BASIC CONCEPTS

Society 
 The term society is most fundamental to sociology. It is derived from the Latin word socius which means companionship or friendship. Companionship means sociability. According to George Simmel it is this element of sociability which defines the true essence of society. It indicates that man always lives in the company of other people. Man is a social animal said Aristotle centuries ago. Man needs society for his living, working and enjoying life. Society has become an essential condition for human life to continue. We can define society as a group of people who share a common culture, occupy a particular territorial area and feel themselves to constitute a unified and distinct entity. It is the mutual interactions and interrelations of individuals and groups.

Prospects of SOCIOLOGY

PROSPECTS OF SOCIOLOGY

One Day Workshop for Final BA Students

Dept. Of Sociology-Zamorin’s Guruvayoorappan College,Kozhikode-14

Objective:-1. Career Education in Sociology.

Choosing a College Major- Steps to follow

Choosing a college degree can be a demanding task. Not only must you identify the kind of career you want to pursue, but you also have to get clear about what you enjoy and value right here and now. When you understand the skills that you possess and the ways that you perform well in a learning environment, you can narrow down your list of potential institutions and subjects.

Assessing Your Skills

Choose a college degree that allows you to build on existing skills.

By understanding your own skills, you can choose the kind of college degree program that could help you launch your career or give you the boost you need to switch jobs. Although the point of an education is to develop new skills, the most successful college students select a major that allows them to build on skills they have already developed.

Identifying Your Interests

What inspires you? What would you like to achieve?

Once you have figured out some of the things you're already good at, brainstorm for a while about the types of skills you would love to develop and the kinds of industries you would enjoy working in.

Choosing a College Degree You'll Love

Are you prepared to lead? Previous generations of Employees and Professionals showed up to work and followed routine sets of instructions for their entire careers. In today's information economy, employers demand creative thinking from their team members. You can lead informally, by exploring ideas on your own. If you like the quiet role of an innovator, you can explore college degrees.

How do you prefer to work with other people?

Extroverts who love to chat with people tend to excel when they develop powerful communication skills as business majors or communications majors. If you prefer to work alone, you can dive deep into specialized, independent fields with majors in library science or English literature.

Understanding Your Values

What motivates you? Are you a team player or do you prefer to work independently?

Your own values play an important role in helping you select the right college degree. After all, you don't want to find yourself in a job you hate, just because you earn a healthy paycheck. Ask yourself the following questions to narrow down your choices even more.

-Am I motivated by money?

-What kind of organization do I want to work for?

-How much time will I want to spend away from home?

-How much do I like to memorize?

- Do I want to study fulltime or Part-time?

On-Campus and Online Degree Programs in Sociology -

Sociologists study human behavior as it pertains to human interaction within the guidelines of an organizational structure. The interaction between humans is more complex than the interactions between other animal species. Human behavior is greatly influenced and governed by social, religious, and legal guidelines. A sociologist studies these behaviors and the influences that preserve certain behaviors and change others.

Sociology is a broad science, covering many different disciplines the social sciences. Anthropology, archeology, and linguistics are the few disciplines that surpass what sociology readily encompasses. Sociology also studies more tangible measures of human behavior such as class or social status, social movements, criminal deviance, and even revolution.

Because sociology-related careers are so diverse, one's education requirements vary from one position to the next. To ensure the proper degree or courses are available, future sociology majors should consider their ultimate career goals before enrolling in a degree program. Consider the following degree types:

Bachelor's Degrees in Sociology

A bachelor's degree in sociology requires degree specific classes such as principles of sociology, social problems, statistical analysis, race and ethnicity, social deviance, social theory, sociology of business, sociology of politics, sociology of education, urban sociology, and social psychology. Many colleges and universities also expose sociology majors to key arts and science courses, including: composition, humanities, mathematics, general science, fine arts, history and a variety of electives.Many full-time students can complete their bachelor's degree in sociology in about three years/6 semesters in India.

Master's Degrees in Sociology

Master's degree programs in sociology tend to focus on technical skills in research and analytical training. Key areas of study may include graduate level courses in advanced statistical techniques, advanced research methods, the impacts of urban sociology, academic sociology, and organizational analysis. Master's degree candidates complete a thesis project that caps off their degree programs.

Many full time students complete their course requirements and submit their thesis within two years.(4semesters). Depending on their course/work load, part-time students may take up to five years to earn their PG degrees.

