Microsoft Word - SOC 111

DISTANCE LEARNINGINSTITUTE
UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS
SOC 111
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
AUTHORS
DR. FUNMI BAMMEKE
DR. AUGUSTINE AGUGUA
DR. PIUS ADEJOH
LANGUAGE EDITOR: DR. PAT AKUMABO
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
STUDY SESSION 1: SUBJECT MATTER OF SOCIOLOGY

1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Learning Outcomes for Study Session 1 (Subject Matter of Sociology) 1
1.2 Definition of Sociology 2
1.2.1 What does ‘The Sociological Perspective’ mean? 3
1.3 Origin of Sociology 4
1.4 Scope of Sociology 7
1.4.1 What is the Relationship Between Sociology and other Social Science Disciplines 7
1.4.2 What is the value of studying Sociology? 8
1.5 Key Concepts in Sociology 10
Summary of Study Session 1 11
Self-Assessment Questions to Study Session 1 11
References/Further Readings 12
STUDY SESSION 2: SOCIAL SCIENCE AS SCIENCE

2.0 Introduction 13
2.1 Learning Outcomes for Study Session 2 (Social Science as Science) 13
2.2 Meaning of Science 13
2.3 Assumptions of Science 14
2.4 Values of Science 15
2.5 Limitations of Science 16
2.6 How scientific is Social Science? 16
2.7 What are the Limitations of Social Sciences? 16
2.8 Sociology as Science 17
2.9 Positivism and its Problems 18
STUDY SESSION 3: INDIVIDUAL, CULTURE AND SOCIETY

3.0 Introduction 21
3.1 Learning Outcomes for Study Session 3 21
3.2 Culture 21
3.2.1 Characteristics of Culture 22
3.2.2 Functions of Culture 23
3.3 Cultural Concepts 24
3.4 Relationship between Culture and Society 26
3.5 The Individual and Society 26
3.5.1 You and society: Identity and role 26
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3.6 Socialisation and Identity 27
STUDY SESSION 4: THEORIES IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIETY

4.0 Introduction 31
4.1 Learning Outcomes in Study Session 4 31
4.2 Theories in the understanding of Society 31
4.3 The Functionalist Perspective 31
4.3.1 The symbolic Interactionist Perspective 33
4.3.2 The Conflict Perspective 34
STUDY SESSION 5: SOCIAL GROUPS

5.0 Introduction 37
5.1 Learning Outcomes for Study Session 5 37
5.2 Understanding Society 37
5.2.1 Differentiation in Society 38
5.2.2 Characteristics of Society 39
5.2.3 Types of societies 39
5.3 Groups 40
5.3.1 Characteristics of Groups 40
5.3.2 Classification of Groups 40
5.3.3 Kinds of Groups 40
5.3.4 Other collections of People 42
5.4 Organisations and Bureaucracies 43
5.4.1 Bureaucracy 43
STUDY SESSION 6: UNDERSTANDING GENDER ISSUES

6.0 Introduction 46
6.1 Learning Outcomes for study session 46
6.2 Difference between Gender and Sex 46
6.3 Why are gender issues important? 47
6.4 Explanations for gender relations 48
6.5 Gender Relations 50
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STUDY SESSION 7: SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY

7.0 Introduction 52
7.2 Meaning of Social stratification 52
7.3 Origins of Social Stratification 53
7.3.1 Systems of Stratification 54
STUDY SESSION 8: THEORIES OF STRATIFICATION

8.0 Introduction 59
8.2 Theories of Social Stratification 59
8.2.1 Karl Marx Theory of Stratification 59
8.2.2 Max Weber’s Theory Stratification 60
8.3 The Functionalist Theory of Social Stratification 62
8.4 Ideology and Social Stratification 62
STUDY SESSION 9: SOCIAL MOBILITY

9.0 Introduction 65
9.2 Social Mobility 65
9.3 Open and Closed Systems of Stratification 66
9.4 Can there be a Classless Society? 67
STUDY SESSION 10: PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

10.0 Introduction 69
10.1 Learning outcomes for study session 10 (Sociological Research) 69
10.2 Some Principles of Social Research 69
10.2.1 Choice and Reflections in Research 70
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10.2.2 Important influences on researcher’s choice of design and methods 70
10.3 Aims and Criteria in Research/Evaluation Characteristics 71
STUDY SESSION 11: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
11.2 Meaning of Social Research Design 74
11.2.1: Some Key Issues Facing Researchers 74
11.2.2 Types of research 75
11.2.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Designs 76
11.2.4 The Expected and Unexpected in Social Research 77
11.3 Major Research Designs in Sociology 78
11.4 Research Methods 82
11.4.1 Primary Research Methods 83
11.4.2 Structured Interview/Questionnaire 83
11.4.3 Unstructured Questions/Interviews 84
11.4.4 Major Strengths of Unstructured Questions include 84
11.4.5 Limits of all Interview Methods 84
11. 4.6 Observation Methods 85
11.4.7 Secondary Sources of Data 85
11.4.7.1 Official statistics 86
11.4.7.2 Advantages of official statistics 86
11.4.7.3 Disadvantages of Official Statistics 87
11.4.8 The analysis of documents or Content Analysis 87
11.4.9 Summary of Selection on Methods 87
STUDY SESSION 12: THEORY AND RESEARCH

12.1 Learning outcome on Theory and Research 90
12.2 Conceptual issues in Theory and Research 90
12.3 What is meant by an Ontology/Epistemology Problem in Sociology? 91
12.3.1 Ontology 91
12.3.2 Epistemology 92
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12.3.3 Positivism 93
12.3.4: Interpretism 95
12.3.5 Realism 96
STUDY SESSION 13: SOCIAL CHANGE

13.1 Learning outcomes for Social Change 101
13.2 Social Change in Perspective 102
13.2.1 Major Reasons for Studying Social Change 103
13.2.2: Defining Social Change 103
STUDY SESSION 14: THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE

14.2 Theories of Social Change 105
14.3 Effects of Social Change 107
14.4 Causes of Social Change 108
14.5 Social Change and global Sociology 109
STUDY SESSION 15: GLOBALIZATION

15.1 Learning outcomes on Globalisation 111
15.2 Conceptualising Globalisation 112
15.3 The globalisation debate 113
15.3.1: The Skeptics 114
15.3.2 The Hyperglobalists 114
15.3.3: The Transformationalists. 114
15.3.4 Developments That Facilitated Globalization 115
15.4 Theoretical Considerations of Globalization 119
15.4.1 World Systems Theory 120
15.4.2 Global Capitalist Theory 120
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15.4.3 The Global Society Theory 121
15.4.4 Global Culture Theory 122
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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
This course is an Introduction to Sociology which is a three unit course of four modules made up
of a total of fourteen study sessions. It is a one semester foundation level course for students to
take towards the core module of their BSc (Hons.) in Economics and Public Administration. The
course is also suitable for any foundation student in other social science disciplines. The purpose
of the course is to introduce the students to the world of Sociology. Specifically, it tells the
students in brief terms, what the course is about, what they are expected to know in each unit,
what course materials they will be using and how they can work their way through these
materials.
The overall aim of the course is to introduce students to the basic concepts in Sociology, social
issues in Sociology and general introduction of Sociology. During this course, you will learn
about the definition of Sociology, its origin, its scope, uses and methods. The course will also
expose students to the interactions between the individual, culture and society; the nature of
social organisation and group behaviour; social stratification and social differentiation. Students
will also be exposed to the elements of sociological investigations and other issues of
Sociological interests such as social change and globalization. The expectation is that this course
would provide the students a sound foundation that will make them to have a better
understanding of their main programme.
Principally the course aims to give you an understanding of basic concepts in Sociology, a
general introduction of Sociology and the influence of social change on society.
To achieve the aims set above, there are overall objectives. In addition, each module also has
specific expected outcomes.
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On successful completion of the course, you should be able to:
• Define of Sociology; mention its scope, its origin, its methods and its uses.
• Discuss the relationship between the individual, culture and society
• Explain the concepts of social organisation and processes of group behaviour.
• Define the concepts of social stratification and social differentiation
• List the elements of sociological investigations
• Define the concept of social change and globalization
To complete this course, you are required to read the study sessions, read recommended books
and read other relevant materials. Each session contains some self assessment exercises, and at
some points in the course, you are required to submit assignments for assessment purposes. At
the end of this course is a final examination.
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INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about the meaning of sociology, its origin and scope. Also,
you will learn about some sociological concepts such as socialization, norms, values, status and
roles. Finally, you will learn about value and practical importance of studying sociology.
LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION 1 (SUBJECT MATTER OF

SOCIOLOGY)
It is hoped that by the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1.1: Define extensively what Sociology is;
1.2: Explain the origins of Sociology;
1.3: Explain the scope of Sociology;
1.4: Discuss some key concepts in sociological analysis, and
1.5: Understand the practical significance of Sociology
1.1 DEFINITION OF SOCIOLOGY

• What is sociology?
o Like other social science disciplines, Sociology does not have one universally acceptable
definition. Indeed there are as many definitions of Sociology as there are Sociologists.
We shall examine a few of these definitions and thereafter, attempt a working definition
of the subject.
According to Johnson (1962:2-4) Sociology is the science that "deals with social groups:
their internal forms or modes of organization, the processes that tend to maintain or
change these forms of organization, and the relations between groups." In his view
sociology is concerned with interaction itself. A social group is a system of social
interaction
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For Odetola and Ademola (1985:14) Sociology is the discipline which studies and
analyses human behaviour, the pattern of interaction and relations in a social context. In
other words, Sociology studies group life and the pattern of relationships in the group as
well as the institutions that are produced by such relationships.
Hughes, Kroehler and Zanden (2002) defined Sociology as the scientific study of social
interactions and social organizations. In other words, Sociology studies how our
interactions with other people shape the way we think, feel; and what we say and do.
In the views of Timasheff (1964), “Sociology is interested in what happens when man
meets man, when human beings form masses or groups, when they cooperate, fight
dominate one another, persuade or initiate others, develop or destroy culture. The unit of
sociological study is never an individual, but always at least two individuals somewhat
related to one another.
Inkeles (1964) holds that Sociology is the study of social order, the efforts to attain it and
departures from it. It seeks to define the units of human interaction, discover how they
are organized as systems of action, explain their continuity through time, and understand
how and why these units and relations change or cease to exist.
Different as these definitions may appear, they are saying basically the same thing which is that
Sociology is the systematic study of human society which are referred variously to as ‘social
life’, ‘social group’, ‘social structure’ and ‘social system’ together with the interactions of the
members of the groups that make up the society. The primary concern of Sociology is to
discover, describe and explain how order is maintained within groups – small or large- as a result
of the inculcation in man from childhood(socialization) of the rules of behaviour (norms)
governing various group activities whether they are economic, political or religious. These rules
make it possible to predict behaviour with a reasonable degree of accuracy or the expectation
that these rules will be largely kept. Consequently, it is the search for such rules and the way they
operate within groups that interest the sociologist. May we add also that since no social systems
functions flawlessly, Sociology is also interested in studying manifestations of disorder.
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1.2. WHAT DOES ‘THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE’ MEAN?
o Sociologists believe that there are many layers of meanings in the human experience.
They also believe that human behaviour is influenced by several networks of invisible
rules and institutions that are external to him. Consequently, to be able to reasonably
understand why man behaves the way he does in certain situations, the sociologist would
have to look beyond the individual and the obvious outward appearances of his life and
turn his investigative eyes upon the social arrangements that are external to the individual
but that nonetheless structure his experiences and place constraints on his behaviour. This
approach to social reality is the thrust of the sociological perspective. It is an invitation to
take nothing on its face value, but to question even things that are seemingly obvious. It
is an invitation to go beyond the everyday, ordinary meanings of actions to uncover
hidden reasons and explanations. As we look beyond outer appearances and their
everyday ordinary meanings, we are likely to encounter new levels of reality or
meanings. Social policies and programmes that are based on this new understanding
would have higher chances of succeeding.
The popular American Sociologist – C Wright Mills calls this unique way of looking at reality by
the sociologists “Sociological Imagination” (Mills, 1959). By this he means the ability to see
our private experiences and personal difficulties as a reflection of the structural arrangements of
society and the times in which we live. His position was that the best way to understand man is
first to try to understand his society because there is a relationship between our experiences as
individuals and broader social and historical events.
1.3 ORIGIN OF SOCIOLOGY

Sociology as a discipline developed as a response to the peculiar problems of order in the
western societies of the last century. We have in mind here the French revolution of 1789 and the
Industrial revolution in Britain of the 1800s. These events came with their own high points, but
also brought about profound distress to almost every aspect of the society. Specifically, the
French Revolution dramatically changed France’s class system. Aristocrats suddenly lost their
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money and status, while peasants, who had been at the bottom of the social ladder, rose to more
powerful and influential positions. The Industrial Revolution which followed on the heels of the
French Revolution made people to abandon a life of agriculture and moved to cities to find
factory jobs. They worked long hours in dangerous conditions for low pay. New social problems
emerged and, for many decades, little was done to address the plight of the urban poor.These
changes forced scholars of the time like Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Herbert
Spencer, Max Weber and several others to begin to seek for solutions to the problem of order.
Their preoccupation was with how to deal with the social disorder that ravaged their societies.
The outcome of these efforts was the emergence of a ‘science of society’ called Sociology. For
being the first to use the word “Sociology’, Auguste Comte became credited as the father of
Sociology far ahead of Ibn Khaldun an African, who had used the term “Al-Umran” translated as
Sociology several centuries before Comte.
For a better understanding of the origin of Sociology, it may be necessary to take a closer look at
the contributions made by a few founding fathers of the discipline.
THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF AUGUSTE COMTE (1798- 1857)
Auguste Comte was a French Philosopher commonly credited with being the founder of
Sociology and as having coined the name “Sociology”. He was influenced by the extensive
changes brought about by the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution and tried to make
sense of them. He felt that the social sciences that existed at the time, including political science
and history, could not adequately explain the chaos and upheaval he saw around him. He decided
an entirely new science was needed. He called this new science Sociology, which comes from the
root word socius, a Latin word that means “companion” or “being with others.”
He observed that all societies develop and progress through the following stages: religious,
metaphysical, and scientific. He added that society would need to apply scientific knowledge
based on facts and evidence if it is going to be able to understand and solve its numerous
problems. Consequently, he urged Sociologists to use systematic observation, experimentation,
and comparative historical analysis as their methods. He viewed the science of sociology as
consisting of two branches: dynamics, or the study of the processes by which societies change;
and statics, or the study of the processes by which societies endure. He also envisioned
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Sociologists as eventually developing a base of scientific social knowledge that would guide
society into positive directions.
EMILE DURKHEIM (1858-1917)
Emile Durkheim was a French philosopher and Sociologist. He believed that it was possible
andimportant to apply scientific methods to Sociology as a discipline. He stressed that
Sociologists should concern themselves with the study of social facts by which he meant the
values, cultural norms, and social structures which transcend the individual and are capable of
exercising a social constraint on him. Durkheim dealt with two types of social solidarity. By
'Solidarity', Durkheim meant the moral beliefs and ideas which formed the 'common-sense'
underlying social life. Mechanical solidarity (characteristic of pre-industrial societies) was said
to be based on agreement and identity between people; organic solidarity derived from
agreement to tolerate a range of differences,
MAX WEBER (1864-1920)

Max Weber was a German Sociologist who made profound contributions to the development of
Sociology. In his own contribution, Sociology is a science of social action. He made a clear
distinction between action and social action. To him, action has to do with all human behaviour.
It becomes social if the actor attaches a subjective meaning to it and acts taking account of the
behaviour of others (1968: 1,4). Weber believed that individuals' behaviours cannot exist apart
from their interpretations of the meaning of their own behaviours, and that people tend to act
according to these interpretations. Thus, Sociologists are expected as he argued, to inquire into
people's thoughts, feelings, and perceptions regarding their own behaviours. He recommended
that Sociologists adopt his method of Verstehen (vûrst e hen), or empathetic understanding.
Verstehen allows Sociologists to mentally put themselves into “the other person's shoes” and
thus obtain an “interpretive understanding” of the meanings of individuals' behaviours
HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903)

Herbert Spencer was a 19th-century Englishman. He argued that society can be likened to a
living organism with interdependent parts. Change in one part of society causes change in the
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other parts, so that every part contributes to the stability and survival of society as a whole. If one
part of society malfunctions, the other parts must adjust to the crisis and contribute even more to
preserve society. Family, education, government, industry, and religion comprise just a few of
the parts of the “organism” of society.
KARL MARX (1818-1883)

Karl Marx was a German political philosopher and economist who contributed immensely to the
development of sociology. He was called a social conflict theorist because of his views that
social conflict, especially class conflict and competition mark all human societies. He argued that
in all human societies, the class of the poor is exploited by the rich and powerful. He was
particularly unhappy with the capitalist class which he referred to as the bourgeoisie. These are
the ones who own the means of production and exploit the class of labourers, called the
proletariat, who do not own the means of production. Marx believed that the exploitative nature
of the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat inescapably locks the two classes
in conflict. He predicted that the labourers would one day gain the consciousness that will make
them join forces to overthrow the capitalists. Such a class revolution would establish a “class-
free” society in which all people work according to their abilities and receive according to their
needs. Marx believed that economics determines the differences between the bourgeoisie and the
proletariat. He further claimed that a society's economic system decides peoples' norms, values,
mores, and religious beliefs, as well as the nature of the society's political, governmental, and
educational systems.
1.4 SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociology can best be described as an all encompassing discipline. It covers nearly every field of
human endeavour beginning from studying and understanding interactions among individuals up
to the scientific analysis of global social processes such as globalization, information technology
and sustainable economic development. Some branches or fields of Sociology include Sociology
of Law, Sociology of Education, Political Sociology, Urban Sociology, Rural Sociology,
Gerontology, Sociology of Crime and Deviant Behaviour, Sociology of Medicine, Sociology of
Work, Sociology of Sports and Sociology of Art.
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1.4.1 WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER
SOCIAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES?
o Sociology is just one field of study in the social science family. Other sister disciplines are
psychology, anthropology, geography, political science, social work, economics and parts of
history. All Social Sciences are concerned with human behaviour and share same basic subject
matter. However, each of them focuses on a different aspect of behaviour. For instance, while
psychologists are more interested in the internal sources of behaviour such as the workings of
the nervous system and the effects of neurotransmitters, hormones, or stress on individuals; the
interest of the sociologist is more in the external sources of behaviour such as the workings of
society and the effects that social class, gender roles, age, new technologies, changing attitude
towards reckless behaviour, or political revolutions have on people. More precisely put, while
the interest of the psychologist is on individual’s personality, i.e., the behaviour and attitudes
that are characteristics of individuals regardless of the situations, the Sociologist focuses on
roles, i.e., on the behaviour and attitudes that are characteristic of people in a given social
position or situation regardless of their individual personalities. Anthropology shares
Sociology's interest in the impact of social structure and culture on behaviour; however, the
difference between these two is that while the anthropologist studies non-western societies,
preliterate societies, local communities, or small groups, the Sociologist studies both
communities and small groups, and also examine modern industrial societies and large-scale .
Sociology is also different from Economics and Political science. While the economist and the
political scientist concern themselves with just particular kinds of social activity; the
sociologist’s attraction is in the nature of social action itself and the manner in which different
kinds of activities fit together to create the larger pattern of society. Sociologists are primarily
interested in areas where social structure and culture intersect. One of these is social institutions
which are established patterns of action and thought that organize important social activities -the
family, education, religion, and the political and economic systems. These institutions provide
ready-made answers to the recurring problems of life; how to make community decisions (the
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political system), how to produce and distribute goods and services (the economic system), how
to arrange house-holds and provide child-care (the family), and so on.
1.4.2 WHAT IS THE VALUE OF STUDYING SOCIOLOGY?

o Sociology has many practical applications. Some of these are examined below.
a. Sociology gives the student a better understanding of the cultural differences among
people. Policies based on such awareness have higher chances of working.
b. Sociological research helps us to assess the effects of policy initiatives
c. Most importantly, sociology provides us with self enlightenment, that is, increased self
understanding. This makes it possible for groups and individuals to alter the conditions
of their lives.
d. It provides clearer and more adequate understanding of social situations.
e. Our world is beset with several social problems of great magnitude like poverty, street
begging, unemployment, prostitution, over-population, family and community
dysfunction, racial problems, crime, juvenile delinquency, gambling, alcoholism, youth
unrest, discrimination, segregation and exclusiveness. A careful analysis of these
problems is necessary in order to solve them. Sociology provides such an analysis.
f. Sociological knowledge is necessary for understanding and planning of society. Social
planning has been made easier by sociology. Sociology is often considered a vehicle of
social reform and social reorganisation. It plays an important role in the reconstruction of
society.
Talking more specifically, sociology as a discipline equips its graduates with a range of
specific abilities and specialized skills. The UK Quality Assurance Agency lists these as:
• Adaptability
• The ability to judge and evaluate evidence,
• Understanding the complexity and diversity of situations, including organizations
themselves;
• Research skills and capacity for detailed observation;
• Making reasoned and logical arguments.
• High quality written and oral communication skills
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• Critical thinking skills
• Global view of issues (Sociology students are taught to understand ‘the big
picture’)
• The ability to work independently i.e. showing initiative
Furthermore, sociology equips students with a wider set of transferable skills like
• Team spirit,
• Being in able to work in a way that is supportive of equality and diversity in work
place
These skills are very much sought after by employers today.
Sociology is a profession in which technical competence brings its own rewards. Sociologists are
in increasing demand in business, government, industry, city planning, ethnic relations, social
work, social welfare, supervision, advertising, communications, administration, and many other
areas of community life. A few years ago, sociologists could only teach sociology in schools and
colleges. But sociology has now become practical enough to be practiced outside of academic
halls. Today, sociologists work as industrial consultants, urban planners, personnel managers,
bankers, police officers, military and paramilitary personnel, and indeed in all places where there
are human beings.
KEY CONCEPTS IN SOCIOLOGY
Socialisation: This is a life-long process by which individuals learn the culture of their society.
It is the means through which the norms, values and beliefs of society are transmitted from
generation to generation. Primary socialization takes place at infancy, usually at home. Agents
of socialization include the family, school, places of worship, work places, peer groups and
political parties.
Norms: A norm is a specific guide to action which defines acceptable and appropriate behaviour
in a particular situation. Usually, there are norms governing the way we dress, who we marry or
do other things in life. These norms vary from one society to another. Norms are often enforced
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by positive or negative sanctions, that is, rewards and punishments which can be either formal or
informal.
Values: refer to important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by members of a culture about
what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable. Values have major influence on a person's
behaviour and attitude and serve as broad guidelines in all situations. Values define what is
important, worthwhile and worth striving for. Like norms, values vary from society to society.
Status: This refers to the social positions which individuals occupy in society. Example of
family statuses include one’s position as son or daughter, father or mother; gender statuses
include being a male or female, while occupational statuses may include being a teacher, driver,
clerk etc. Statuses are culturally defined. Some are relatively fixed (ascribed) such that there is
nothing anybody can do about them such as gender status of being a man or a woman. Some
ascribed status can be changed in very rare cases such as the status of a king. The second form of
status is the one not fixed either by inheritance; biological characteristics or any other criterion is
referred to as achieved status. Examples of achieved status include one’s position as a Vice
Chancellor, Doctor and Lawyer or even as a student of University of Lagos.
Role: This refers to the behavioural expectations of individuals based on their statuses. Society
for example expects a father, a mother, a teacher, a doctor or any other person occupying certain
positions to behave in a way that befits his or her position. This behavioural expectations of
individuals based on their positions is what we refer to as roles. Roles provide social life with
order and predictability.
SUMMARY
This unit examined the subject matter of Sociology including the definition, origin, scope, value
and relationship of Sociology with other social science disciplines. It also discussed common
concepts in Sociology.
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS (SAQ)
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Now that you have completed this study session, you can assess how well you have achieved its
Learning Outcomes by answering these questions. Write your answers in your Study Diary and
discuss them with your Tutor at the next Study Support Meeting.
1) Define sociology.
2) Describe the contributions of Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber to
Sociology.
3) Discuss the scope of sociology and show how the course relates to other social science
disciplines
4) Explain the following sociological concepts- Norms, Values, status and role
5) Discuss the practical usefulness of Sociology
REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS
Charon, J.M. (1999). The Meaning of Sociology: A Reader. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Giddens, A. (1994). Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hughes, M,; Kroehler C.J and Zanden, JWV (2002). Sociology: The Core. New York: Mc Graw-
Hill
Inkeles A. 1964. What is Sociology?: An Introduction to the Discipline and Profession. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall
Johnson, H.M. (1962) A Short History of Sociology. London : Routledge & K. Paul,
Mills, C.W (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Reprinted (2000).Oxford University Press
Odetola, T.O. and Ademola, A.(1985). Sociology: An Introductory African Text. London:
Macmillan
Olurode, L and O. Soyombo (eds.) (2001), Sociology for Beginners. Ikeja: John West
Publications
Timasheff, N.S (1964). Sociological Theory: Its Nature and Growth (Revised Edition) New
York: Random House
Weber, M (1968). Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. University of
California Press.
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Should you require more explanation on this study session, please do not hesitate to contact your
e-tutor via the LMS.
Are you in need of General Help as regards your studies? Do not hesitate to contact
the DLI IAG Center by e-mail or phone on:
[email protected]
08033366677
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INTRODUCTION
The claim that social science is science is not new. But how true is this claim? This and related
questions are what this session seeks to address. The session begins with a concise definition of
science as well as providing concise discussion of the methods of science.
LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION 2 (SOCIAL SCIENCE AS

SCIENCE)
2.1: Define the meaning of science
2.2: Discuss the assumptions of science
2.3: Explain the values of science
2.4: Explain the limitations of science
2.5: Explain the scientific claims of sociology and social sciences ;
2.6: Discuss the limitations of sociology as a sciences;
2.7: Explain the meaning of positivism and its problems
2.1 MEANING OF SCIENCE

