migration • Changes in the structure of the family e.g. single parent family 10

  11. Challenges and Limitations of Sociological Research • “Science” and positivism - scientific method, experiments, data collection, scientific laws • Induction and deduction • Grand Theory (macrosociology) • Interpretive sociology (microsociology) • Sociocultural change, values, beliefs and behavior 11

  12. Thank You

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