Etymological meaning: logus, which means

science or study. socius, which means group

or partners. Hence, sociology deals with the
study of groups. According to Joseph Fichter,
sociology is the scientific study of patterned
shared behavior. Sociology then is the branch
of social science that deals on the scientific study
of human social behavior.
2. It is the science of society and the social
interactions taking place therein. It deals with
the study of people living in interdependence.
The main focus of sociology is the group rather
than the individuals. Sociologists are
interested in the ways in which people act
toward, respond to, and influence on another.
3. Sociology is: the science of society (Ward
and Sumner) the science of social
phenomena (Giddings) the science of
institution (Durkheim) the science of social
organization and social change (Kovalevsky)
the science that studies human relationship
(Simmels) the study of social action (Weber)
the science of social process (Small) the
science of collective behavior (Park)
4. Subject Matter of Sociology: 1. Society - the
broadest grouping of people who share a
common set of habits, ideas, and attitudes, who
live in a definite territory and consider themselves
as a social unit. 2. Human Social Interaction - a
process by which the individual notices, responds
to or perceives others who in turn notice, respond
and perceives him.

Industrialization threw into turmoil societies

that had been relatively stable for centuries.
New technologies and industries changed the
face of the social and physical environment.
7. Two other factors besides industrialization
encouraged the development of society: 1.
Natural sciences 2. Exposure of Europeans to
the radically different societies in Africa, Asia, and
Americas that their colonial empires had
engulfed.
8. Emergence of Sociology Henri St. Simon
(1760 1825) - a French socialist theorist. Opposed feudal and military system and
advocated a form of state-technocratic socialism,
an arrangement where industrialists would lead
society and found a national community based
upon cooperation and technological progress,
which would be capable of eliminating poverty of
the lower classes.
9. August Comte ( 1798-1857) Coined the
word sociology. French Mathematician and
philosopher advocated the need of applying
scientific procedures on sociological
investigation. Based on the philosophy of
Positivism, he identified three stages in
understanding society: Law of 3 stages: a.)
Theological or Fictitious b.) Metaphysical or
Abstract c.) Scientific or Positivism

5. Historical Background Sociology has a very

short history. Before the mid-1800s, the study
of sociology was the domain of social
philosophers.

10. Karl Marx (1818-1883) A philosopher,

economist and social activist. He regarded
private property and capitalism as the root of
poverty. Two of his enduring legacies are his
theories of Economic Determinism and the
Dialectic. Marx hoped to encourage conflict
and ignite the revolution that would bring about
the desired change.

6. Origins The new discipline of sociology

began to emerge in the middle of the 19th
century in the context of sweeping changes the
Industrial Revolution brought to Europe.

11. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) He was an

English Philosopher who compared society to an
organism which continually changed to adapt to
its environment. He believed that social

progress is inevitable Principle of the Survival of

the Fittest. He is best known for his social
evolution. Survival of the Fittest means that
through natural selection (a gradual weeding out
of the weak and malfunctioning parts) only the
optimal social arrangement would eventually
remain.

16. Albion Small The founder of the first

Department of Sociology in the United States at
the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois in
1892. He was influential on the establishment
of sociology as a valid field of academic study.
He is the founder of the American Journal of
Sociology.

12. Emile Durkheim (1855-1917 ) French

intellectual who viewed society as a total entity,
more than the sum of its parts. On his classic
study entitled Suicide, when society overregulates and there is less freedom, fatalistic
suicide occurs. When there is too much
freedom and less regulation, anomic suicide will
occur.(Unstable due to moral
breakdown/alienation)

17. Sociology in the Philippines started as a

college subject taught in UST in 1896, UP in 1911
and Silliman University in 1919. Fr. Valentin
Marin was the first to teach sociology in UST in
1896. Serafin Macaraig was the first Filipino
sociologist who obtained a doctoral degree in
sociology.

