Sociology

what is it?

• (SOCI)(OLOGY)
• Soci meaning society
• ology meaning science/ study of
• So, the study of society.

Sociology vs. Psychology

• Sociology studies a group
• Psychology studies the individual

Two main aspects of society:

• Social Interaction
• Social Phenomena

Social interaction

• How people relate to one another and influence each others behavior.

Social Phenomena

• Observable facts or events that involve human society

Culture

• All the shared products of human groups.
• Culture plays a big part in sociology.

There are two types of culture.

Material culture

• The physical objects that people create and use.
• Examples: cars, books, computers, phones.

Non-material culture

• Abstract human creations
• Examples: beliefs, values, language.

There are 5 components of culture.

1. Technology

• Combination of objects and the rules for using them.

2. Symbols

• Anything that represents something else.
• Ex: Arrows, Emoji's, Heart

3. Language

• Organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system.
• Ex: English, Chinese, Verbal clicks of the San.

4. Values

• Shared beliefs good or bad, right or wrong.
• Ex: War, Religion

5. Norms

• Shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations.

There are 2 kinds of norms.

1. Folkways

• Norms that describe socially acceptable behavior but do not have great moral significance.

2. Mores

• Norms that have great moral significance.