AS Sociology For AQA

Defining Sociology
Anthony Giddens (Sociology, 1989) provides the following general definition
Sociology is the st!dy of h!"an social life, gro!ps and societies# $t is a da%%ling and co"pelling
enterprise, having as its s!&'ect "atter o!r own &ehavio!r as social &eings#
(he scope of sociology is e)tre"ely wide, ranging fro" the analysis of passing enco!nters
&etween individ!als in the street !p to the investigation of world*wide social processes#
As yo! will no*do!&t note, +iddens * in this partic!lar e)tract * is "ore*concerned with descri&ing
the sociological enterprise in very general ter"s than with trying to nail*down a specific definition###
$n (he ,o"plete A*- Sociology .and&oo/ (1990) Tony Lawson and Joan Garrod * two writers
with recent e)perience of &eing a" AQA ,hief 1)a"iner * provide the following definition
Sociology is the st!dy of individ!als in gro!ps and social for"ations in a syste"atic way, which
grew o!t of the search for !nderstanding associated with the ind!strial and scientific revol!tions of
the 18th and 19th cent!ries# $t is now an esta&lished discipline in post*10 ed!cation and has
offered generations of st!dents insights into the social world they inha&it# 2ften acc!sed &y the
right of &eing left*wing, it incl!des individ!als of every political opinion who are !nited &y a
co""it"ent to search for /nowledge and !nderstanding thro!gh providing evidence for the
theories and insights they offer#
(he British Sociological Association (http33www#&ritsoc#co#!/) e)a"ines the 4!estion of
defining sociology &y considering it in ter"s of three &asic categories#
5hat is Sociology 6 involves thin/ing a&o!t it7s acade"ic origins and history#
In the Beginning...
(he origins of Sociology lie in the 19th cent!ry when, the 8SA notes 9advances in science and
technology enco!raged people to &elieve there co!ld &e a rational e)planation for everything and
that scientific st!dy co!ld lead to the solving of all of the pro&le"s faced &y h!"an &eings9#
5ith this sense of opport!nity and opti"is" 9A!g!ste ,o"te, who gave the na"e to sociology,
confidently e)pected it wo!ld provide the highest level of scientific e)planation in esta&lishing laws
of h!"an society itself9#
$n ter"s of teaching and acade"ic sociology, "odern sociology was 9first ta!ght in 8ritain at the
&eginning of this cent!ry &!t the e)pansion here too/ place "!ch "ore recently and was at first
greatly infl!enced &y :S sociology# ;!ring the 190<s, especially, it &eca"e a "a'or social science
s!&'ect, ta!ght in !niversities and colleges, and with the develop"ent of the sociology =A= level
d!ring the 19><s it &eca"e a "a'or s!&'ect in schools too9#
Modern Sociology
(he 8SA notes 9Fro" its original p!rpose as the =science of society=, sociology has "oved on###to
!nderstand how society wor/s# $t see/s to provide insights into the "any for"s of relationship, &oth
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for"al and infor"al, &etween people# S!ch relationships are considered to &e the =fa&ric= of
society#
S"aller scale relationships are connected to larger scale relationships and the totality of this is
society itself# .!"an &eings have wants, needs and desires &!t the for" these ta/e is related to
attach"ents to social gro!pings and participation in social instit!tions# (he latter are patterns of
h!"an interaction which &eco"e =instit!ted= over ti"e# Beople therefore recognise the" and
orientate their actions towards the"#
Alternatively, people "ay react against social instit!tions# 1ither way it is the actions of people that
serve &oth to reprod!ce society and to effect the changes that are a constant feat!re of the
process9#
.ow is sociology research cond!cted 6
(his, as yo! "ight e)pect, loo/s at how sociological research is carried*o!t#
Sociological research (what sociologists do when we7re not conte"plating the Ceaning of ?ife)
&roadly proceeds, according to the 8SA, in two &asic ways
1# Sociology is concept!al# (hat is 9$deas Da&o!t societyE are devised as =concepts= to descri&e
and e)plain the wor/ings of society# $n this way the for"s of social organisation and the res!lting
social instit!tions which people create and reprod!ce in the co!rse of everyday life &eco"e
defined in sociological ter"s9#
@# 9,oncepts are tested thro!gh =e"pirical= researchF that is# research involving the investigation of
partic!lar aspects of society and the way people interact with each other# (his provides a chec/ as
to whether sociological concepts act!ally correspond to the way social life is cond!cted &y real life
people9#
$n other words, sociological research consists of the identification, develop"ent and testing of
theories#