13. Max Weber (1864-1920) German

economist, historian and philospher. He
believes that to understand the behavior of the
individual, we have to understand the meaning of
individual attributes to that behavior. Webers
work was the basis for Verstehen Sociology.
Verstehen is a German word meaning
understanding. He also believed of moving
toward bureaucratic society that is based on
common acceptance of reasons and legal rules.
(too rigid)
14. William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) He
taught the first course in sociology at Yale
University in 1876. He was greatly influenced
by the evolutionary theory on human behavior of
Spencer His greatest contribution is the study
of folkways and mores.
15. Lester Frank Ward (1841- 1913 ) He was
the forerunner among American sociologist who
was a liberal social reformer. He believed that
social progress is possible only through intelligent
social action. He advocated the use of
scientific knowledge to guide the restructuring of
society towards its improvement.

18. The development of sociology in the

Philippines is brought about by two realities,
namely: a.) sociology as a course in the tertiary
level and b.) the use of sociological knowledge to
applied disciplines.
19. The development of sociology may de divided
into 3 stages or how sociology was viewed: a.)
sociology as social philosophy was taught from
the normative point of view. b.) sociology as
problem oriented or welfare oriented was viewed
as a solution to social problem. c.) sociology as
scientific discipline served as a tool of the
government and private sectors in their
expansion and developmental goals.
20. SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY 1. Social
Interaction - a social process wherein one notice,
perceive and respond to another who in turn
notice, perceive and respond to. 2. Social
Organization - an ordered social relationship of
person or group composed of system of norms,
system of roles and system of sanction as well as
ranking system. 3. Social Change - refers to
variation or modification in the pattern of social
organization, groups or entire society.
21. 4. Social Structure - it is an interdependent
network of roles and hierarchy of statuses w/c

define the reciprocal expectation and the power

arrangement of the members of the total unit
guided by norms. 5. Social Acts - refers to the
action done by man collectively. 6. Social
Relation - refers to the logical or natural
association between two or more person/s.
22. AREAS OF SOCIOLOGY 1. Social
Organization - this area investigates social group,
institution, stratification and social mobility. 2.
Social Psychology - this area studies human
nature as the outcome or result of group life,
personality formation, social attitudes and
collective behavior.
23. 3. Social Change - this area studies the
changes in culture and social relations as well as
current social problems. 4. Human Ecology - this
area studies the behavior of a given population
and its relationship to the groups present social
institution.
24. 5. Population Studies - this area is concerned
with population numbers, composition, change
and quantity as they influence the economic,
political and social system. 6. Sociological Theory
and Method - this area is concerned with testing
the applicability of the principles of group life as
bases for the regulation of mans social
environment.
25. 7. Applied Sociology - this area is concerned
with the application of the findings of pure
sociological research to various fields, example:
criminology, penology, social works.
26. Importance of Sociology: 1. To obtain factual
information about our society and the different
aspect of our social life. 2. To learn the
application of scientific information to daily life
and problems. 3. It broadens our experience as
we learn to discard our prejudices and becomes
more tolerant of the custom of other people.
27. APPROACHES IN SOCIOLOGY 1.
Evolutionary Approach - it is an approach which

offers a satisfying explanation on how groups

exist, grow and develop. - This early theoretical
approach was based on the work of August
Comte and Herbert Spencer. - Sociologists used
this approach as a frame of reference to look for
pattern of change. The change may be seen in
the context of the development of cycle or in
terms of levels or stages of completeness.
28. 2. Inter-actionist Approach - an approach
which stresses the social origin of personality
development and human behavior. - This
approach offers no grand theories of society
since society and institutions are conceptual
abstraction and only people and their interaction
can be studied directly.
29. Two sociologists, Herbert Mead and
Charles Horton Cooley stressed the social origin
of personality. Mead noticed that people
interact mainly through symbols, which include
signs, gestures, and most importantly, written and
spoken word. This approach has produced
greater depth into personality development and
human behavior.
30. 3. Functionalist Approach an approach
which viewed society as a stable system of
cooperating groups operating orderly according
to a generally accepted norms. This approach
present that society tend to maintain a balanced
and harmonious equating system because most
members share a set of rules and values.
Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton, two
contemporary sociologists, maintained that every
institution fulfills certain functions
31. 4. Conflict Approach an approach which
perceived society as unstable system of
opposing groups. This approach stem from
the work of different scholars but is most directly
based from the book of Karl Marx who saw that
class conflict and class exploitation are the prime
moving forces in the history of men.