LESSON 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
1.1 Introduction
In this lesson, we shall look at the way sociology concerns itself with social
relationship. To understand this, we will need to know the following: the meaning
of sociology; the subject matter of sociology; the branches of sociology; why
sociology is a science; history of sociology
1.2 Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson you should be able to:
1.2.1 Explain the term “sociology”
1.2.2 Discern the subject matter of sociology
1.2.3 List the branches into which sociology is divided
1.2.4 Explain why sociology is a science
1.2.5 Discuss the origins of sociology
1.2.6 discuss the reasons for studying sociology
1.2.1 The meaning of sociology
• The word Sociology is derived from the Latin Socius and Greek, logo.
• Socius- may variously mean, society, a
• ssociation, togetherness or companionship.
• Logos- Think, speak about, study.
• Since, sociology is a systematic study of society and uses the methods of science,
sociology is taken to mean the study or science of society.
• Sociology is further understood to be
A study of social relationships between individuals in collections or groups.
A study of the various social interactions, activities, associations, conflicts, roles
and other social phenomena in a society.
• In general, however, sociology does not specifically study the society. Instead, it
concentrates on the study of social groups which are found in the society.
• For example the school groups, church groups, women’s groups, professional groups and
many others.
• By first studying these groups, sociology ends up understanding the whole society.
• Sociology is also an academic discipline that arose in the first half of the 19th century,
circa 1837
• The word sociology was first used by French Sociologist, Auguste Comte.
• Scholars focused on discovering and understanding the laws governing societal
phenomena and human social relationships, with the interest of analyzing and solving the
problems of modern society.
1.2.2 Subject Matter/Focus of Sociology
Sociology focuses on:
nature, complexity and contents of human social behavior
Social interactions: processes and consequences
Social structure and functioning of society as a social system, social institutions,
class formation and social stratification.
Social groups and their organization
Interactions of Humans with their external environment
Culture of society
Social pathology/deviance
It must be emphasized that sociology does not study an individual person in isolation, but rather
individuals in a group or groups. Human society is the main focus of sociology
• Sociology studies how the social world, social environment and social interactions
affects our behavior, worldviews, lifestyle, personality, attitudes, decisions etc., as
creative rational, intelligent members of society, and vice versa, and how we as
such create social reality.
• Sociologists study the role of social characteristics on outcomes e.g., role of social
class on educational achievement.
The units of interaction that sociology studies are:
Social groups such as the family or peer groups
Social Relationships, such as social roles and dyadic (based on two) relationships
Social organizations such as governments, corporations, school systems etc.
Territorial organizations such as communities and schools
Levels of analysis:
Sociologists break the study of society down into four separate levels of analysis based on
the scale of interaction involved:
• Micro, meso, macro, and global.
The basic distinction, however, is between micro-sociology and macro-sociology.
• At the micro-level of analysis, the focus is on the social dynamics of intimate, face-
to-face interactions. Research is conducted with a specific set of individuals such as
conversational partners, family members, work associates, or friendship groups.
• E.g. rules of polite conversation and how people avoid misunderstandings in
conversation
• how informal networks become a key source of support and advancement in formal
bureaucracies or
• How loyalty to criminal gangs is established.
• Macro-sociology focuses on the properties of large-scale, society-wide social
interactions: the dynamics of institutions, classes, or whole societies.
• E.g. influence of migration on changing patterns of language usage
• examining why women are far less likely than men to reach positions of power in society
1.2.3 Branches of Sociology
Sociology encompasses the study of almost every aspect of human life. As a social science,
sociology seeks to discover how human behaviour and interactions affects society as a whole.
E-tivity 1.2.1 Branches of Sociology
Title Branches of Sociology
Purpose To help you identify the main branches of sociogoly.
Brief summary of Read the articles below and identify the main branches of
the overall task sociology
i) https://tyrocity.com/topic/branches-of-sociology/
ii)https://www.sociologygroup.com/meaning-branches-
sociology/
Individual Task a) Using bullet points, list at least five branches of sociology.
b) Identify how the interactions in each branch affect society
as a whole.
Interactions begin a) Post five branches of sociology and their interaction in
society.
b) Provide feedback on the learners’ views and ideas on the
needs Assessment.
E–moderator i) Ensure that learners are focused on the
interventions contents and context of discussion.
ii) Stimulate further learning and generation of new
ideas.
iii) Provide feedback on the learning progress.
iv) Close the e-tivity
Schedule and Time This task should take 20 minutes
Next Sociology as a science
1.2.4 Why is Sociology a Science?
E-tivity 1.2.2 Reason for sociology being a science
Title Sociology as a science.
Purpose To help you to explain why sociology is a science.
Brief summary of Watch video 1 and video 2 from the following links.
the overall task 1. https://youtu.be/lZlwGhLwLgg
2. https://youtu.be/Bu5uf2IiBC4
Individual Task a) Using bullet points identify five reasons why sociology
is a science.
b) Explain how sociology uses the scientific method.
Interactions begin a) Post five points that makes sociology a science.
b) Provide feedback on the learners’ views and ideas on the
needs Assessment.
E–moderator v) Ensure that learners are focused on the
interventions contents and context of discussion.
vi) Stimulate further learning and generation of new
ideas.
vii) Provide feedback on the learning progress.
viii) Close the e-tivity
Schedule and Time This task should take 30 minutes
Next Historical development of sociology
1.2.6 Historical development of sociology
• Sociology as a discipline came to prominence only in the 19th century. Various conditions
however lead to the prominence of sociology.