5hat do Sociologists do 6 identifies e)a"ples of the variety of &ehavio!rs * &oth individ!al
and instit!tional * sociologists are interested in st!dying and e)plaining#
Sociologists act!ally do 4!ite a lot * as the 8SA p!ts it
9Sociology is the one social science which e"&races the whole range of h!"an activities and this
"a/es it a very wide field of st!dy# As a res!lt, it offers "any opport!nities for specialisation and
these are reflected in the wor/ of sociologists9# (hese specialisations incl!de the st!dy of
1cono"y, 5or/ and 2rganisation#
(he ,on'!nction of 8iological and Social Gelationships the Fa"ily and +ender#
Social $dentity Age, ,lass, +ender and Gace#
Boverty, 5elfare and Social $ne4!ality#
Social Hor"s, ,ri"e and ;eviance#
Geligion and 8elief Syste"s#
2rganisations and 8!rea!cracy
Society and the 1nviron"ent#
Beople, .ealth and the Sociology of the 8ody
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Summary
(he 8SA s!ggests, therefore
9.!"an society involves people entering into relationships with each other9 and that 9s!ch
relationships ta/e "any for"s9#

9Batterns of h!"an relationship &eco"e instit!tionalised in the co!rse of their reprod!ction
over ti"e and "ay therefore &e referred to as social instit!tions9#

9(o participate in society h!"an &eings "aintain an !nderstanding of their relationships
with others and of the instit!tions in which they participate9#

9(he tas/ for sociologists is to capt!re this !nderstanding in a "ore syste"atic way and
provide e)planations which nevertheless are !nderstanda&le in ter"s of everyday life9#
American Sociological Association
9Sociology is the st!dy of social life, social change, and the social ca!ses and conse4!ences of
h!"an &ehavio!r# Sociologists investigate the str!ct!re of gro!ps, organi%ations, and societies,
and how people interact within these conte)ts# Since all h!"an &ehavio!r is social, the s!&'ect
"atter of sociology ranges fro" the inti"ate fa"ily to the hostile "o&F fro" organi%ed cri"e to
religio!s c!ltsF fro" the divisions of race, gender and social class to the shared &eliefs of a
co""on c!lt!reF and fro" the sociology of wor/ to the sociology of sports#
Sociology provides "any distinctive perspectives on the world, generating new ideas and criti4!ing
the old# (he field also offers a range of research techni4!es that can &e applied to virt!ally any
aspect of social life street cri"e and delin4!ency, corporate downsi%ing, how people e)press
e"otions, welfare or ed!cation refor", how fa"ilies differ and flo!rish, or pro&le"s of peace and
war9#
Tony Fitgerald (Sociology 2nline) has a personal view of Sociology###
9$t see"s to "e that sociology is to &e defined as the 7st!dy of social order7#
Sociology is a s!&'ect "ade !p of co"peting theories on society# All the differing theories within
sociology are &est descri&ed as &asically involved in the pro'ect of descri&ing and e)plaining 7social
order7#
$n other words sociology has always so!ght to !nderstand how the co"ponents of society, the
social relationships and the social instit!tions, contri&!te to, or deflect fro" the contin!ed e)istence
of 7society7#
(his is not to s!ggest that sociology is not concerned with social conflict and social change too#
.owever these concerns are essentially one7s which derive fro", and s!pple"ent, the "a'or
o&'ective of !nderstanding social order9#
Da!id "essel, an A"erican acade"ic, offers the following point*of*view
9Sociology is the st!dy of !s###people###living together# 5hile this definition isn7t "!ch, its a lot
&etter than saying its the 9scientific st!dy of society#9 5hat7s that act!ally tell !s6 Hothing "ore
than saying Cedicine is the st!dy of health and illness ($t also gets wet when it rainsII)#
Sociology is the st!dy of the iss!es, concepts, investigations, and res!lts of individ!als living
together# 5hile Sociology7s foc!s is on gro!ps, this foc!s sho!ld not e)cl!de an e"phasis on
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individ!als# After all, individ!als constit!te gro!ps and gro!ps prod!ce individ!als# .ow can we
st!dy and f!lly !nderstand one witho!t the other6 Hor can we st!dy the" as if they were "erely in
co"petition with each other# Gather, as a st!dy of people###&y people###Sociology is a personal
enco!nter with the Social Forces which shape o!r lives, especially those that affect o!r awareness
(and ignorance) of how we create, "aintain, and change those very Social Forces9#
#i$i%edia, an on*line encyclopaedia, has this to say
9Sociology is the st!dy of the social lives of h!"ans, gro!ps and societies# $t concerns itself with
the social r!les and processes that &ind and separate people not only as individ!als, &!t as
"e"&ers of associations, gro!ps, and instit!tions#
Sociology is interested in o!r &ehavio!r as social &eingsF th!s the sociological field of interest
ranges fro" the analysis of short contacts &etween anony"o!s individ!als on the street to the
st!dy of glo&al social processes9#
Ma& #e'er (9Sociological 5ritings9# edited &y 5olf .eyde&rand, 199J) is generally considered to
&e one of the Fo!nders of Sociology as an acade"ic discipline * and he had this to say a&o!t the
s!&'ect
9Sociology (in the sense in which this highly a"&ig!o!s word is !sed here) is a science which
atte"pts the interpretive !nderstanding of social action in order there&y to arrive at a ca!sal
e)planation of its co!rse and effects#
$n 9action9 is incl!ded all h!"an &ehavio!r when and insofar as the acting individ!al attaches a
s!&'ective "eaning to it# Action in this sense "ay &e either overt or p!rely inward or s!&'ectiveF it
"ay consist of positive intervention in a sit!ation, or of deli&erately refraining fro" s!ch
intervention or passively ac4!iescing in the sit!ation#
Action is social insofar as, &y virt!e of the s!&'ective "eaning attached to it &y the acting individ!al
(or individ!als), it ta/es acco!nt of the &ehavio!r of others and is there&y oriented in its co!rse9#
?oren Demerath and Cichelle #ol$omir * two A"erican ,ollege lect!rers, "a/e the following
o&servations
9A technical definition of sociology the syste"atic st!dy of h!"an &eings, h!"an gro!ps, and
h!"anly constr!cted instit!tions and organi%ations# Sociologists strive to !nderstand how h!"ans
interact with one another to create the lasting instit!tions and organi%ations that lin/ generations in
civili%ation# $n addition, sociologists devote serio!s attention to the "anner in which those
instit!tions and organi%ations infl!ence h!"an interaction# Finally, sociologists are interested in
pro"oting social change to resolve pro&le"s of society they find in their research9#
#hat Is Sociology(
(he definitions at which yo!7ve '!st loo/ed (!nless, of co!rse, yo!7ve '!st '!"ped to this S!""ary
page &eca!se yo! can7t &e dealing with loads of descriptive te)t) are !sef!l for a co!ple of
reasons
Firstly * and perhaps "ost o&vio!sly * they tell !s so"ething a&o!t the s!&'ect "atter of Sociology#
Su')ect matter
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5hat yo! sho!ld have discovered here is that Sociology is 9a&o!t9 the relationship &etween people
9as individ!als9 and people 9as "e"&ers9 of social gro!ps#
$n this respect, the sociologist is interested in discovering how people7s "e"&ership of social
gro!ps (s!ch as fa"ilies) infl!ences, shapes and, in so"e respects, deter"ines their individ!al
self*perception (how people 9see9 the"selves) and, "ost i"portantly perhaps, their &ehavio!r#
Sociology in general, therefore, is the st!dy of social gro!ps and, "ore*specifically, it involves the
atte"pt to identify and e)plain the vario!s ways o!r &ehavio!r &oth infl!ences * and in t!rn, is
infl!enced &y * the personal and i"personal relationships we necessarily for" with others#
Secondly, however, the fact we can identify different definitions &y different writers tells !s
so"ething interesting and i"portant a&o!t the s!&'ect itself#
*ers%ecti!es
?eaving to one side the 4!estion of how !sef!l (or even, at this early stage of yo!r co!rse,
!nderstanda&le) yo! fo!nd these definitions, their e)istence tells !s so"ething interesting a&o!t
&oth Sociology (as a s!&'ect) and its s!&'ect "atter (people and the social gro!ps to which they
&elong)#
2n the one hand we have a range of individ!al definitions of 9Sociology9 (each saying
so"ething slightly different, in slightly different ways, a&o!t the sa"e thing)#

