Course Code: BED1104

Course Name: Introduction to Sociology

Name: Kabuti Lamech Victorious
Admin: BAPG/2022/32263

CAT ONE AND TWO

Instruction:
Answer all the questions (Each question is 5 marks)
Use Times New Roman and line spacing 1.5
Fort size 12

SOLUTION
1) Explain the ways through which people learn the norms and values of society.

Learning begins the day a person is born. A person is actually programmed on how to act and
behave as well as what to believe in. The first people to do this will be you, your parents, and
your family. Keep in mind that they all have the same programming. You are instructed on what
to say and do incorrectly. You first interact with others when you're very young. Your memory
won't be like a sponge, but your perspective is. It incorporates everything. At this point in your
life, you don't judge, but as time goes on, you'll start to realize that you're a unique person with a
distinct intellect.

It carries on throughout your schooling. Here, one must learn what the system wants them to
learn, as well as how to act around others and recognize how the school's administration and
teachers are their "superiors".
2) Explore the factors that hinder social change in rural communities in Kenya.

Social impediments: a lack of neighborhood support, social expectations, and group conformity

Barriers based on culture, tradition, rituals, and religion

Financial infrastructure, corruption, and a lack of property rights are all economic hindrances.
Ideology and values-based political impediments

3) State the main agents of socialization in your society and discuss their changing role in the
modern society

Family
The initial socializing agent is the family. A child learns what they need to know through their
mothers and fathers, siblings, grandparents, and other family members. Families, of course, can
be arranged in many different ways. This family unit is what introduces the young child to the
outside world initially, regardless of whether they are raised solely by a sibling, a grandparent, or
their original parents.

Religion
For many people, religion is a significant socialization tool. Some individuals associate religious
festivals with significant family-related rites, such as marriage and childbirth. Additionally,
many religious institutions support gender norms and aid in their socialization.

The Media
Television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet are just a few of the ways that mass media
disseminate impersonal information to a large audience. By constantly bombarding us with
messages about standards and expectations, media aids in socializing. Media has a significant
impact on social standards because the average individual spends more than four hours a day
watching television (and children typically spend even more time in front of a screen. People
 gain knowledge about both material and non-material cultural things, including what is true
(beliefs), what is significant (values), and what is anticipated (norms).

Government
For both people and groups, individual governments offer socialization opportunities. Being
eighteen years old, the age at which a person becomes legally responsible for themselves, is
typically required to be considered an adult. Furthermore, since the majority of people start to
qualify for senior benefits at age 65, that age is considered to be the beginning of old age.

Education
Education is the process by which a group of people's goals and behaviors are passed down from
one generation to the next. In general, it happens as a result of any experience that has a forming
influence on a person's thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. Technically speaking, education is the
formal process through which society consciously passes on its acquired information, abilities,
traditions, and values from one generation to the next.

4) Explain the characteristics of a modernized society.

.
Multiple dimensions:
Modernity has a multi-dimensional structure. Giddens contends that there are four institutional
features of modernity that may be explained. Giddens, who frequently references Marx's ideas,
claims that it is incorrect to associate modernity with only liberalism, capitalism, or
industrialism.
\
A group of institutions make up modernity:
Many different institutions make up modernity. Each of these institutions has an own pattern of
growth and change.

Consumer goods proliferation and the emergence of new lifestyles

The complexity of modern society is becoming an increasingly prominent feature. There has
been a significant increase in consumer goods. The modern society has become a consumer
 society as a result of this progress. As is customary, consumerism gives rise to a wide range of
lifestyles. Traditions are weakened during this process.

Modernity is a special kind of power.

The most crucial element of modernity is power. Power is a constant in all of our social
interactions. In addition to our interpersonal relationships, class conflicts, social movements, and
other forms of group interaction, the state's institutional frameworks and regulations also play a
role in how society is organized.

Technology and modernity:

The Technological Society uses technology to describe modernity. 