• In the19h century, philosophical historians like Karl Marx, Augutse Comte Herbet
Spencer and many others, were turning away from writings about the political society and
finding a new interest in the study of the industrial society
• People have always been fascinated by the relationship between individuals and the
societies to which they belong.
• The ancient Greeks distinguished between physis (nature) and nomos (law or custom).
• Herodotus (484–425 BCE) described the great variations in the nomos of different
ancient societies around the Mediterranean, indicating that human social life was not a
product of nature but a product of human creation.
• In the 13th century, Ma Tuan-Lin, a Chinese historian, first recognized social dynamics
as an underlying component of historical development.
• The next century saw the emergence of the historian some consider to be the world’s first
sociologist, the Berber scholar Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) of Tunisia.
• His Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History is known for going beyond descriptive
history to an analysis of historical processes of change based on an understanding of “the
nature of things which are born of civilization” (Khaldun quoted in Becker and Barnes
1961).
• These early reflections were on moral, philosophical, and religious types on the human
condition
• However, it was not until the 19th century that the basis of the modern discipline of
sociology can be said to have been truly established.
• The impetus for the ideas that culminated in sociology can be found in the three major
transformations that defined modern society and the culture of modernity:
the development of modern science from the 16th century onward,
the emergence of democratic forms of government with the American and French
Revolutions (1775–1783 and 1789–1799 respectively), and the
Industrial Revolution beginning in the 18th century.
• These provided the framework for sociological knowledge established in these events,
but also the initial motivation for creating a science of society.
• Early sociologists like Comte and Marx sought to formulate a rational, evidence-based
response to the experience of massive social dislocation and unprecedented social
problems brought about by the transition from the European feudal era to capitalism.
• They wanted a way of generating rational and scientifically comprehensive knowledge of
society and its processes was required.
• Science combined rationalism and empiricism.
• Rationalism sought the laws that governed the truth of reason and ideas.
• Empiricism sought to discover the laws of the operation of the world through the careful,
methodical, and detailed observation of the world.
• The new scientific worldview therefore combined the clear and logically coherent
conceptual formulation of propositions from rationalism with an empirical method of
inquiry based on observation through the senses.
• Sociology adopted these core principles to emphasize that claims about society had to be
clearly formulated and based on evidence-based procedures.
• The emergence of democratic forms of government in the 18th century demonstrated that
humans had the capacity to change the world.
• The rigid hierarchy of medieval society was not a God-given eternal order, but a human
order that could be challenged and improved upon through human intervention.
• Society came to be seen as both historical and the product of human endeavors.
• Reason could be applied to address social ills and to emancipate humanity from servitude
• Subjects like the family, the nature of society, population, social institutions and
development had become important issues in philosophical writings.
• Interest in sociology was strongly influenced by such a change.
• There was also the recognition that problems such as poverty which became rampant
during the industrial revolution period, were social in nature and not natural.
• Within those recognitions and concerns it was thought that natural science methods could
be adapted to study the extent of the social problems and therefore provide knowledge to
facilitate social reforms.
• These views encouraged the growth of a sociological approach to understanding the
society and the subsequent birth of sociology as a distinct science of the society.
• Comte synthesized these ideas and called the study of the problems of society
• Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) helped establish sociology as a formal academic discipline
by establishing the first European department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux
in 1895 and by publishing his Rules of the Sociological Method in 1895.
• Max Weber (1864–1920) established a sociology department in Germany at the Ludwig
Maximilians University of Munich in 1919.
• Weber and others founded interpretive sociology whereby social researchers strive to
find systematic means to interpret and describe the subjective meanings behind social
processes, cultural norms, and societal values.
• This approach led to research methods like ethnography, participant observation, and
phenomenological analysis whose aim was not to generalize or predict (as in positivistic
social science), but to systematically gain an in-depth understanding of social worlds.
1.2.7 Why Study Sociology
As a teacher to be, you may be wondering why you need to study sociology. The
following E-tivity will help you understand the need for studying sociology.
E-tivity 1.2.3 Reasons for studying sociology
Title Need for studying sociology.
Purpose To help you to explain why you need to study sociology.
Brief summary of Read the articles below and summarize the reasons for
the overall task studying sociology.
1. https://www.salemstate.edu/academics/college-arts-and-
sciences/sociology/why-study-sociology
Individual Task c) Using bullet points identify five reasons for studying
sociology
Interactions begin a) Post five reasons for studying sociology
b) Provide feedback on the learners’ views and ideas on the
needs Assessment.
E–moderator ix) Ensure that learners are focused on the
interventions contents and context of discussion.
x) Stimulate further learning and generation of new
ideas.
xi) Provide feedback on the learning progress.
xii) Close the e-tivity
Schedule and Time This task should take 30 minutes
Next Summary
1.3 Summary
In this lecture we have discussed the meaning of sociology, we have explained that
sociology is the study of society and have looked on the subject matter of sociology
branches of sociology, reasons why sociology is a science, development of sociology
and reasons for studying sociology.
In the next lesson we look at sociology of education.
1.4 Self- Test Questions
a) In your own words, explain what you understand by the term sociology.
b) Identify five branches of sociology and indicate how they seek to discover
human behavior.
c) Explain three reasons for studying sociology.
1.5 Further reading
American Sociological review, online. (2015). https://journal.sagepub.com/home/asr .
British journal of soociology of education, online. (2017).
https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cbse20 .
British sociological association, online. (2018). https://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .
Paleeri, s. (2010). Rudiments of Education: sociology and Philosophy. New Delhi: Neelkamal.
