College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017

SOCI 221

Basic Concepts in Sociology

Session 1 – Doing Sociology and Sociological Imagination

Lecturer: Dr. Samson Obed Appiah, Dept. of Sociology Contact Information: soappiah@ug.edu.gh

Session Overview

• Overview

• This session seeks to introduce students to the meaning of sociology and how sociological imagination helps us to understand the social context in which our actions and behavior takes place.

• Objective of Session: At the end of the session, the student will

• Understand what sociology is all about

• Understand the nature and scope of sociology

• Understand the concept of sociological imagination

• Explore the interconnectedness between individual life and social circumstances

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Session Outline

The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• Topic One : What is Sociology

• Topic Two : Coinage and Meaning of Sociology

• Topic Three: Sociological Imagination

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Topic One: What is Sociology

• Definition: Sociology is the scientific and systematic

study of human social behavior, interactions and the organization of society.

From the definition:

• Sociology is a scientific study of:

• Human social behavior

• Interactions

• And the Organization of societies

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What is Sociology Cont:

Essentially the discipline deals with social Groups:

• Their internal modes of organization

• The processes that tends to maintain or change these forms of organization

• And the relations that exists among members of the group

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What is Sociology Cont.

Sociology has its long-run aim in:

• Discovering the basic structure of human society

• Identifying the main forces that hold groups together or weakens them

• And unearthing conditions that transform social life

The discovery of these characteristics of human societies enables theories of human society to emerge

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Sample Question

• People may think because they live their lives in society, they have ample knowledge of society through the experience of living in it.

• The question therefore is “in what ways does the sociologist’s understanding of social life differ from that of a lay person”?

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Topic 2: Coinage and Meaning of Sociology

• The term “Sociology” was coined in 1830 by a Frenchman Auguste Comte (1798-1857).

• The word “sociology” is a coinage from two words of different languages:

“Socious” (Latin): meaning a people, a tribe or city allied to Rome but later interpreted as SOCIETY and

“Logos” (Greek): meaning reason or knowledge

• The word sociology therefore means the “knowledge or study of society”.

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Coinage and Meaning of Sociology Cont.

• The coinage of the name “Sociology” was however preceded by the name “Social Physics.”

• The term was earlier adopted by Quetelet, a Belgian Statistician for a discipline he was developing.

• People’s view about sociology may be that the subject is meant for understanding societies.

• People may therefore think that because they live in society, they have ample knowledge of society through their experience of living in it.

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Coinage and Meaning of Sociology Cont.

• Sociologists are taught about:

The study of society

They learn theories and techniques of social research

• And therefore, sociology is defined as the academic study of society

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Topic 3: Sociological Imagination

• Unlike most ordinary people, sociologists are concerned about how social conditions influences are lives as individuals.

• Though individual abilities and capabilities account for our success and failure, social conditions according to a great extent also have roles to play.

• The ability to see social conditions as affecting people’s successes and failures is what American sociologist C. Wright Mills (1959) terms sociological imagination.

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Sociological Imagination Cont.

• Through sociological imagination, sociologists show that to understand individuals’ actions and perhaps our own experiences, we have to understand the social context in which they take place.

• Sociological imagination is a way of looking at our experiences in the light of what is going on in the social world around us.

• Social conditions and situations influence our behavior and actions in our everyday interactions

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Sociological Imagination Cont.

• The ability to see social conditions as affecting our actions and behavior as well as our successes and failures is what sociological imagination is all about.

For instance, when there is large unemployment in society, sociologist will not say the individuals are lazy. Rather they would ask questions such as:

What is the current economic situations in the society? Is it because of the conditions of IMF and the World Bank concerning freeze on

employment in the pubic sector? Is youth unemployment connected to other deviate acts such as prostitution and

illegal drug trade? How does youth unemployment affect other social activities such marriage and

family life as well as making a living? • Asking such questions and thinking about the interconnectedness between

individual background , the social conditions they live in and the type of behavior they put up is what sociological imagination is about

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Sociological Imagination Cont

• The sociological imagination involves the ability to see connection between social conditions and people’s life experiences, that is successes or failures.

• Sociological Imagination helps us to know our limitations as people, to see linkages between our lives and historical forces and social circumstances.

• It also helps us to think about the ways through which we can bring desirable changes into our lives and society itself.

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Reading List

• Refer to students to relevant text/chapter or reading materials you will make available on Sakai

• Hughes, M., Kroehler, C.J. (2005). Sociology: The Core (7th Edition). Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (Chapter 1, Pages 6-7)

• Newman D,M, and O’brien J, (2010), Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. London: Pine Forge Press. ( Chapter1, Pages 4-8)

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References

• Hughes, M., Kroehler, C.J. (2005). Sociology: The Core (7th Edition). Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (Chapter 1, Pages 6-7)

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