INTRODUCTION TO
SOCIOLOGY
LECTURE NOTES SUMMARY
BY
PROFESSOR EBEBE A UKPONG
1
,The Nature and Meaning of Sociology
Sociology is about understanding and explaining everyday life situation,
especially as they occur in group context e.g Japa. Is indecent dressing and
plagiarism problems on campus? Why are marriages breaking down at higher
rates? Does quota system promote equity and excellence? Who wants
relationship? What occupation for me?
• These are “Sociological” issues but can only be explained using critical
thinking, application of sociological principles and theories to separate
sociological explanation from layman assumptions. This unusual,
creative, critical thinking is called by C. Wright Mills as the “Sociological
imagination” – an awareness of the relationship between an individual
and the wider society. This awareness permits us to link our social
settings and helps to shape us.
• What then is Sociology? Many definitions.
(i) Schaefer- The scientific study of social behaviour and human groups
(ii) Ekpenyong (2003)- A scientific study of society- Society defined as a
fairly large number of people who live in the same territory, are
relating independent of people outside it; and participate in a
common culture.
• What defines sociology or makes it distinctive? Studies
(i) Human relationships – what happens when human beings meet.
(ii) The human groups – A group comprises of at least two people who
are somehow related to one another.
(iii) Scientific study of society or social relationships – scientific
explanation not natural explanations e.g it is natural that the man
should be the boss. No!
(iv) Scientifically, everyday occurrences (not common-sense knowledge)
The Subject Matter of Sociology
How do we delimit or put boundaries around the subject matter of sociology?
It is difficult because it deals with and involves everyday situations which are
constantly changing, especially due to globalization and growth in knowledge.
Ekpenyong (2003) suggests three broad ways (perspectives) of categorizing
(grouping) what sociology is focused on.
(i) The Historical Perspective - The traditional concerns and
interests of the founding fathers of sociology- read the classical
writings of Comte, Spencer, Durkheim, Weber and Marx.
(ii) The Empirical Perspective - Examine the contemporary works by
sociologists and students of society. They are about issues and
2
, problems of the time-topical, current. Every scholar is influenced by
the event of the time. What are some of these major events today?
Jakpa.
(iii) The analytical perspective – The intellectual concerns, the
growth of sociology as a scientific and professional discipline. The
growing list of the sub-fields of sociology points to the diverse
subject matter e.g sociology of Happiness, sociology of friendship,
language, illness, poverty, engineering, occupation, gender, etc and
of course, the older ones, sociology of development, crime, etc.
- “There is nothing about human society that is analytically beyond
the scope of sociological inquiry”-so long as it is about facts and
based on the theory-sociological theory – A theory is a set of
statements that seeks to explain problems, actions or behaviour.
WHAT SOCIOLOGISTS DO
This best presented at two levels or perspectives:
(1) The scope of knowledge and focus of enquires: Sociologists
• Study human behaviour, organizations interaction and processes that
develop when people interact (what do sociologist study and how?)
• Observe the activities of social, religious, political and economic
groups, organizations and institutions.
• Examine the effects of social influence, organizations institutions,
culture on different individuals and groups.
• These three sets of knowledge enterprises consolidate into everyday
activities like designing projects to test theories or solve social
problems like unemployment, marital breakdowns, etc, collection of
data, analysis of data, preparation of reports, use of the reports to
implement or influence policy and programmes and increase
understanding of human behaviour.
(2) The activities and skills applied by sociologists.
Sociologists are widely involved in the issues of social sciences. On the
basis of their specialization, sociologists do the following jobs or perform
various roles including.
i) Administrators (in both public and private sectors as human
resource, personnel, administrative managers).
ii) Researchers – analysts and influencer, policy advisers (PRS)
iii) Planners – development planning, manpower planning, SDGs
experts
iv) Teachers and facilitators.
3
SOCIOLOGY
LECTURE NOTES SUMMARY
BY
PROFESSOR EBEBE A UKPONG
1
,The Nature and Meaning of Sociology
Sociology is about understanding and explaining everyday life situation,
especially as they occur in group context e.g Japa. Is indecent dressing and
plagiarism problems on campus? Why are marriages breaking down at higher
rates? Does quota system promote equity and excellence? Who wants
relationship? What occupation for me?
• These are “Sociological” issues but can only be explained using critical
thinking, application of sociological principles and theories to separate
sociological explanation from layman assumptions. This unusual,
creative, critical thinking is called by C. Wright Mills as the “Sociological
imagination” – an awareness of the relationship between an individual
and the wider society. This awareness permits us to link our social
settings and helps to shape us.
• What then is Sociology? Many definitions.
(i) Schaefer- The scientific study of social behaviour and human groups
(ii) Ekpenyong (2003)- A scientific study of society- Society defined as a
fairly large number of people who live in the same territory, are
relating independent of people outside it; and participate in a
common culture.
• What defines sociology or makes it distinctive? Studies
(i) Human relationships – what happens when human beings meet.
(ii) The human groups – A group comprises of at least two people who
are somehow related to one another.
(iii) Scientific study of society or social relationships – scientific
explanation not natural explanations e.g it is natural that the man
should be the boss. No!
(iv) Scientifically, everyday occurrences (not common-sense knowledge)
The Subject Matter of Sociology
How do we delimit or put boundaries around the subject matter of sociology?
It is difficult because it deals with and involves everyday situations which are
constantly changing, especially due to globalization and growth in knowledge.
Ekpenyong (2003) suggests three broad ways (perspectives) of categorizing
(grouping) what sociology is focused on.
(i) The Historical Perspective - The traditional concerns and
interests of the founding fathers of sociology- read the classical
writings of Comte, Spencer, Durkheim, Weber and Marx.
(ii) The Empirical Perspective - Examine the contemporary works by
sociologists and students of society. They are about issues and
2
, problems of the time-topical, current. Every scholar is influenced by
the event of the time. What are some of these major events today?
Jakpa.
(iii) The analytical perspective – The intellectual concerns, the
growth of sociology as a scientific and professional discipline. The
growing list of the sub-fields of sociology points to the diverse
subject matter e.g sociology of Happiness, sociology of friendship,
language, illness, poverty, engineering, occupation, gender, etc and
of course, the older ones, sociology of development, crime, etc.
- “There is nothing about human society that is analytically beyond
the scope of sociological inquiry”-so long as it is about facts and
based on the theory-sociological theory – A theory is a set of
statements that seeks to explain problems, actions or behaviour.
WHAT SOCIOLOGISTS DO
This best presented at two levels or perspectives:
(1) The scope of knowledge and focus of enquires: Sociologists
• Study human behaviour, organizations interaction and processes that
develop when people interact (what do sociologist study and how?)
• Observe the activities of social, religious, political and economic
groups, organizations and institutions.
• Examine the effects of social influence, organizations institutions,
culture on different individuals and groups.
• These three sets of knowledge enterprises consolidate into everyday
activities like designing projects to test theories or solve social
problems like unemployment, marital breakdowns, etc, collection of
data, analysis of data, preparation of reports, use of the reports to
implement or influence policy and programmes and increase
understanding of human behaviour.
(2) The activities and skills applied by sociologists.
Sociologists are widely involved in the issues of social sciences. On the
basis of their specialization, sociologists do the following jobs or perform
various roles including.
i) Administrators (in both public and private sectors as human
resource, personnel, administrative managers).
ii) Researchers – analysts and influencer, policy advisers (PRS)
iii) Planners – development planning, manpower planning, SDGs
experts
iv) Teachers and facilitators.
3