Doctorate and PhD Degrees in Sociology

Doctorate level programs in sociology emphasize the development of advanced theory and research as well as statistical analysis. Doctorate level programs in sociology often prepare students for teaching positions at the college or university level.

What Can You Do With a College Degree in Sociology?

Career Options for Aspiring Sociologists

It is common for those with sociology degrees to seek employment in one of the following industries or positions.

Administration

A professional with a degree in sociology is well prepared for administrative positions, particularly in government and public agencies that administer human services. Sociologists in leadership roles help define policies toward groups of people in need of public assistance. By leading teams of researchers and social work professionals, sociologists can reshape their communities.

Business

A degree in sociology prepares a student for a career in business. Sociologists research consumer trends and work with market researchers to discover new opportunities to meet the public's needs. Some corporations employ sociologists to impact the social effects of major projects like plant relocations or store openings. Sociologists also help product designers understand the overall trends shaping consumer culture in order to inspire tomorrow's hot new products.

Corrections

As the prison population in our country continues to expand, many local governments hire sociologists to understand the impact of tougher laws on neighborhoods. Sociologists also help corrections officials determine the effects of new programs and regulations on the prison population.

Counseling

Some counselors and therapists study sociology in order to better understand some of the larger trends they see among patients. By using the kinds of pattern analysis techniques that sociologists are known for, counselors can focus their practices on critical needs in their communities.

Education

A person with a sociology degree may choose to pursue a career in education. A bachelor's degree and teaching certificate (B. Ed) are adequate for teaching higher secondary classes. PhD level graduates may pursue careers at the college and university level.

Investigations

Sociology professionals play larger roles at major investigative bureaus, especially the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Working with detectives and profilers, sociologists help law enforcement officials anticipate crime by identifying obscure patterns. Targeting areas that are likely to be the focus of criminals allows officials to deploy scarce resources more effectively. Therefore, investigators can close cases more quickly while improving the quality of life in previously dangerous areas.

Journalism

Sociology majors with a proven ability to communicate well may find a home for their talents in a variety of news gathering organizations. Newspapers and local broadcast news outlets employ sociologists to help understand the kinds of stories that engage readers, viewers, and listeners in a particular region. Sociologists work with editors and market researchers to identify the right balance of news that audience members expect with the stories that need to be reported to uphold civic responsibilities.

Politics

Sociology degree holders can play numerous roles in the political community. Campaign managers hire sociology professionals who can identify critical neighborhoods that can make or break an election. By understanding the traditional voting patterns of key districts along with the crucial issues that concern voters, campaigners can deploy volunteers and activists to win over voters.

At numerous government organizations, sociologists analyze patterns that can affect the political and economic balance of the county. Examining the trends in housing construction and measuring the number of citizens who move to new cities can provide lawmakers with a clear picture of the challenges facing Americans today. Sociologists can also help lawmakers predict the success or failure of proposed legislation based on voting patterns and current research findings.

Most importantly, sociologists manage the process of counting citizens in our census program every ten years. Instead of merely counting individuals in the country, as mandated by law, sociologists use the opportunity to conduct deeper interviews that reveal larger trends when compared to past results.

Public Relations

Some sociology majors with an interest in journalism find jobs as public relations officers for major corporations. By reviewing market research data and understanding historic trends, sociologists can anticipate challenges when rolling out new products or building infrastructure. Sociologists who truly understand the motivations of customers, community activists, and journalists can effectively defuse problems in the media by responding to the public's concerns with carefully composed solutions.

Research

Some sociology professionals can carve out careers as independent research consultants who examine trends in human behavior for a variety of clients. By carving out a solid reputation for reliable work, these specialists attract interesting problems without having to pursue grants like their colleagues in the academic sector.

Senior Services

Over the next few decades, Developed countries will experience an unprecedented explosion in the number of over the age of sixty-five. Numerous outreach organizations and government agencies are hiring sociologists to study the effects of an again population on our culture. In addition, many researchers hope to anticipate the results of the coming contraction of population as baby boomers die off. Sociologists use scenario planning exercises along with a variety of resources to predict the opportunities for future generations to thrive in a country with far fewer residents.

Youth Services

Our society places more value on the lives of children than at any point in our nation's history. A variety of government agencies and nonprofit institutions monitor the impact of policies and parental habits on today's young people. Sociologists examine the challenges that young people face when interacting with people of other generations. They also examine the significant cultural shifts driven by young people's tastes in popular culture.

