onunE I ()Ed Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

1
Education I Introduction to Anthropology and Sociology

Introduction to Anthropology and Sociology

We can say that the study of human beings can be the study of a lifetime.
Great thinkers have spent years getting some answers to questions about
human behavior. Today, there are many fields and sub-fields of study that
engage in trying to understand humankind.
In this lesson, we will discuss the nature and beginnings of sociology and
anthropology.
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. Articulate observations on human cultural variation, social
differences, social change and political identities
2. Recognize the common concerns or intersections of anthropology,
sociology and political science with respect to the phenomenon of
change.
3. Identify the subjects of inquiry and goals of anthropology and
sociology

Definitions of Sociology and Anthropology

sociology is a scientific study of human society, its origin, structure, function
and direction."
Anthropology "is a social science that is concerned with human culture as
well as the physical and social characteristics that create that culture. Often it
will compare one group of humans to another or even compare humans with
animals."

History of Sociology and Anthropology

In Anthropology, the behavior of others had been observed and recorded by
men since the birth of civilization. Examples of these great men who did the
observations and recordings are Herodotus and Tacitus. However, it was
only in the 18th century that a codified study of cultures began. The study of
culture of other people has been done by Westerners that brought forth to
the racist theories about the overall advancement of different groups.
Sociology has been practiced by the Greeks also, when they studied their
surrounding society. It was in the 19th century when sociology was
recognized as an academic discipline and became a part of the university
curriculum.
The word Sociology was taken from two foreign words:
SOCILIS, a Latin term which means companion or associate
Course Module
 Logos, a Greek term for study

Nature of Sociology
The nature of sociology is identified by the following characteristics as
enlisted by Robert Bierstadt in his book "Social Order."
1. Sociology is a social science not a physical science. It concentrates on
man, his social behavior, social activities and social life.
2. Sociology is categorical not a normative discipline. As a categorical
discipline, it is a body of knowledge about human society, and not a
system of ideas and values.
3. It is a pure science. It aims to provide knowledge about human society,
not the utilization of that knowledge
4. Sociology is the generalizing and not a particularizing or individualizing
science. Sociology tries to find out general laws or principles about
human interaction and association, about the nature, form, content and
structure of human groups and societies.
5. Sociology is a general science not a special science. It is concerned with
human interaction and human life in general. It only studies human
activities in a general way.
6. Sociology is both a rational and an empirical science. There are two broad
ways of approach to scientific knowledge. Empiricism is the approach
that emphasizes experience and the facts that result from observation
and experimentation. Rationalism is a stressed reason and the theories
that result from logical inference.

Nature of Anthropology
1. Anthropology is the study of humankind in all times and places.
2. It involves the careful and systematic study of humankind using facts .,
hypothesis, and theories.
3. It is concerned with other culture's languages, values, and achievements
in the arts and literature.
4. Anthropology is committed to experiencing other cultures.

Focus of Anthropology and Sociology

Anthropology "is interested in the overall culture of a group of people. This
includes social institutions, art, history, mythology, and common mores,
among other traits. Anthropologies now study societies all over the world,
but look for overarching themes that are reinforced through case studies. It
also includes archeology, and due to a great amount of substantive
speculation is thought to be a softer science than sociology."
Sociology "is a quantitative social science. Most theories are based on polls,
statistical analysis, sampling, and large collections of life histories.
Sociologists strive to be as impartial and scientific as possible as they gather
onunE I ()Ed Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
3
Education I Introduction to Anthropology and Sociology

data. The data analyzed by sociologists is often used by government officials

and market researchers alike."
Summary:
1. Anthropology and sociology are both fields of social science that study
the behavior of humans within their societies.
2. Traditionally anthropology dealt with the study of cultures of other
people, while sociology was used to understand own society.
3. Today, anthropology tends to look at the big picture of human culture
while sociology spends more time analyzing data from a specific.
study.
Anthropology is considered to be a softer science than sociology as its
conclusions are based on case studies than hard data.

Introduction to Sociology
Sociology is the systematic and scientific study of human social life.
Sociologists study people as they form groups and interact with one another.
The groups they study may be small, such as married couples, or large, such
as a subculture of suburban teenagers. Sociology places special emphasis on
studying societies, both as individual entities and as elements of a global
perspective.

Sociology as a Social Science

Sociology "is a scientific study of human society, its origin, structure, function
and direction." It studies the influence that society has on people's attitudes
and behavior. It also seeks to understand the ways in which people interact
and shape society.