• What is science?
o The word science is taken from the Latin word scientia and simply means knowledge that
is produced by the use of careful objective procedures to study the social and natural
world. Giddens (2001) defines it as “the use of systematic methods of empirical
investigation, the analysis of data, theoretical thinking and the logical assessment of
arguments to develop a body of knowledge about a particular subject matter”. Chinoy
(1967) defined it as any body of knowledge based upon reliable observations and
organised into the knowledge of general propositions or laws Scientific knowledge is not
based on beliefs, superstitions or misinformation. Scientific knowledge is produced after
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rigorous and empirical procedures. Scientific knowledge not only brings about certainty
or approximations, but also dispels the fears that come from uncertainty.
2.2 ASSUMPTIONS OF SCIENCE
The process of building scientific knowledge relies on a few basic assumptions that are worth
acknowledging. Some of these assumptions are highlighted below. Science assumes that:
• The world –natural and social - is real.
• The real world is knowable and comprehensible.
• There are laws that govern the real world. That is, nature is orderly, patterned and
structured
• Those laws are knowable and comprehensible.
• Those laws do not [radically] change according to place or time, since the early stages of
the big bang.
• Nothing is self evident. Truth claims must be demonstrated objectively.
• Knowledge is superior to ignorance
• Science is cumulative. That is , it uses logic and reliable methods that make it possible to
base future research on past results, so that understanding of any topic can grow over
time
• Science predicts. All scientific disciplines seek to explain what happens and to make
predictions about similar circumstances in the future (www.understandingscience.org).
Apart from the above assumptions of science, we can judge science by three basic criteria,
namely:
i. Reliability of Knowledge- This speaks about the enduring nature of scientific knowledge;
it also relates to the likelihood of making generalizations that are universal, and of
prediction that are accurate. Science must fulfil this condition to become science indeed.
ii. The organisation of knowledge- The organisation of science rests on the relationships
which the parts of the knowledge bear to each other. In other words, there must be
15
relationships between parts of knowledge as to afford many leads and tools to more
discoveries.
iii. Method of science- The method or procedure of science must be systematic, consisting in
observation, measurement, experiment, formulation, testing, and modification of
hypotheses. Scientific inquiry tries to ensure objectivity as much as possible in order to
reduce biased interpretations of results. Another basic expectation of any scientific
endeavour is to document and share all data and methodology so that they are available
for careful scrutiny by other scientists, giving them the opportunity to verify results by
attempting to reproduce them. This practice, called full disclosure, also allows statistical
measures of the reliability of these data to be established (when data is sampled or
compared to chance).
• What are the qualities of a scientific knowledge?

o The quality of scientific knowledge is determined by the method or procedure for
arriving at the knowledge. As we saw earlier, scientific knowledge is one that was arrived
at through very rigorous, systematic and empirical process or procedure. A scientific
knowledge is not derived through hear saw or rumours, but through a painstaking process
of observation, empirical investigation, the analysis of data, theoretical thinking and the
logical assessment of arguments.
2.3 VALUES OF SCIENCE

• What is the value of science?
o Science can be pursued for practical purposes. Here we look at the distinction between pure
and applied research. Thus one can embark on a scientific inquiry for the sake of knowledge
(pure research) and nothing more even though one's scientific discoveries may lead to
commercial and technical successes.
Science brings about the disenchantment of the universe. This cannot understand the world in a
more rational way. It disabuses our minds of established explanations which may not necessarily
16
possess any cause - effect analysis. This despite earlier Eurocentric views on development,
religious social scientific methods has demonstrated that western technology 'does not
necessarily imply development or a happier society.
2.4 LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE

Science cannot answer questions about value. For example, there is no scientific answer to the
questions, "Which is more valuable, one ounce of gold or one ounce of steel?" Our culture places
value on the element gold, but if what you need is something to build a skyscraper with, gold, a
very soft metal, is pretty useless. So there is no way to scientifically determine the question of
value.
Science cannot answer questions of morality. The problem of deciding good and bad, right and
wrong, is outside the determination of science. This is why expert scientific witnesses can never
help us solve the dispute over abortion: all a scientist can tell you is what is going on as a foetus
develops; the question of whether it is right or wrong to terminate those events is determined by
cultural and social rules - in other words, morality. Science cannot help here.
Science cannot help us with questions about the supernatural. The prefix "super" means "above."
This is to say that the term supernatural means "above (or beyond) the natural." The toolbox of a
scientist contains only the natural laws of the universe; supernatural questions are outside their
reach.
2.5 HOW SCIENTIFIC IS SOCIAL SCIENCE?

Going by the definition and assumptions of science discussed above, we could rightly claim that
social science is science in so far as it employs the methods of science, that is, systematic method
of empirical investigation, analysis of data, and assessment of data in the light of evidence and
logical argument. However, one big difference exists between the physical/natural sciences and
the social sciences and this is in the area of the subject matter of the two. While the natural
scientist deals with matter, the social scientist deals with human beings. Matter can be
manipulated or compelled to react in a particular way because it has no consciousness, but this
cannot be said of human beings who have feelings and emotions.
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2.6 WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES?
o The application of the methods of science in the social sciences is limited by a number of
problems. These are:
a. Objectivity: This has to do with the possibility of the sociologist being detached from the
object of his study as is the case with the physical scientist. Although earlier sociologists
thought this was feasible, the reality is that the personal biases of the social scientist often
come to bear on his work. Sayer (1984) makes this point when he observed that the
relationship between the subject (that is the investigator or the observer) and the object (the
thing being studied) is not passive but such that one affects the other. Earlier, Ake (1979) had
observed that social science is not value free.
Objectivity in the social sciences is also hampered by the issue of conceptualization. The
argument is that concepts employed in social science investigations often do not have similar
meaning across societies.
b. Accurate prediction: This is closely tied to the problem of objectivity or neutrality. To the
extent that the investigator’s biases influence the result of his study, to that extent will
accuracy of prediction be problematic.
2.7 SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE

Based on what we know about science and in particular, the criteria for judging science, we can
safely conclude that sociology is a science. A little explanation here may suffice.
Reliability of knowledge: Sociology has made remarkable progress in terms of reliability of its
body of knowledge. Although it is a little more difficult, sociologists have had some successes in
making generalizations that are universal. For instance, we have come to know that divorces
occur more frequently in families without children than otherwise; we also know that families in
cities have a lower birth rate than rural areas. Similarly, sociological predictions may be liable to
errors; these in many cases are quite small.
Regarding the organisation of knowledge, we can also say with certainty that as in the pure
sciences there are many interrelationships in sociology to afford many leads and tools to more
18
discoveries.
Finally, the method of Sociology as with the pure sciences is systematic even though it does not
involve laboratory analysis. Sociology has adequate methods.
2.8 POSITIVISM AND ITS PROBLEMS

As we learnt in earlier sections of this module, many founding fathers of sociology believed that
it will be possible to apply the same principles and procedures of the natural sciences in
Sociology. This method or approach of applying natural science methods in sociology is referred
to as positivism. Auguste Comte, who christened sociology belongs to this school of thought and
believed that the application of the method of science to the study of man would produce a
“positive science of society”
The positivist approach is hinged on a number of assumptions on the basis of which it insists that
such the social world can be studied in the manner of the natural world. Some of these
assumptions are:
ii. That the behaviour of man, like that of matter can be objectively measured
iii. That observations of behaviour based on objective measurement will produce statements
of cause and effects
iv. That theories can then be devised to explain observed behaviour.
CRITICISMS OF POSITIVISM
The positivist school of thought has been variously criticised by many scholars. Some of these
criticisms are as follows:
i. Sociology cannot totally adopt the method of the natural sciences because its subject
matter is different from the subject matter of the natural sciences. Specifically, the natural
sciences deal with matter which can be manipulated without any complaints while
sociology deals with human beings which cannot be so manipulated without complaints.
ii. Critics also frown at positivism for portraying man as a passive responder to external
stimuli rather than as an active creator of his society.
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SUMMARY
In this session, we dealt with the definition of science, the assumptions and values of science.
The session also discussed the scientific credentials and limitations of social sciences as science.
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTION
discuss them with your Tutor at the next Study Support Meeting. You can check your answers
with the Notes on the Self-Assessment Questions at the end of this Module.
1. Define science and discuss its assumptions.

2. How true can it be said that social sciences is science?
3. What are the limitations of social sciences?
4. Define positivism and explain its problems
20
Ake, C. (1979). Social Science as Imperialism. Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press

Chinoy, E.(1967).An introduction to Sociology. New York: Random House.
Giddens, A. (2001). An Introduction to Sociology. New York: W.W. Norton Incorporated.
Publications
Sayer, Andrew (1984). Method in Social Science: A Realist Approach. London: Hutchinson
21
[email protected]
08033366677
22
INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about the meaning, characteristics, and functions of culture.
Also, you will learn about key concepts of culture as well as the relationship between the
individual, culture and society.
LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION 3
It is hoped that by the end of this session, you should be able to:
3.1: Explain the meaning of culture, its characteristics and functions
3.2: Discuss the various concepts of culture
3.3: Explain the relationship between individual, culture and society
3.1 CULTURE
• What is culture?
o In its simplest sense, culture refers to the ways of life of the members of a society, or of groups
within a society. It includes how they dress, their marriage, customs and family life, their
patterns of work, religious ceremonies and leisure pursuits. Tylor in his book Primitive Culture
written in 1891 defined it as the complex whole of man’s acquisition of knowledge, morals,
beliefs, art, custom and technology, which are shared and transmitted from generation to
generation. Culture refers to the totality of what is learned by individuals as members of a
society. It must be added here that regularities in human behaviour do not in themselves
constitute culture; such regularities are seen to occur because human beings possess culture,
because they have common standards of good and bad, right and wrong, appropriate and
inappropriate, and possess similar attitudes and share a kind of knowledge about the social,
biological and physical environment in which they live. In this sense, George Murdock noted
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that culture is ideational, it refers to the standards, beliefs and attitudes in terms of which
people act.
Culture is not a personal item and does not die with the death of an individual or a group of
individuals. The culture of a people may vanish only when such people vanish under such
mishaps as earthquakes.
There is an intricate relationship between culture and society. Neither can exist without the other,
that is, culture cannot exist without a society just as no society can exist without a culture. In
fact, we will cease to be humans without culture.
Sociologists speak of two aspects of culture. These are material culture and non material
culture. The former refers to the overt, tangible or explicit aspects of culture and include artefacts
such as pots, hoes, houses, handicrafts, hairstyles and the like, which are directly observable. The
latter on the other hand, consists of covert or implicit or intangible aspects of culture. These are
not visible but are manifested through the psychological states and behaviour of a people.
3.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE:
William Haviland (1995) explains in Cultural Anthropology that there are four basic
characteristics of culture. These are listed below:
i. culture is shared by a group of people (that constitutes a society);
ii. culture is learned rather than biologically inherited from parents;
iii. culture is based on symbols such as a cross, an image, an object of worship, etc; and
iv. culture is an integration of economic, political and social aspects.
Culture has several other characteristics too.
It is neither the outcome of individual attempts nor the impact of a particular phase of history but
evolves through the ages. It is an invaluable inheritance of uncountable experiences, experiments
and endeavours. People, families, societies and civilisations develop; change or end with the
flow of time but culture is not built or changed in one era. It is nurtured in the infinite lap of
time, age after age. It enfolds innumerable phases of rise, fall, obstructions, destructions,
reconstructions, trends and tides of the social, national and global history, and geographical,
economical, political, scientific, artistic, psychological and spiritual developments.
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Culture is the spine of any race or society. Social traditions, arts, festivals, rituals, the way of life
and the values of community are shaped on the foundation of its culture. Any disruption in the
flow of cultural values alters the structure of a society or civilisation. The supplanting of culture
shatters the roots of civilisation because civilisation is an external expression of culture. The
traditions, conduct, behaviour and ethics of a society depict the external face of its culture.
Therefore culture and civilisation are interlinked. Civilisation manifests the nature of culture
while culture is the source of sustenance and expansion of civilization. The future of any society
or nation thus depends upon the harmony between its culture and civilization.
3.3 FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE
Culture fulfils a number of functions which may be divided into two - (a) for the individual and
(b) for the group.
a. Importance of culture to the individual:

(1) Culture distinguishes man from animal. Culture makes man a human being. At birth the child
is just an ‘animal’. He does not possess speech, identity, sex and age roles. No self is formed.
Because of enculturation the self is developed and the personality begins to develop thereby
making the individual human
(2) Culture provides solution for complicated situations. Culture provides man a set of
behaviour for difficult situations. In the absence of culture man would have been baffled even at
the simplest situations. Culture not only defines but also determines what we eat and drink, when
to sleep, when to laugh etc.
(3) Culture provides traditional interpretation to certain situations. Through culture, man gets
traditional interpretations for many situations according to which he determines his behaviour.
For example, if a cat crosses his way he postpones the journey.
(4) Culture shapes personality. No child can develop human qualities in the absence of cultural
environment. Culture prepares man for group life. It is culture that provides opportunities for the
development of personality and sets limits on its growth.
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b. Importance of culture for the group:
(1) Culture keeps social relationship intact. Culture has importance not only for the individual
but also for the group. Culture prepares man for group life. Group life would have been poor,
nasty, and short if there had been no cultural regulations. Group solidarity rests on the foundation
of culture.
(2) Culture has given a new vision to the individual. Secondly, culture has given a new vision to
the co-operation of the individuals. Culture teaches him to think of himself as a part of the larger
whole. It provides him with the concepts of family, state and nation and makes possible the co-
ordination and division of labour.
(3)Culture creates new needs. Finally, culture also creates new drives for example, thirst for
knowledge and arranges for their satisfaction. It satisfies the moral and religious interests of
members of the group.
3.4 CULTURAL CONCEPTS
Cultural Universals
Every society everywhere confronts broadly similar problems, especially that of survival. As a
result, certain types of arrangements are found in every culture. These patterned and recurrent
aspects of life that are found in all cultures or societies are what we refer to as cultural
universals. They are those basic elements, patterns, traits or institutions which are developed by
every society as they confront such universal problems as securing a livelihood, socialising
children and dealing with deviants.
Cultural Relativitism
In sociology, we do not consider any society or individual as ‘uncultured’ just as no culture is

better than another. It is in this sense that sociologists speak of cultural relativity, that is, an effort
to understand the world as seen by members of other societies or an attempt to judge every
cultural trait or behaviour in the context of the particular culture and its value system. It is a
viewpoint and position that behaviour in one culture should not be judged by the standards of
26
another culture, i.e., values and standards of one’s own culture, and that the values and standards
of culture differ and deserve respect. This helps to replace value judgments based on one’s own
culture and to appreciate the values of other cultures. From this stand point therefore,
sociologists do not ask what cultural elements are good or bad according to some absolute
yardsticks, but rather why the elements exist, how they are sustained and what purposes they
serve in that culture.
Cultural Variability
This reflects the variety of customs, beliefs and artefacts devised by humans to meet universal
needs. Differences may exist in the approaches adopted to solve a given problem as we move
from society to society depending on history and geography.
Cultural Ethnocentrism
This refers to the tendency to view one’s own culture as superior and apply one’s own cultural
values to judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures. It is the belief that
one’s culture is the best and therefore the standard by which other cultures are subsequently
judged. Sociologists endeavour as much as possible to avoid this. Although it sometimes
enhances group solidarity, it is often times dysfunctional and could breed hostility and conflict.
Ethical Absolutism
This is a principle that says that there may be universal circumstances that are always good and
always bad for the human condition. The principle negates the views of the cultural relativists
who do not believe that there are universal rights or wrongs.
Cultural Lag
This concept was first used by Williams F. Ogburn. According to him, a cultural lag occurs when
one of two parts of a culture which are correlated changes before or in greater degree that the
other part does, thereby causing less adjustment between the two parts than existed previously
(Ogburn, 1957). Usually, cultural lag occurs as a result of rapid technological changes which are
not matched by corresponding adjustment in cultural patterns. For example, there was an obvious
cultural lag in the time between the development of the atomic bomb as a weapon of war and the
long period before the world could develop a defence against it.
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Cultural Change
This has to do with the modification or discontinuance of ‘tried and tested’ procedure transmitted
to us from the culture of the past, as well as the introduction of new procedures.
3.5 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Culture and society are closely interrelated. Indeed one cannot exist in the absence of the other. It
is within the society that people are socialised and encultured or made to learn and know how to
behave and how to use the materials in their environment. Similarly, culture provides the content
and context of social relationships. Both culture and society exist beyond the life span of any
individual. No man will be human except as a member of a society, and no society can exist
without a culture; culture makes relationships possible while society provides expression to
culture. Both society and culture are possible because there are people.
3.6 THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY
This theme addresses another major sociological question which is: the individual and the
society, who is more important?
Among major issues addressed include:
3.7 YOU AND SOCIETY: IDENTITY AND ROLE
Here, the major issue of concern is for people to think about themselves and their relationship to
the society where they operate or live. This set up can be understood by asking individuals to use
10 different words to describe the person they are to people they have never met before. This
exercise signals the beginning of the journey into establishing ‘SELF AND SOCIETY’.
In the course of analysing such descriptive 10 words, the possible themes to be discerned will
include:
a. Social Identity: In describing oneself to others, one discovers that some of the words
used have a social component as they refer to one’s relationship with others. In this
sense social identity therefore connotes “a label that places people in particular social
categories i.e. nationality as it has to do with such issues as government, laws,
28
language, traditions, and generally accepted ways of behaving or norms which varies
across nations and regions.
b. Social Roles: This has to do with the things we do or the things we say about ourselves
which have some social expectations attached to it. In other words, it connotes scripts or
rules seemingly laid down by society to guide our conduct in given positions i.e. as a
teacher, student, banker or lawyer.
Society does more than prescribing rules of behaviour; it also presents individuals with
an identity which connotes “the sort of person one is expected to be in all situations and
circumstances. The point to note is that even though society presents individuals with
such ‘social scripts’, how people go about reading it and applying them in their everyday
life differs. In other words, people interpret their scripts differently or some can even
‘tear’ it up and do something entirely different. The end point is the social consequences
that follow i.e. if a child fails to read her ‘social script’ of being a student and playing the
rules correctly, she could end up being thrown out of school and vice versa, another could
earn awards or scholarship to higher grounds. The conclusive statement here is that
whether we conform to social expectations or not, we have to take into account the
expectations others have about how we should behave.
c. Personal Identity: In making references to what we think about ourselves and how we
describe ourselves to others, there are personal characteristics that say something about
us as specific individuals rather than as a social role we share with other people. These
characteristics peculiar to individuals are referred to as personal identity – such as being
intelligent, stupid, attractive, ugly, fat, thin, outgoing, shy etc – all of which arise from
social relationships and socially accepted norms. We monitor other people’s reactions to
us in daily life to be able to find out how we match up with these identities. The way
others see us in turn influences our behaviour in all sorts of ways. The foregoing shows
that the individual and society are inseparable.
3.8 SOCIALISATION AND IDENTITY
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In looking at socialisation and identity, we are addressing some key sociological concepts that
enhance our understanding of how much of our life as individuals is bound up with the social
contexts in which we live. At this point, the key sociological problem of the relation between the
individual and society is visited afresh on how it comes about.
The principal notion here is that we are all born into societies which are referred to as social
institutions or systems i.e. family. Institutionalisation is therefore seen as the process whereby
these established patterns or social practices become accepted ways of doing things in a society.
In due course, these social practices, the values and beliefs surrounding them make up the culture
of the society or the sub-culture of a social group. It is this cultural practice and values that place
expectation on how people should behave. In addition, the processes through which people learn
about and generally conform to the norms and values of the groups they live in is referred to as
socialisation. Socialisation as a process is seen to occur in three stages.
• Primary socialisation which has to do with the socialisation of the young child by the
adult members of the family.
• Secondary socialisation which occurs at the school level. Here, individuals learn and
acquire the skills and attitude to cope with or deal with their professional lives.
• Tertiary or adult socialisation which continues all through our lives duration i.e. old age
socialization based on the notion that people do not just get old; they also learn how to
cope with challenges and expectations of old age. Also from point of view of medical
sociology, terminally ill people are socialised into dying the right way. So the inference
here is that socialisation is a continuous process: it begins when we are born and only
ends when we die.
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTION
discuss them with your Tutor at the next Study Support Meeting. You can check your answers
with the Notes on the Self-Assessment Questions at the end of this Module.
1. Define society and discuss the various ways of differentiating society.

2. Define culture and list its characteristics.
30
3. What are the functions of culture?
4. Discuss the following concepts of culture- cultural ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and
cultural universals
5. Explain the relationship between society and culture
Summary
In this unit, we dealt with the definition of society and various ways of differentiating society;
the meaning, characteristics and functions of culture. Also, the unit dealt with various cultural
concepts and the relationship between society and culture.
31
Havilan, W.A (1995).Cultural Anthropology. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
Murdock, G.P (1981). Atlas of World Cultures. Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press
Ogburn, W.F (1957a). “Cultural Lag as Theory’ Sociology and Social Research, January-
February: 167-174
Publications
32
[email protected]
08033366677
33
INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about some of the leading theories in sociology. Specifically,
you will learn about the functionalist theory, the conflict theory and the symbolic interactionist
theory. .
LEARNING OUTCOMES IN STUDY SESSION 4
It is hoped that by the end of this session, you should be able to:
4.1: Define theory
4.2: Discuss the key assumptions of the functionalist theory in Sociology and its weaknesses
4.3: Discuss the assumptions of symbolic interactionist theory and its limitations
4.4: Discuss the central arguments of the conflict theory in sociology and its shortcomings
4.1 THEORIES IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIETY
• What is sociological theory?
o A sociological theory is a set of ideas which attempts to explain how society or aspects of
society works. Using theories, sociologists study everything from specific events (the micro
level of analysis of small social patterns) to the “big picture” (the macro level of analysis of
large social patterns). Today, sociologists employ three primary theoretical perspectives to
explain how society influences people, and vice versa. These are functionalism, Marxism (or the
conflict perspective) and symbolic interactionism. Each perspective uniquely conceptualises
society, social forces, and human behaviour.
4.2 THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
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The functionalist perspective, also called functionalism is described as the traditional or
mainstream sociological theory in the explanation of social events. It has its roots in biology and
equates society with the human body. According to the theory, just as the human organism is
made up of several parts each of which performs different interdependent functions to ensure the
survival of the whole, the human society consists also of parts which are interdependent and
contribute to society's functioning as a whole. For instance, the government, or state, provides
education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes on which the state depends to
keep itself running. That is, the family is dependent upon the school to help children grow up to
have good jobs so that they can raise and support their own families. In the process, the children
become law-abiding, taxpaying citizens, who in turn support the state. If all goes well, parts of
society produce order, stability, and productivity. If all does not go well, parts of society then
must adapt to recapture a new order, stability, and productivity. For example, during a financial
recession with its high rates of unemployment and inflation, social programmes are trimmed or
cut. Schools offer fewer programmes, families tighten their budgets and a new social order,
stability, and productivity occur.
Functionalists believe that society is held together by social consensus, or cohesion, in which
members of the society agree upon, and work together to achieve, what is best for society as a
whole. Emile Durkheim suggested that social consensus takes one of two forms:
• Mechanical solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when people in a society
maintain similar values and beliefs and engage in similar types of work. Mechanical
solidarity most commonly occurs in traditional, simple societies such as those in which
everyone herds cattle or farms. A band exemplifies mechanical solidarity.
• In contrast, organic solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when the people in
a society are interdependent, but hold to varying values and beliefs and engage in varying
types of work. Organic solidarity most commonly occurs in industrialised, complex
societies such as those in large American cities like New York in the 2000s.
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The functionalist perspective achieved its greatest popularity among American sociologists in the
1940s and 1950s. While European functionalists originally focused on explaining the inner
workings of social order, American functionalists focused on discovering the functions of human
behaviour. Among these American functionalist sociologists is Robert Merton (1910b), who
divided human functions into two types: manifest functions – which are intentional and
obvious, while latent functions are unintentional and not obvious. The manifest function of
attending a church or mosque, for instance, is to worship as part of a religious community, but its
latent function may be to help members learn to discern personal from institutional values. With
common sense, manifest functions become easily apparent. Yet this is not necessarily the case
for latent functions, which often demand a sociological approach to be revealed. A sociological
approach in functionalism is the consideration of the relationship between the functions of
smaller parts and the functions of the whole.
Functionalism has received criticism for neglecting the negative functions of an event such as
divorce. Critics also claim that the perspective justifies the status quo and complacency on the
part of society's members. Functionalism does not encourage people to take an active role in
changing their social environment, even when such change may benefit them. Instead,
functionalism sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will
compensate naturally for any problems that may arise.
4.3 THE SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
The symbolic interactionist perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism, directs

sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life; what these symbols mean, and
how people interact with each other. Although symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max
Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their
world, the American philosopher George H. Mead (1863–1931) introduced this perspective to
American sociology in the 1920s.
According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and
then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Verbal conversations,
in which spoken words serve as the predominant symbols, make this subjective interpretation
36
especially evident. The words have a certain meaning for the “sender,” and, during effective
communication, they hopefully have the same meaning for the “receiver.” In other terms, words
are not static “things”; they require intention and interpretation. Conversation is an interaction of
symbols between individuals who constantly interpret the world around them. Of course,
anything can serve as a symbol as long as it refers to something beyond itself. Written music
serves as an example. The black dots and lines become more than mere marks on the page; they
refer to notes organized in such a way as to make musical sense. Thus, symbolic interactionists
give serious thought to how people act, and then seek to determine what meanings individuals
assign to their own actions and symbols, as well as to those of others.
Consider applying symbolic interactionism to the institution of marriage. Symbols may include
wedding bands, vows of life-long commitment, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a Church
ceremony, and flowers and music. The Nigerian society attaches general meanings to these
symbols, but individuals also maintain their own perceptions of what these and other symbols
mean. For example, one of the spouses may see their circular wedding rings as symbolising
“never ending love,” while the other may see them as a mere expense. Much faulty
communication can result from differences in the perception of the same events and symbols.
Critics claim that symbolic interactionism neglects the macro level of social interpretation—the
“big picture.” In other words, symbolic interactionists may miss the larger issues of society by
focusing too closely on the “trees” (for example, the size of the diamond in the wedding ring)
rather than the “forest” (for example, the quality of the marriage). The perspective also receives
criticism for slighting the influence of social forces and institutions on individual interactions.
4.4 THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
The conflict perspective, which originated primarily out of Karl Marx's writings on class
struggles, presents society in a different light than do the functionalist and symbolic interactionist
perspectives. While these latter perspectives focus on the positive aspects of society that
contribute to its stability, the conflict perspective focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever-
changing nature of society. Unlike functionalists who defend the status quo, avoid social change,
and believe people cooperate to effect social order, conflict theorists challenge the status quo,
37
encourage social change (even when this means social revolution), and believe rich and powerful
people force social order on the poor and the weak.
Whereas American sociologists in the 1940s and 1950s generally ignored the conflict perspective
in favour of the functionalist, the tumultuous 1960s saw American sociologists gain considerable
interest in conflict theory. They also expanded Marx's idea that the key conflict in society was
strictly economic. Today, conflict theorists find social conflict between any groups in which the
potential for inequality exists: racial, gender, religious, political, economic, and so on. Conflict
theorists note that unequal groups usually have conflicting values and agendas, causing them to
compete against one another. This constant competition between groups forms the basis for the
ever-changing nature of society.
Critics of the conflict perspective point to its overly negative view of society. The theory
ultimately attributes humanitarian efforts, altruism, democracy, civil rights, and other positive
aspects of society to capitalistic designs to control the masses, not to inherent interests in
preserving society and social order.
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
1. Define theory
2. Discuss the key arguments of the functionalist theory.
SUMMARY
This unit examined the place of theory in sociology. Three major theories were closely
discussed. These theories are the functionalist, the symbolic interactionist and the social conflict
theories.
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Publications
39
[email protected]
08033366677
40
INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about the meaning, types and characteristics of society of
sociology, its origin and scope. Also, you will learn about some sociological concepts such as
socialization, norms, values, status and roles. Finally, you will learn about value and practical
importance of studying sociology.
LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION 5
5.1: Explain society, types and characteristics
5.2: Discuss the meaning, types and characteristics of social groups
5.3: Define the concept of organisation and bureaucracy and their characteristics
5.1 UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY

