Foundations in Physical Education and Health

Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

Unit 2: Sociological
Foundation of P.E and
Sport

Introduction

This discusses the behavior of individuals and groups within the

sport milieu. Influence of social relationships, past social experiences, and
the social setting of sport activities on the behavior of groups and
individuals in sport.

Learning Outcome Examine the function of

sociology in sports
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

What Sociology?

Sociology is the study of

people, groups, institutions,
human activities in terms of
social behavior, and social order
within society.

It is concerned about institutions in society such as religion,

family, government, education, and leisure. Influence of social
institutions on the individual, the social behavior and human
relations that occur within a group or an institution, and how they
influence the individual, and the interrelationship between various
institutions within society, such as sport, education, religion, and
government.

Sociology is an
examination of the
relationship between sport
and society.
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

Nature of Sociology
Sociology is the branch of knowledge and it has its own
characteristics. Sociology has different nature in society. It is
different from other sciences in certain respects. The following are
the main characteristics of sociology as enlisted by Robert Bierstedt
in his book " The Social Order" and they are as follows:-

 Sociology is an independent science :- It is not treated and

studies as a branch of any other science like philosophy or
political philosophy or history.
 Sociology is the social science and not a physical science :- As
a social science it concentrates its attention on man, his social
behaviour, social activities and social life.
 Sociology is the categorical and not a normative discipline :-
Sociology "Confines itself to statement about what is, not what
should be or ought to be". As a social science sociology is
necessarily silent about questions of value and it is ethically
neutral.
 Sociology is the pure science and not an applied science :- The
main aim of pure science is the acquisition of knowledge and it
is not bothered weather the acquired knowledge is useful or
can be put to use.
 Sociology is the relatively an abstract science and not a
concrete science :- Sociology does not confine itself to the
study of this society of that particular society or social
organization, or marriage, or religion, or group and so on. It is
in this simple sense that sociology is an abstract nor a
concrete science.
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

 Sociology is the generalizing and not a particularizing or

individualizing science :- Sociology tries to find out the general
laws or principles about human interaction and association,
about the nature, from, content and the structure of human
groups and societies. It tries to make generalisations on the
basis of the study of some selected events.
 Sociology is the general science not a special science :- The
area of inquiry of sociology is general not specialised. It is
concerned with human interaction and human life in general.
It only studies human activities in a general way.
Anthropology and social psychology often claim themselves to
be general social science.
 Sociology is both rational and an empirical science :- There are
two broad ways of approach to scientific knowledge.
Empiricism is the approach that emphasis experience and the
facts that result from observation and experimentation.
Rationalism is stresses reason and the theories that result
from logical inference.
.

Above are the nature of sociology which helps to know about the
sociology character on its field. It is clear from the above that sociology
is an indepent, a social, a categorical, a pure, an abstract, a
generalising, both a rational and a empirical and a general science.
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

Basic Concepts of Sociology

1. Social Groups
In the social sciences, a social group can be defined as two or
more people who interact with one another, share similar
characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. Other
theorists disagree however, and are wary of definitions which stress
the importance of interdependence or objective similarity. Instead,
researchers within the social identity tradition generally define it as
"a group is defined in terms of those who identify themselves as
members of the group." Regardless, social groups come in a myriad
of sizes and varieties. For example, a society can be viewed as a
large social group.

2. Social Imagination
Sociological imagination is the capacity to shift from one
perspective to another. To have a sociological imagination, a person
must be able to pull away from the situation and think from an
alternative point of view. It requires us to "think ourselves away
from our daily routines and look at them anew".

3. Structural-functional theory, social conflict theory,

and feminism
 Structural-Functional Theory
Our first theory is called structural-functional theory. This
approach views society as a complex, but interconnected system,
where each part works together as a functional whole. A metaphor
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

for the structural-functional approach is the human body. You have

arms, legs, a heart, a brain, and so on. Each individual body part
has its own neurons and system for working, but each part has to
work together for a fully-functioning structure, or system. What are
the different structures, or systems, in society? You can probably
think of the government, businesses, schools, and families. We need
all of these systems to work together for a fully-functioning society.

 Social Conflict Theory

The second major theoretical perspective in sociology is called
social conflict theory. This theory views society as a system of
groups that are not equal, and therefore consistently generate
conflict and change. Think back to that example from the beginning
of the lesson with the different groups of students in school.

In my high school, the athletes might have conflicts with the

people in band or the people who were in the math club. There was
a popular group of kids who were sometimes mean to the less
popular kids. When you think about this type of social conflict on a
large scale, it explains unfortunate social trends such as racism,
sexism, homophobia, ageism, and so on, but the theory also
predicts change. For example, in the 1960s, the United States saw a
huge change in civil rights awarded to African Americans due to the
political protests that highlighted the conflict between racial groups.
While racism is still a problem in the United States, this social
change helped the country make a lot of progress toward equality.

