Manuel L.

Quezon University
790 EDSA, Diliman, Quezon City

ASSIGNMENT IN SOCIOLOGY

(DEFINITION OF SOCIOLOGY AND

OTHER RELATED SCIENCES;
CULTURE AND ITS COMPONENTS
AND CHARACTERISTICS; SOCIAL
GROUPS AND SOCIAL
ORGANIZATIONS)

Submitted by:
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M.
15-00326

Submitted to:
Dr. Edward Villanueva
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

SOCIOLOGY- Sociology deals with the study of human social relationships and
institutions. It has a diverse subject matter, as it ranges from crime to religion,
from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the
shared beliefs of a common culture, and from social stability to radical change in
whole societies. A multidisciplinary field, sociology draws from a variety of other
social sciences, including anthropology, political science, psychology, and
economics.
Other related social sciences:
ANTHROPOLOGY- deals with the study of individual cultures in a society, rather
than the society as a whole. It place special emphasis on language, kinship
patterns, and cultural artifacts.
PSYCHOLOGY- it deals with the study of governments of various societies. It
considers what kind of government a society has, how it was formed, and how
individuals attain positions of power within a particular government.
PSYCHOLOGY- it deals with the study of individual out of his social
circumstances and examines the mental processes that occur within that person.
Psychologists study the human brain and how it functions, considering issues such
as memory, dreams, learning, and perception.
ECONOMICS- concerns on the production and distribution of society’s goods and
services. Economists study why a society chooses to produce what it does, how
money is exchanged, and how people interact and cooperate to produce goods.

WHY DO WE STUDY SOCIOLOGY?

Sociology helps us look more objectively at our society and other societies. It
directs attention to how parts of society fit in one another and change, as well as
makes us knowledgeable of the consequences of that social change. Studying
sociology prepares one for a lifetime of change by developing one’s appreciation of
diversity, love of learning, writing and study skills, and knowledge about human
behavior, culture, and social organization.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

TOOLS AND METHODS OF SOCIOLOGY

The use of sociology tools to produce social change is often called applied
sociology, which involves using sociological tools and methods to address real-world
research questions. The tools and methods of sociology are:
QUESTIONNAIRES
It is a list of questions to be answered by a participant. It is done in order to
acquire information needed to solve issues and problems. Questionnaires, either
oral or written, are generally easy and quick to create, anonymous, standardized
and can reach large groups of people.
OBSERVATIONS
Observation is done to collect data by discerning or perceiving the everyday
life of a group of people. However, this can be time-consuming, as one may need to
conduct observations over a long period as it is an effective tool for studying
interactions and relationships in depth.
INTERVIEWS
It is a tool used in sociology to gain information and insight from an
individual. The researcher asks questions orally and records the answers. It is
typically conducted face to face or through phone. The researcher analyzes the
answers for meaning and also determines the reliability of the answers given by the
interviewees.
EXPERIMENTS
Experiments are used to collect specific information in a strategic way.
Sociologists perform experiments to answer questions or study people’s responses.
Sociological experiments can help determine solutions for problems. However, the
results may be less reliable, as experiments are forced and do not always unfold
naturally.
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE AND SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Sociological perspective/paradigm involves recognizing and evaluating
the effects of social relationships and social structures and forces, considering the
present day in historical context and takes for granted that society is socially
constructed and thus changeable. It is a perspective that focuses critical thinking,
the posing of critical questions, and the pursuit of solutions.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

There are three primary theoretical perspectives namely: the symbolic

interactionist perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict
perspective.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
Also known as symbolic interactionism, it directs sociologists to know the
symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people
interact with each other. According to the symbolic interactionist perspective,
people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective
interpretation of these symbols.
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
Also called functionalism, each aspect of society is interdependent and
contributes to society’s functioning as a whole. Functionalist believe that society is
held together by social consensus, or cohesion, in which members of the society
agree upon, and work together to achieve, what is best for society as a whole.
CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
Unlike symbolic interactionism and functionalism, conflict perspective
focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever-changing nature of society.