Skills of Successful Sociologists

Students and professionals who excel in the field of sociology typically display a number of the following skills and characteristics:

· Ability to recognize trends and patterns. Sociologists must develop a keen eye for detail and a gift for spotting relationships between pieces of information. By cultivating patterns from otherwise abstract data, sociologists can break through puzzling roadblocks during research assignments.

Following these trails can lead to important discoveries and understandings for sociologists throughout their careers. To grow their talent for uncovering these relationships, many sociology programs expose students to new courses in game theory and traditional classes in art. Viewing data from unusual points of view not only breaks up the monotony of data analysis, but it usually results in the recognition of important patterns.

· Ability to create concise reports and essays. Whether reporting to superiors on the results of research or developing new funding proposals, sociologists rely frequently on their ability to write effective reports. Sociology students learn how to modulate their writing for different audiences. When preparing reports for peers and colleagues, they can use industry shorthand and insider terminology to keep memos and files brief. When writing external reports for funding agencies, or politicians, or the media, they translate that jargon into easily digestible nuggets of information.

· Strong critical thinking skills. Sociology degree programs challenge students to build their analytical skills through a series of increasingly challenging assignments over the course of their studies. Sociology majors spend time in introductory courses examining the techniques that professionals use to investigate theories. As they move through intermediate and advanced courses, they start to use those techniques on their own research projects. By the time they near graduation, sociology majors use their keen critical thinking skills to solve problems and identify opportunities in their own research.

· Oral presentation skills. In addition to powerful writing skills, sociology majors must develop the ability to speak comfortably and clearly in front of crowds. This skill particularly benefits students who intend to pursue careers in academia. Meanwhile, sociology professionals who work in the private sector also utilize this skill when presenting information to government agencies, funding panels, or audiences at professional conferences.

· Interpersonal communications skills. Regardless of their career paths, sociology majors will rely on strong person-to-person communications skills throughout their working lives. Students learn early in their degree programs to conduct effective interviews with key subjects. In addition, sociologists often work on teams where long hours and tight deadlines can lead to friction between colleagues. Quality sociology degree programs prepare students for future challenges by creating realistic scenarios in which students can improve their interpersonal communications.

· Develop skills in modern data and analysis technology. As with many other careers, modern technology and computers have revolutionized sociology. During the course of their degree programs, students learn to manipulate data using complex pieces of software and hardware. By running research data through sophisticated tools, sociology professionals can spot trends sooner and generate results faster.

· Grant writing skills. Many sociologists must compete for funding from government agencies, from private funders, and from academic boards. Skilled professionals learn to apply their strong writing skills to create attractive grant applications. By stating clear goals and framing up outcomes that advance the agendas or the missions of funding bodies, sociologists can collect vital funds that allow them to continue making breakthroughs in research and understanding of human interaction.

· Research skills. Sociology majors learn to use all of the resources at their disposal to chase down leads and build sets of information for analysis. Many sociology degree programs introduce students to the tricks of efficient library research early in their academic careers. Bolstered by fast searches on the Internet, sociology majors learn to digest catalogued findings for use in their original research projects. By the time they graduate, students learn to conduct personal interviews and mass surveys in order to generate their own sets of raw data for analysis.

· Management skills. Many professional sociologists rely on the help of support personnel and other team members to conduct research and to move projects forward. During their degree programs, students learn to blend the best practices from the business world with the traditions of research professionals. By the time students earn their sociology degrees, they gain the talent to motivate the different kinds of specialists that will help them accomplish major breakthroughs during their careers.

· Planning and organizational skills. Because most sociologists work on time-sensitive projects, students learn how to plan and arrange their tasks to save time and to work as efficiently as possible. Many colleges and universities provide introductory courses in time management and task coordination as part of their core programs. These skills reap huge rewards later in a student's career, when they must marshal scarce resources under tight deadlines.

Compiled By-

Mr. SANU SUGATHAN

CARE Total Training Solutions

life in villages

The Family,Caste and Village system are known as the tripple pillers of Indin Society.

basic concepts

Definitions of Society

 

 

August Comte the father of sociology saw society as a social organism possessing a harmony of structure and function.

Emile Durkheim the founding father of the modern sociology treated society as a reality in its own right.