• What do sociologists mean by the term ‘society’?
o The definition of society appears somewhat problematic. To some people, it merely refers
to a group of people. This definition emphasises the biological units, human beings, while
less emphasis is placed on what the human beings do and the way they relate to one
another. Other people define the term to mean a network of social relationships. Again,
this takes people for granted and emphasises the crucial issue of relationships between
people or institutions or between sub-systems in the society. A more comprehensive
definition of society is one that sees it as consisting of people who share distinct
institutions and culture which are passed on from one generation to another. Critical in
any definition of society are three key concepts, namely: people, institutions and
relationships. Every society has its own political organisation, and is more than the
individuals that compose it.
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5.1.1 DIFFERENTIATION IN SOCIETY
Society can be differentiated in terms of scale. Thus we have a society within a society
depending on the type or size of relationships that we want to analyze. For instance, the church is
a society within a wider society; various secret societies each of which has its own rules and
values within the wider society are other examples. Similarly, society is differentiated on the
basis of age and sex. Every society assigns roles and expectations to the sexes, even though these
vary from place to place. Also, society recognises age differences and attaches roles to people as
they go through life.
Society is defined in various ways by many people. There is no single definition accepted by all
social scientists. However, all definitions of society must take account of three key concepts:
people, institutions and relationships. It is also clear that the relationships in a given society are
within a cultural context. Since society has been defined as a network of relationships, it means
that there are complex interdependence between parts of a society and its various processes and
between society itself and its environment. A society can be small enough for all its members to
know themselves (e.g. a village or it may be a whole country e.g. Nigeria. We can also have
society within a society e.g. a church in a larger society or a secret society.
Conflict: As a result of the complex independences in a society, conflict must of necessity

ensue. Conflicts could be at these levels:
(1) Interpersonal level i.e. conflicts between individuals e.g. father/son, husband/wife,
employer/employee etc.
(2) Inter-group level i.e. conflicts between groups e.g. religious groups, ethnic groups, or
racial groups etc.
(3) International level i.e. conflicts between nations e.g. border conflicts between countries
or states e.g. Conflict over Bakassi between Nigeria/Cameroun.
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Conflicts may come in different forms e.g. fighting, shooting, strikes etc and be of
different intensity and outcome.
5.1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIETY
Characteristics of society are:
1. Society is more than the individuals who compose it.

1. The interest of the society supersedes the interest of any individual member.
2. The society also outlives individual members composing it.
3. Society is differentiated in terms of sex. All societies distinguish the biological functions
of the sexes (procreation) but the social roles and expectations associated with the sexes
may differ from one society to another.
4. Society is also differentiated in terms of age and roles attached to specific periods of
peoples’ lives. There are expectations of a little boy or girl and expectations of adults.
5. In other words, society is differentiated according to age and sex with corresponding
differences in roles and behaviour (especially in Africa where age is important for local
organisation and social control).
6. Society can be differentiated in terms of scale i.e. we can have a society within a society
e.g. church; mosque, a secret society or an exclusive society could be described as
societies within a wider society. There can also be large societies within the larger society
e.g. The Igbo society, the Nigerian society etc.
5.1.3 TYPES OF SOCIETIES

Ferdinand Tonnies (1853-1936), a German sociologist, used the terms Gemeinschaft and
Gesellschaft to describe societies.
Gemeinschaft refers to small traditional communities, characterized by primary group

(close, intimate, personal) relationships and intergenerational stability. Here, there is a
‘we’ feeling among members and this helps to promote group solidarity. In this type of
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setting, each member knows his or her roles and is recognized for these; the group also
takes responsibility for needy members.
Gesellschaft refers to large scale societies such as modern day cities or states where
people associate without knowing each other well. In such communities relationships are
contractual by which we mean that social bonds are voluntary, based on rational self-
interest and characterized by instrumental behaviour (social relationships are means to an
end). Here, people are detached from their primary ties and behaviour patterns are largely
based on formal rules. In general, modern societies are characterized by a progressive
expansion of the Gesellschaft, as impersonal institutions replace primary groups as a
source of education, protection and employment.
5.2 GROUPS
• What is a social group?
o A social group is a collection of people who relate to one another as a distinctive
integrated whole. For a collection of people to be described as a group, they must have
some social relationships through which they perform functions which are
complementary. The groups to which people belong have different levels of importance
for them. For a collection of people to be described as a group, they must have some
characteristics.
5.2.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS

1. Members of the groups must see themselves as a whole. They must have a sense of
membership or a ‘we’ feeling.
2. For a group to evolve, the people concerned must be in communication with one another.
3. There must be some rules or expectations governing the unit.
4. Individuals in the unit must perform functions which benefit the whole group. There must
be independence.
5. Individuals in the unit must interact, and respond to one another.
6. There must be common objectives which members share, with which they identify and
which they seek to achieve.
7. There must be a distinctive set of social relationships among members.
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8. There must be the feeling that the behavior of each member is relevant to other members
(Otite and Ogionwo, 1985; Peil,1977)
5.2.2 CLASSIFICATION OF GROUPS
Primary Group
The concept of primary group was developed by Charles Cooley (1909) to describe relatively
small and simple collections of people characterised by intimate face-to-face association and
cooperation. A primary group has some form of permanence and its members interact relatively
intimately, intensely and frequently. There is a high level of group consciousness and solidarity
among members. It is in the primary group that the individual is given the earliest form of
education and training according to the local culture and values. Relationship within the primary
group is highly personalized and everyone is interested in everyone else as a person with his or
her own value. Relationship is expressive and is an end in itself.
Secondary Groups
Members of a secondary group come together for specific practical purposes. Secondary groups
are contrasts to primary groups. They are more impermanent, and members have more casual
relationship. Members relate less frequently and have less intensity of contact. There are fewer
ties of sentiments either towards one another or towards the group.
All members do not necessarily know themselves or live in close proximity. There may be face
to face interaction to an extent but contacts between individuals are ephemeral and impersonal.
Relationships are means to an end (they are instrumental), they are rationalized and most things
are explicitly stated as in a contract.
5.2.3 KINDS OF GROUPS
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Kinship and descent groups are made up of people with common ancestors. They have common
interests as a result of their common possessions in land, title or political positions.
Ethnic Group: An ethnic group is marked by common language, culture, ideas, value system,
clothing etc. An ethnic group may be very small and it may be so large and dispersed that it
cannot organise itself as one unit for purposes of government.
Sex Group
Separate groups formed by men or women to pursue various interest e.g. groups trying to ensure
female rights and opportunities.
Peer or Age Group
Age group consists of people who are roughly of the same age. At an early age, the peer group
becomes an important part of socialization. Among peers, children learn to form relationships on
their own, and have the chance to discuss interests that adults may not share with children, such
as clothing and popular music, or may not permit, such as drugs and sex (Gerber and Linda,
2010).
Pressure Group
A peer group consists of people who organize to influence or control other persons or groups.
Members of a pressure group have common vested interest and they attempt to influence
government or other authority to change policy for their benefit or that of a section or the whole
society.
5.2.4 OTHER COLLECTIONS OF PEOPLE
Apart from the various groups discussed above, we also have a number of other collections of
people who do not necessarily fit into our definition of a group. These are discussed below.
Aggregate:
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An aggregate refers to a body of individuals who can be classified into the same positions
because of the similar things they do or similar attributes they possess e.g. music lovers,
newspaper readers, people watching football, and bald-headed men. These people have no
specific group name, no intense interactions, and no personal ties – in fact they do not know
themselves. They may also be described as a collection of people who are in the same place at
the same time. They may not share any definite connection. Ervin Goffman (1959) describes
them as ‘gatherings of people in unfocused interaction’.
Social Category
People who constitute social categories have a social characteristic in common. It may be their
occupational status e.g. teachers, lawyers etc; income level, age etc. They may not interact or
know themselves. They may not be bound by any relationship. They can also be classified
together because they share beliefs and values but they do not have any interaction pattern as in
the groups. A social category is useful for the purpose of statistical groupings in sociological
research.
5.3 ORGANISATIONS AND BUREAUCRACIES
Sociologists use the term organisation to describe a deliberately constructed collectivity aimed at
achieving specified goals with clearly delineated statuses, roles and rules. Formal organisations
are also called complex organizations. They are larger and more structured than small groups.
They are social structures characterised by formality, ranked positions, larger size, relative
complexity and longer duration than that of members that constitute them. Formal organisations
are efficient and effective mechanisms for doing large jobs based on division of labour e.g.
hospitals, government agencies, and colleges.
5.3.1 BUREAUCRACY
Bureaucracy is a type of formal organisation characterized by rationality and efficiency to

accomplish large scale administrative tasks involving many people.
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Max Weber (1922) first gave a description of bureaucracy. His description is said to be an ideal-
type i.e. a description of the purest form of this type of organisation. Note that an ideal type is
not, as it might seem, a best possible form of something. Rather, it is a logical, exaggerated and
‘pure’ model of any phenomenon that one wishes to study or analyse. Max Weber identified the
following characteristics of a bureaucracy.
1. A clear-cut division of labour attached to status in the organisation, with a high degree of
specialisation for each status position.
2. A hierarchical delegation of power and responsibility with each lower status under the
control and supervision of a higher one (specified chain of command).
3. A consistent set of rules and regulations for specific situations or tasks to assure uniform
performance.
4. Impartiality, whereby status occupants are to perform their tasks without favouritism to
assure uniform performance.
5. Employment based on stated qualifications and employees protected against
unreasonable dismissal.
6. Records kept of all transactions.
These characteristics show that bureaucracies are designed to be impartial and rational. Positions
are filled according to technical ability, statuses are achieved rather than ascribed and the
organisation aims at efficiency.
SUMMARY
This session examined the meaning, types and characteristics of society. It also discussed the
meaning, types and characteristics of social groups. Finally, it discussed the concept of
organisation and bureaucracy and their characteristics
1. Discuss the eight characteristics of society mentioned in this module
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2. Define a social group and discuss the characteristics of social group.
3. Distinguish between primary and secondary groups
4. Define bureaucracy and list the six characteristics of a bureaucracy identified by Max
Weber.
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Cooley, C.H. (1909). Social Organisation: A study of the larger mind. New York: C. Scribner’s
Gerber, M. and Linda J. (2010). Sociology 7th Canadian Ed. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Canada
Inc. p. 113.
Goffman, Erving(1983). “The Interaction Order”, American Sociological Review 48.
Publications
Otite, O. and W. Ogionwo (1985). An Introduction to Sociological Studies. Ibadan: Heinemann
Educational Books (Nig.) Ltd.
Tonnies, F. (2005). Community and Society (Reprint). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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[email protected]
08033366677
51
INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about the meaning and discuss the difference between gender
and sex. Also, you will learn about the importance of gender issues as well as gender relations in
society.
LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION
6.1: Discuss the meaning of gender and distinguish it from sex
6.2: Explain the importance of gender issues
6.3: Explain gender relations
6.1 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GENDER AND SEX
• What does gender mean?
o Gender refers to the social definitions of being male or being female. These definitions
influence the behaviours of male and female and their positions in a society. This is why
gender is said to consist of the roles, expectations, behaviour, opportunities and privileges
associated with the sexes. Being socially designed, these roles, and expectations change
over time and vary from place to place. In other words, what is expected of men and
women and the roles assigned to them change from time to time and may vary from one
society to another.
• What is sex?
o Sex simply refers to the division of organisms into male and female. It comprises of
relatively fixed qualities in the realm of biology such as hormones and chromosomes.
• What therefore is the difference between sex and gender?
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o Sex has to do with physical attributes (such as a person’s genitalia). Gender has to do
with the meaning that a particular society attaches to those physical attributes. For
example, long hair on women and short hair on men are gender attributes (and may vary
from society to society).
The distinction between sex and gender can also be illustrated as shown through their
characteristics below:
Sex Gender
1 Division of organisms into Male and Social interpretations of the sexes
female
2 Relatively fixed/unchangeable Dynamic (Gender identities change)
3 Realm of biology (chromosomes Realm of culture (roles, expectations
hormones, etc. opportunities, constraints etc)
4 Gender is learnt
The linkage between gender and sex is that social definitions are given to purely biological
attributes
6.2 WHY ARE GENDER ISSUES IMPORTANT?
Gender issues are important in the understanding of development and development efforts of
nations because there cannot be sustainable human development without equitable participation
by men and women. Gender issues are not only important for academic understanding; but
governments and non-governmental organisations have paid increased attention to gender issues
in their quest for equitable participation for men and women in all spheres of life.
Rohrbaugh (1981) argues that gender is the most important determinant of any individual’s life
experience. (These different experiences are not absolutely based on the biological differences of
men and women but on the social descriptions of their lives). This means that human beings are
born male or female but they learn to be men and women or boys and girls from their
experiences.
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• In which specific ways can gender influence an individual’s life chances?
o By life chances, it is meant the chances or opportunities an individual has to acquire

achieve or enjoy those things which are considered to be desirable in society such as
good education, good health care services, good accommodation or any such thing. As
we saw earlier, gender has alot to do with whether an individual can achieve those things
which society considers desirable, especially in Africa where individuals are regarded
more from the prism of their biological attributes of being male or female rather than on
the basis of what they can offer. For instance, so many obstacles are placed on the way of
women which inhibit their ability to compete favourably with their male counterparts at
the home front, work places, in schools and society at large
6.3 EXPLANATIONS FOR GENDER RELATIONS
Why is it that in virtually all human societies, men and women have different roles and
expectations and face different constraints and opportunities? Why do women tend to have a
lower status in many societies and why do they seem to be oppressed more? Why do men tend to
have greater power (ability to make others do what they may not want to do) than women?
Explanations for how gender distinctions produce inequalities vary from biological to cultural
and material reasons but over time, some of these explanations have been found to be inadequate
to explain gender relations in the light of new development.
Gender relations have been attributed to biological reasons. The fact that females carry pregnancy
has been used to justify their restriction to the domestic sphere and the expectation that they
should perform other related roles. Those who believe that biological factors are responsible for
gender inequality argue that ‘sex is destiny’. Functionalists use the biological differences between
men and women to justify gender inequality in the society. According to them, gender inequality
“reflects the distribution by sex of traits required for group survival – toughness for men,
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nurturance for women – with the former being given greater weight in the public arena of political
and economic activities (Ferree et. al. 1993: 207)”.
A structural-functionalist, Talcott Parson (1949) describes male and female roles as being
instrumental and expressive respectively. Males, in their instrumental roles are expected to be
breadwinners while females in their expressive roles are responsible for the socialization of
children and the stabilization of adult personalities. This theory has been used to justify the
division between the public and private spheres as spheres for male and female respectively.
Similar arguments are those of the human biogrammar by Tiger and Fox (1972).
From the conflict perspective, inequality between men and women results from social and
cultural arrangements and not nature. In other words, culture and cultural dictates rather than
biological facts account for the supposed male superiority and female inferiority. In the
materialist position, the Marxian and feminist positions form the focus of consideration. The first
approach of the Marxian perspective attributes the subordinate status of women to the institution
of private property sustained by monogamous marriage. This approach has its roots in Friedrich
Engels’ work. According to Engels (1972), the monogamous family emerged as the acquisition
of private property, especially private ownership of the forces of production developed. It was a
device of controlling women so that the paternity of offspring who would inherit their fathers’
property was not in doubt. The second approach under the Marxian perspective sees the
subordination of women as being caused by capitalism. This approach, championed by Eli
Zaretsky, argues that capitalism exploits women through the separation of wage labor and unpaid
housework (George 1990:28). The third approach is that by proposed Mariarosa Della Costa,
who argued that women sustained capitalism by reproducing the labour force and surplus value
needed for the survival of capitalism. According to her, women should demand payment for
housework and repute to participate in wage labour (George 1990; 28).
The various strands of the Feminist theory have explained social life and human experience from
a woman-centred standpoint. They have explained gender differences, inequality and oppression.
Liberal feminism seeks equal opportunities and rights for men and women; while radical
feminism believes that patriarchy is at the roots women’s oppression. Socialist feminism
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attributes the subordination of women to the ways in which people in each society organize to
produce and distribute the basic necessities of life.
6.4 GENDER RELATIONS
Gender relations are best understood within social institutions. They take different forms under
different circumstances but more often than not, they take the form of male dominance and
female domination. The dominant- dominated role is tied to gender roles and the perceptions of
such roles in the society..
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
1. Define gender and distinguish it from sex.

2. Discuss the importance of gender issues.
3. Explain what you understand by gender relations.
SUMMARY
In this unit, we defined the term gender and distinguished it from sex; discussed the importance
of gender issues and explained gender relations.
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Engels, F. (1972): The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State; Pathfinder
(translated by Reed, Evelyn) First published 1884; Hottingen-Zurich: Zodiac/Brian
Basgen.
George, F. U. (1990): ‘Theoretical Positions on Gender Roles in Society’ in Olurode ‘Lai (ed.)
Women and Social Change in Nigeria, Lagos: UPRECOL.
Hess, B; Merkson, E and Stein, P. (1993): Sociology 4th edition, New York: Macmillan
Publishing Company.
Publications
Parson, Talcott (1949): The Structure of Social Action, 2nd Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Rohrbaugh, J.B (1981): Women: Psychology’s Puzzle, Reading: Abacus.
Tiger, L. and Fox, R. (1972): The Imperial Animal; London: Secker and Warburg
Zaretsky, E (1986). Capitalism, the Family and Personal Life. New York: Harpercollins
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[email protected]
08033366677
58
INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about the meanings of social stratification and life chances,
origins and systems of social stratification.
7.1: Discuss the meaning of social stratification and life chances
7.2: Explain the origins and systems of stratification
7.1 MEANING OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Social stratification refers to the structure of social inequality in a society in which distinct social
groups are ranked one above the other in terms of factors such as prestige, power and wealth. It
can also be described as the manner in which scarce resources and social rewards are distributed
among the different social categories. (By scarce resources and social rewards we mean money,
power, influence, respect and prestige).
• Why do sociologists study social stratification?

o Social stratification is important to sociologists because it an individual’s position in a
system of stratification affects his/her life chances by which we mean the likelihood of
realizing a certain standard of living or quality of life. An individual’s life chances
determines the type of housing, education, health care, treatment by the criminal justice
system he is able to access including whether he dies early in life or lives to become old.
More importantly, inequality and stratification affects the degree of stability and order in
society. Extreme inequality and stratification can become a recipe for anarchy at both
national and global levels
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In virtually all societies, social inequalities exist as well as social ranking. There are always
contrasts between: wealth/poverty; power/powerlessness; dominance/subordination,
prestige/degradation etc. Although social stratification is virtually universal, societies differ in
the ways they allocate scarce resources. This means that forms of stratification systems vary
widely.
It is important to note that social stratification is not natural or inevitable. It is a social

phenomenon. It is not determined by the biological characteristics of individuals or by
experimental laws. It results from human actions in the present and past (earlier generations
create a system of stratification that influence each succeeding generation. People learn the
structure of their society’s stratification system and find their own places).
7.2 ORIGINS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Society had not always been stratified. Indeed, people shared a common social standing in early
societies. However, stratification emerged as societies evolved and became more complex such
that today, stratification has become a universal phenomenon. For a better understanding, an
attempt is made here to trace the origin and character of social stratification across various forms
of societies.
a. Hunting and gathering societies
Stratification was almost absent in hunting and gathering societies. Although there was a
loose division of labour along sex line with men hunting for meat and women gathering
edible plants, everyone worked hard to ensure the general welfare of all; Things were
shared almost equally with no group emerging better than the others.
b. Horticultural, Pastoral and Agricultural Societies.

