Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sociology
Lecture 2
Sociology and Social Change
Roots of Sociology
Dr. Feyda Sayan Cengiz
Recap from last week
• Thinking sociologically
• Critical distance – asking questions
• Seeing the “broader picture”; analyzing “the particular” in relation to
broader social changes (such as urbanization, industrialization, changes in
economy, changes in technology, etc.)
• Seeing patterns – connecting individual experiences with social
structures.
Recap from last week
• Basic concepts
• Social structure
• Social norms
• Socialization
• Social construction (socially constructed)
• Social order
• Structure vs. agency
Sociology and social change
• Emile Durkheim
- Sociology must develop methodology
(it should distance itself from philosophy
and psychology)
- Sociology should be objective
- «Social facts»
Theoretical approaches to society
What is a theory?
Sociologists develop theories to explain social phenomena.
A theory aims to explain why or how a phenomenon occurs.
- Theoretical approaches as «windows» to look at social world. What you see
and what you focus on depends on your «angle»