Sociological Theories are statements of how and why certain facts

about the social realm are related. They vary in scope from concise definitions of a
single social procedure to paradigms for analysis and interpretation. Some
sociological theories explain aspects of the social world and enable prediction about
future events, while others function as broad point-of-views which guide through
further sociological analyses.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

CULTURE
Culture consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics
common to the members of a particular group or society. Through culture, people
and groups define themselves, conform to society’s shared values, and contribute
to society. Thus, culture includes many societal aspects: language, customs,
values, norms, mores, rules, tools, technologies, products, organizations, and
institutions.

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE:
COMMUNICATION
Language- forms the core of all culture. When people share a language,
they share a condensed, very flexible set of symbols and meaning, allowing them to
understand one another.
Symbol- forms the backbone of symbolic interaction. They condense very
complex ideas and values into simple material forms so that the very presence of
the symbol evokes the signified ideas and values.
COGNITIVE COMPONENT
Ideas- are mental representations like concepts, categories, metaphors)
used to organize stimulus; they are the basic units out of which knowledge is
constructed and a word emerges.
Knowledge- is the storehouse where we accumulate representations,
information, idea, facts, assumptions, etc.
Values- culturally defined standards of desirability, goodness, and beauty,
which serve as broad guidelines for social living. Values people hold ranges to some
degree by age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, and social class.
Accounts- are how people use a common language to explain, justify,
rationalize, excuse, or legitimize our behavior to themselves and to others.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

BEHAVIORAL COMPONENT
Norms- are rules and expectations by which society guides the behavior
of its members. They are standards that define the obligatory and expected
behaviors of people in various situations.
Types of Norms
Mores- they are customary behavior patterns or folkways which have
taken on a moralistic value.
Laws- are the mores deemed so vital to dominant interests that they
become translated into legal formations that even nonmembers of society are
required to obey.
Folkways- usually known as patterns, these are behavior patterns of
society which are organized and repetitive.
Rituals- are highly scripted ceremonies or strips of interaction that
follow a specific sequence of actions
MATERIAL COMPONENT
Humans make objects, either for practical and artistic purposes. The form
and function of these objects symbolizes their expression of culture and culturally
defines behavior depends on the presence of specific objects. These are naturally
defined as material culture.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
1. Culture is learned-behavior.
2. Culture is abstract. Culture exists in the minds or habits of the members of
society. Culture is the shared ways of doing and thinking.
3. Culture is a pattern of learned behavior. Each person’s behavior often
depends upon some particular behavior of someone else. As a general rule,
behaviors are somewhat integrated or organized with related behaviors of
other persons.
4. Culture is the product of behavior.
5. Culture includes attitude, values, and knowledge.
6. Culture includes material objects.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

7. Culture is shared by the members of the society. Patterns of learned

behavior and the results of it are possessed not by one or a few person, but
usually by a large proportion.
8. Culture is super-organic. It implies that culture is somehow superior to
nature. The word super-organic is useful when it implies that what may be
quite a different phenomenon from a cultural point of view.
9. Culture is a way of life. It simply means the way of life of a people or their
design for living where it tends to be shared by all or specially designed
members of a group.
10. Culture is idealistic. Culture embodies the ideas and norms of a group. It
consists of the intellectual, artistic, and social ideas and institutions which the
members of the society profess and to which they strive to confirm.
11. Culture is transmitted among the members of society. Its ways are
learned by persons from persons. Many of them are “handed down” by one’s
elders, by parents, teachers, and others (of a somewhat older generation).
12. Culture is continually changing.
13. Culture is variable. It varies from society to society, and group to group.
14. Culture is an integrated system. Culture possesses an order and system.
Its various parts are integrated with each other and any new element which
is introduced is also integrated.

