What is sociology?:Sociological Imagination, Sociology and the Social Science, Develop,ment of Sociology – early thinkers, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber Karl Marx. Sociologial Perspectives – Functionalist, Interactionist, Conflict, Feminist etc.
Sociological Research: What is Scientific method? Hypothesis formulation, Data collection techniques – Surveys, Observation, Experiments, Case studies. Data analysis techniques. Ethics of research.
Culture: Cultural Universals, Globalization, diffusion of Technology. Elements of culture – Language, Norms, Values, Sanctions. Cultural variations – Subculture.
Socialization: Influence of heredity or environment, Sociological approaches to the Self – G.H. Mead, C.H. cooley, I. Goffman. Life course. Agents of socialization.
Basic Concepts: Statuses, Roles, Groups, Institutions, Organizations, Social Networks. Social
Structure - Tonnies’sGemeinschaft and Gesellshcaft, Lenskli’s Socio-cultural Evolution approach.
Deviance and Social control: Conformity and obedience. Informal and formal social control, Law and society. Deviance, Crime – types of crime, crime statistics.
Stratification and social inequality: Types of stratification, Measuring social class, wealth and income, poverty. Open versus closed stratification. Social mobility. Theories of social inequality- Karl Marx, Max Weber. Stratification in the world- World system theory, Dependency theory, Multinational corporations and globalization. Inequality by age and ethnicity.
Social Institutions:
Family: Kinship patterns, authority structure; Marriage- courtship and mate selection, Child rearing practices; Divorce- factors associated with divorce, impact of divorce on children; Variations in family life.
Religion – World religions, functions of religions, religion ansd social support, religion and social control, religion and social change. Belief, Rituals and religious experience. Religious organizations, denominations, sects, Church,. Religious movements, cults.
Government and Politics: Power. Types of authority. Political behaviour, voting patterns. State and bureaucracy. Elites. International political ortganizations. Inequality of power among states.
Economy: Economic systems - Capitalism and socialism other economies. Industrialization and deindustrialization. Aid and trade. Workforce, work and alienation. Work satisfaction. Women in work. Globalization of the workforce.
Education: Sociological perspectives on education, deschooling society. Schools as formal organization – bureaucratization of schools. Teachers as employees and as Instructors. Student subculture. Trends in contemporary education – testing, adult education, home schooling. Education policy.
Health and medicine: Perspectives on health and medicine. Social Epidemiology of health – social class and health, Ethnicity and gender, age. Health care systems, Alternative medicines. Government role. Governmental policies.
Communities and urbanizations: Early communities, growth of cities - preindustrial cities, Industrial and post industrial cities. Urban ecology. Central cities, suburbs, rural communities.
Population and environment: Demography. World population trends. Demograph9ic transition. Fertility, and mortality. Migration patterns – internal and international migration. Polulation policy. Environmental problems, climate change.
Collective behavior and Social movement: crowd, Disaster behavior, fads and fashion, panic and craze, rumors, public opinion, social movements, communication and collective behaviour.
Social change: theories of social change- evolutionary, functionalist, conflict theories. Global social change. Economic and cultural factors. Resistance to change. Technology and social change