Social inequality began with the emergence of horticulture, pastoralism and agriculture.
These forms of economic systems not only provided more reliable sources of food but
made it possible for people to produce more food than they needed for mere survival.
This in turn, made it possible for some people to branch off into other occupations and
still survive. Before long, we began to have specialization and division of labour which
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led to stratification because certain professions came to be valued more by society than
the others. Also, some people who took to certain occupations such as trading began to
accumulate more possessions than the others, which they transferred to their future
generations, leading to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few groups. Thus,
stratification became part of society.
c. Industrialized Societies
The Industrial revolution which happened in Great Britain in the mid 1700s created more
stratification in society. We had factory owners who hired workers and paid them meagre
wages, while they smiled to the banks. This widened the gap between the ‘haves’ and the
‘have –nots’. Things changed a bit for the workers in the mid 1900s however when they
were granted improved rights and wages. But while this was the case, a new form of
inequality emerged as employers began to discriminate between skilled and unskilled
workers with the former earning more than the latter. This continues even till date.
d. Post industrial societies
These societies are driven by technology and information. Here fewer people work in
factories while more work in service industries. Information technology has become a
major source of global inequality with nations who have IT power at a clear advantage.
Compare Nigeria which is a consumer nation with Japan and the picture would become
clear.
7.3 SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION

Social stratification has taken many forms throughout history. Here we shall take a look at some
of these forms.
a. Slavery: This is a type of stratification in which one person owns another as his or her
‘property’ and exploits the slave’s labour for economic gain. Slaves possess virtually no
power or wealth of their own. Slavery has a long history with abounding evidence in both
the bible and Quran. Common reasons for slavery are debts, crime, war and conquest, and
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beliefs of inherent superiority. In several parts of the world, millions of people still live
under conditions that qualify as slavery.
b. Estate System: This is a form of stratification that existed in ancient Europe as well as in
several other traditional civilizations. It is composed of several graded social strata or
social groups which are distinct and rigidly set apart from one another by law and
custom. Under this system, a person’s social position depends largely on his relationship
to land; an individual’s position is also hereditary. In Europe, the system was made up of
three classes of people, namely: the nobility, the clergy and the commoners or serfs
• The nobility comprised of the wealthy and powerful families that ruled the country and
owned the land which was the major source of wealth at the time. Even though they
owned land, they did no farming or any other work as having an occupation was
considered beneath their dignity. All they did was administer the land.
• The Clergy was made up of the Roman Catholic Church which was a strong political
power at the time. It owned vast portions of land and collected taxes from the
commoners. The church was quite wealthy and influential.
• The Commoners or Serfs comprised of farmers, carpenters, servants and others in this
category. They did not have land but worked on land and took the proceeds to the land
owners. It was very rare for people in this estate to move out of it.
Caste System: This form of stratification organises people into fixed hereditary groups in which
there is little or no chance of changing. In a caste, status is determined by birth and is life-long.
In other words, someone born into a low status group will always have low status no matter how
much he may accomplish in life. In sociological terms, the basis of a caste system is ascribed
status. Achieved status cannot change an individual’s place in the system. India has one of the
strongest, oldest and most rigid caste systems in the world. It consists of five broad strata each of
which contains thousands of internal distinctions based primarily on occupation. At the top of the
hierarchy stand the Brahmins, the priests, scholars and teachers of basic religious principles, who
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provide religious support for the social order. Next are the Kshatriya who comprise of nobles,
warriors, rulers and soldiers; the Vaishya who are made up of merchants, traders and skilled
artisans, and the Shudra comprising of peasants and labourers. At the lowest position are the
Harijans (people of God) who are believed to fall outside the caste system and are referred to as
‘outcastes’ or the ‘untouchables’. The Hindu religion teaches that whether one’s soul is
reincarnated in a person higher or lower in the caste system depends on how faithfully one has
accepted and observed one’s duties in the previous life. Anyone who fails to observe the rules of
the caste system stands the risk of being reincarnated as an ‘outcaste’ which is the lowest and
most despised position in the system.
Caste system also exists in several countries of Africa. However, these varies from one
community to the next with some societies having a markedly developed strict caste system
between groups of differing origins, while others have a looser relationship between their
constituent elements. A good example of the caste system in Nigeria is the Osu caste among the
Igbo. An Osu is someone who has been dedicated to the cult as a cult slave. The Osu has a status
dilemma because he is important in rituals, yet he is avoided by others (diala or the free born) to
prevent contamination. The Osu is avoided in marriage and other social relations. The Osu
system has been legislated against in Nigeria but in reality, people known as Osu and their
families are still avoided in social relations.
In a caste society, a son inherits the social status of his father and invariably hands over the same
position to his own son. Usually, the caste system is maintained through the practice of
endogamy.
C. The Class system: This is different from the three earlier categories because it is more
open. It is largely based on money or material possession which can be acquired by
anybody regardless accident of birth. Like slavery, estate or caste, class begins at birth
but people can change their social status by what they achieve or fail to achieve in life. A
pauper’s son can work hard and become wealthy and influential. In other words, the class
system allows for social mobility- that is, movement up and down the social ladder.
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1. Define social stratification and discuss the dimensions of stratification
2. Why are sociologists interested in the study of social stratification?
Summary
In this session, we defined social stratification and its implication for life chances and social
stability. This session also discussed the origins and dimensions or systems of social
stratification.
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INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about the various sociological theories of social stratification.
8.1: Discuss the Marxian theory of social stratification
8.2: Explain the Weberian theory of stratification
8.3: Discuss the functions of social stratification in society
8.4: Discuss the role of ideology in sustaining stratification.
8.1 THEORIES OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Different sociologists have tried to explain social stratification from different viewpoints. In this
session we shall examine some of the major theories of social stratification.
8.1.1 KARL MARX THEORY OF STRATIFICATION
Karl Marx was of the view that social inequality and stratification is as a result of people’s
relationship to the means of production or their class positions in society. He defined a social
class as a group of people whose members share the same relationship to the forces of
production. He identified two basic social classes which are distinguished by their relationship to
property in all societies The dominant class (composed of landowners, slave-owners, factory
owners and business owners) owns and controls the means of production (e.g. land, capital,
labour, machines, tools etc); whereas the subordinate class (composed of industrial labourer,
peasants, serfs and slaves) works for the dominant class.
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Classes vary according to historical epochs and he identified the following epochs and their
various classes:
1. Primitive communism: There were no classes because societies were based on a socialist
mode of production. Every member was both a producer and an owner e.g. in the
gathering and hunting society, men hunted game and women gathered plant and food.
Members of the band shared whatever they had in the subsistence economy (In a
substance economy, prediction meets only basic survival needs).
2. Ancient society: The classes then were of slave owners (masters) and slaves.
3. Feudal society: There were feudal lords (nobility or land owners) and serfs (the landless).
4. Capitalist society: The capitalist (bourgeoisie) and working class (proletariat).
There is always conflict of interests between the classes. The subordinate class has nothing but
its labour which is appropriated by the dominant class. In the Capitalist society for example, the
proletariat wants more for its labour but the Capitalist seeks to accumulate surplus profit.
Talking specifically about the capitalist system, Marx held that the inherent conflict between the
bourgeoisie and the proletariat would give rise to a workers’ revolution when the members of the
working class will develop a true class consciousness or a sense of shared identity based on their
common exploitation by the bourgeoisie. The aftermath of this would be the emergence of a
classless society under socialism and ultimately, communism.
8.1.2 MAX WEBER’S THEORY STRATIFICATION
Weber’s contribution to the theory of social stratification can be regarded as an attempt to make
up for the inadequacies in Karl Marx’s theory. Unlike Karl Marx who saw stratification in
strictly economic terms, Weber identified three dimensions of stratification, namely:
a. Class or economic order

b. Status or social order
c. Power or legal order
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According to Weber class is measured by the relative amount of money, wealth and other goods
possessed by an individual or a social group. He agrees with Karl Marx that property or wealth is
a major determinant of one’s social class in society, but add that this cannot be the only measure
of social class. According to him, apart from ownership of means of production, class division
also derives from economic differences such as skills, credentials or qualifications which affect
the types of jobs people are able to obtain.
The second dimension is what he called status or social order which he defined as the relative
amount of prestige, honour, privileges, esteem and social approval that an individual or social
group can successfully command from the rest of society. A status group is made up of
individuals who are given similar amount of social honour and therefore share the same status
situation. A person’s status position is intimately related to her class position but individuals can
also be ranked differently on these two dimensions. Some status groups are positively privileged
while other are not.
The third dimension is power, which is the ability of an individual to get his or her way, despite
opposition or to get others to do what you want them to do. Thus for Weber, the ranking of
individuals and families on the stratification system can be on the basis of their economic
standing, amount of prestige and honour they command in society or the level or amount of
power they exercise in society.
Class, status and power are closely related but Max Weber argued that they are theoretically
separate. This is because there are instances when those who have the greatest power do not
necessarily possess the greatest economic resources e.g. USA president has power but may not
be wealthy. Business owners, pop stars, footballers and other celebrities may have more wealth
than the president (of any country they belong to) but they do not have his/her power or prestige.
• Ugochi Udoka received a Diploma certificate in plumbing from a Technical college. Now
she owns a small plumbing firm (where she employs five other plumbers). She brings
home about 3 million naira per annum.
• Abimbola Michael graduated from University of Lagos. Now he works as an in-house
counsel for the Dangote Group. He brings home about nine million per annum.
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a. According to Karl Marx, who occupies the higher class position – Ugochi or Michael?
Give reasons for your answers.
b. What would Weber say about who occupies the higher class position? Why?
o Marx would say that Ugochi, the plumber, has a higher class position than Michael, the
attorney to Dangote Group. The reason is that Ugochi owns part of the means of
production, while Michael makes his living selling his labour.
o Weber would say that Michael has the higher class position, because his salary puts him
in a better position with respect to the marketplace. He can purchase more stuff and
increase the quality of his life chances and lifestyle.
8.2 THE FUNCTIONALIST THEORY OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Some of the leading proponents of this school of thought are Kingsley Davis and Wibert Moore.
According to them, some positions in society are functionally more important than the others for
the survival of the society. Consequently, it is important that such positions are filled by
qualified people. Incidentally, the number of people with the talents to fill these positions is
limited. Besides, it takes a lot of time, sacrifice and resources to train for these positions. Thus to
get people to take up these positions, society would have to motivate them with greater rewards
thereby creating some form of inequality and stratification
It is in this regard that functionalists conceive of inequality or stratification as a socially created

mechanism for enhancing the potential survival of society. They consider it both indispensable
and positively functional for society. It is also a universal phenomenon which helps in the
maintenance of social stability in society
8.3 IDEOLOGY AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
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Systems of stratification are systems of inequality. Their stability depends on their acceptability
by the majority of the people. Although people in privileged positions can accept inequality
easily, they feel more comfortable if their position can be justified. People who are lower in the
system must also have some basis for accepting the inequalities they experience. As a result of
this, stratification systems usually have an ideology (a set of ideas that explains reality, provides
directives for behaviour and expresses the interests of particular groups).
An ideology is used to justify the existing social order and maintain the inequalities in wealth,
power and prestige. The ideology usually contains a set of rules offering explanations for the
distribution of the society’s resources and over time, it usually becomes accepted by members of
both dominant and subordinated groups. Different stratification systems develop different
ideologies anchored on religious, political, economic or ‘scientific’ elements. In Medieval
Europe, the feudal system was sustained by the ideology that certain groups of people were by
status and position exempted from work while some were by nature only fit for work, which was
considered dirty and demeaning. In Arabian nations, inequality endured because of the ideology
of the divine right of kings where in the king was seen as god along with members of the
nobility. When ideology fails, the ruling elite or privileged class results to coercion and violence
to sustain inequality.
1. How relevant is the Weberian theory of social stratification in the understanding of the
Nigerian situation?
2. How true can it be said that stratification in functional in Society?
SUMMARY
In this session, we the various theories of social stratification. The session also examined the
role of ideology and coercion in sustaining the stratification system.
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INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about the meaning of social mobility, examine the difference
between open and closed stratification systems and discuss the possibility of having a classless
society.
9.1: Discuss the meaning of social mobility
9.2: Explain the meaning of open and closed systems of stratification
9.3: Discuss the possibility of a classless society
9.1 SOCIAL MOBILITY
Social mobility is the movement of people from one social class to another. There are two types
of mobility-horizontal and vertical mobility. Horizontal mobility refers to movement from one
social position to another of equal rank. A university lecturer who moved from one federal
university to another on the same position and salary is an example of horizontal mobility.
Vertical mobility refers to movement upwards or downwards in the stratification system. A
young person who started as a domestic help but worked hard to get an education and ended up
as a lawyer or engineer or a successful entrepreneur is an example of upward vertical mobility. A
person who started with a successful career but ended up being unemployed and living on charity
is an example of downward vertical mobility.
In terms of the nature of mobility, social mobility could be of two main types-intra-generational
or career mobility and intergenerational mobility. Intra-generational mobility refers to
movement of individuals in the stratification system during their lifetimes. To examine intra-
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generational mobility, we must consider where people begin their career and where they end in
the stratification system in order to make a decision as to whether they have experienced upward
or downward mobility.
Inter-generational mobility refers to differences between the social class position of children
and the social class position of their parents. If the children have more education or wealth or
occupy a higher status than their parents, they have experienced upward intergenerational
mobility. If they are lower than their parents on any of these dimensions, then they have
experienced downward intergenerational mobility.
9.2 OPEN AND CLOSED SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION
An open class system of stratification is one in which people can change their social positions
with little or no obstacles. In this system, mobility is unaffected by the advantaged or
disadvantaged social backgrounds of people. Regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity and
social background, people have equal opportunities to move up or down in the stratification
system and emphasis is placed on achievement. The greater the degree of social mobility in a
society, the more open the class system.
A closed class system of stratification is one which allows virtually no possibility for social
mobility and one in which people’s places in the hierarchy are fixed or ascribed (i.e. based on
qualities over which they have no control such as race, ethnicity, sex or social background).In a
closed class system, people cannot move out of the position into which they are born. The caste
system is the most rigid and closed of all stratification systems. It is endogamous (people marry
only within their caste) and there are limited interactions with people of other castes. A typical
example of a closed system is the caste system of India discussed earlier. Although the Indian
caste system has been outlawed since 1949 and interaction among the castes has increased due to
modernisation, the Indian caste system persists, especially in rural areas where three-quarters of
the Indian population lives.
The Japanese society also has a caste system in which the Burakumin (a caste socially and
economically discriminated against) are considered mentally inferior. Marriages between the
Burakumin and the upper caste is considered a tragedy by members of the upper caste and
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seriously discouraged. In Nigeria, the Osu, who are supposed to be dedicated to religious cults as
slaves are discriminated against socially and economically and marriage between them and non
Osu is frowned against.
There is really no totally open class system where all persons have genuinely equal opportunity
to change positions; just as no stratification system is totally closed. It can be argued that
virtually all societies display ascription and achievement in some form and therefore fall
somewhere between the two extremes.
9.3 CAN THERE BE A CLASSLESS SOCIETY?
The question has always been asked as to whether classless societies ever existed or can exist. A
classless society is one without a hierarchy of social classes and in which individuals have
similar resources of power, wealth and status. According to Karl Marx, classless societies once
existed and these were hunter-gatherer societies, tribal societies and primitive communism in
which nobody had special rank, status or privilege and everybody had duties or work to perform.
A genuinely classless society does not exist today and it has been argued that it never existed.
1. Define social mobility.
2. Can there be a classless society?
SUMMARY
In this unit, we defined social mobility and discussed the types of social mobility. The session
also took a look at open and closed systems of stratification and considered whether there can be
a classless society.
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Introduction
In these study sessions, you will learn about social research as basically anchored on the claim
by sociology as being a scientific study of the social or society. The role of social research is to
show how this expert knowledge is generated, how well it stands up to critical scrutiny and what
assumptions it makes about the nature of the social world. From this standpoint, understanding
the concept and process of social research becomes very crucial in the understanding of
sociology.
LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION 10 (SOCIOLOGICAL

RESEARCH)
After students would have gone through this session, it is expected that they should be able to:
10.1: Explain the principles of social research
10.2: Discuss the criteria for evaluating research
10.1 SOME PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL RESEARCH
Key terms
i. Research: The process of studying or investigating something systematically.

ii. Sociological research: The investigating of social life using sociological theories and
methods
iii. Data: Information collected by researchers
iv. Research design: The way research is planned and organised
v. Methods: The tools sociologists use to collect data.
vi. Methodology: The study of sociological research methods.
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Indeed, research generally involves a brain wave that generates a problem or question, the
collection of information and the application of this information to solve the problem.
There are three key stages involved in the process of undertaking sociological research, viz:
Stage I: Formulation and Design: It connotes that all sociological research of inquiry begins
with questions that need to be translated into researchable form.
Stage II: The next step is that the research has to be organised and data collected through
various research strategies and methods.
Stage III: Data Interpretation: At this stage, the information collected has to be presented,
analysed and related to the question being investigated.
10.2 CHOICE AND REFLECTIONS IN RESEARCH
Doing a sociological research entails one taking a step into the open field (into society) to be
facilitated by explorations in a number of practical ways. Indeed, sociological research requires
taking a number of practical decisions such as:
i. Working out how the research question can be translated into a researchable topic;
ii. Deciding how the needed information (data) will be collected, collated and organised, as
well as thinking out how the information gathered is to be interpreted.
In view of the foregoing, doing sociological research is seen as a reflective endeavour or process.
It needs one to address both the contours of the social world being studied as well as looking
inward introspectively, and continually reflecting on the process of carrying out the research.
The foregoing is informed by the fact that in planning and carrying out research, researchers are
confronted by a number of choices and each choice is beset with a number of advantages and
disadvantages or limitations. The analysis of the choices and the consequences open to one is
what we mean by methodology (Gosling and Taylor, 2005:40).
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10.2.1 IMPORTANT INFLUENCES ON RESEARCHER’S CHOICE OF DESIGN AND
METHODS
i. The nature of the problem being investigated: The connotation here is that particular
problems than others i.e. an exploratory vs AU explanatory study.
ii. Practical considerations: These are considerations that make your particular study
feasible i.e. time available, finance, access to available data/info and the terms of funding
agencies where necessary.
iii. Existing Research: As it has to do with either facilitating the new study or to extend,
check or authenticate an existing pool of information.
iv. Theoretical considerations: Various care of sociologists have different assumptions
about the nature of things or human societies and the best ways of generating information
about them. These various assumptions or theoretical differences also influence the
variations in their choice of research methods i.e. the position of structural functionalists
as against the assumptions of the integrationist theorists.
The implication of the foregoing variations in assumptions and preferences is that there is no one
correct, final and immutable way to knowledge or doing sociological research. Rather there are
various ways, each imbued with costs and benefits. Good sociological research work as it
borders on giving good and credible responses on issues of theory and methods, therefore
requires being able to compare and contrast different approaches and making a rational choice
about a more rational one. Sometimes, a combination of such approaches might be useful (which
is regarded as triangulation). This entails sound sociological imagination deriving from critical
and reflective learning; going beyond the data on hand and inquiring on the antecedents that
yielded to the data, or “story behind the data” (Dunsmuir and Williams, 1994: 63).
10.3 AIMS AND CRITERIA IN RESEARCH/EVALUATION CHARACTERISTICS
In our relationship with people or things, there are various qualities individuals reflect which get
us attracted to them, either beauty, wealth, mannerisms, sense of humour, and objectivity. All of
these and any of them constitute the criteria or benchmark for describing people or events. In the
same way, research can also be evaluated among others as outlined below:
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a. From subjectivity to objectivity
From point of view of desire for value free and unbiased approach in research, sociologists tend
to emphasise the importance of objectivity in all situations over subjectivity.
Subjective knowledge is seen as knowledge belonging to the subject or person, and refers to
individual perceptions and values, opinions and preferences. Thus beyond the natural use of
subject knowledge, which individuals naturally use to make meaning out of the world around
them, it is required that sociologists should produce knowledge of societies that goes beyond
their personal opinions and preferences. This requirement is what informs objectivity in research.
Objective knowledge has to do with knowledge that is devoid of one’s personal

opinion/perceptions; it should be free from bias or prejudices and fully detached from objects of
study. While this can be said to be true of research in the realm of the natural sciences (that deals
with scientific experimental designs), the debate is still on-going about the possibility of a value-
free approach in sociological research, (Gosling and Taylor, 2005:48).
b. Standardisation.
Selective use of facts or evidence that confirms or supports the things we believe in or that gives
credence to our point of view is seen to be subjective and not acceptable in sociological research.
To avoid such pitfalls and make room for objectivity, we need to standardise our collection and
organisation of data by the use of consistent and systematic measures. In this way, rather than
having our points of view confirmed at all times in sociological research, most times they will be
rather challenged and after overturned. In this sense, the adoption of consistent patterns, capable
of achieving standardisation, entails that there will be less opportunity for a researcher to take on
data that suits or confirms his point of view only. Of all the research instruments that are
available for use in doing research, the questionnaire more than the observational method is
highly rated in this regard.
d. Reliability.
Reliability, which borders on the repeatability of a given research and is more used in
quantitative research, has to do with the extent to which repeated measurements using the same
instruments (and operating under the same conditions) can produce the same results. The essence
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of ensuring the process of reliability is to demonstrate that researchers were able to detach
themselves from the object of their research and that objectivity is largely obtained.
Related to reliability is the issue of REPLICATION. Here, a researcher decides to repeat the
study of another person in order to establish how consistent or inconsistent the findings could be.
e. Transparency
Transparency has to do with the ability of the researcher to make the way and manner he or she
went about the research open to public scrutiny. Thus in the case of interviews, a researcher will
be expected to provide the questions administered, explain how they were asked, indicate the
number of respondents, categorise them according to various criteria i.e. age, and if possible
transcribe a taped version of the discussion. In this way, such information when carefully stored
over the years can make it easy for somebody to replicate the study. Thus, the point is made that
for a study to be adjudged reliable and replicable, it must be transparent.
f. Validity
Generally, when a given point of view is deemed valid, it means that it is reasonable and well
founded. But sociologically speaking, validity is concerned with the correspondence between a
piece of information and the conclusions drawn from it. In other words, it also connotes the
ability of a research instrument to measure exactly what it is supposed to measure. Here, we
distinguish three various forms of validity which includes; CONSTRUCT validity, INTERNAL
validity, and ECOLOGICAL validity.
i. Construct validity is bothered with whether data represents or brings out exactly the
information that is actually required, or the data it should represent.
ii. Internal validity investigates whether the conclusion that is drawn about the relationship
between two or more different things or variables is justified.
iii. Ecological validity addresses the issue of pragmatism in research endeavours. It is
bothered with the question of whether the results of social scientific research are really
applicable to the reality of people’s everyday live. This concern is also the central issue in
APPLIED research different from PURE research (Gosling and Taylor, 2005).
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Self Assessment Questions For Study Session 10
QUESTION 1: Explain the central role of research in Sociology.
QUESTION 2: For each of the following research questions indicate which would be your
first choice of research methods and why.
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STUDY SESSION 11: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about social research design and its various types. The
session will also discuss the strengths and advantages of each of the various forms of research
designs. Additionally, you will learn about different types of research methods or techniques and
their strengths and weaknesses.

RESEARCH)
11.1: Explain the meaning of social research design
11.2: Discuss the major research designs in Sociology
11.3: Explain research methods or techniques
11.1 MEANING OF SOCIAL RESEARCH DESIGN
• What is research design?
o Research design connotes the process of translating a researcher’s original ideas and
interests into a researchable exercise. It includes making a number of strategic decisions
and it also provides an overall framework for the research in the same way travel
itineraries provide a travel chart for one’s movement.
11.1.1: SOME KEY ISSUES FACING RESEARCHERS

i. Concepts and conceptual thinking
In all our lives’ activities, taking note of various endeavours that characterise them always prove
to be a herculean task because there are a lot of issues involved. Also from the point of view of
cognitive dissonance, what one sees as important might not be so reckoned by another in the
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same environment. Hence, peoples’ account of things are generally seen to differ because such
narrations are selective reconstructions of a set of real events, and the selection process is shaped
by people’s subjective views of what they consider to be important and interesting.
This situation is also the same as obtains in any social research endeavour. However, since
researchers are bound by a commitment to objectivity and the need to operate above their own
subjective views, they are therefore compelled to find ways of making the selection process more
systematic and standardised. This is the role concepts play in social research by way of
theoretical categorisation.
Concepts are therefore seen as the theoretical tools sociologists use to describe and explain the
social world. They are clearly defined categories given to aspects of the social world that have
significant common features. They are also noted as the most important tools of social research.
Indeed, concepts are the building blocks around which theory and research are organised as they
constitute measurable entities i.e. the concept of social class as an index of social inequality in a
given society. In other words, it connotes the definition of social class as groups of people who
share a similar economic position in a society. From this point, various categories of people can
be identified and outlined.
However, it is necessary to point out here that even the term social class is an abstract,
theoretical term and for the sake of quantitative analysis, the need arises to find ways of
measuring the concept. In research, the art of reducing concepts to measurable entities is known
as ‘operationalisation’, and operationalisation devices are regarded as indicators i.e. indicators
of poverty can include inadequate housing, lack of access to health facilities, poor education, no
recreational facilities, poor nutrition, etc, (Gosling and Taylor, 200539; Chinoy, 1967: 8).
Conclusively, we note that concepts are the most important aspects of research design as they
define what sociologists study and provide the basis for organising and presenting data. The
point is made here, though, that concepts do not just reflect data, they rather shape data and this
is one of the main ways that theory is seen to be linked with research.
11.1.2 TYPES OF RESEARCH
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Research designs are usually informed by the kind of research being carried out. In this sense,
three forms of research are usually identified; (i) exploratory, explanatory and descriptive
research.
i. Exploratory research is the commonest form of research and as the nature suggests, it is
research preliminarily carried out to find out or determine the state of things of an issue
of social concern. It helps the researcher gain general insight or information on an issue.
Sometimes it allies with the objectives that inform pure research i.e. research carried out
for the sake of expanding the state of knowledge on a given matter. Most times, it
provides the baseline information which other forms of research build upon.
ii. Descriptive research: Like the endeavour in a descriptive essay, descriptive research tries
to construct a very clear and comprehensive picture of how something works deriving
from the baseline information of an exploratory study.
Ordinarily descriptive studies are noted to be more inductive than deductive, whereby
researchers may draw out possible explanations from observations made.
iii. Explanatory study: This is that part of research that is concerned with finding out why
something happens and endeavours to establish possible ‘causal mechanisms’ i.e. cause
and effect relationships. Unlike descriptive studies, explanatory studies are seen to be
more deductive owing to the fact that in such settings a researcher will be testing a
theory, or hypothesis, against the data (Babbie, 2005;Abbott, 2002).
11.1.3 QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

The use of either the quantitative (measurable data) design or qualitative (data that cannot
be statistically measured) design depends on certain issues such as:
i. The nature of the problem, ie the difference between incidence of poverty in a
society, and the study of a cult group.
ii. Different theoretical approaches in sociological research.
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Quantitative data shows greater affinity to the ideals of scientific research than qualitative
data as it is usually assumed that researchers are relatively detached from the people they
are studying in quantitative studies.
Since quantitative data shows a greater inclination to the fact that it is less likely that
researcher’s values will influence the research process, it is therefore noted to have the
following advantages over qualitative data:
1. They enable relationships between variables to be more systematically documented.

