INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY.................................................................................................................................1 AUTHORS...................................................................................................................................................................6 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................................7

Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................7 What is Sociology?...............................................................................................................................................7 History..................................................................................................................................................................8 Sociology and Other Social Sciences.................................................................................................................11 Sociology Today.................................................................................................................................................13 Technology and the Social Sciences...................................................................................................................13 References..........................................................................................................................................................13 External links.....................................................................................................................................................14

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................15 The Development of Social Science...................................................................................................................16 The Scientific Method.........................................................................................................................................17 Correlation and Causation................................................................................................................................21 Quantitative and Qualitative..............................................................................................................................23 Objective vs. Critical..........................................................................................................................................24 Ethics..................................................................................................................................................................24 What Can Sociology Tell Us?............................................................................................................................25 Notes..................................................................................................................................................................26 References..........................................................................................................................................................26 External Links....................................................................................................................................................26

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................27 Structural-Functionalism...................................................................................................................................28 Conflict Theory..................................................................................................................................................30 Symbolic Interactionism.....................................................................................................................................31 Role Theory........................................................................................................................................................32 Social Constructionism......................................................................................................................................34 Integration Theory.............................................................................................................................................34 Notes..................................................................................................................................................................35 References..........................................................................................................................................................35 External Links....................................................................................................................................................36

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................38 Societal Development.........................................................................................................................................38 Classical Views on Social Change.....................................................................................................................44 Notes..................................................................................................................................................................47 References..........................................................................................................................................................47 External Links....................................................................................................................................................48

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................50 Subcultures & Countercultures..........................................................................................................................53 Ethnocentrism & Cultural Relativism................................................................................................................54 Theories of Culture............................................................................................................................................55 Cultural Change.................................................................................................................................................56 Cultural Sociology: Researching Culture..........................................................................................................57 Notes..................................................................................................................................................................58 References..........................................................................................................................................................58 External links.....................................................................................................................................................59

What is Socialization?........................................................................................................................................60 Elements of Socialization...................................................................................................................................60 Theoretical Understandings of Socialization.....................................................................................................64 Research Examples............................................................................................................................................65 Notes..................................................................................................................................................................67 References..........................................................................................................................................................67 History................................................................................................................................................................68

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................69 Social Identity Theory........................................................................................................................................71 Primary and Secondary Groups.........................................................................................................................74 Leadership..........................................................................................................................................................75 Conformity.........................................................................................................................................................75 Reference Groups...............................................................................................................................................75 Ingroups and Outgroups....................................................................................................................................75 Group Size..........................................................................................................................................................75 Networks............................................................................................................................................................80 Notes..................................................................................................................................................................84 References..........................................................................................................................................................84 External Links....................................................................................................................................................85

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................87 Why study demography?....................................................................................................................................87 History................................................................................................................................................................87 Data and Methods..............................................................................................................................................87 The Demographic Transition.............................................................................................................................92 Population Growth and Overpopulation............................................................................................................94 Notes..................................................................................................................................................................99 References..........................................................................................................................................................99 External Links..................................................................................................................................................100

Introduction......................................................................................................................................................102 Theories of Deviance.......................................................................................................................................103 Crime Statistics................................................................................................................................................107 Social Control..................................................................................................................................................116 Notes................................................................................................................................................................117 References........................................................................................................................................................117 History..............................................................................................................................................................117 External Links..................................................................................................................................................117

Subfields...........................................................................................................................................................118 SP's three angles of research...........................................................................................................................118 The concerns of social psychology...................................................................................................................119 Empirical methods...........................................................................................................................................120 Relation to other fields.....................................................................................................................................121 Major perspectives in social psychology.........................................................................................................125 Well-known cases, studies, and related works.................................................................................................130 History..............................................................................................................................................................131 References........................................................................................................................................................131 Related topics...................................................................................................................................................131