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Language is perceived as the chief vehicle of culture. A specialized language
pattern serves as a common bond to the members of a particular group. Although
culture is transmitted in a variety of ways, language is one of the most important
aspects for perpetuating cultural patterns. For example, a man lives not only in the
present but also in the past and future. He is able to do this because he possesses
language that enables him to transmit what was learned in the past and make him
transmit the accumulated knowledge and wisdom to the next generation.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

SOCIAL GROUPS AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

SOCIAL GROUPS - unit of interacting personalities with interdependence
of roles and statuses existing between and among themselves. It is also a collection
of people where members interact on a regular basis, guided by structure and
agreements, defined by roles and responsibilities.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS – type of collectivity established for the
pursuit of specific aims or goals. It is also defined by a formal structure of rules,
authority relations, a division of labor and limited membership of admission.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL GROUP
 Group members interact on a fairly regular basis through communication.
 Members should develop a structure where each member assumes a specific
status and adopts a particular role.
 Certain orderly procedures and values are agreed upon.
 The members of the group feel a sense of identity.
TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUP
We may classify social groups from various viewpoints. If we consider
size as the criterion, the single person as a focus of group relationship is 'monad'
two involved in interaction to affect its organization is 'dyad' and 'triad' with the
participation of three. If we consider the nature of social contact and intensity of
social interaction the types of social group will be as such:

Primary Groups
The primary group is primary in the sense that the members are
emotionally attached together sharing their basic ways of life with one another. In
the basic affairs of life which are most essential for a social life those who fall into
mutual sharing of one another form a group prime in importance called primary
group. Emotions, attitude, ideas and habits of individuals develop within here.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

Secondary Groups
The people within their contact second to the primary form secondary group
no matter whatever the type of relationship is there. The intimacy is relatively lower
than that in primary. The relations of teacher and student, buyer and seller, voter
and candidate, are secondary.

In-Group and Out-Group

These types were given by W. C. Sumner.
During the processes of our daily life we divide people into 'we and they'.
The interest of the individual rests within those people with whom he is closely
affiliated and places his confidence in them. They may be Members of his family,
neighborhood, play-group or immediate or close relatives. He develops his
subjective attitude and forms opinion about the acceptance or rejection of a certain
object or idea through his in-group members. Consciousness kind also falls in this
type of social group. The members are tied in the bonds of 'we feel', It is the group
to which the individual is member.
'Out group' members are considered in relation to in-group. Those not
included in 'we' and fail in `they' are the members of out-group, its members are
not members of individuals self. We (in-group) the Russians, they (out-group) the
Americans: we the Pathans and they the Sayyed are the examples. It means a
person member of a certain group falls in its in-group and a person not member to
a group falls in his out-group.

Formal and Informal Groups

Here membership is defined. Those who fulfill the conditions can become
member. The entry is made under written rule and the membership can be
cancelled on violation of its rules and regulations. The offices are distributed
according to the rules.
Informal group membership is not defined. Any person can participate and
leave it when he likes. People in markets, fairs, listening radio, watching television,
listening to a speaker and enjoying the feats of an acrobat on the roadside are the
examples of informal groups.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

Reference Group
The term reference group was introduced by Muzafer Sherif in his book
"an Outline of Social Psychology". Here individual was socialized. Here he
identifies himself may include the old members of the family and those who
influenced him. Those who left bright effects on the social life of the individual are
the members of his reference group.

Ethnic Group
It is the social group which has its cultural traits different from the general
culture of the society. These are smaller one widespread at different places in
society. They are always in minority and have strong social solidarity among their
members due to close and intense social interaction.

Caste
Caste is a permanent social group in which the status of an individual is
fixed through heredity alone. Caste is the described status received at birth. Caste
is an element in determining social stratification in our society. Different castes
have different social positions in our society.

Pressure-Group
It lays pressure on government to change its policies in its favor. Here are
participants are high class people, especially the rich and the diplomats. This enjoys
high status in society. Its members also participate in running government and
administration.

Vested Interest Group

It is social group which has its own ends. Mostly the economic benefit are
the major aims. This one is for the sake of its aims does not interfere in
government like the pressure group. But it has its own way by following the
government. This sort of social group derives benefit from the government.
Bentulan, Norbert James Ike Zahir M. Dr. Edward Villanueva
SSCI 122-1 (Sociology) 20August2019

SOCIAL STRUCTURE
In sociology, social structure is the distinctive, stable arrangement of
institutions whereby human beings in a society interact and live together. Social
structure is often treated together with the concept of social change, which deals
with the forces that change the social structure and the organization of society.

SOCIAL CONTROL
Social control, within sociology, refers to the many ways in which our
behavior, thoughts, and appearance are regulated by the norms, rules, laws,
and social structures of society. Social control is a necessary component
of social order, for society could not exist without it.