The Origins of Sociology

Sociology is a relatively young science, beginning in late nineteenth-century
Europe during a time of great social upheaval. Intellectuals such as Auguste
Comte, Harriet Martineau, Emile Durkheim, and others began to explore
ideas for regaining a sense of community and restoring order. After World
War II, however, the greatest development of sociology has taken place in the
United States. Two early contributors were activists Jane Addams and W.E.B.
DuBois, who helped focus people's attention on social issues.
Pioneers in the Study of Sociology
The early scholars who contributed significantly for the development of
Sociology as a young science are listed below:
Auguste Comte (1778 - 1857)
- He was born after the French revolution of 1789
Course Module
- He proposed the Philosophical position of Positivism. He theorized that
the methods of physical science are regarded as the accurate means of
obtaining knowledge and therefore, social science should adhere to the
same.
- He developed the idea and coined the term 'sociology"
- He was the founder of Sociology.
Harriet Martineau (1802 - 1876)
- She translated Comte's work in English
- She spoke out in favor of the rights of women, the emancipation of the
slaves, and religious tolerance.
- Her book, "Society in America" examines religion, politics, child rearing,
and immigration in the young nation.
- She emphasized the impact that the economy, law, trade, and population
could have on the social problems of contemporary society.
- She said that intellectuals and scholars should not simply offer
observations of social conditions, but they should act upon their
conditions in a manner that will benefit society.
Karl Marx (1818 - 1883)
He is considered as one of the thinkers of the modern times
He was a native German and later exiled in England
He said that the sociologist's task is to explain conflict
That conflict is shaped by the means of production
He said that industrialization resulted in two classes: owners and
laborers
Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
- He grew up in England
- He proposed that there is the parallelism between how society evolves in
the same manner as animal species do
- This principle is attributed to "Darwin's Theory of Evolution"
- Through Spencer's theory, it could be further said that, man as a member
of society is in a never ending competition and the name of the game is to
win.
Emile Durkheim (1858 - 1917)
- He was the only person who studied the discipline in the school of higher
learning thoroughly
- He provided insights into the social forces that contributed to the rise of
the global village
- He proposed four types of suicide, based on the degrees of imbalance of
two social forces: social integration and moral regulation
- He concluded that suicide is not an ordinary phenomenon
4*
zA onunEloEd Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
5
Education IIntroduction to Anthropology and Sociology

Max Weber (1864 - 1920]

- He focused on how industrial revolution changed thoughts and action and
how it brought about a process called rationalization
- Rationalization refers to the way daily life is organized so as to
accommodate large groups of people.

Other sociologists:
Albion Small
- founder of the department of sociology at the University of Chicago
- he established the American Journal of Sociology
W.E.B Du Bois
- a black American who conducted research on race relations in the U.S.
Wright Mills
- urged sociologists to get back to social reform
Robert K. Merton
- he stressed that sociologists need to develop middle-range theories as
explanations of human behavior that go beyond the particular
observation or research but avoid sweeping generalizations that attempt
to account for everything
The Development of Sociology in the Philippines
Serfin M. Macaraig
- the first Filipino to acquire a doctorate degree in Sociology and published
a book entitled "An Introduction to Sociology" in 1938.
Fr. Valentin Mann
- he introduced Sociology in the Philippines with the opening of
criminology program at University of Santo Tomas in 1950
Conrad° Benitez and Luis Rivers
- among the first teachers of sociolou in the Philippines
In 1952, Filipino pioneers in Sociology organized the Philippine Sociological
Society which main trust is to collect, interpret and proposed possible
solutions to different Philippine sociological phenomena.
In 1957, the Community Development Research Council was created to
conduct and support social science researchers.
In 1960, Fr. Frank Lynch, Sj, founded the Institute of the Philippines Culture
at the Ateneo de Manila University.
In 1972, Xavier University was given credit as the first school, which opened
a program in PhD in sociology.
Course Module
 It was the University of the Philippines that offered a bachelor degree in
sociology.

Three Major Perspectives in Sociology

Sociologists analyze social phenomena at different levels and from different
perspectives. Sociologists today employ three primary theoretical
perspectives: the symbolic interactionist perspective, the functionalist
perspective, and the conflict perspective. These perspectives offer
sociologists theoretical paradigms for explaining how society influences
people, and vice versa. Each perspective uniquely conceptualizes society,
social forces, and human behavior.

Sociological Perspectives

Sociological Perspective Level of Analysis Focus

1. Symbolic Micro Use of symbols; Face-to-

Interactionisrn face Interactions
(small social
patterns]

2. Functionalism Macro Relationship between

the parts of society; How
(large patterns)
aspects of society are
functional (adaptive)

3. Conflict Theory Macro Competition for scarce

resources; How the elite
control the poor and
weak.