2. They are more likely to fulfill the key criteria of standardisation, reliability and
transparency
3. They give data more authority.
The main issue to ponder about here is that since measurement is synonymous with
science/quantitative data, why is it then that all sociological research are not quantitative? The
answer here borders on the fact that not all sociological questions can be answered by
quantitative methods e.g. How do teachers interact with students in the class?
The point is made here that the above question and their likes can only be answered by
qualitative research designs and strategies that involve the use of detailed observations of school
life or interviewing people at great length, that bring researchers into much closer contact with
those they are studying. From this understanding, it is observed that qualitative data makes it
possible for us to examine the processes by which individuals and groups come to understand
their roles and identities. It can also be used to criticise the use of statistics in social research to
see how they are socially constructed. Among other strengths of qualitative data includes the
following:
i. Qualitative data is more ecologically valid

ii. It provides knowledge of how people behave in their natural contexts
iii. It enables researchers to explore people’s experiences and the meanings they give to their
actions and how they develop over time, Gosling and Taylor, 2005; Grinnell and
Unrau, 2005).
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11.1.4 THE EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED IN SOCIAL RESEARCH
In any research endeavour, the plans made in advance provide a framework for what actually
happens. In this sense, research designs provide the social life. In other words, while preparing
for the field, researchers always have some ideas of what they are going to find from their
research. However, the point is made that in any research endeavour, what emerges as data is a
product of and the intrinsic nature of what is being studied. Sometimes this latter aspect of what
is being studied takes the researcher unawares as they might be unexpected (Babbie, 2005;
Gosling and Taylor, 2005).
11.2 MAJOR RESEARCH DESIGNS IN SOCIOLOGY
There are four major approaches or research designs in sociology. They include:
i. Surveys
Surveys map out a panoramic view or they offer a bird’s eye view of a situation at a specific
point in time. They are used for collecting information, testing people’s opinions or attitudes and
mapping out relationships between things in a quantifiable form. In this sense, surveys are seen
to be quantitative in approach most of the time, though not all the time, as survey data can also
be collected using documents or making observations.
Because surveys are normally used for large populations, it is not always feasible to study such
large populations in all their entirety. So a representative portion of such populations are rather
systematically chosen for study. This part of the population being studied is regarded as a
sample. There are various forms of sampling and they include:
A. Probability sampling: This connotes that the sample under study has been randomly
selected. Included here are:
i. Simple random sampling: Here, everyone in the population has an equal chance of
being selected or ‘non-zero’ chance of being selected.
ii. Stratified random sampling: In this special case, every member of a population being
studied has an equal chance of being selected in the relation to their representation (or
strata) within the general population. The more the sample surveyed represents the
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population being studied, in terms of key variables such as age, class, race, ethnicity,
gender/sex, and professional status, then the more confident the researcher will feel in
generalising from the results.
B. Non-probability sampling: This connotes that the sample has not been selected using a
random selection method and cannot be taken to represent the population as a whole. The
main reason for non-probability sampling is that the researcher does not have enough
information about the population being studied to construct a sampling frame i.e. studies
involving such cases as victimless crimes, as abortion or self harm, drug use, and crime
generally.
i. One of the approaches in non-probability sampling is that researchers will simply
contact whom they can access in what is known as Convenience sampling.
ii. Another instance of non-probability sampling is snowball sampling. This is another
form of convenience sampling that is used to investigate very sensitive or discrete issues
(i.e. health problems or criminal activities). Here, a researcher makes contact with a small
group, gains their confidence and uses that to make further contacts and enlarge the
sample.
iii. The 3rd form of non-probability is Quota sampling. This represents a group of people
in whom a researcher is interested as they proportionally occur in a given population (i.e.
by way of ratio). Thus, a research starts by dividing the population into parts on the basis
of the population i.e. a study of Year one Sociology students might involve finding out
the percentage representation of the boys and girls and administering the questionnaires
accordingly.
Other issues in survey research design include longitudinal approaches. This involves
collecting data from the same source at intervals over time. The point is made that it is
not really a design in itself but is rather an addition to an existing design and is seen to be
most frequently used in survey research when the sample being investigated are studied
at different times i.e. intervals of five years.
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Longitudinal approach is one of the ways sociologists document changes in individuals
and organisations over time such as in issues of child development and educational
research.
ii. Experimental and Evaluative Research
This approach involves the use of a causal influence (independent variables) which is
manipulated under controlled conditions to see if it produces a change or effect in another factor
(the dependent variable) e.g. smoking and cancer.
An experimental research design generally uses a control group. This involves establishing two
broadly similar populations and introducing an independent variable to one group (i.e. the
experimental group) but not to the other group (i.e. the control group). In this sense, field or
‘quasi-experimental’ research designs attempt to explore relationships between independent and
dependent variables in their natural settings. This approach is popular in evaluative research
since evaluative research aims to examine different social programmes to establish their efficacy
or find out if one functions better than another i.e. in crime prevention strategies.
Advantages of Experimental and Evaluative Research

The strength of experimental research design includes:
i. Its ability to give researchers greater control of the research situation.
ii. They also meet the requirements of high reliability and transparency.
Disadvantages of Experimental and Evaluative Research

However, noted criticisms of experimental research design include:
i. Difficulty in standardising the data collection;
ii. Lack of full ecological validity in that researchers often change their research settings to
suit their purpose, depriving it of authenticity.
A way out of this problem is the use of the “Natural Experimental’ design whereby a
researcher makes use of natural occurring events that create an air of a Quasi-experimental
setting. The noted disadvantage here is that the researcher loses sense of absolute control over his
experimental environment, though with greater probability for ecological validity.
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One major problem associated with ‘natural experimental’ designs or quasi-experimental designs
is the issue of ‘ethical’ considerations. Ethical considerations connote the social responsibilities
researchers owe to their subjects of study. This requires that the subjects of study should come to
no harm and that they should not be subjected to deceptive practices i.e. they should be fully
informed of the purpose of the research.
At this point, it becomes necessary to observe that ethical issues apply to all research, but are
most commonly addressed in experimental designs. This is because experimental designs, more
often than not, set out to manipulate people’s behaviour to achieve the researcher’s aims.
Another problem of experimental designs is the smallness in its scale of operation (micro). This
large scale macro issues that bother sociologists i.e. social change or suicide rate, are hardly
covered by such studies. This is the gap comparative studies fill in social research.
iii. Comparative research

Comparative studies attempt searching systematically for similarities and differences of
cases under consideration as they occur in a very wide scope as their units of analysis are
usually whole societies or large groups i.e. the study by John Braithwaite (Gosling and
Taylor, 2005) in Australia, which discovered that crime was lower in societies that tend
to place collective interests over individual interests. Other instances in this regard
included Durkheim’s study on suicide rate and Weber’s work on protestant ethics and the
spirit of capitalism (also see Gosling and Taylor, 2005).
iv. Ethnography
From the understanding that human behaviour is rationally directed and intentional, it is
therefore argued that research should be geared towards the understanding of the reasons
behind human action. This orientation from Weber’s tradition is referred to as
‘Verstehen’, i.e. vehement or emphatic understanding.
Ethnography has to do with elaborate case studies of particular settings such as groups,
organisations or individuals. The methods used in ethnographic studies include: In-depth
interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), observations and personal records that
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bring researchers into close contact with the natural setting of their subjects of study.
Reports are always in the form of narrative essays laced by detailed description of key
episodes that bring out in clear forms the issues under investigation, (Babbie, 2005;
Salkind, 1994).
11.3 RESEARCH METHODS
• What is the meaning of research methods or techniques
o By research methods, we mean techniques used by researchers in collecting data. The

point to be made here is that the technique to be adopted by a researcher is principally
determined by the nature of the data, which are varied. Principally there are two major
forms of data which includes:
1. Primary data: This connotes information collected directly by the researcher (either in
direct contact or face to face interaction).
2. Secondary data: This has to do with data that is already in existence from which pool a
researcher can draw information.
Indeed methods are regarded as the practical part or aspect of research and it is at the discretion
of researchers to work out the best method to adopt in any research endeavour.
Among the factors that influence the choice of method includes practical or technical concerns as
well as theory. Theory here involves assumptions about the nature of the social world and how
we understand it.
In any social research, when we are dealing with methods, one is expected to acquaint oneself
with three major issues:
i. The key sociological methods and their relationship to research design

ii. Their strengths and weakness/limitations taking into account both practical and
theoretical considerations
iii. How they are linked with different theoretical viewpoints in sociology
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11.4 PRIMARY RESEARCH METHODS
A major pattern in sociological research for collecting information is the asking of questions
which can take various forms including:
iii. Through the administration of questionnaire

iv. Through the telephone or Internet
v. Formal face to face interview
vi. Asking questions informally during fieldwork
Within the context of interviews, we have structured and unstructured interviews.
11.4.1 STRUCTURED INTERVIEW/QUESTIONNAIRE
Structured questions connotes that respondents are asked identical questions in exactly the same
manner. Usually, such respondents are made to select their answers from a limited range of
options known as “closed” or “close-ended” questions.
Some of the advantages of structured questions include:
vii. Information from a large pool of people can be obtained relatively quickly and cheaply
viii. The data can be quantified and easily coded; and
ix. The researcher is more detached from the process of data selection
Principally, it satisfies the major criteria for research evaluation, especially in the realm of
standardisation, reliability and transparency.
Major weaknesses of structured questions
x. The meaning problem as it borders on ossification of concepts i.e. words/concepts

meaning different things to different people. The implication is lack of construct validity
as data might lack consistent and similar set of responses.
xi. The problem of depth: The major issue of concern here is the problem of ecological
validity. Because researchers are detached from their subjects of study, it might be
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difficult for them to explore them deeply and find out how they actually behave in real
life situations.
11.4.2 UNSTRUCTURED QUESTIONS / INTERVIEWS
Unstructured interviews help us to overcome some of the limitations of the structured interview.
It is a research method that is conversational in nature as there is no set interview structure
guiding the selection of questions and response patterns or use of words. It is most common in
ethnographic studies.
The ability of a researcher to build up rapport and thrust with the respondents influences the level
of the effectiveness of such unstructured or qualitative studies.
The major aim for adopting this method is to allow respondents narrate their experiences in
detail giving the researcher an insight into how respondents experienced particular situations or
events. In this sense, unstructured questions can allow the researcher to understand the processes
by which people appreciate social situations.
11.4.3 MAJOR STRENGTHS OF UNSTRUCTURED QUESTIONS INCLUDE:
xii. Having more depth and flexibility than structured questions;

xiii. Generally more valid as they give greater insight into the meaning of a subjects
experiences.
Major limitations, however, include:
xiv. Lack of standardization in data collection process, hence difficult to generalise.

xv. Too much data from such studies connotes that readers are made to depend on the
researcher’s choice of data for their own information.
xvi. Because of poor standardization, they are less reliable than structured questions as their
results cannot be quantified or tested.
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11.4.4 LIMITS OF ALL INTERVIEW METHODS
In line with the theme of triangulation in research design, researchers can also use a combination
of structured and unstructured interview methods in carrying out their studies in what is known
as ‘horses for courses’ principles. Here structured questions are used to obtain concrete or factual
information on demographic variables, such as age, sex, or income. On the other hand,
unstructured questions are used to probe deeper into people’s experiences.
The point to be made here though, that besides their touted benefits, all interview methods have
been noted to be subject to certain limitations, which includes:
xvii. People having problems in recalling information accurately owing to information decay,
in what psychologists tagged entropy.
xviii. There is also the problem of the interview effect in that interviewees may be inclined to
give the more ‘socially acceptable’ answer, or they may answer in a way to fulfill the
interviewers expectations.
xix. Also in all interviews, researchers are dependent on what respondents tell them. The
point is made that if researchers are interested in how people really behave in their daily
lives, then they have to go and take a look at the real situation, ie, observation, (Babbie,
2005; Gosling and Taylor, 2005; Dunsnuir and Williams, 1994).
11. 4.5 OBSERVATION METHODS
Finding out how people behave in real life situations is known as observational methods, and in
finding out issues for themselves, researchers need not rely on what respondents say.
Observation studies can be structured, unstructured or semi-structured (which connotes a

combination of both structured and unstructured methods) in their forms, (Gosling and Taylor,
2005; Dunsnuir and Williams, 1994).
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11.4.6 Secondary Sources of Data.
Secondary data connotes data or information that is not originally generated by the researcher
making use of it. In other words, it includes data from previous researches. Two major categories
of secondary data includes (i) official statistics and (ii) documents
11.4.7.1 OFFICIAL STATISTICS
Official statistics connotes the mass of data collected by the state and its various agencies or
parastatals. Examples include census records which provide information about the composition
of the population alongside such other issues as births, marriages, divorces, ethnicity and family
structures. Also, it gives information on economic statistics regarding patterns of employment or
unemployment, income and expenditure, rates of crime, illness and suicide.
Official statistics are mostly useful on large scale comparative research designs.
11.4.7.2 ADVANTAGES OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS

1. Availability
2. Bounty (plentiful)
3. Cheap when accessible.
4. Facilitates comparative analysis
5. Helps to document important changes in societies or groups over time
11.4.7.3 DISADVANTAGES OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS
Disadvantages of official statistics that makes it imperative that researchers should approach the
usage with caution include:
1. They are not self-evident facts

In other words, they are social constructions that reflect the conceptual categories and
bureaucratic procedures through which they are collected
2. Collection and classification procedures can vary both between different societies as well
as within the same society over time. This can lead to problems of standardisation and
validity.
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3. Under-reporting of cases e.g. personal assets, company’s profits, immigration rates, crime
trends etc, (Babbie, 2005; Gosling and Taylor, 2005; Dunsmuir and Williams, 1994).
11.4.8 THE ANALYSIS OF DOCUMENTS OR CONTENT ANALYSIS
Documents define anything that contains a text – issues noted or written down. It is used more in
historical and comparative research designs. They are often used when subjects cannot be
observed or interviewed. They can be derived in variants of ethnographic reports, journals,
magazines, newspapers, letters, diaries etc.
The three major categories of documents include:
i. Official documents e.g. government, reports, legal reports, company accounts etc.
ii. Cultural documents e.g. newspapers, magazines, TV, films, art works
iii. Personal documents e.g. letters, diaries, memories, and autobiographies
Documentary methods can be structured or unstructured. It is structured when a researcher

systematically analyses a document in terms of certain pre-determined criteria i.e. monitors the
output of a TV station in order to ascertain or calculate, at regular intervals, the proportion of
violence, sexuality or stereotyping in the programmes.
On the other hand, it is unstructured or textual when qualitative techniques are used to explore
the meanings contained in the texts. This could mean looking beneath the actual words or
images, to interpret the contexts that give them meanings i.e. biblical illustrations or allegories.
Some of the problems of content analysis borders on:
1. Authenticity bearing from suspicion of forgery

2. Also problem of validity as it has to do with possible cases of distortion, exaggeration or
falsification, (Gosling and Taylor, 2005; Grinnell and Unrau, 2005).
SUMMARY OF SELECTION ON METHODS
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Researchers are noted to select the methods that best fulfil the aims of the research design. Noted
also is the fact that there are clear relationships between research designs and research methods
as illustrated below:
Relationships between research designs and research methods
S/N RESEARCH TYPICAL SUBJECTS TYPICAL METHODS

DESIGN
1 Survey Samples of large Structured interview

populations. questionnaire
2 Experimental/ Small group of subjects Structured observation

Evaluative
3 Comparative/cross Institutions, societies, group Official statistics, documents

cultural of societies
4 Ethnographic Case studies Participant observation,

unstructured interviews, personal
documents
Conclusively, we note that besides the aims of research design influencing the choice of research
method, other external factors that are taken into consideration include (i) Access to needed
information, (ii) Time and money (iii) Ethics (iv) Funding body and (v) Theoretical assumptions
about the nature of the social world (Gosling and Taylor, 2005:64).
SUMMARY
This segment of the study pack has shown that research is the systematic investigation of a
problem. To further that understanding you will be expected to show both knowledge and critical
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understanding of some of the main research techniques in sociology and be able to see how
sociologists apply these techniques in their research.
Indeed, planning and undertaking research involves making strategic decisions and such
decisions are influenced by a number of factors. Some of the key criteria by which research
methods can be evaluated are objectivity, standardization, reliability, transparency and validity.
In this section, four of the main research designs or approaches in sociology were addressed.
Survey research is the systematic gathering of information about individuals and groups at a
given time. Experimental designs attempt to manipulate one variable to examine its effect on
another. Comparative research focuses on similarities and differences between different societies
or social groups. Ethnostaphy focuses on how people think and act in their everyday social lives.
It is necessary pointing out here that there are other research designs and sociologists often
combine different aspects of the different approaches in what is known as triangulation.
Research methods refer to how data is collected. In this section, we looked at four of the major
research methods: interviews, observation official statistics and documents. It is important to
appreciate the strengths and limitations of each method. A researcher’s selection of methods is
influenced by the nature of the problem, theoretical preferences and by external constraints.
Conclusion
At the end of this session, the point came out clear that all sociological research designs and
methods are underpinned by certain assumptions about the nature of the social world and how
knowledge is generated. One of the ways that research can be evaluated and improved is to make
these assumption more explicit. For instance a major questions addressed in this sections is about
the nature of scientific knowledge and whether or not it is applicable to societies. As has been
shown, positivism, interpretivism and realism give different answers to this question. However,
while these theories have been separated out here in order to explain them more clearly, it is
important to point out here that a great deal of sociological research contains element of all three.
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS TO STUDY SESSION 11
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Question 1: What are the major factors that influence a researcher’s choice of design or
methods?
Question 2: What do you consider to be the major strength of quantitative data over qualitative
data?
Question 3: Succinctly outline some of the noted strength of qualitative data
Question 4: Explain your understanding of the expected and unexpected in Social

Research.
Question 5: Explain your understanding of official statistics as a major source of secondary
data. What are its strengths and weaknesses?
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INTRODUCTION
Having looked at questions that sociologists ask about human societies and how they do
research, the next step is to dig deeper and look at some of the theoretical ideals underpinning
sociological research. The key point here is that there is nothing like a theory-free research as the
very act of doing research involves making contested assumptions about the nature of social
realty and how we obtain knowledge of it.
LEARNING OUTCOME ON THEORY AND RESEARCH
After reading through this session and working through the major activities involved therein, it is
expected that students should have clearer ideas of.
12.1: Conceptual Issues in Theory and Research.

12.2 What is meant by an ontology/epistemology problem in sociology?
i. The aspects of positivist theory.
ii. The interpretist critique of positivism and the key aspects of interpretist approaches in
sociology.
iii. What is meant by realism in sociology and how realism is different from both positivism
and interpretism.
12.1 CONCEPTUAL ISSUES IN THEORY AND RESEARCH
This area is rooted in the realm of sociology of knowledge and looks at some of the theoretical
ideas underpinning sociological thinking and social research. The principal idea expounded is the
notion that there is no such thing as ‘theory free’ research. This position is hinged on the view
that the very act of doing research involves threading contested terrains or theoretical
assumptions about the nature of social reality and how knowledge is obtained about them. All
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these point to three major theoretical perspectives or orientations that will be of interest to us
which includes POSITIVISM, INTERPRETISM and REALISM. The starting point is revisiting
the theme of sociological methodology which is about developing the principles and practice of
social research. This derives from the assertion that sociology, in its claim of providing some
authoritative understanding of the working of the social world, makes use of some special tools
of inquiry. These ‘special tools’ of inquiry involve a combination of ‘thinking skills’ and
‘practical skills’. Consequently, it is the role of methodology to analyse these skills. The
practical skills involve endeavours to gain access to research sites, and the selection of the right
methods for the research problems. The thinking skills involve endeavours to unravel the
underlying theoretical assumptions on which research is based, subjecting them to critical
scrutiny and considering alternatives.
From the foregoing, it can be deduced that:
METHODOLOGY = PRINCIPLES + METHODS
And here ‘principles’ is categorised into two i.e. ONTOLOGY and EPISTEMOLOGY, giving
rise to another equation such as METHODOLOGY = ONTOLOGY + EPISTEMOLOGY +
METHODS. Since the theme of Methods has been addressed earlier in the work, our major
concern here will then be Ontology and Epistemology.
The place of ONTOLOGY and EPISTEMOLOGY in social research is to explore the ‘core’
ideas and assumptions of any subject, (Gosling and Taylor, 2005).
12.2 WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ONTOLOGY/EPISTEMOLOGY PROBLEM IN

SOCIOLOGY?
12.2.1: ONTOLOGY
Ontology has its roots in the field of philosophy, and it is concerned with the essential nature of
what is being studied or the essential nature of human societies. It defines what societies are,
their component parts or units, and how the component parts relate to each other.
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In the concern of sociology regarding the relationship between individuals and societies, the
point to be noted is that different cadres of sociologists have different ways of conceptualising
these relationships. Thus, we have sociologists who view societies as social structures and those
who focus on social action.
For structural theorists of sociology, society is conceptualised as networks of social institutions

and patterns of social relationships that are comparatively long lasting. This notion connotes that
structure informs function i.e. different social structures shape the behaviour of individuals as
obtained from large scale or macro institutions or social processes. The implication is that there
exists a relationship between the natural world and the social world as both are ‘external
realities’ that constrain people’s actions in various ways, either in thinking or acting. This notion
informed the view that the wealth of a society, its productive processes and its customs and
values shape people’s life experiences irrespective of their conscious wishes. This is the
worldview of earlier founders of sociology or the traditional paradigm of sociology – such as the
views of Marx, Durkheim, Comte and Saint Simon.
A variant of the structural theorists is the social action theorists. Their position is that as societies
are produced by the intentional activities of people, sociologists should begin by studying
individual social action and the meanings people give to these actions. A theorist in this realm
was Max Weber. Thus in his work on protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism, by focusing
more on the actions of individuals, he was able to highlight something absent in Marx’s theory –
the relationship between religion and the rise of modern capitalism. By this mode of approach,
action theorists try to affirm their opposition to the view that structural theorists reduce people to
the robots of societies. In between the structuralisms and action theorists, we have Durkheim’s
conceptualisations of realism. In taking his departure from structural analysis of society,
Durkheim views morals and values transmitted from one generation to another, as constituting
social forces that regulate people’s behaviour and bind them to each other through shared
membership of social institutions. Durkheim’s view in this respect, and those who analyse
society based on values and beliefs made them to be regarded as idealists. A classic work in this
respect is Durkheim’s work on suicide, (Babbie, 2005; Gosling and Taylor, 2005; Abbott, 2002).
12.2.2 EPISTEMOLOGY
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Epistemology as a theory presents a view of what can be regarded as knowledge rather than
belief. It explores the basis for knowledge i.e. how we know what we know.
The central question addressed by epistemology in sociology, therefore, borders on investigation

into how sociologists justify the knowledge they profess of social life. In this respect, the
traditional sociological attitude is also manifest i.e. sociologists differ in the way they look at the
social world. Thus, on the one hand, we have those who posit that the best way for sociology to
transcend subjectivity and provide a more authentic and objective view of social life is to follow
the logic and pattern of the natural sciences. These are regarded as the naturalists. So for them,
the view is held that sociology can develop methods of investigation and measurement akin to
the natural sciences.
A variant of the above view has to do with those who argue that because nature and society are
completely different from each other, the principles and methods of studying them should differ.
This position is hinged on differing objects/subjects of study in Sociology. The people that make
up this group are referred to as anti-naturalists.
Another related issue of epistemological concerns is the theme of subject/object dilemma i.e.
while some people hold the position that researchers should be totally detached from their
subject of study, others hold the view that before you can understand a group, there is the need
for you to be totally immersed with the group.
The summary of the foregoing is the understanding that there are several perspectives in
sociology about the nature of society (ontology) and the best ways of obtaining knowledge about
them. When such perspectives are considered, it is necessary for us to understand that they are
mostly ideal constructs as none can astutely stand on its own in explaining human behaviour.
There are three major types of ideal constructs viz positivism, interpretism and realism.
12.2.3 POSITIVISM
Positivism as a philosophy of science is anchored on the key idea of the unity of the scientific
method. The principal notion here is that although the various fields of scientific endeavours may
differ in their subject of study, the form of all such scientific enterprises/procedures is essentially
the same. For them, scientific inquiry should be based on facts rather than belief, opinion,
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tradition or divine revelations. This viewpoint informed the position of early sociologists in
believing that by applying the principles that had worked well in the natural sciences, that
sociology could discover the laws that explains how society works and changes. There are
several assumptions of the positivists in this regard, and they include such themes as causality,
determinism, empiricism.
Under the concept of Causality, it connotes that positivists see the social world as composed of
phenomena or things which are causally related to each other i.e. something (cause) makes
something else (effect) to happen, and an effect of one thing can then be the cause of something
else. So for positivists, the essence of the scientific method is to try to explain these causal
relationships.
On the issue of Determinism, it connotes that the organisation of the societies in which people
live causes them to think and act in the way they do, irrespective of their free will, or choice.
This notion is invidiously related to the concept of destiny in eschatology.
Empiricism: The issue of empiricism borders on the distinction between ‘theories’ (ideas) and
‘observations’. Empirical or factual knowledge in this sense connotes that which can be directly
perceived or derived from what is known as empirical concept of knowledge or epistemology.
For empiricist epistemology, the only source of true knowledge or valid knowledge is that based
on experience or concrete evidence.
The summary of the foregoing is the view that positivist research is confined to relationship
between observable social phenomena. Scientific truth is therefore based on empirical evidence
and not on the researcher’s subjective view i.e. the phrase that “facts speak for themselves”.
From what has been said about positivist theories, a clear link is therefore established between
positivists, designs and methods.
Hence positivist theories, being guided by the ‘scientific criteria’ of the collection of evidence,
reliability and transparency, their designs therefore tend to be those that are closest to the logic of
natural science research surveys or experimental designs and comparative designs. Also they are
more likely to produce testable and quantifiable data by the use of structured interviews,
structured observation and analysis of official statistics.
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12.2.4: INTERPRETISM
Interpretism arose in the face of the noted inadequacies of positivism as an explanatory tool of
analysis. However, it is noted that for interpretists, rather than an outright rejection of the
positivist approach, they only contested the idea of importing the methods of natural science into
the study of societies. A leading proponent in this position was Max Weber who posited that the
“natural sciences” and the “social sciences” are two different enterprises that requires different
logic and different methods. A humanist question addressed by the interpretists in this respect is
the argument that in their quest for a scientific explanation of social life, positivists sometimes
forget that they are studying people. In order to study people, you need to get out and explore
how they really think and act in everyday situation.
By observing principally that there is a difference between the natural and social world, the
interpretists reason that the social world is meaningful. In other words, as people engage in
conscious, interactional activities, and attach meanings to their actions, human societies are
essentially subjective realities. In this sense, social institutions, constituting the subject matter of
sociology cannot be divorced from the subjective understanding that people have of them. Unlike
what happens in the natural sciences, in real life, people do not just react to stimuli, they actively
interpret the situations in which they find themselves and act on the basis of these interpretations.
Thus there are two issues noted of any stimulus – reaction and sequence in a social setting:
A key concept used to address the foregoing viewpoints is the concept of Vertsehen. The concept
requires that researchers, as far as possible, should place themselves imaginatively in the position
of those they are studying and ask how they see the world and what ends they believe are served
by their action (Grinnell and Unrau, 2005).
A theoretical efflux from the foregoing is the concept of phenomenology noted in the work of
Alfred Schultz.
Phenomenology means studying everyday life, focusing on people’s state of consciousness and
‘bracketing off’ judgements about what may be causing or influencing their behaviour. For
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phenomenologists, it is not enough to interprete the meanings people give to their actions,
researchers have to show how people come to construct these meanings for their actions.
With regards to their methods, since interpretist sociologists aim to understand the subjective
experiences of those being studied, how they think and feel and how they act in their natural
contexts, the key criteria in interpretist approach is validity. Also, the most popular research
design among interpretists is ethnography and the main research method for them is unstructured
observation, unstructured interview and personal documents.
A major criticism of the interpretists theory is its noted inability in providing testable hypotheses
that can be evaluated. This weakness is noted to lead to the problems of relativism where one
theory or study is assumed to be just as good as any other.
12.2.5 REALISM
The realist theorists along the tradition of positivism posits that sociological research should
follow the logic and methods of the natural sciences though their point of divergence borders on
realists inclination towards the interpretation of science. Especially, realists question positivism’s
empiricists interpretation of the bases of scientific knowledge. According to them, no form of
science relies, exclusively on observable empirical evidence. There are always aspects or forms
of reality that remain hidden beneath the surface of what can be observed. So for the realists, the
aim of scientific work, rather than looking at relationships between observable phenomena, is to
uncover the underlying causal mechanisms that bring about observable regularities.
One of the prominent sociologists that adopted the realist approach was Karl Marx in his work
in the analysis of capital accumulation and the process of change.
For Karl Marx, the observable features of the capitalist society such as economic fluctuation,
capital growth and massive inequalities could only be explained in terms of the mode of
production – i.e. the relationship between how goods are produced and how production is
organised. However, the issue of the mode of production was a theoretical construct not visible
to the eyes. Thus, for Marx, for you to understand how capitalism works, you need to look
beneath the surface.
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The point to note here then is that realisms is theory – driven and non-empiricist. Also, realists
do not make a clear distinction between theory (ideas) and observation (facts) as positivists. For
realists all data are theory-dependent.
With regards to its methods, like positivists, realists also view research as being guided by the
‘scientific’ criteria of systematic collection of data or evidence, reliability and transparency.
However, by recognising the importance of the subjective dimension of human action, they also
include methods that document the validity of people’s experiences. Researchers are therefore
seen to be mainly experimental or comparative in realists research, though with no particular
commitment to either quantitative or qualitative methods. Also realists argue that since there is
no such thing as theory-free data, sociological methods should be specifically focused on the
evaluation and comparison of theoretical concepts, explanations, and policies.
SUMMARY
In this chapter we have gotten insight into major assumptions informing or underpinning
theoretical orientations in social research. Among some of those assumptions and their
postulations including those of the positivist, the interpretists and the realists or school of
realism. Positivist theory argues that the methods of the natural sciences are applicable to the
study of societies, (naturalism). Though very few sociologists would describe themselves as
positivis, it is to be noted that positivist assumptions underpin a great deal of empirical research.
Interpretivists, on their own, argue that there are fundamental differences between the natural
world and the social world, and that logic and methods of the natural sciences are not applicable
to the study of societies.
Finally, realism holds that sociology involves trying to uncover the underlying mechanisms that
generate observarable events. It suggests that rather than testing theories against the facts, data is
generated to evaluate theories against each other.
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An overview on the issues of theory, design and methods
Theory Research design (most Research methods (most