According to Talcott Parsons Society is a total complex of human relationships in so far as they grow out of the action in terms of means-end relationship intrinsic or symbolic.

G.H Mead conceived society as an exchange of gestures which involves the use of symbols.

 Morris Ginsberg defines society as a collection of individuals united by certain relations or mode of behavior which mark them off from others who do not enter intothese relations or who differ from them in behavior.

 

 According to Maclver and Page society is a system of usages and procedures of authority and mutual aid of many groupings and divisions, of controls of human behavior and liberties. This ever changing complex system which is called society is a web of social relationship

 

Society

The term society is most fundamental to sociology. It is derived from the Latin word socius which means companionship or friendship. Companionship means sociability. According to George Simmel it is this element of sociability which defines the true essence of society. It indicates that man always lives in the company of other people. Man is a social animal said Aristotle centuries ago. Man needs society for his living, working and enjoying life. Society has become an essential condition for human life to continue. We can define society as a group of people who share a common culture, occupy a particular territorial area and feel themselves to constitute a unified and distinct entity. It is the mutual interactions and interrelations of individuals and groups

fouding father of sociology

സമൂഹ ശാസ്ത്രത്തിന്റെ പിതാവ്
Aguste comte 1798-1857
'sociology' എന്ന സംജ്ഞ ,1839 -il പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ച 'പോസിറ്റീവ് ഫിലോസഫി ' എന്ന പുസ്തകത്തിലൂടെ ആദ്യമായി അവതരിപ്പിച്ച COMTE ആണ് ഇ വിഷയത്തെ മറ്റു സാമൂഹ്യ ശാസ്ത്രങ്ങളില്‍ നിന് വേര്‍തിരിച്ചത്. സമൂഹ പുരോഗതിക്ക് സമൂഹ സംബന്ധിയായ ഒരു സൈദ്ധാന്തിക ശാസ്ത്രം വേണമെന്നു അദ്ദേഹം വിശ്വസിച്ചു.
അദ്ധേഹത്തിന്റെ http://www.blogger.com/www.google/auguste comte .com

സമൂഹ ശാസ്ത്രത്തിന്റെ ഉദയം

സമൂഹം

'സമൂഹം സന്കീര്‍ണമായൊരു പ്രതിഭാസമാണ്.ഓരോ വ്യക്തിയും തന്റെ സഹജീവിയുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട് കിടക്കുന്ന വ്യവസ്ഥ. ഭൂഖണ്ടങ്ങള്‍ക്കും രാജ്യങ്ങല്‍ക്‌ും അതീതമായ ഒന്നാണത്.! സമൂഹത്തില്‍ സമാനതകളും അതിലേറെ വൈവിധ്യങ്ങളും കാണാം.അതില്‍ വ്യക്തികള്‍ അവരുടെ പരിസരത്തോട് പ്രതികരിച്ചും ജീവിക്കുന്നു.ചുരുക്കിപ്പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ 'നിലനില്പിന് വേണ്ടി മനുഷ്യര്‍ സൃഷ്‌ടിച്ച പരസ്പരാസ്രിത വ്യവസ്ഥയാണ്‌ സമൂഹം'.

സമൂഹം എന്നത് അമൂര്‍ത്തമായൊരു സങ്കല്‍പ്പമാണ്.എന്നാല്‍ അത് നമ്മള്‍ അനുഭവിക്കുന്ന ഒരു യാഥാര്‍ത്ഥ്യമാണ്.ഇതു മനുഷ്യനെ അവന്റെ പിറവി മുതല്‍ ചിന്തകുലന്ക്കുകയുണ്ടായി.''ഞാന്‍ ആരാണ്?'ഞാന്‍ എന്തുകൊണ്ട് ഇങ്ങനെ പെരുമാറുന്നു?' എന്റെ പ്രവര്‍ത്തികളെ നിയന്ത്രിക്കുന്ന ഘടകങ്ങള്‍ ,സക്തികള്‍ എന്തെല്ലാമാണ്?..-തുടങ്ങി ഒട്ടേറെ ചോദ്യങ്ങള്‍ മനുഷ്യന്‍ സ്വയം ചോദിച്ചു തുടങ്ങി.അവന്റെ മനസ്സിലുയര്‍ന്ന ഈ ചോദ്യങ്ങള്‍ ഒട്ടേറെ ആനുഭവിക സസ്ത്രങ്ങളുടെ ഉദയത്തിനു കാരണമായി.