5) Explain the relationship between culture and development.

There are both good and bad connections between culture and progress. In a favorable
relationship, culture promotes development, whereas in a negative relationship, culture inhibits
it. A culture is referred to as "pro-development" if it promotes development. And if it hinders
development, it is referred to as "development resistant culture." The adverse association
between culture and development is caused by development resistant culture.

Positive links between culture and development result from pro-development cultures. Historical
evidence supports the notion that culture and development are positively correlated. Max
Webber demonstrated that Protestantism, which emphasizes boosting economic productivity by
utilizing time and resources, is to blame for capitalism's eventual replacement of feudalism.

6) Discuss the different types of societies according to Len ski classification

Hunting-Gathering society
o Earliest era of human civilization
o Minimal size (family bands)
o Spending the most time hunting for food
o Very mobile
o Very little development in the division of labor
o The longest civilization, accounting for 99% of all societal time, lasted 59 minutes and 51
seconds.

Horticultural society
o Villages (fewer than a hundred persons to several hundred) (less than a hundred inhabitants to
several hundred)
o Family ties and other groups
o Animal and plant domestication
o Semi-nomadic
o Creating food is a significant societal effort.
o Labor division changes, notably as a result of gender.
o Military and religious leadership positions

Agrarian culture
o Large-scale agriculture was developed.
o Large societies and urban areas
o Multicultural society
o Substantial division of work
o Roles of farming technology (government, religion, business, etc.)
o The majority of people (at least 50%) are peasants.
o 5.2 seconds have passed on the social timer.

Commercial society

o The most advanced type of human society

o Nation-states

o Massive populations (metropolis)

o Advanced technology across several industries

o Production of food employs less than 10% of the population.

o Extremely specific division of labor (gender roles remain)

o Massive ability to dismantle other societies

o Only one second has passed on the societal time clock.

7) Explain the basic elements of religion according to Anderson and Parker.

1. God(s) and forces in the public square

The very first component of religion is the conviction that the meaning and conduct of politics
both now and throughout history can be affected by divine beings and/or forces. These beings are
variously interpreted as a knowable deity or gods, legendary and symbolic figures from our
distant past, or impersonal forces operating outside of the physical world.

2. Sacred images redefining reality

Rituals that reorganize the universe in accordance with religious principles make up the second
component of religion. Despite the possibility that the concept of "faith" refers to the acceptance
of invisible truths, people have always had a need to physically experience the sacred. The doors
to the spirit are our senses. Rituals serve as concrete representations of the ethereal world as a
result.

3. Sacred tales tying the past, present, and future together

The third component of religion is teaching customs based on legends about important historical
persons, occasions, and concepts, as well as notions about the course of time itself, such as a
 spoiler about the end of the world. However, some faiths believe that time is merely an illusion
and place more importance on living in the moment than on the relationship between the past,
present, and future. The evolution of political ideas also depends on these factors: understanding
the past, predicting the future, and living in the present. Therefore, despite the fact that the
interpretation or aim of the same stories or concepts may vary greatly between religious and
political parties, occasionally they might appeal to them.

4. A group of people who worship and work together

The requirement for believers to be a part of a faith community in order to participate in holy
rites and confirm the veracity of sacred stories is the fourth element shared by the majority of
faiths. Some religious practices could be categorized as high demand because they call for stern
adherence to laws and guidelines in order to keep one's place in the faith group. Other traditions
are less popular and take a more lenient stance on what constitutes being a devoted member of
the society. Both types of religious devotion are 'identity politics' that relate to who we are (i.e.,
who we perceive ourselves to be) and how we act.

8) Is sociology a science or an art? Discuss citing relevant examples.