common) common)
Positivism Social surveys experimental Structural interview, structural
comparative observations, official statistics
Interpretivism Ethnography Participant observation,
unstructured interviews,
personal documents
Realism Experimental and comparative Non-specific, but methods are
theory-focused
(Babbie, 2005; Gosling and Taylor, 2005; Abbott, 2002).
Now that you have completed this study sessions, you can assess how well you have achieved its
learning outcomes by answering the questions below. Write your answers in your study diary
and discuss them with your tutor at the next study support meeting. You can check your answers
with the notes on the Self-assessment questions at the end of this module. Following
immediately are examples of the self-assessment questions and the learning outcomes that will
be tested.
CONCLUSION
At the end of this study session, the point came out clear that all sociological research designs
and methods are underpinned by certain assumptions about the nature of the social world and
how knowledge is generated. One of the ways that research can be evaluated and improved is to
make these assumption more explicit. For instance a major questions addressed in this sections is
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about the nature of scientific knowledge and whether or not it is applicable to societies. As has
been shown, positivism, interpretivism and realism give different answers to this question.
However, while these theories have been separated out here in order to explain them more
clearly, it is important to point out here that a great deal of sociological research contains
element of all three.
SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS TO STUDY SESSION 12
QUESTION 1: As Margaret Visser states, “The extent to which we take everyday objects for
granted is the precise extent to which they govern and inform our lives”. Based on your
understanding of ontology, what did she mean by that?
QUESTION 2: Identify and explain the three major assumptions of the positivists.
QUESTION 3: Give a concise explanation of the concepts of vertsehen and phenomenology

as noted of the interpretists.
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REFERENCES
Abbott, B. B, (2002.) Research Design and Methods: A Process Approach, 5th Edition. New
York: McGraw – Hill Higher Education.
Babbie, Earl, (2005.) The Basics of Social Research, 3rd Edition. Belmont, U.S.A: Thomson
Wadsworth.
Chinoy, Ely, (1967.) Society. An Introduction to Sociology. New York: Random House.
Dunsnuir, A, and Williams, L., (1994.) How to Do Social Research. London: HarperCollins
Publishers.
Gosling. R., and Taylor, S., (2005.) Principles of Sociology. London: London School of
Economics.
Grinnell, J., and Unrau, Y .A, (2005.) Social Work: Research and Evaluation, (7th Edition).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Salkind, N. J., (1994.) Exploring Research, (2nd Edition). New York: Macmillan College
Publishing Co.
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INTRODUCTION
It is expected that before you get to the stage of reading about social change and Globalization,
you should have grasped the basic meaning of Sociology. One of the things that might be of
interest to you is the fact that Sociology originated in the need to study and understand Social
Change. At the time Sociology was developing as a discipline, changes of a kind never seen
before were sweeping through Europe due to industrial revolution. Tangential to industrial
revolution is the socio-economic, and principally, political imports of the French revolution. All
these developments were affecting where people live and who with, the type of work they did,
how they found their food and how they spent their time. It was an era when values and beliefs
were changing, when traditional beliefs in religion or superstition were questioned and
abandoned by some in favour of rational and scientific explanations. The events proved to be an
epi-phenomenon that appeared exciting to some people or perhaps uncertain and confusing to
others depending on who they were. Even though we are adducing that these events occurred in
Europe, similar Changes in diverse dimensions were also taking place in other parts of the world
and exacting somewhat similar effects and responses. As we have muted earlier, the discipline of
Sociology developed as a way of studying these dramatic changes as they affect people’s lives.
Today the world is getting to the point whereby such changes are occurring in diverse parts of
the world, the effects and experiences as well as responses to them are no longer the exclusive
reserve of the particular places or regions. The reverberations are almost felt across the entire
global world, hence the increasing importance of studying social change on a global scale. Thus
in this section we will look at the importance of social change and then go ahead to examine
what is significantly being seen as the most significant social change recently experienced and as
it affects our lives. This has to do with the issue of globalization which will be treated in the next
session
LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
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This section takes a detailed look at the meaning of and importance of social change. At a more
elaborate scale, the section endeavoured to show how globalisation is noted as an aspect of social
change. In due course, the various dimensions of globalisation were examined, alongside
demonstrating how these dimensions interrelate. In the later part of the section, efforts were
made to systemically explore different Sociological theories of social change, and the various
forces driving them.
Specific aims of the section therefore include the following:
13.1: Enabling students to appreciate the importance of social change, as well as linking
sociological theories of change to the subject matter of globalisation.
13.2: Introducing students to the range of theoretical perspectives which aim to explain the
phenomenon of social change.
13.3: To introduce students to the contribution that the study of social change makes to
sociological discussions on the nature of contemporary world.
13.1 SOCIAL CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE
Issues on Social Change in recent times address a variety of cross-cultural and trans-historical
metamorphoses including the move to global capitalism, transformation in gender System, the
demographic transition and developments in the contemporary world (Agugua, 2003:322-323).
Sequentially then, the study of specific social change involves the location of cause and effect
chains in time. Also here we observe that cause and effect relations sometimes recur in a wide
range of conditions which we study in different circumstances to learn how valid and general
they are. Thus Friedenfels (1998:314) observes that social changes usually concentrate on cause-
effect chains that:
(i) Cover a considerable time span
(ii) Have a definable direction
(iii) Touch many people at the same time, and
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(iv) Make a significant difference to those people’s life.
By this fact the living man is seen to contribute, on a regular basis, to the shaping of his society
and to the course of its history, even as he is made by society and by its historical push and
shove. In this wise C. Wright Mills endeavored to locate sociological analysis of social change at
the intersection of biography and history in social structure (Friedenfels, 1998:310). That
endeavour, captured for Friedenfels the reason for studying social change which follows
immediately.
13.1.1 MAJOR REASONS FOR STUDYING SOCIAL CHANGE
The reasons for studying social change, among others are the following:
(1) For self knowledge: At the level of exploratory research, studying social change helps us to
figure out what in the World is going on around us, and how it intervenes in our daily lives.
(2) For empathy: In this vein studying social change helps us to understand what is happening to
fellow humans elsewhere in their individual lives.
(3) For making informed choices on specific areas that require human’s intervention. In this
wise, we observe that making informed choices from our study of social change is a
derivative of the first two reasons adduced. Indeed, self knowledge and empathy compliment
each other and the study of social change is seen to enlarge both. Another point to note in
respect of the foregoing is the fact that it is not at all times that social change evolves to
useful ends. Indeed, its outcome can be a double-edge sword; either good or evil. When its
outcome is good it is progressive social change that leads to positive development. But when
the outcome is negative, it is seen as retrogressive social change that requires further
intervention to change in the positive direction.
At this point the question that needs to be revisited is: what then, in specific terms is social
change?
13.1.2: DEFINING SOCIAL CHANGE
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• What is social change?
o Feigelman (1980:442) conceptualized social change as any transformation in the social

structure, informative order or behaviour patterns typical of any given society. This
transformation coves such issues as change in knowledge, beliefs and values; in technology and
material culture: in the various institutions such as the economy, government, the family
education and religions, and in the conception members of society have of themselves.
In his own contribution, Jangam (1980:222) defined social change as any modification
whatsoever with regard to any aspect, feature or dimension of society. Any increase and
decrease, reduction, diminution, growth, decay, envelopment, development, progress, regress,
revolution or evolution, can be seen as social change. In tune with the foregoing, Olurode
(2006:1-32) posited that social change from both evolutionary and modernisation perspective
refers to change in the values of individuals in the society that have produced new patterns of
behaviour and structures in the Social, Psychological, Religious, Economic, Political and other
spheres of a society’s history. On the inevitable and universal nature of change, certain factors
have been identified as being capable of facilitating social change. The factors are: movement
through the life cycle, differing physiological potentials and socialization experiences, variations
in fertility and mortality rates, change in physical and social environment, the ubiquity of non
conformity, and the failure to achieve ideal values (Agugua, 2003: 324).
QUESTION 1: What is the importance of social change in the development of sociology?

QUESTION 2: Identify and explain some of the major reasons for studying social change.
QUESTION 3: Identify some of the factors noted to facilitate social change
.
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INTRODUCTION
In this study session, you will learn about theories of social change and the effects of social
change. Also, you will learn about the causes of social change and the linkage between social
change and global sociology

RESEARCH)
14.1: Explain the theories of social change
14.2: Discuss the effects of social change
14.3: Explain causes of social change
14.4: Causes of Social Change
14.5: Importance of the study of social change to the understanding of the nature of
contemporary world
14.1 THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE
Perspectives on change are said to be rooted in the seminal works of pioneer Sociologists like
Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Karl Marx, who expressed
interest in deciphering the processes and the sequences through which society had evolved. What
emerged then is the Evolutionary view of change. Embedded in their assumptions is the
inevitability of progress, the superiority of modern society, and the proper place of sociological
knowledge. Those earlier attempts were primarily concerned with origins as it concerns the
institutions that make up society – family, state, religion etc. In due course, their approach was
described as Sociobiology whereby biological concepts were borrowed to explain the sequence
of human development as illustrated in such themes as natural selection (Social Darwinism),
survival of the fittest, adaptation etc. These trends of thought in the analysis of society
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diminished in importance when contemporary theorists of change defined a new focus of inter
relatedness of the parts that make up the society rather than origin. Thus Maciver and Page
(Chinoy, 1967:69) were to argue that “the seed of society is in the beginnings of life, and if there
were… beginnings (of society) in any absolute sense, we know nothing of them”. From this
moment, evolutionism as a guiding tool of analysis lost its relevance.
The Functionalist theory was said to have emerged to address the ills. Sociological theorizing
within the framework of the functionalist paradigm implies that human behaviour has some
degree of stability and constancy. This is based on the understanding that the examination of a
social role coheres with certain norms governing human behaviour which persist over a period of
time.
However, this perspective suffers revisionism in the converse understanding that in the actual
sense of the word, the belief in the persistence of institutional system which gives an air of
continuity suffers rupture in the face of a revolutionary, continually changing world or society. It
is from this point of view that Chinoy (1967:69) averred that: Sociological analysis… must
account, not only for stability and continuity, but also for the introduction of new ideas, new
habits new relationships, and new focus of organisations. Thus, the functional theory being
caught in the pitfall of incapacity to address the problem of change, and also accused of
ahistoricity, the room was created for the emergence of new perspectives and in this process the
historical approach was identified as a necessary counterpart to functional analysis. The
difference between the historical and functional analysis, far from being a distinction between
the static and the dynamic, is rather seen to be quite tenuous. Both are seen to deal with social
processes taking place over a period of time even though they order and interprete their
observations differently; ie within any social order, there are processes of varying degrees of
complexity, more or less regular sequences of event in which men conform to established norms
and fit into some existing social structures.
Functional analysis in this realm deals with such processes within a relatively stable structure in
which the participants may change and individuals may move from one role or status to another.
On the other hand, the historical approach is concerned with the processes by which the structure
itself is changed.
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The view here then is that before one can deal with problems of social change, one must first
understand the functional dynamics of society. This connotes a double focus on, both facts of
change and stability, which covers both, and this presupposes that society is a whole or system
made up of inter related and interdependent parts. The historical approach in this set-up then
requires the examination of the concrete circumstances which tend to upset the equilibrium of a
society composed of such interrelated parts. In addition, sources of change in society may be
seen to come from contact with other cultures, from institutionally sanctioned types of
innovations or from tensions, strains, or conflicts generated within the system itself. In this view,
Chinoy (1967:74) posited that: “when groups of people are stimulated or provoked by some
difficulty in the social order- inability to achieve their goals, threats to their security or status,
competing demands made upon them- and deliberately seek to transform the existing state of
affairs, a social movement has been created. Many of the changes that occur in society are at
least in part the outcome of more or less organised action on the part of such movements”.
We summarise the foregoing with the view that a study of social change should include a
recognition of external influences, contact with other groups, and institutionalized sources of
change, the latent consequences of existing institutions and social structures, tensions generated
by the lack of integration and organised efforts to effect change. These are not unrelated forces,
and their interrelationship must also be examined systematically.
14.2 EFFECTS OF SOCIAL CHANGE
Taking variations of space and time as it concerns human existence into consideration, Toffler
(1970) identified the effect of social change to include the following: Social change make man
uneasy; it uproots him from familiar surroundings, meaning, habits and relationships, creating
fear and anxiety. Thus Toffler described human response to social change in terms of culture
shock as it imbues one with a sense of bewilderment, frustration, and disorientation in line with
people’s attitudes when they confront an unfamiliar culture.
These responses vary in accord with varying environmental self, hence the ambiguity and
psychologically threatening potential of change may spur many to resist change which action
may sometimes verge on the protection of vested interest. Other factors noted to be responsible
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for people’s resistance to social change include economic cost, habit, sense of order and
reverence for the past.
In view of the foregoing, one can understand why across societies, the manner and attitude with
which people receive and perceive change vary. In folk societies, where one usually finds greater
endowment of traditional authority, there tends to be a general resistance to social change. On
the other hand, in Urban-industrial societies change is regarded as an everyday fact of life,
socially desirable for its own sake as well as an indication of progress.(Agugua,2003:325)
14.3 CAUSES OF SOCIAL CHANGE
The complex nature or complexity of social change has been anchored on certain major causes
which includes the following:
i. Technological, Economic, Ideological or religious factors - Principally though the

technological factor has been identified as a major pervasive factor in the cause of social
change and its effect is also seen to be quite pervading. In this sense, technological effect on
institutional settings has been identified in such issues as the introduction of power-driven
machinery which have had more mental effects on the economy and society, affect factories
and towns. These same developments and the associated spread of household technology
have been seen to have affected the family; sex roles have changed and middle-class wives
go out to work in increasing numbers.
ii. Developments in science have also affected religious beliefs. In the same vein,
industrialisation has affected government in that governments have been required to organize
the protection of the sick, the unemployed, and the old. Also, values and attitudes have
changed as identified in Marxists theme of alienation. Social inventions such as the trade
union have also had a marked influence on wages and working hours, which in turn have
affected the leisure industries ie. People have more money and time to spend.
Indeed, it is at the level of the technological factors of social change that we furtively treat
globalisation as social change on a global scale. The nature and dimensions of that trend
constitutes the next theme of discussion
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14.4 SOCIAL CHANGE AND GLOBAL SOCIOLOGY
The earlier part of this section is meant to help you appreciate the importance of social change,
and more importantly in this later part, it is meant to help you link Sociological theories of
change to the subject of globalisation. Indeed sociologists use the concept of globalisation to
explore the current social change taking place on global scale. This goes beyond our
understanding of sociology as a discipline that developed on the heels of the changes that took
place in Europe, especially the fall out of the industrial revolution. Since then, it is adduced that
sociology has reflected these roots and often focused on, or derived its thematics from this part
of the world.
However, recent views are inclined to the notion that sociology as a discipline needs to take a
global perspective, and not just one type of society such as European or Western ways of life.
The thesis here is that it is through the study of differences and comparisons that we can increase
our understanding of the working of the social world. This, according to Gosling (2005), is what
is meant by Global Sociology. Global Sociology, it is expected, would not privilege any culture,
country or any area of the world.
At this point, it becomes important to state that global sociology and globalisation are two
different concepts. Global sociology is a discipline involving sociological approach to society at
the global level, which does not privilege any particular area, whereas globalisation is a
phenomenon studied by sociologists. However, the point is noted that the concept of
globalisation has brought about the need for a global sociology to a center stage as the
interconnectedness of different peoples, actions and problems across the world continue to
increase.
SUMMARY
In the course of discussing themes in social change, certain pertinent issues are worthy of note as
follows:
1. The discipline of sociology was developed during a time of major social change and
aimed to explain these transformations.
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2. Different sociologists have developed their approaches in the study of the phenomenon
based on the study of particular instances of social change, so it is important to know
about when they were writing, what were their influences and why.
3. The foregoing trend also informed the nature and pattern of theories that emerged in the
explanation of social change.
Finally, it is worthy to note that sociology developed in Europe, but it is not about one country or
one way of life as can be said of modernization theory. It is necessary to take a global approach
and to understand how social groups fit into the context of the global social system.
CONCLUSION
Before your discussion in this section, you have been reasonably exposed to the different ways
sociological theorists take in explaining society and social relationships. The expositions laid a
very good foundation for your being introduced to the importance of social change in our daily
lives. It is instructive that the chapter also made us to understand how to examine what is
possibly the most significant social change recently being experienced as they are happening
now, and as they are manifesting in the era of globalization.
The point is therefore noted that social life is not static like a photograph, but is continually
developing and changing, so to study, it we need to think about the past and what has taken place
to bring us to the world as it is today. Hence in this chapter, just concluded, we saw how social
change brought about the emeregence of sociology. We also saw how sociology needs to take a
global approach. Very significantly, we saw how the aforementioned issues influenced the
various main theoretical approaches to the explanation of social change.
Question 1: What are the major assumptions of the evolutionary view of change?
QUESTION 2: What do you understand to be the relationship between the evolutionary view of
change and socio-biology?
Question 3: What is your understanding of the historical approach in sociological explanation of
social change?
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STUDY SESSION 15: GLOBALIZATION
INTRODUCTION
In conceptualising globalisation as a major form of social change in this column, we shall

highlight some particular social changes associated with globalisation. In the process, the module
will show how dynamic globalisation is as a concept, and how it informs every aspect of human
life across all societies in recent time.
Indeed globalisation is noted as one of the most contemporary and controversial areas of study
for sociologists. Indeed, the concept itself is contested. Principally, it is used in our everyday
language, as well as by specialists in very different ways. In this sense W.B. Gailie’s (1956) idea
of an essentially contested concept is therefore noted as an appropriate description of
globalisation, because there can be no agreement on its definition, dimension and direction.
Globalisation as a term is now used in so many ways that it threatens to become the big idea
which encompasses everything, but which delivers little substantive insight into the
contemporary human condition.
In this section therefore, we examine the meaning of this term, its importance to sociologists and
the way that it links to other sociological issues. To do this successfully, it will be useful for you
to keep thinking about your own experiences, in your reading, the films and television you
watch, the products you buy as well as your travels. Such will help your study and appreciation
of your encounters with themes on globalisation.
LEARNING OUTCOMES ON GLOBALISATION
On completing this section, students should be able to:
15.1: Explain the term globalization and understand the importance of taking a global approach
to the study of society.
15.2: Explain the fluid nature of globalization informed by the debates on globalization.
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15.3: Discuss the major theories of globalization.
15.4: Explain the contributions of the study of globalization to sociological discussions of the
nature of contemporary society.
15.5: Explain the link and differences between global sociology and globalization
15.1 CONCEPTUALISING GLOBALISATION
In tune with the understanding of globalisation as social change occurring on a global scale,
Waters (2001) defined globalisation as a : Social process in which the constraints of geography
on economic, political, social and cultural arrangements recede, in which people become
increasingly aware that they are receding, and in which people act accordingly.
The above definition by Waters is seen to be quite broad as it includes aspects of the economy,
culture, political and social arrangements. However, it will be necessary to point out here that
Waters’ definition is one out of so many other definitions, but its broadness makes it a useful tool
to start with. Other sociologists have preferred views which depict globalization as mainly
involving a particular sphere of life. One of such is Sklair (2002) who argued that the current
form of globalization being experienced is an economic process. In his contribution, Mike
Featherstone (1990) posited that globalisation mainly involves changes in culture as a global
culture develops.
Owing to variations in people’s conceptualisation and definition of globalisation, some key

concepts have been identified as central in the understanding of globalisation, though none of
them can be taken wholesale in the explanation of globalization. They are:
- Processes
- Inter connectedness
- Interdependence
- Expanding / stretching of relationships
- Intensity / intensification
- Awareness of the whole world
- Global consciousness
- Convergence
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Summarily we observe that sociology is about the study of social relations and social change.
The view is held in most quarters that globalisation represents one of the most important and
rapid changes in human social life, and it is one that is being currently witnessed. Hence
globalisation is of great interest to Sociologists, especially on the need to study and unravel how
globalisation affects all the different aspects of social life, which includes how globalisation
might affect:
- Family life
- The way we work
- The way we treat people of different races, ethnicity and gender
- Religious practice and beliefs
- The distribution of power and social justice.
Indeed just like the era of the enlightenment and industrial revolution made sociology a
subject of interest to the pioneers of Sociology, it is argued that globalisation has also
made Sociology a subject of immense interest in contemporary times.
15.2 THE GLOBALISATION DEBATE
Globalisation is seen to be one of the most contemporary and controversial areas of study for
Sociologists. The concept itself is hotly contested. It is used in our everyday language, as well as
by specialists, in different ways and there is no agreement on its definition. Thus David Held et
al (1999) pointed out the fact that the term globalisation is used in so many ways that it threatens
to become; “the big idea which encompasses every thing … but which delivers little substantive
insight into the contemporary human condition” (Held et al 1999:1). Within sociology also, there
is disagreement about what globalisation connotes and the extent to which it has happened. Some
of the theorists argue that processes of globalization have resulted in social change as significant
as the change from traditional to modern society, whereas other sociologists question whether
globalization represents anything new at all.
The above Scenario has led to the emergence of three key sociological questions that has, in its
wake, produced three major schools of thought on globalization Viz;
1. Is globalisation a new phenomenon or a continuum of existing processes?
2. Are globalisation processes complete?
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3. Is globalization inevitable?
To help us understand how different Sociologists or schools of thought answer these questions
Held (1999) set out three main categories of theorists which showed sociological approaches to
globalisation on a continuum. The main categorisations, which are not totally mutually exclusive
of each other, include the Skeptics, the Hyperglobalists, and the Transformationalists.
15.2.1: The Skeptics
The skeptics, in their conceptualisation of globalisation, agree to the fact that important social
changes have taken place and are still taking place over time. However, they do not see much
difference in the practices of international trade that have been going on for hundreds of years.
For them, globalisation is not a new phenomenon, but either a continuation of existing practices,
or not existing at all as a global phenomenon as vast areas of the world have not been affected
(Wade, 1996). In their view, the state is still a dominant force, and globalisation, as conceived by
the more extreme globalisation theorists, is largely a myth (Hirst and Thompson, 1999:2).
15.2.2 THE HYPERGLOBALISTS.
The Hyperglobalists represent an opposite end of the continuum to the skeptics. They claim that
globalisation is very real and represents fundamental changes in social relations, usually
attributed to the final decades of the last century. These theorists harp on the decline of the nation
state, now seen to be of a greater or lesser extent redundant in an age where territorial borders no
longer matters. In their view, today’s global economy is genuinely borderless. Information,
Capital and Innovation flow all over the world at top speed, enabled by technology and fuelled
by consumers desires for access to the best and least expensive products (Ohmae, 1995).
15.2.3: THE TRANSFORMATIONALISTS.
Like the pundit of the school of realism, these theorists try to build a bridge between the skeptics
and the hyperglobalists. To an extent, they disagreed with the skeptics because they see
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globalisation as something real and different. Also, they disagree with the hyperglobalists
because they do not see the world as being totally borderless.
Their major argument is that globalisation is a process, subject to influence and change and
which integrates politics, economics and cultural aspects. Furthermore, they do not see state as
irrelevant as the hyperglobalists, neither do they see it as being central as skeptics do, rather the
transformationalists recognize that a state-based of state central approach to understanding the
world is no longer appropriate. It is necessary to consider other forms of organisations such as
social movements and transnational corporations.
Summarily, we observe that research provides strong evidence that existing territorial borders are
becoming less important and that transnational practices are becoming more important. The
balance of power between state and non-state actors and agencies is changing; this is what is
regarded as the transnational approach to globalisation (Sklair, 2002). At this point it might be
necessary to highlight major factors of globalisation to include: centralized authority, improved
information super highway, rapid transfer of capital, internationalisation of labour, de-
territorialization of personnel and irrelevance of boundaries. Our next task from this point will be
to think on practical developments that have facilitated globalisation.
15.2.4 DEVELOPMENTS THAT FACILITATED GLOBALIZATION
Several developments are seen to have facilitated globalization, but let us start with the technical
dimension:
(i) Globalising Technology: The view here is that the technical dimension of globalisation
involves advances in technology that enable processes of globalisation. However, it also relates
to how globalisation encourages the invention and spread of these technologies. Indeed
technological advances in the area of information processing, communications and transportation
are seen to facilitate much of the interdependence that we experience today as follows:
(a) Communication: Improvement in communication processes makes it possible to