Symbolic Interaction
The founding father is Mead 11863-19311 an American philosopher.
The theoretical perspective supports that:
• People attach meaning to symbols, then they act according to the subject
interpretations
• Individual, social groups meaning to experience of life: we negotiate
meaning
• Meanings can change or be modified through interaction and through
time.
Structure Functionalism
Two words can give an idea of this approach: structure and function. The
founding fathers of this perspective are Comte, Spencer and Durkheim.
 onunE ()Ed Understanding Culture, Society and Politics 7
w Education I Introduction to Anthropology and Sociology

This theoretical perspective says that society is stable, ordered system of

interrelated part of the structures. Each structure has a function that
contributes to the continued stability or equilibrium of the whole.
• Structures are explained as social institutions like the family, the
educational system, politics, religion, mass media systems, and the
economy
• Structures meet the need of society by performing different functions:
• What would be the functions of above mentioned social institutions? (in
terms of manifest* vs. latent" functions, Robert Merton, b.1910]
• Dysfunction: a disturbance to or undesirable consequence of sonic aspect
of the social system
• Harmony Sz_ stability
Manifest: the obvious intended functions of a social institution (or social system]
•:- Latent: the less obvious, perhaps unintended functions of a social structure

Cultural Theory
The founding father is Karl Marx.
The principles embodied in this theory are:
• A materialistic view of society (focused on labor practices and economic.
reality, we play by the rules (roles and functions] of these social systems
• Unequal groups usually have conflicting values and agenda causing them
to compete against one another.
• This constant competition between groups forms the basis of the ever
changing nature of society.

Sociological Imagination
Sociological imagination is a new concept to social sciences introduced by C.
Wright Mills in 1959 in his book titled 'Sociological Imagination'. This coined
phrase is used throughout sociology today. This 'sociological imagination' is
the concept of being able to "think ourselves away" from the familiar routines
of our daily lives in order to look at them anew. Mills defined sociological
imagination as "the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience
and wider society." It is the ability to see things socially and how they
interact and influence each other. 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 is also the willingness to view the social world
from the perspective of others. It involves moving away from thinking in
terms of you and your problems (private issues), but focusing rather on the
social circumstances that produce social problems (public issues).

Course Module
 In short, sociological imagination is all about determining the relationship
between your ordinary lives and the wider social forces. It is turning your
private troubles into 'public issue?.

Example of Sociological Imagination

We will see a common example. Suppose, there is a boy who is unable to find
employment and he is .worried about a loan that he needs to pay back. He
tries very hard to get a job, but he fails. Now, he joins a group and engages in
illegal and criminal activities. If you analyze this case individually, then you
may say that this boy did not try hard enough to get a job and resorted to
illegal activities to gain easy money.
We analyze the issue:
Issue - Unemployment
Private Trouble - When one person is unemployed that is a private trouble
Public Issue - When 5 million people are unemployed, that is a public issue
If you see this case in the social imagination perspective„ then you would see
that the larger forces such as economic meltdown, unemployment, the lack of
regulation in the subprirne mortgage industry, etc., had a direct impact on the
life of this guy. We could have blamed the personal character of the
individual if very few guys went through the similar situation. But when
there is a significant number of youth facing the same problem, then it
becomes a social or public problem where government policies about
employment and banking needs to be looked at.
In the above example, you can analyze the problem by tracing the root cause
of the problem in society and find how this particular issue developed. It is
clear from the example of sociological imagination that this concept tries to
study how large social forces influence individual behavior and actions of
people living in that society.
So, the next time you are confronted with a personal problem or situation,
you know how to connect it to the wider social happenings. This process
would help you find out long-term, permanent solutions to some of the grave
individual problems.

References
Acton, Ashton Q. (2014. Issues in international sociology and social work
research and application. USA: Scholarly EditionsPrint
Difference Between Anthropology and Sociology.
v v, differencebetween.netmiscellaneous/...anthropology-and-
sociology. Web. 06 June 2015,
Ferrante, J. (2014). Sociolog3.7a Global Perspective. 9th edition. USA: Cengage
Learning, Print
Mauss, M. (2005). The Nature of Sociology Berghahn Series.USA: Durkheirn
Press. Print
Acton, Ashton Q. (2014. Issues in international sociology and social work
research and application. USA: Scholarly Editions.Print
6w. onunEloEd Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
9
Education IIntroduction to Anthropology and Sociology

Difference Between Anthropology and Sociology.

volvw.differencebetween.netimiscellaneous/...anthropology-and-
sociology. Web. 06 June 2015.
Ferrante, J. (2014). Sociology a Global Perspective. 9th edition. USA: Cengage
Learning. Print
Mauss, M. (2005). The Nature of Sociology Berghahn Series.USA: Durkheim
Press. Print
Sociology/Anthropology. voinv.stolafieduicatalog/9697/socanthro.html.
Web. 06 June 2015.

Course Module