Sociology is a social science that concentrates on society, human social behavior, social
interaction patterns, and aspects of daily life-related culture. It creates a corpus of knowledge on
social order and social change using various techniques for empirical study and critical analysis.
While some sociologists perform studies that can be used to improve social welfare and policy,
others place a greater emphasis on improving our theoretical understanding of social dynamics.
The focus might range from macro-level assessments of society to micro-level investigations of
individual interaction and agency (i.e. of social systems and social structure).

Social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality, gender,
and deviance are some of the traditional sociological topics of study. Since the interaction of
social structure and individual agency affects all aspects of human activity, sociology has
gradually widened its scope to include additional topics and institutions. Examples include the
 economy, the military, punishment and control systems, the Internet, sociology of education,
social capital, and the contribution of social activity to the advancement of scientific knowledge.

9) Describe the conflict theory of social change.

Conflict theory focuses on the rivalry between social groupings over scarce resources.
According to conflict theory, social and economic structures serve as weapons in conflicts
between groups or classes, preserving inequality and the power of the ruling class.
According to the Marxist conflict theory, society is split into two economic classes: the
bourgeois ruling class and the proletariat working class.
Later iterations of conflict theory examine numerous social, religious, and other forms of
groupings as well as various capitalist factions in terms of conflict.

10) Use any of the Evolutionary theories to explain the process of social change in Kenya
Conflict theory
Conflict theorists contend that because a society's powerful and rich preserve the status quo,
which includes social norms and institutions that are supportive of them, change is essential for
redressing social injustices and inequities.

Karl Marx agreed that societies evolve in a certain direction in accordance with the theory of
evolution, but he disagreed that each stage represents an advancement over the one before it.
Marx observed that history unfolds in stages, with the wealthy consistently taking advantage of
the weak and underprivileged. This is proof that Kenyan politicians take advantage of the
underprivileged for their own gain. The basic exploitation of working-class people today and
slaves in ancient Rome is similar. only through a proletariat-led socialist revolution.

11) Compare and contrast sociology with any other two social sciences.
Economics is a science of money and choice, but sociology is a science of society and social
relationships.
In comparison to economics, which is a more established subject, sociology is a far more recent
study.
 In contrast to economics, which is a concrete science, sociology is an abstract discipline.
As opposed to economics, which is a specialized social science, sociology is a general social
science.
Sociology has a fairly broad range of topics, but economics has a pretty narrow range.

Sociology is interested in human social behavior, whereas economics is interested in human

economic behavior.
Sociology studies society as a unit of research, whereas economics studies man as a unit of
study.

12) State any three forms of government and highlight the main characteristics of each form stated.

Democracy
A democracy is a system of government where the populace elects its leaders. The main
objective is to ensure just representation while preventing abuses of authority. As a result, a
system that favors majority rule and necessitates discussion, deliberation, and compromise in
order to fulfill the greatest number of public interests is created. Democracies support civic
engagement, the protection of human rights, law and order, and fair and free elections.

Characteristics of Democracy

Elected representative
Civil liberties
Independent judiciary
Organized opposition party
Rule of law
Citizens in a democracy have not only rights but also the responsibility to participate in the
political system
 Oligarchy
Governments known as oligarchies are those in which a group of people control a whole country.
A select number of individuals are given authority by a predetermined set of characteristics,
including income, heredity, and race. Oligarchies frequently have strong leaders and a lack of
democratic norms or individual liberties.

Characteristics of Oligarchy
A few-man government the oligarchy in charge of the corporation.

A military oligarchy was also developed in the nation, a government in which a tiny group
exercises control, particularly for corrupt and self-serving purposes: a group wielding such
control. The nation was ruled by an oligarchy.

Socialism
Socialism is a political system that promotes citizen collaboration over competitiveness. While a
centralized government oversees it, citizens collectively own the means of production and
distribution of commodities and services. Depending on their needs and capabilities, each person
benefits from and contributes to the system.

Characteristics of Socialism
Collective Ownership of Resources 
Central Economic Planning 
Consumers have no options.
Equal Income Distribution 
Lack of Market Forces 

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