Hopefully, it's easy to see how social conflict theory might be

seen in our example of sports. Different teams will certainly conflict
with each other as they compete for points, runs, or touchdowns.
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

Actually, sports wouldn't make any sense without some form of

conflict or competition. Fans of the different teams will display their
loyalty using things like hats or jerseys, and they might conflict
with each other.

 Feminism
Theory three out of four is feminism. Feminism is often
misunderstood as coming from a group of angry women who are
trying to dominate men. That is not what feminism is! Understood
correctly, feminism is a perspective that views society as
traditionally unequal between men and women and strives for
equality between the sexes.

What is Sports Sociology?

Sociology of sport, alternately referred to as sports sociology, is
a sub-discipline of sociology which focuses on sports as social
phenomena. It is an area of study concerned with the relationship
between sociology and sports, and also various socio-cultural
structures, patterns, and organizations or groups involved with
sport. This area of study discusses the positive impact sports have
on individual people and society as a whole economically,
financially, and socially. Sociology of sport attempts to view the
actions and behavior of sports teams and their players through the
eyes of a sociologist.
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

The emergence of the sociology of sport (though not the name

itself) dates from the end of the 19th century, when first social
psychological experiments dealing with group effects of competition
and pace-making took place. Besides cultural anthropology and its
interest in games in the human culture, one of the first efforts to
think about sports in a more general way was Johan Huizinga's

Homo Ludens or Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure

Class. Homo Ludens discusses the importance of the element of
play in culture and society. Huizinga suggests that play, specifically
sport, is primary to and a necessary condition of the generation of
culture. These written works contributed to the rise of the study of
sociology of sport. In 1970, sports sociology gained significant
attention as an organized, legitimate field of study. The North
American Society for the Sociology of Sport was formed in 1978
with the objective of studying the field.[6] Its research outlet, the
Sociology of Sport Journal, was formed in 1984.

Goals of Sports Sociology

1) Factors underlying the creation and the organization of sports.

2) Relationship between sport and other aspects of society such as

family, education, and the media.

3) Influence of sport and sport participation on individuals’ beliefs

relative to equity, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, and other
societal issues.
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

4) The social dynamics within the sport setting, i.e., organizational

structure, group actions, and interaction patterns.

5) The influence of cultural, structural, and situational factors on

the nature of sport and the sport experience.

6) The social processes associated with sport, including

competition, socialization, conflict, and change.

Activity:
1. In your own understanding, how can you relate sociology to
physical education and sports?

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 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

Rubrics
CRIT ERIA / SCALE -3- -2- -1- -0-
Exceeds Expectations Meets Expectations Needs Improvement Inadequate
Structure
Paper is Paper has a clear There is some level There is no
Organization logically organizational of organization apparent
organized structure with through organization in the
Flow of thought some digressions, paper.
Easily followed digressions, ambiguities,
Transitions Difficult to follow
Effective, smooth, ambiguities or irrelevances are too
Format and logical irrelevances many No or poor transitions
transitions Easily followed Difficult to follow No format
Professional format Basic transitions Ineffective transitions
Structured format Rambling format
Grammar/mechanics
Manipulates complex Uses complex Uses compound Uses simple sentences
sentence structure sentences for sentences sentences
effect/impact
punctuation/mechan Few Too many
ics No punctuation punctuation
punctuation or and/or mechanical
or mechanical errors
mechanical errors
errors
Language
Vocabulary is Vocabulary is Vocabulary is used Vocabulary is
Vocabulary; sophisticated and varied, specific properly though unsophisticated,
use of correct as are and appropriate sentences may be not used properly
vocabulary sentences which simple in very simple
vary in structure and Frequently uses sentences.
Tone length subject-specific Infrequently uses
vocabulary subject-specific Uses subject-
Uses and correctly vocabulary specific
manipulates correctly vocabulary too
subject-specific Writer’s tone sparingly
vocabulary for emerges and is Writer’s tone
effect generally exhibits some
appropriate to t h e level of audience
Writer’s tone is clear, audience sensitivity
consistent and
appropriate for the
intended audience
Content/information
The central idea is Central idea and The central idea is Central idea and
Clarity of purpose well developed and clarity of purpose expressed though it clarity of purpose
clarity of purpose is are generally may be vague or too are absent or
Critical and exhibited evident throughout broad; Some sense incompletely
original throughout the the essay of purpose is expressed and
thought paper maintained maintained
Evidence of throughout the
Use of examples The abundance of critical, careful Little or no
essay
evidence of critical, thought and evidence of critical,
careful thought and analysis and/or Some evidence of careful thought or
analysis and/or insight insight critical, careful analysis and/or
thought and insight
Evidence and There are good, analysis and/or
examples are vivid relevant insight There are too few,
and specific, while supporting no examples and
the focus remains examples and There are some evidence or they
tight evidence examples and are mostly
evidence, though irrelevant
general
 Philosophical and Socio-Anthropological Foundations of P.E and Health

Reflective Analysis
How do you find the lesson?

My Reflection

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