Chapter 1:

What is Sociology?

Intro to Sociology
Three revolutions had to take place before
the sociological imagination could
crystallize:

 The scientific revolution (16th c.)

encouraged the use of evidence to
substantiate theories.
 The democratic revolution (18th c.)
encouraged the view that human action can
change society.
 The industrial revolution (19th c.) gave
sociologists their subject matter.
 Sociology
is the systematic study of human
society and social interaction

It is based on the idea that our relations

with other people create opportunities for
us to think and act but also set limits on
our thoughts and action.
 What is Sociology?

Sociology the study of the

development, structure, and
functioning of human
society

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 Sociology
Howard Becker defined
sociology as the study
of people “doing things
together.”

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 Sociology
This reminds us that
society and the
individual are
inherently connected,
and each depends on
the other.
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 Sociology
Sociologists study this
link: how society
affects the individual
and how the
individual affects
society.
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A society is a large social grouping that shares
the same geographical territory and is
subject to the same political authority and
dominant cultural expectations.
 Society Is….

A society is a group of people who share a

culture and live more or less together.
They have a set of institutions which provide
what they need to meet their physical, social,
and psychological needs and which maintain
order and the values of the culture.

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Social structures are the more or less
stable patterns of people’s interactions
and relationships.

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Institutions are the principal social
structures that organize, direct, and
execute the essential tasks of
living.

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 Mention some institutions

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Some institutions are:
Family,
Educational,
Economic,
Religion,
Law,
Political Systems

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 Sociological Imagination

 The ability to see

the relationship
between
individual
experiences and
the larger
society.
Cool Insights from Sociology
Humans cannot be
understood apart from
social context (i.e.
society)

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Cool Insights from Sociology
Society makes us who
we are by structuring
out interactions and
laying out an orderly
world before us

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Cool Insights from Sociology
 Society is a social
construction, that is an idea
created by humans (i.e. doesn’t
exist in the biological world but
only in the social world)
through social interaction
and given a reality through our
understanding of it and our
collective actions.
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 What Does Society Look
Like?
 While the idea of society is familiar,
describing it can be difficult.
Ultimately society is made up of
many different components, such
as culture, race, family, education,
social class, and people’s interactions.
 People who share a culture and
territory

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Meaning through Interaction
 People actively and collectively shape
their own lives, organizing their social
interactions and relationships into a
meaningful world.
 Sociologists study this social
behavior by seeking out its patterns.
 Patterns are crucial to our
understanding of society

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 Society
Society is a group of people
who shape their lives in
aggregated and patterned
ways that distinguish
their group from other
groups.

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 The Social Sciences
 Social Sciences are the disciplines
that use the scientific method to
examine the social world, in contrast
to the natural sciences, which
examine the physical world.
 Examples of social sciences include
….?

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How Sociology fits in

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Lesson Quiz
1. Which of the following is NOT an
example of a social science?
a. biology
b. political science
c. psychology
d. economics

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Lesson Quiz
2. Sociology is defined as:
a. the scientific study of humans.
b. the study of ancient cultures and
behavior.
c. the study of how the brain works.
d. the study of human society and social
behavior.

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Lesson Quiz
4. A sense of disorientation that occurs
when you enter a radically new social
or cultural environment is called:
a. cultural mind.
b. culture shakes.
c. cultural fear.
d. culture shock.

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For Next Time:
 How we come to understand the
social world
 Theories and Theorists
 Read more!

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