SOCIOLOGY-I

Integrated Programme in Management/Law

Maxim Gatskov, Dipl.-Ped., M.A.

Session 8-9

SOCIOLOGY & OTHER SOCIAL DISCIPLINES

14 September 2022
Psychology vs. Sociology
Psychology Sociology
Focuses on individual mind and Focuses on groups/societies,
behavior patterns of thinking and acting

Is connected with natural (“life”)

sciences, like biology, physiology, Excludes “nature” from its reasoning
neuroscience, etc.

Specific research methods:

Specific research methods:
nationwide statistics, large-scale
experiments, observation, small-
surveys, focus groups, discourse
scale survey
analysis

Individual consulting Provides expertise to institutions

16.09.2022 Sociology and other social disciplines 2

Social Psychology vs. Sociology
Social Psychology Sociology

Studies how the group affects the Studies how groups interact with
individual and vice versa each other and with society

For the most part, excludes

Includes emotions into research
emotions from research

Is more holistically oriented,

Develops robust theories about
theoretical reasoning can be quite
certain situational settings
“soft”

Is an established discipline within Microsociology has a lot of

the realm of psychology overlapping topics with SP

16.09.2022 Sociology and other social disciplines 3

Anthropology vs. Sociology
Anthropology
Studies how cultures emerge and
how they are encoded
Aimed to study the so-called
primitive peoples
Specific research methods:
participant observation,
interviews
Strong connections to history,
archeology, ethnography
16.09.2022 Sociology and other social disciplines
Sociology
Study how groups interact with each
other and society
Emerged as study of the “advanced”
or “civilized” (European) societies
Specific research methods:
nationwide statistics, large-scale
surveys, interviews, discourse
analysis
Strong connections to social
psychology, economics
4
Anthropology vs. Sociology

a. social networks vs.… 98

b. learning hard vs. more… 110

c. ecological vs. common… 4

d. save vs. spend money 43

e. other important choice… 39

f. nothing bothers me 10

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

16.09.2022 Sociology and other social disciplines 5

Political Science vs. Sociology
Political Science Sociology
When sociology turnes to political
Studies systems/institutions of
issues, it focuses on the (political)
government and political behavior
attitudes and values of the
of social groups
population
On the global level:
On the global level: “Globalization”
International relations

Uses a variety of methods to collect

Does a lot of desk research
Often refers to history (late
modern period)
empirical data
Macrosociology does historical
analysis when if it aimes at
explaining development paths of
societies

16.09.2022 Sociology and other social disciplines 6

Late modern period → Wikipedia

16.09.2022 Sociology and other social disciplines 7

Economics vs. Sociology
Economics
Homo economicus: rational,
driven by utility maximization
(consumption, control of
resources)
Studies production and
distribution of goods and services
Specific theoretical approach:
mathematical modelling
Empirical data: “hard facts” on
behavior
16.09.2022 Sociology and other social disciplines
Sociology
Homo sociologicus: partly
“irrational”, driven by norms and
values of his/her social environment
Focuses on groups/societies,
patterns of thinking and acting
No specific theoretical approaches
(Analytical Sociology)
Empirical data: all kind of data,
often based on peoples’ answers to
questions
8
Sociology and other social sciences
Gustave Le Bon. Psychology of the masses
Karl Marx. Capital. A critique of political economy
Sigmund Freud. Totem and taboo
Thorstein Veblen. The theory of the leisure class
Mancur Olson. The rise and decline of nations
John Rawls. Justice as fairness
Francis Fukuyama. The end of history and the last man
Paul Krugman. The conscience of a liberal. Reclaiming America from the
right
Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. Why nations fail
Richard Swedberg. Economics and sociology
Jagdish Bhagwati. In defense of globalization

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Example: study of religion
Anthropology
How do premodern cultures invent religion? How does religion
help to keep people together in communities?

Psychology
Why and how would an individual develop faith in God? Which
stages of religious faith does he go through during his life?

Social psychology
Are there connections betwenn religosity/denominations and
stereotypes/discrimination? Does faith promote altruistic
behavior?

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Example: study of religion
Economics
What is the influence of religion on economic growth? How do
different denominations compete with each other on the
“religious market”?

Sociology
Why and how have societies established institutions of religion?
Which functions to they perform in the society? (Does a
concentration of churches in a neighborhood have any effect on
crime, income, or education?)

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Example: study of religion

Religion is a universal anthropological way of dealing

with the Oedipus complex.

16.09.2022 Sigmund Freud 12

Example: study of religion

Religion is the opium of the people.

16.09.2022 Karl Marx 13

Example: study of religion

Capitalism emerged out of protestant ethics.

16.09.2022 Max Weber 14

Example: study of religion

Loosing of religious ties leads to social disintegration.

16.09.2022 Émile Durkheim 15

Exercise: study of migration

Anthropology

Psychology

Social psychology

Economics

Sociology

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Sources for follow-up learning
WEB: Sociology and other social disciplines
https://kanikapanwar.blogspot.com/2013/10/relationship-of-
sociology-to-other.html

YOUTUBE: Sociology and Athropology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njfqkj3Ej9M

TEXTBOOK: OpenStax. Introduction to Sociology. 3rd Ed. 2021

https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/3-
introduction
Chapter 5, Section 5.1, Box “Sociological research”
Sociology or Psychology: What’s the Difference?

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