2n the other hand, it7s possi&le to identify a n!"&er of 9core &eliefs9 and the"es r!nning
thro!gh these different, individ!al, definitions#
$n other words, altho!gh there are a wide range of different definitions availa&le * each, in their own
way, !ni4!e * it7s possi&le to identify &road areas of agree"ent &etween these individ!al views#
(his tells !s so"ething very i"portant a&o!t &oth Sociology and the social world in general,
na"ely that altho!gh individ!al h!"an &eings are fairly !ni4!e (it7s arg!a&le whether or not any
two h!"an &eings can ever &e e)actly the sa"e), we live in social gro!ps# (hat is, in order to &e
9individ!als9 we need to define co""on gro!nd &etween !s that allows !s * to greater or lesser
e)tents * to e)press o!r 9individ!ality9#
(his concept of 9co""on gro!nd9 (which, as yo! will discover, sociologists call c!lt!re) is the
s!&'ect*"atter of Sociology since it reflects the co""on*&elief a"ongst sociologists that in order to
!nderstand 9people9 we need to !nderstand how and why they live together in gro!ps (s!ch as
fa"ilies)F in other words, we need, as sociologists, to !nderstand how social order is created,
"aintained and policed * a set of ideas that, $ wo!ld arg!e, gives Sociology a !ni4!e place in the
acade"ic world#
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