communicate with, buy from and visit people in other parts of the world because of
developments such as air travel, telephone and the Internet. David Harvey in 1989
referred to this as the Time- Space Compression.
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(b) Information Technology is seen to go with those in communications and transport.
People do more things through computers than ever known before; they manage
information on a scale never known before now. Some theorists link this with widest
changes as the way we work. For instance, Manual Castells (1996) used the idea of the
information society to describe the change in emphasis from manufacturing industries to
those involving white collar jobs or office work where people are more likely to use
computers. So the era connotes more of brain power rather than muscle power, ie the
“Knowledge Worker” is central.
However, beyond the technical dimensions of globalisation relating to technological

developments, it is also necessary to understand the effects of these and how they relate
to other areas of social changes. One of such areas to address is economic globalisation.
(ii) Global Economy: The economy is seen to be central to how we understand globalisation.
Economic globalisation is equated to mean the same thing as capitalist globalisation which
connotes the dominant economic system. Here, it is important to point out that economic
globalisation rather than being seen as the same with globalisation, is just concerned with the
economic dimension of globalization.
Summarily, we observe here that although the seeming dominant economic system is
CAPITALISM, there still remain areas of the world that have a different system such as Cuba,
Korea and China. Other countries are not able to join the world economy for different reasons,
including poverty and indebtedness as expounded in Andre Gunder Frank’s Dependency Theory.
Another issue that comes to the fore at this point can better be addressed in the form of the
question: what has been the overall impact of economic globalisation? Is a globalising economy
making the world better?
Indeed an OPTIMIST’S view of globalization shows that globalization holds out the hope for a
more prosperous world; it has enriched the world scientifically and culturally and benefited
many people economically. Its other benefits is a supposed recession in the threats of war in the
belief that globalization increases the incentives for not making war and it increase the cost of
war in more ways than in any other previous era of mankind. Also more interaction among
people, it is believed, has the potential for improving global solidarity as some human right
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organizations tap the resources of the internet to promote their causes effectively by using
electronic mail to mobilize diverse support groups throughout the world.
The foregoing notwithstanding the ANTAGONISTS of globalisation raises concern over a more
divided world. Their greatest concern borders on the widening gulf between the haves and the
have-nots.
In the above sense, Gosling (2005:156) averred that it is possible to identify inequalities between
people in the same country or even city and between people in different countries. The elites of
one country often have more in common with the elites of another rather than with other people
at home. The point being made is that while global wealth has undoubtedly increased, it has also
become concentrated in fewer hands and fewer countries. Thus it was revealed in one report in
2002 that the net worth of the 200 richest people on earth now exceeds the combined income of
40 percent of people who live on the planet. As a result, while wages continue to rise in wealthy
countries, 80 impoverished countries have been witnessing a decline in average income (Agugua,
2006:19).
Indeed, recognition of the foregoing inequalities as a result of economic globalisation had led to
a growing wave of protests, often referred to as the “anti-globalisation movement”. Members of
the movement are of the view that globalisation needs to be reformed or changed.
Consequently, it becomes necessary to point out that this movement, far from being against
globalisation per se, is rather focused against the evils of capitalist or economic globalisation.
Hence, a more contemporary label for them is the “Social Justice Movement”. The recognition is
thus given here that alternatives are being proposed by the movement rather than simply arguing
against the whole globalisation phenomenon.
(iii) Political Change: Political change as a dimension of globalisation addresses the issue of
Nation States, Global Governance and Civil Society. The focus of interest here relates as a result
of globalising processes, and also to the way that politicians can influence the progress of
globalisation. We have earlier hinted on a borderless world, where state boundaries are no longer
important as against the view where the borders between countries are not as strong or
impenetrable as they once were. The issues are addressed under the aforementioned themes of
Nation States, Global Governance and Civil Society.
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(a). Nation States
The question that pre-empts discussion here is: whether globalisation is leading to the demise of
the nation state? The hyperglobalists are unequivocal in stating that the idea of a borderless
world implies that governments are no longer the ones with the most power. For the skeptics,
governments are as strong as ever, and would continue to be so. We note here that the difference
might be that the power of the nation state is changing in some way. We also note the fact that
some nation states are strong and powerful (Such as the U.S, Russia, Germany), and that there
are other small ones such as Togo, Benin Republic, Malta and Macedonia. The question of
whether the nation state is in demise cannot be answered with a simple yes or no for obvious
reasons.
- Beside the existence of the state, the point to note is that there are some other bodies that
hold power at the global level. Such bodies include:
- Transnational Corporations (TNCs). Some TNCs are seen to be more powerful and
wealthier than some nations i.e. Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart Stores, and General Motors.
- Regional bodies such as the European Union, and ECOWAS. Also we have regional
trading blocs such as NAFTA, which is North American Free Trade Agreement.
- INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: Some of such institutions include United Nations,

World Trade Organisations (WTO) and the World Bank.
(b). Global Governance
Global governance is understood not as government alliances, but as a minimum framework of

rules necessary to tackle global problems. These rules are guaranteed by a diverse set of
institutions including international organisations and national governments. Regional
organisations include regional governments and trade blocs such as OPEC, APEC, NAFTA etc.
International institutions include UN and WTO.
(c). Civil Society
Global civil society, such as the Global Society Justice Movement, are loosely organised group
works which call other actors of global governance to account in order to bring changes to the
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institutions which they believe promote increasing division in society and greater gaps between
the rich and the poor.
iv. The Global Village and World Culture
The importance of cultural globalisation is underscored by the fact that a lot of sociologists argue
that globalisation is above all a cultural phenomenon involving many cultural processes.
In the above sense, globalisation is equated with the development of a global culture (Robertson
& White, 2003). Theoretically, the global culture is seen to develop through the processes of
convergence which refers to those aspects of culture in different societies that have been very
different but have now become similar. In this vein, Saskia Sassen (2001) argue that many cities
have become global cities because they share similar characteristics and have more in common
with each other than with the rest of that country. Anchored on the concept of globalism, the
trend involves a new consciousness of the world as a global village, a single entity or place. The
process is facilitated by the following:
(i) Global Technology
(ii) Economic Globalisation, and
(iii) Political Globalisation, (Gosling et al, 2005: 162).
15.3 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF GLOBALIZATION
In this column on theoretical considerations we are interested in how the study of globalisation
contributes to sociology and how it can be researched into. In other words, we are interested in
highlighting theoretical clues that explain the driving force behind globalisation. Sklair (2002)
gave an interesting classification system which we might find useful. Sklair’s formulations
highlighted four major theories of globalisation to include:
(i) World Systems Theory
(ii) Global Capital Theory
(iii) Global Society Theory
(iv) Global Culture Theory
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15.3.1 WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY
World Systems theory as a school of thought is mainly associated with the work of Immanuel
Wallerstein (1974) and is seen to share some similarities with the Dependency Theory developed
by Andre Gunder Frank (1968). Their principal argument is that owing to the trend of
modernisation and economic integration of the world into a global system, there has emerged
three major geo-political areas into which the world system can be categorised depending on the
level of development and economic strength of each of the world regions. The geo-political areas
of the world are:
(a) The Core: The core nations of the world constitute major parts of the Western World and the
Americas which are strong, fully developed states that call the shots in the economic systems
of the new world order.
(b) The Semi-Periphery: These are moderately strong states or medium range economic regions
of the world. They are referred to as the newly Industrialising countries (NICS) of the world
such as the Asian Tigers, Malaysia, and Brazil.
(c) The Periphery: The cohort of these nations constitutes the weak and poor states of the world.
They are often economically dependent and undeveloped. Majority of third world nations
such as Nigeria fall into that category.
A concept generally associated with the world system theory is the New International
Division of Labour (NIDL). The connotation here is that on a global scale, countries or areas
of the world are becoming specialised in certain fields or areas of economic enterprises ie
while some nations are good in providing raw materials and cheap labour, other countries are
best in manufacturing, while some others are better in the service industries.
15.3.2 GLOBAL CAPITALIST THEORY
This is a derivative of the theories of economic globalisation which see capitalism as the driving
force behind globalisation processes. The thesis here is that the spread of capitalist ideology and
the technological advance which improved production methods, and which makes global
transportation and communication possible, has ensured that capitalism is the dominant
economic system of the world.
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A negative dimension in this view is the conflict aspect of it derived from Marxism. The
principal argument from this angle is the view that the driving force behind capitalism is the
pursuit of profit at a global level. The sore implication is the widening of the gulf or heightened
inequality between the richest and poorest peoples of the world. In the views of Sklair, this trend
is explained as Class Polarisation crisis (Sklair,2002:48). Sklair further discusses the Sociology
of the Global System and posits that transnational practices constitute the key to understanding
how the system works. In his view, these practices take place at the global level, beyond the
confines of borders, such as TNCs trading globally. He argued that the Transnational Capital
Class (TCC) is the driving force behind globalisation. The TCC concept refers to a group of
people from around the globe who share an interest in the progress and success of the global
capitalist project. Four types of people belong to the TCC:
Executives of TNCs
Globalising bureaucrats and politicians who want to promote globalization for reasons
apart from the development of their own country.
Globalising professionals such as academics who work to promote this type of

globalisation, and
Merchants and the media.
15.3.3 THE GLOBAL SOCIETY THEORY
Global Society theory focuses on the importance of people being aware of the planet as an
encompassing entity, thinking of themselves as being part of the world, and having a global
consciousness i.e. the global village concept. Besides technology enabling us to communicate
with people throughout the world as if they lived within close range, we are said to also have an
increased awareness of people in every part of the world. Featherstone (1990) links the
development of a global culture from this perspective.
In the view of global society theorists, what has been happening in the world in the last few
decades is unprecedented in history, hence, for them, globalisation represents something new and
real.
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Giddens (1990) identifying himself with the global society theorists links modernisation and
globalisation. In this linkage Giddens posited that there are four main dimensions to globalisation
which includes:
(a) The nation – State System
(b) The world military order
(c) The International division of labour
(d) The world capital economy
In the views of Giddens, these elements can be seen as clearly linked with modernity and so
globalisation is a modern phenomenon, and one that is connected and leads on from
modernisation processes. Despite their supposed usefulness, Giddens however did not include
the development of a global consciousness in his analysis which many global society theorists
see as central.
15.3.4 GLOBAL CULTURE THEORY.
The global culture theorists practice the cultural dimension of globalisation. The driving force
identified by them about globalisation is the continual convergence of cultures due to the
growing dominance of a mass media-based culture akin to a global village concept. This view is
also related to the global society theory, which correlation reinforces the point that the
classifications adumbrated thus far has been artificially constructed to ease understanding,
because overlaps do exist between groups of theory.
The central argument here is that local and national cultures are being eroded and a convergence
is taking place whereby the signs, symbols, language, rituals and values that people were created
are becoming more and more shared across the world. A snag noted about this view point is the
understanding that it is not a shared culture which is driving this change, but those pushing the
dominant culture through the capitalist system.
In the above vein, Appadurai (1996) highlighted what he saw as five major types of cultural
flows characterising globalisation as follows:
(1) Ethnoscapes : Flow of people
(2) Mediascape : Flow of images
(3) Technoscapes : Flows of machinery
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(4) Finanscapes : Flows of money
(5) Ideascapes: Flow of ideas.
Conclusively, we observe here that the concept of globalisation inadvertently leads us to the
theme of glocalization. This is a concept developed by global culture theorists to help us explain
the complex web of links and connections of social relationships between the local and the
global. Globalization is still current, unresolved and has an impact on all areas of social change,
it becomes necessary for us then to think sociologically and also to think globally, as well as
think globally and act locally.
SUMMARY
Major issues addressed in this section can be succinctly captured as follows:
• Sociology as a major field of academic endeavour was developed at a time of major social
change, and it aimed to explain those transformations.
• Different perspectives as well as different sociologists developed their approaches on the

issues based on the study of particular instances of social change.
• There is a need to recognise how sociologists research the topic of globalisation and the
different theoretical approaches to it.
• Technological advances in information technology, communications, and transportation have

facilitated the process of globalisation.
• Significant changes brought about by economic globalisation include the rise of transnational
corporations, the rapid expansion of global financial markets, capitalist consumerism, and the
development of global production chains.
• The development of a global culture is related to the globalising economy because of the
consumerist consumption it promotes with regard to branding and entertainment.
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• Changes in global governance brought about by globalisation have seen an increase in sources
of power which are not bounded by geographical territory, such as intergovernmental
organisations, non-governmental organisations, social movements, and transnational
corporations.
• Globalisation is still current, unresolved, and has an impact on all areas of sociology. So think
sociologically and think globally.
CONCLUSION
Discourses in this section, it is believed, must have informed students on the need of taking a
global approach to the study of society. This derived chiefly from the viewpoint of seeing
globalisation as a major social change occurring on a global scale, principally as a major issue
that anchors on knowledge expansion for students and their exposure to major theories of social
change. This aspect dovetailed into exposure of students to major globalisation theories as well.
It is hoped that in the final analysis, students should be able to apply the knowledge acquired
herein to understand major changes occurring within their own society. Principally, two major
lessons are identified for proper note,
(a) Globalisation is a very important topic because it is a social change actually occurring
now. You will find it both helpful and interesting to engage in finding out what is
happening in the world, and to notice these changes at the global level.
(b) Also a major point to note in the course of our discussions on globalisation is that the
dimensions of globalisation as discussed are not totally separate. Efforts were made to
divide up the different processes and influences into distinct spheres, whereas in reality
these spheres are inter related and difficult to view separately. We have used a method of
classification which has allowed us to identify and understand in more details individual
dimensions, but we also need to understand the complex interactions between these
dimensions, the ways they are studied, and the theories emanating therefrom.
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QUESTION 1: Use a major definition of globalization to give instances of what has changed in
the way people do things across the globe.
Question 2: Identify and explain the main categories of theorists in sociological approaches to
globalization.
Question 3: What do you understand by global economy? Is it truly universal?
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REFERENCES
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Bammeke, F., and Durowade, S.D.,(eds.). Readings in Social Work. Lagos: Department
of Sociology, University of Lagos.
Agugua, A.O.,(2003). ‘Social Change in Nigeria since Independence’, in Osuntokun, A,

Aworawo, D., Masajuwa, F., (Editors). History and Cultures of Nigeria Up to A.D 2000.
Lagos: Frankad Publishers
Appadurai, A.,(1996). Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis,

London: University of Minneapolis Press.
Castells, M.,(1996). The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture: The Rise of Network
Society. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Chinoy, Ely, (1967). Society: An Introduction To Society. New York: Random House.
Featherstone, M.(1990). Global Culture: Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity. London:

Sage.
Feigelman, William, (1980). Sociology Full Circle: Contemporary Readings On Society. U.S.A:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Friedenfels, Roxanne,(1998). Social Change: An Anthology. New York: General Hall Inc.
Giddens, A., (1990). The Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Gosling, R. (ed.) and Taylor, S. (2005). Principles of Sociology. London: London School of
Economics and Political Science.
Harvey, D.(1989). The Condition of Postmodernity. Oxford: Blackwell.
Held, D., Mcgraw, A., Goldblatt, D., and Perraton, J., (1999). Global Transformations.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hirst, P., and Thompson, G., (1999). Globalization in Question. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Jangam, R.T, (1993). Textbook of Political Sociology. New Delhi: Oxford and IBI- Publishing
Co. PVT Ltd.
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Ohmae, K.(ed,) (1995). The Evolving Global Economy: Making Sense of The New World
Order. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Olurode, L.,(2006). ‘Modernization and The Dependency Approaches’, in Adebagbo, S.A.,

Obinyan, T.U., and Olurode, L.,(eds.). Family and Social Change: Essays in Sociology
and Social Welfare Administration. Lagos: Rebonik Publishers.
Robertson, R. and White, K., (2003). Globalization: Critical Concepts in Sociology. London:
Routledge.
Sassen, S., (2001). The Global City: Princetown: Princetown University Press.
Sklair, L., (2002). Globalization: Capitalism and Its Alternative. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Toffler, Alvin, (1970). Future Shock. New York: Random House.
Wade, R.,(1996). Globalization and its Limits: Reports of the Death of the National Economy are
Greatly Exaggerated’ in Berger, S. and Dore, R., (eds.). National Diversity and Global
Capitalism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Waters, M. (2001). Globalization. Second Edition. London: Routledge.
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ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS FOR STUDY SESSION 1 – 15
1: Definition of Sociology- Sociology has been defined differently by different authors. This
suggests that there is no singularly accepted and universal definition of sociology. However,
despite these seeming differences in definitions, sociologists agree that their discipline concerns
itself with the systematic study and analysis of the group life of man, the pattern of relationships
in such groups and the institutions that are produced by such relationships. More specifically,
sociology studies human behaviour and social interactions, with a view to understanding how
societies are organized/work, how they develop and how they change.
The primary concern of sociology is to discover, describe and explain how order is maintained
within groups – small or large- as a result of the inculcation in man from
childhood(socialization) of the rules of behaviour (norms) governing various group activities
whether they are economic, political or religious. These rules make it possible to predict
behaviour with a reasonable degree of accuracy or the expectation that these rules will be largely
kept. Consequently, it is the search for such rules and the way they operate within groups that
interest the sociologist. May we add also that since no social systems functions flawlessly,
sociology is also interested in studying manifestations of disorder. As a discipline, sociology
promotes increased self awareness on the part of the individual student, and equips him/her with
the capacity to better understand members of the society.
2: Contributions of Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber to Sociology
The contributions of Auguste Comte (1798- 1857)

Auguste Comte was a French Philosopher reputed to have coined the word “Sociology”. He was
also acknowledged to have founded the discipline. Comte lived at the time of the French
Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, two events that drastically changed the society of his
time. He was particularly disturbed by the seeming inadequacy of the social sciences that existed
at the time, including political science and history, to explain the chaos and upheaval he saw
around him. This prompted him to advocate for entirely new discipline- sociology- that would
apply scientific knowledge based on facts and evidence to understand and solve the numerous
problems of society. Comte belonged to the evolutionary school of thought who believed that all
societies develop and progress through stages. Among his outstanding contributions to the field
is the recognition that sociology can be broken into two branches- : dynamics, or the study of the
processes by which societies change; and statics, or the study of the processes by which societies
endure.
The contributions of Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

Like Comte, Emile Durkheim was also French philosopher and Sociologist who also believed
that it was possible and important to apply scientific methods to Sociology as a discipline. His
major contribution to the discipline of sociology was his thinking about how society is held
together. He argued that there are two types of solidarity among people in society. The first type-
mechanical solidarity- appeared in more traditional societies where all of the people are of the
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same ethnic group, religion and culture. The second type of solidarity is what he called organic
solidarity which is the type found in more modern societies where different kinds of people are
thrown together and expected to live together. Durkheim views that these people are held
together because they need each other in an economic sense. Durkheim other useful
contributions include pioneering the use of statistics in sociology. He also argued that society is
not just a group of human beings acting in their rational self interest, but also a moral entity.
The contributions of Max Weber (1864-1920)

Max Weber was a German Sociologist and is remembered for two major contributions to
sociology. First, he is the author of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, a book
considered as one of the most important in the history of sociology. In the book, he sought to
understand why some countries were more able than others to build strong capitalist economies.
He argued that Protestantism promoted capitalism and economic growth more than other
religions. Weber’s ideas are also reputed to have given rise to symbolic interactionism, one of
the three main theoretical perspectives that exist in sociology today. Interactionists content that
society is created by the interactions that take place between people and that these interactions
are determined by the meanings that people give to events and aspects of society. The
perspective was born out of Weber’s idea that society could only be studied by looking at the
way its members understand it.
3: The Scope of Sociology
Sociology is a very broad discipline touching nearly every field of human endeavour beginning
from studying and understanding interactions among individuals up to the scientific analysis of
global social processes such as globalization, information technology and sustainable economic
development. Some branches or fields of Sociology include Sociology of Law, Sociology of
Education, Political Sociology, Urban Sociology, Rural Sociology, Gerontology, Sociology of
Crime and Deviant Behaviour, Sociology of Medicine, Sociology of Work, Sociology of Sports
and Sociology of Art.
Sociology is related with other social science disciplines such are psychology, anthropology,
geography, political science, social work, economics and parts of history to the extent that like
these other disciplines, sociology is concerned with human behaviour and shares same basic
subject matter with them. It however, differs from each of these other disciplines each of which
focuses on different aspects of behaviour.
4: Definitions of some sociological concepts:
Norms- A norm is a shared expectation of behaviour that connotes what is considered culturally
desirable and appropriate
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Values- This refers to important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by members of a culture
about what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable. Values have major influence on
a person's behaviour and attitude and serve as broad guidelines in all situations
Status- This refers to the social positions which individuals occupy in society. Example of
family statuses include one’s position as son or daughter, father or mother; gender
statuses include being a male or female, while occupational statuses may include being a
teacher, driver, clerk etc
Role- This refers to a set of norms attached to a social position. It can also be seen as the
behavioural expectations of individuals based on their statuses
5. The Practical usefulness of Sociology
Sociology as a discipline equips its graduates with a range of specific abilities and specialized
skills. The UK Quality Assurance Agency lists these as:
• Adaptability
• The ability to judge and evaluate evidence,
• Understanding the complexity and diversity of situations, including organizations
themselves;
• Research skills and capacity for detailed observation;
• Making reasoned and logical arguments.
• High quality written and oral communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Global view of issues ( Sociology students are taught to understand ‘the big picture’
• The ability to work independently i.e showing initiative
Furthermore, sociology equips students with a wider set of transferable skills like
• team spirit,
• being able to work in a way that is supportive of equality and diversity in work place
No doubt, these are skills that are very much sought after by employers.
According to the Higher Education Academy which produces students’ employability profiles
for subjects in the UK, “sociology graduates are found in a wide range of
occupations….especially careers that center on the challenges and demands that members of
society face” This explains why many sociologists are found in social services, education,
criminal justice, welfare services, government, counseling, charities and voluntary sector.
But with the above skills and competencies, the sociologist can fit just into any environment and
position. Today we have sociologists who work in the banking, oil, advertising, media, health,
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military, paramilitary and indeed in every sector of the economy. The sociologist’s training
prepares him well for all these jobs. While it is true that the job market is very tough today- not
just for sociologists but for everyone, innovative employers still value people with a critical mind
who can think laterally and will seek for the sociologist if he presents his skills in an employer –
friendly manner.
1: Science can simply be defined as “the use of systematic methods of empirical

investigation, the analysis of data, theoretical thinking and the logical assessment of arguments
to develop a body of knowledge about a particular subject matter”. Science is simply knowledge
derived or produced after rigorous and empirical procedures
Science makes a number of assumptions, among which are the following:
• The world –natural and social - is real.

• The real world is knowable and comprehensible.
• There are laws that govern the real world. That is, nature is orderly, patterned and
structured
• Those laws are knowable and comprehensible.
• Those laws do not [radically] change according to place or time, since the early stages of
the big bang.
• Nothing is self evident. Truth claims must be demonstrated objectively.
• Knowledge is superior to ignorance
• Science is cumulative. That is , it uses logic and reliable methods that make it possible to
base future research on past results, so that understanding of any topic can grow over
time
• Science predicts. All scientific disciplines seek to explain what happens and to make
predictions about similar circumstances in the future (www.understandingscience.org).
2: How true can it be said that social science is science?
Social science is science employs the same methods as the natural or physical sciences. To this
extent therefore, we can safely say that social science is science. However, social science differs
from the natural sciences in the area of subject matters. Specifically, while the natural scientist
deals with matter, the social scientist deals with human beings. Matter can be manipulated or
compelled to react in a particular way because it has no consciousness, but this cannot be said of
human beings who have feelings and emotions.
3: What are the limitations of social sciences?
Social sciences are limited in a number of ways. Some of these are:

• Objectivity: Objectivity is an uphill task in the social sciences because his personal biases
often interfere with his judgement.
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• Accurate prediction: This is closely tied to the problem of objectivity or neutrality. To the
extent that the investigator’s biases influence the result of his study, to that extent will
accuracy of prediction be problematic
4. Positivism and its problems
Positivism is a school of thought that argues that sociology should adopt the same methods as the
natural sciences. Positivists believe that it is possible to apply the same principles and procedures
of the natural sciences in Sociology.
Critics of this school of thought however, argue that this approach has the following limitations:
iii. The subject matter of sociology (human beings) is different from that of the natural
sciences (matter) and cannot therefore be manipulated in laboratory conditions as is the
case in the natural sciences
iv. Man is not a passive responder to external stimuli as positivist sociologists want to make
us believe. Instead, he is an active creator of his society.
1. Society simply refers to a group of people who share distinct institutions and culture which
are passed on from one generation to another. Three key concepts are important in any
comprehensive definition of society, namely: people, institutions and relationships. Society
can be differentiated in terms of scale, sex and age.
2: Sociologists define culture as the ways of life of the members of a society, or of groups within
a society. It includes how they dress, their marriage, customs and family life, their patterns of
work, religious ceremonies and leisure pursuits. It is the totality of what is learned by individuals
as members of a society. Culture comprises of both material and non material elements.
3: What are the functions of culture?
Culture is important to individuals and to society at large

Functions of culture to the individual:
• Culture makes man a human being. Without culture, man is no better than an animal.
• Culture provides man a set of behaviour for difficult situations. In the absence of culture
man would have been baffled even at the simplest situations..
• Through culture, man gets traditional interpretations for many situations according to
which he determines his behaviour.
Functions of culture for the group:

• Culture prepares man for group life. Group life would have been poor, nasty, and short if
there had been no cultural regulations. Group solidarity rests on the foundation of culture.
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• Culture teaches him to think of himself as a part of the larger whole. It provides him with
the concepts of family, state and nation and makes possible the co-ordination and division
of labour.
Culture also creates new drives for example, thirst for knowledge and arranges for their
satisfaction. It satisfies the moral and religious interests of members of the group.
4. Key cultural concepts:
a. Cultural ethnocentrism- This refers to a feeling of superiority of one’s own culture
b. Cultural relativism – This is an attitude of respect for cultural differences rather than
condemnation. It is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the
individual within his own social context.
c. Cultural universals- This refers to a cultural pattern extant in every known society. It
is an element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all human cultures
worldwide. It presupposes that most societies are confronted with similar problems of
survival.
5: Relationship between society and culture.

