Concept

Subject matter

Nature of the Subject

Methodology

Five key issues

 Social interaction
 Mode of communication
 Social relationship – companionship
 Social groups
 Norms, values, beliefs
 Social organization
 Social action

 Socius and Logos – August Comte

 Study of social relationship
Macro and Micro Sociology
 Micro: One of the main levels of analysis in Sociology which
focuses mainly on social interaction between human being, social
actions of human, social relationship, human behaviour, etc..
 Macro: Large scale approach of Sociology which emphasizes on
relationships of various social organizations, impact of social
organizations on human behaviour, analysing culture, analysing
different social systems etc..

Nature of the subject

 Takes a holistic approach to study any issue of the society.
 Never studies something partially.
 Will apply various methods to study human society.
 There are five key issues which help us to study a society. Such as --

1. Social Action: Meaningful understanding of what we do. The act which involves
actions and reactions of people. According to Sociologist Max Weber "an Action is
'social' if the acting individual takes account of the behaviour of others and is thereby
oriented in its course".
Two categories ---
a. Actions influenced by social factors
b. Actions influenced by individual himself/herself

2. Power: Capacity of a social action which may shape every relationship. Ability to
do something in a particular way which will leave influence. Power is an entity or
individual's ability to control or direct others, while authority is influence that is
predicated on perceived legitimacy.

Power can be exercised in two different ways ---

a. Direct
b. Indirect
3. Functional Integration: It denotes interrelationships independence of
different systems of a society. Functional integration explains how a society’s
institutions fit together and how each element in the structure functions to
maintain the whole. Society is in a dynamic state to always include
integration and disintegration between people. It is like a biological organism
with many interconnected parts and each of which contributes something
different by functioning in its own way to keep the system intact.

4. Social Structure: Social structure is the patterned social arrangements in

society which are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of
individual. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally-
related groups or sets of roles, with different functions, meanings, or
purposes. There are determinant factors of social structure through which we
gain knowledge about the nature and pattern o the society. Thus, social
structures significantly influence larger systems, such as political systems,
economic systems, cultural systems, legal systems, etc..
5. Culture: Common lifestyle of a group of people. It is the non-
biological social aspect of human life. Culture and
Society Defined. Culture consists of the beliefs, values, norms,
symbols, behaviours, 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.

Anthropologist Edward Burnet Tylor said that culture is "that complex

whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and
any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society."