Culture and society are closely interrelated. One cannot exist in the absence of the other. It is
within the society that people are socialised and encultured or made to learn and know how to
behave and how to use the materials in their environment. Similarly, culture provides the content
and context of social relationships. Both culture and society exist beyond the life span of any
individual. No man will be human except as a member of a society, and no society can exist
without a culture; culture makes relationships possible while society provides expression to
culture. Both society and culture are possible because there are people.
1. Define theory
A theory is a set of ideas which attempts to explain how society or aspects of society works.
Using theories, sociologists study everything from specific events (the micro level of analysis of
small social patterns) to the “big picture” (the macro level of analysis of large social patterns).
2. Discuss the key arguments of the functionalist theory.
This is a sociological theory that attempts to explain why society functions the way it does by
focusing on the relationship between the various social institutions that make up the society. It
argues that just as the human organism is made up of several parts each of which performs
different interdependent functions to ensure the survival of the whole, the human society
150
consists also of parts which are interdependent and contribute to society's functioning as a
whole. If the various parts performs its functions well, parts of the larger whole would
produce order, stability, and productivity. If all does not go well, parts of society then must
adapt to recapture a new order, stability, and productivity.
1. Characteristics of society are:
• Society is more than the individuals who compose it.

• The interest of the society supersedes the interest of any individual member.
• The society also outlives individual members composing it.
• Society is differentiated in terms of sex.
• Society is also differentiated in terms of age and roles attached to specific periods of
peoples’ lives.
• Society can be differentiated in terms of scale
2. Define a social group and discuss the characteristics of social group.
A social group is a collection of people who relate to one another as a distinctive integrated
whole. Members of a social group have some social relationships through which they perform
functions which are complementary.
Characteristics of a social group include:
• Members of the groups must see themselves as a whole. They must have a sense of
membership or a ‘we’ feeling.
• For a group to evolve, the people concerned must be in communication with one another.
• There must be some rules or expectations governing the unit.
• Individuals in the unit must perform functions which benefit the whole group. There must
be independence.
• Individuals in the unit must interact, and respond to one another.
• There must be common objectives which members share, with which they identify and
which they seek to achieve.
• There must be a distinctive set of social relationships among members.
• There must be the feeling that the behavior of each member is relevant to other members
3. Differences between primary and secondary groups
Primary Group Secondary Group
1.Relatively small 1. Less intimate interaction

2. Intimate face to face interaction 2. More impermanent
3. Has some form of permanence 3. Less frequent and intense contact
4. Intimate, intense and frequent interaction 4. Fewer ties of sentiments towards one
151
among members another or towards group
5. Personalised relationship Contacts between members are ephemeral and
impersonal
4. Define bureaucracy and list the six characteristics of a bureaucracy identified by

Max Weber
Bureaucracy is a type of formal organisation characterized by rationality and efficiency to
accomplish large scale administrative tasks involving many people. It is an administrative system
designed to accomplish large scale administrative tasks by systematically coordinating the work
of many individuals.
Max Weber’s characterisation of bureaucracy are :
1 A clear-cut division of labour attached to status in the organisation, with a high degree of
specialisation for each status position.
2 A hierarchical delegation of power and responsibility with each lower status under the
control and supervision of a higher one (specified chain of command).
3 A consistent set of rules and regulations for specific situations or tasks to assure uniform
performance.
4 Impartiality, whereby status occupants are to perform their tasks without favouritism to
assure uniform performance.
5 Employment based on stated qualifications and employees protected against
unreasonable dismissal.
6 Records kept of all transactions.
1. Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings and behaviours that a given culture associates with
a person’s biological sex. It refers to the social definitions of being male or being female.
Sex on the other hand is the quality of being a male or female; the division of organisms
into male and female. It comprises of relatively fixed qualities in the realm of biology
such as hormones and chromosomes.
2. The importance of gender issues
Gender is important because it influences individuals life chances, that is, the chances or
opportunities of an individual to achieve or enjoy those things which are considered to be
desirable in society such as good education, good health care services, good accommodation or
any such thing.
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1. Social stratification is a particular form of social inequality characterized by the

arrangement of members of society in terms of superiority, inferiority and equality. It a
kind of social inequality in a society in which distinct social groups are ranked one above
the other in terms of factors such as prestige, power and wealth. It can also be described
as the manner in which scarce resources and social rewards are distributed among the
different social categories.
There are four major dimensions of stratification in society, namely: slavery, estate, caste
and class.
2. Sociologists study stratification because it determines the life chances of individual
members of society, and because of its implication for social order or the absence of this.
1. For Weber, social stratification is determined by the social class to which an individual
belongs. Social class in itself is a function of what is popularly referred as the three P’s viz:
• Property or wealth or economic order ( ownership of means of production+skills,

credentials or qualifications)
• Power or legal order (ability to control others even against their will)
• Prestige or social order (social honour or prestige which others accord to an individual
due to his social position)
2 It was sociologists like Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore that first drew attention to the
positive side of stratification. Their argument was that for any society to survive, it must
fill certain important positions with her best talents. They add that inequality occurs as
society tries to create special reward systems to motivate people to make the sacrifices
that training for such positions require. In other words, inequality occurs as a result of the
attempt by the society to motivate members to take up these important positions with
greater rewards. It is in this sense that we say that inequality or stratification is socially
created mechanism for enhancing the potential survival of society. They consider it both
indispensable and positively functional for society.
No doubt there are certain positions that are central to the proper functioning and survival
of any given society- the security personnel, the teachers, doctors, farmers and many
more. Ideally, these categories should be motivated to attract the best hands. However,
while inequality is inevitable and universal, extreme inequality is a recipe for anarchy or
social disorder. The task of every government is to manage keep inequality within
153
tolerable limits without prejudice to providing incentives to encourage people to fill in
supposed important positions.
1. Social mobility is the movement of people from one social class to another. Mobility can
be horizontal or vertical mobility. The former refers to movement from one social
position to another of equal rank while the latter refers to movement upwards or
downwards in the stratification system.
2. A classless society is one without a hierarchy of social classes and in which individuals
have similar resources of power, wealth and status. Karl Marx observed that classless
societies once existed in the past with examples like hunter-gatherer societies, tribal
societies and primitive communal societies where nobody had special rank, status or
privilege and everybody had duties or work to perform. Today, a genuinely classless
society does not exist and some people believe that it never really existed.
The central role of research in Sociology:
Answer to question 1: Start by recalling the fact that sociology is about understanding how
societies, or parts of them, work, change and influence how people think and act. The need arises
then to look at how sociologists find out about societies. In other words, in evaluating
sociology’s claim of offering expert understanding of social life, we need to know how this
‘expert knowledge’ is generated, how well it stands up to critical scrutiny, and what assumptions
it makes about the nature of the social world. This explains the essence of understanding social
research as a central part of understanding sociology.
2: For each of the following research questions indicate which would be your first choice of
research methods and why.
a. How will people vote in the upcoming municipal elections?

b. How do preschool boys and girls interact with each other compared to how sixth-grade
boys and girls interact?
c. How does a particular secret organization socialize its new members?
d. What are the effects of increasing wages on employee productivity?
e. Are women or men more likely to have their personal space invaded when waiting in line
(for example, at the grocery store or bank machine)?
f. To what degree do people who live in the United States believe that people from other
countries are honest?
g. Has the number of children in the average family increased or decreased since the 1950s?
154
h. Do patients recover from surgery faster when taken care of by physicians specially
trained to have sympathetic bedside manners?
i. Are professors in the humanities more or less likely to publish articles and books than
professors in the social sciences?
Answers to question 2:
a. The best way would be to ask people how they intend to vote. There really is no other
way (that I can think of).
b. A survey probably would not work because the children are so young that they wouldn’t
be able to articulate their intention patterns. Observation of boys and girls interacting
would be best.
c. Experimentation.
d. Observation.
e. Probably a survey (either self-administered or interview format). The survey is a good
way of getting at people’s attitudes.
f. The good use of existing statistics, such as census data, would be the most
straightforward and reliable method. Why pay to do a survey when the government has
already collected the data?
g. This would make a lovely experiment!
h. Again, you could survey a number of professors. However, many likely would be
“mistaken” about how much they have published or might exaggerate to look better. It
would be better to look at lists of publications and count for yourself. Or you could ask
professors for copies of their resumes (called “curriculum vitae” in academia). Generally,
professors are pretty diligent about recording their publications on the vitae.
STUDY SESSION 11: RESEARCH DESIGNS AND METHODS

Answer to Question 1:
The important factors that can influence a researcher’s choice of design or method in the course
of doing social research include, though might not be limited to, the following:
v. The nature of the problem being investigated: The connotation here is that particular
problems than others i.e. an exploratory vs AU explanatory study
vi. Practical considerations: These are considerations that make your particular study
feasible i.e. time available, finance, access to available data/info and the terms of funding
agencies where necessary.
vii. Existing Research: As it has to do with either facilitating the new study or to extend,
check or authenticate an existing pool of information.
viii. Theoretical considerations: Various care of sociologists have different assumptions
about the nature of things or human societies and the best ways of generating information
about them. These various assumptions or theoretical differences also influence the
variations in their choice of research methods i.e. the position of structural functionalists
as against the assumptions of the integrationist theorists.
155
Answer to Question 2: Quantitative data shows greater affinity to the ideals of scientific
research than qualitative data as it is usually assumed that researchers are relatively detached
from the people they are studying in quantitative studies.
Since quantitative data shows a greater inclination to the fact that it is less likely that
researcher’s values will influence the research process, it is therefore noted to have the
following advantages over qualitative data:
4. They enable relationships between variables to be more systematically documented.
5. They are more likely to fulfill the key criteria of standardisation, reliability and
transparency
6. They give data more authority.
Answer to Question 3: Strengths of qualitative data includes the following:

iv. Qualitative data is more ecologically valid
v. It provides knowledge of how people behave in their natural contexts
vi. It enables researchers to explore people’s experiences and the meanings they give to their
actions and how they develop over time,
Answer to Question 4: The expected and unexpected in social research connotes that in any
research endeavour, the plans made in advance provide a framework for what actually happens.
In this sense, research designs provide the social life. In other words, while preparing for the
field, researchers always have some ideas of what they are going to find from their research.
However, the point is made that in any research endeavour, what emerges as data is a product of,
and the intrinsic nature of what is being studied. Sometimes this latter aspect of what is being
studied takes the researcher unawares as they might be unexpected.
Answer to Question 5: Secondary data connotes data or information that is not originally
generated by the researcher making use of it. In other words, it includes data from previous
researches. Two major categories of secondary data includes (i) official statistics and (ii)
documents
Official statistics connotes the mass of data collected by the state and its various agencies or
parastatals. Examples include census records which provide information about the composition
of the population alongside such other issues as births, marriages, divorces, ethnicity, and family
structures. Also, it gives information on economic statistics regarding patterns of employment or
unemployment, income and expenditure, rates of crime, illness and suicide.
Official statistics are mostly useful on large scale comparative research designs.
Advantages of official statistics

6. Availability
7. Bounty (plentiful)
8. Cheap when accessible.
9. Facilitates comparative analysis
156
10. Helps to document important changes in societies or groups over time
Disadvantages of Official Statistics

Disadvantages of official statistics that makes it imperative that researchers should approach the
usage with caution include:
4. They are not self-evident facts
In other words, they are social constructions that reflect the conceptual categories and
bureaucratic procedures through which they are collected
5. Collection and classification procedures can vary both between different societies as well
as within the same society over time. This can lead to problems of standardisation and
validity.
Under-reporting of cases e.g. personal assets, company’s profits, immigration rates, crime trends
etc
ANSWER TO QUESTION 1: The power of everyday objects has to do precisely with the fact
that we feel as if we can’t live without them. I don’t feel quite comfortable sitting on a chair
that’s lower than the knee high. No matter how hungry I am, before I start on that baked potato, I
have to find a fork. A spoon might work as well, but it wouldn’t feel right.
(Although I will use chopsticks when I am eating in a Chinese restaurant, I never feel as
comfortable with them because I can’t eat without thinking about what I’m doing.) Even though
I keep my office door open and am not generally bothered by traffic in and out, I know I would
be constantly annoyed if my colleague, whose office is next door, had to pass through my office
to reach his-no matter how quietly he did so. Visser goes on to say that having these things now
prevents us from being different.
ANSWER TO QUESTION 2: The three major assumptions of the positivists include such
themes as causality, determinism, empiricism.
Under the concept of CAUSALITY, it connotes that positivists see the social world as
composed of phenomena or things which are causally related to each other i.e. something (cause)
makes something else (effect) to happen, and an effect of one thing can then be the cause of
something else. So for positivists, the essence of the scientific method is to try to explain these
causal relationships.
On the issue of DETERMINISM, it connotes that the organisation of the societies in which
people live causes them to think and act in the way they do, irrespective of their free will, or
choice. This notion is invidiously related to the concept of destiny in eschatology.
EMPIRICISM: The issue of empiricism borders on the distinction between ‘theories’ (ideas)
and ‘observations’. Empirical or factual knowledge in this sense connotes that which can be
directly perceived or derived from what is known as empirical concept of knowledge or
157
epistemology. For empiricist epistemology, the only source of true knowledge or valid
knowledge is that based on experience or concrete evidence.
ANSWER TO QUESTION 3: In the views of interpretists, unlike what happens in the natural
sciences, in real life, people do not just react to stimuli, they actively interpret the situations in
which they find themselves and act on the basis of these interpretations. Thus there are two
issues noted of any stimulus – reaction and sequence in a social setting:
A key concept used to address the foregoing viewpoints is the concept of Vertsehen. The concept
requires that researchers, as far as possible, should place themselves imaginatively in the position
of those they are studying and ask how they see the world and what ends they believe are served
by their action.
A theoretical efflux from the foregoing is the concept of phenomenology noted in the work of
Alfred Schultz. Phenomenology means studying everyday life, focusing on people’s state of
consciousness and ‘bracketing off’ judgments about what may be causing or influencing their
behaviour. For phenomenologists, it is not enough to interprete the meanings people give to their
actions; researchers have to show how people come to construct these meanings for their actions.

QUESTION 1: What is the importance of social change in the development of sociology?
Answer to question1: Students are expected to show that the discipline of sociology originated
in the need to study and understand social change. At the time of the development of sociology,
changes of a kind never seen before were sweeping through Europe due to industrialization. The
changes were affecting where people lived and who with, the type of work they did, how they
found their food and how they spent their time. It was also an era when values and beliefs were
changing, when traditional beliefs in religion or superstition were being questioned, and
abandoned by some in favour of rational and scientific explanations. The point to note then is
that the discipline of sociology developed as a way of studying these dramatic changes and their
effects on people’s lives. Sociology was a way of developing evidence-based explanations for
what was observed and since then, sociologists have been trying to study and understand these
social changes, even on a global scale as globalization.
QUESTION 2: Identify and explain some of the major reasons for studying social change.
ANSWER TO QUESTION 2:
The reasons for studying social change, among others are the following:
(4) For self knowledge: At the level of exploratory research, studying social change helps us to
figure out what in the World is going on around us, and how it intervenes in our daily lives.
(5) For empathy: In this vein studying social change helps us to understand what is happening to
fellow humans elsewhere in their individual lives.
158
For making informed choices on specific areas that require human’s intervention. In this wise,
we observe that making informed choices from our study of social change is a derivative of the
first two reasons adduced.
QUESTION 3: Identify some of the factors noted to facilitate social change

ANSWER TO QUESTION 3: On the inevitable and universal nature of change, certain factors
have been identified as being capable of facilitating social change. The factors are: movement
through the life cycle, differing physiological potentials and socialization experiences, variations
in fertility and mortality rates, change in physical and social environment, the ubiquity of non
conformity, and the failure to achieve ideal values.

Question 1: What are the major assumptions of the evolutionary view of change?
Answer to Question 1: Embedded in the assumptions of the evolutionists is the inevitability of
progress, the superiority of modern society, and the proper place of sociological knowledge.
Those earlier attempts were primarily concerned with origins as it concerns the institutions that
make up society – family, state, religion etc.
QUESTION 2: What do you understand to be the relationship between the evolutionary view of
change and socio-biology?
ANSWER TO QUESTION 2: Students are required to illuminate the fact that some pioneer
Sociologists like Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Karl Marx,
were interested in deciphering the processes and the sequences through which society had
evolved. This is regarded as the Evolutionary view of change. Embedded in their assumptions
is the inevitability of progress, the superiority of modern society, and the proper place of
sociological knowledge. Those earlier attempts were primarily concerned with origins as it
concerns the institutions that make up society – family, state, religion etc. In due course, their
approach was described as Socio-biology whereby biological concepts were borrowed to
explain the sequence of human development from lower or simpler forms to higher and more
complex forms as illustrated in such themes as natural selection (Social Darwinism), survival of
the fittest, and adaptation as coping mechanisms evolved by man in the bid to survive over the
ages.
Question 3: What is your understanding of the historical approach in sociological explanation of
social change?
Answer to Question 3: The historical approach requires the examination of the concrete
circumstances which tend to upset the equilibrium of a society composed of such interrelated
parts. In addition, sources of change in society may be seen to come from contact with other
cultures, from institutionally sanctioned types of innovations or from tensions, strains, or
conflicts generated within the system itself. In this view, Chinoy (1967:74) posited that: “when
groups of people are stimulated or provoked by some difficulty in the social order- inability to
achieve their goals, threats to their security or status, competing demands made upon them- and
deliberately seek to transform the existing state of affairs, a social movement has been created.
159
Many of the changes that occur in society are at least in part the outcome of more or less
organised action on the part of such movements”.
STUDY SESSION 15: GLOBALISATION

QUESTION 1: Use a major definition of globalization to give instances of what has changed in
the way people do things across the globe.
Answer to question 1: Even though it has been noted that a strait – jacket definition of
globalization is not feasible yet it does not mean that we should avoid defining it. At this point,
the definition given by Waters (2001) is seen to be quite broad as it includes aspects of the
economy, culture, political and social arrangements. Because of its broadness, it can be useful for
a start here. According to Waters (2001), globalization is “… a social process in which the
constraints of geography on economic, political, social and cultural arrangements recede, in
which people become increasingly aware that they are receding, and in which people act
accordingly”. From the foregoing definition, one can give instances on how globalization has
been affecting people’s lives to include:
i. Making friends in different parts of the world through internet chat rooms.
ii. Studying in universities in different parts of the world other than where one was born.
iii. Working for, or buying from a company which operates trans-nationally.
iv. Sharing a liking for the same football team or films with people in other countries.
v. Belonging to a bank which invests and trades money around the world daily.
vi. Enjoying foods, clothes and products from around the world which are available globally.
vii. Pointing to the same standards on global governance yardsticks and human rights.
Question 2: Identify and explain the main categories of theorists in sociological approaches to
globalization.
Answer to Question 2: The main categorisations, which are not totally mutually exclusive of
each other, include the Skeptics, the Hyperglobalists, and the Transformationalists.
THE SKEPTICS: The skeptics, in their conceptualisation of globalisation, agree to the fact that
important social changes have taken place and are still taking place over time. However, they do
not see much difference in the practices of international trade that have been going on for
hundreds of years. For them, globalisation is not a new phenomenon, but either a continuation of
existing practices, or not existing at all as a global phenomenon as vast areas of the world have
not been affected. In their view, the state is still a dominant force, and globalisation, as conceived
by the more extreme globalisation theorists, is largely a myth.
THE HYPERGLOBALISTS: The Hyperglobalists represent an opposite end of the continuum
to the skeptics. They claim that globalisation is very real and represents fundamental changes in
social relations, usually attributed to the final decades of the last century. These theorists harp on
the decline of the nation state, now seen to be of a greater or lesser extent redundant in an age
where territorial borders no longer matters. In their view, today’s global economy is genuinely
borderless. Information, Capital and Innovation flow all over the world at top speed, enabled by
technology and fuelled by consumers desires for access to the best and least expensive products.
160
THE TRANSFORMATIONALISTS: Like the pundit of the school of realism, these theorists
try to build a bridge between the skeptics and the hyperglobalists. To an extent, they disagreed
with the skeptics because they see globalisation as something real and different. Also, they
disagree with the hyperglobalists because they do not see the world as being totally borderless.
Their major argument is that globalisation is a process, subject to influence and change and
which integrates politics, economics and cultural aspects. Furthermore, they do not see state as
irrelevant as the hyperglobalists, neither do they see it as being central as skeptics do, rather the
transformationalists recognize that a state-based of state central approach to understanding the
world is no longer appropriate. It is necessary to consider other forms of organisations such as
social movements and transnational corporations.
Question 3: What do you understand by global economy? Is it truly universal?

Answer to Question 3: Global Economy: The economy is seen to be central to how we
understand globalisation. Economic globalisation is equated to mean the same thing as capitalist
globalisation which connotes the dominant economic system. Here, it is important to point out
that economic globalisation rather than being seen as the same with globalisation, is just
concerned with the economic dimension of globalization.
Summarily, we observe here that although the seeming dominant economic system is
CAPITALISM, there still remain areas of the world that have a different system such as Cuba,
Korea and China. Other countries are not able to join the world economy for different reasons,
including poverty and indebtedness as expounded in Andre Gunder Frank’s Dependency Theory.
Another issue that comes to the fore at this point can better be addressed in the form of the
question: what has been the overall impact of economic globalisation? Is a globalising economy
making the world better?
161
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DISTANCE LEARNINGINSTITUTE

DR. AUGUSTINE AGUGUA

DR. PIUS ADEJOH

LANGUAGE EDITOR: DR. PAT AKUMABO

STUDY SESSION 1: SUBJECT MATTER OF SOCIOLOGY

STUDY SESSION 2: SOCIAL SCIENCE AS SCIENCE

STUDY SESSION 3: INDIVIDUAL, CULTURE AND SOCIETY

STUDY SESSION 4: THEORIES IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIETY

STUDY SESSION 5: SOCIAL GROUPS

STUDY SESSION 6: UNDERSTANDING GENDER ISSUES

STUDY SESSION 7: SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY

STUDY SESSION 8: THEORIES OF STRATIFICATION

STUDY SESSION 9: SOCIAL MOBILITY

STUDY SESSION 10: PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

STUDY SESSION 11: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

STUDY SESSION 12: THEORY AND RESEARCH

STUDY SESSION 13: SOCIAL CHANGE

STUDY SESSION 14: THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE

STUDY SESSION 15: GLOBALIZATION

LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION 1 (SUBJECT MATTER OF

1.1 DEFINITION OF SOCIOLOGY

1.3 ORIGIN OF SOCIOLOGY

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF AUGUSTE COMTE (1798- 1857)

EMILE DURKHEIM (1858-1917)

MAX WEBER (1864-1920)

HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903)

KARL MARX (1818-1883)

1.4 SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY

1.4.2 WHAT IS THE VALUE OF STUDYING SOCIOLOGY?

KEY CONCEPTS IN SOCIOLOGY

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS (SAQ)

e-tutor via the LMS.

LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION 2 (SOCIAL SCIENCE AS

2.1 MEANING OF SCIENCE

2.2 ASSUMPTIONS OF SCIENCE

• What are the qualities of a scientific knowledge?

2.3 VALUES OF SCIENCE

2.4 LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE

2.5 HOW SCIENTIFIC IS SOCIAL SCIENCE?

2.7 SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE

2.8 POSITIVISM AND ITS PROBLEMS

1. Define science and discuss its assumptions.

Ake, C. (1979). Social Science as Imperialism. Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press

e-tutor via the LMS.

LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR STUDY SESSION 3

3.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE:

ii. culture is learned rather than biologically inherited from parents;

iv. culture is an integration of economic, political and social aspects.

Culture has several other characteristics too.

3.3 FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE

a. Importance of culture to the individual:

3.4 CULTURAL CONCEPTS

In sociology, we do not consider any society or individual as ‘uncultured’ just as no culture is

3.5 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND SOCIETY

3.6 THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY

Among major issues addressed include:

3.7 YOU AND SOCIETY: IDENTITY AND ROLE

3.8 SOCIALISATION AND IDENTITY

1. Define society and discuss the various ways of differentiating society.

e-tutor via the LMS.

LEARNING OUTCOMES IN STUDY SESSION 4

4.1 THEORIES IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIETY

• What is sociological theory?