Sociology 114
Section A - Module Overview and Intro to Sociology
Topic 1: “What is Sociology?” and the origins and future of Sociology
What is Sociology?
The systematic, sceptical and critical study of the social
A form of consciousness, a way of thinking, a critical way of seeing the social
Challenging the obvious, questioning the world as it is taken for granted, and
defamiliarising the familiar
Seeing the general in the particular
Seeing the strange in the Familiar
Berger: “things are not what they seem”
The discipline of sociology offers us theories, concepts, and methods needed to look
beyond popular meanings and interpretations of what is going on around us.
The sociological perspective compels sociologists to explore levels of reality that dig
below the surface.
Whatever human activity sociologists study, they are compelled to ask questions about
the nature and the origin of the social forces shaping it.
The sociological imagination
Mills (1959) argued that the sociological imagination allowed people to understand their
‘private troubles’ in terms of ‘public issues’.
Sociology should be about examining the biography of individuals in the context of the
history and structure of societies.
The sociological imagination is important for all members of society who wish to
understand, change and improve their lives.
Mills (1959) “The Promise”
Sociologists distinguish between ‘troubles’ and ‘issues’
Troubles (individual focus):
Personal needs, problems, or difficulties that can be explained as individual shortcomings
related to motivation, attitude, ability, or judgment.
Issues (Sociological focus):
A matter that can be explained only by factors outside an individual’s control and immediate
environment (therefore influenced by social forces)
1
Section A - Module Overview and Intro to Sociology
Topic 1: “What is Sociology?” and the origins and future of Sociology
What is Sociology?
The systematic, sceptical and critical study of the social
A form of consciousness, a way of thinking, a critical way of seeing the social
Challenging the obvious, questioning the world as it is taken for granted, and
defamiliarising the familiar
Seeing the general in the particular
Seeing the strange in the Familiar
Berger: “things are not what they seem”
The discipline of sociology offers us theories, concepts, and methods needed to look
beyond popular meanings and interpretations of what is going on around us.
The sociological perspective compels sociologists to explore levels of reality that dig
below the surface.
Whatever human activity sociologists study, they are compelled to ask questions about
the nature and the origin of the social forces shaping it.
The sociological imagination
Mills (1959) argued that the sociological imagination allowed people to understand their
‘private troubles’ in terms of ‘public issues’.
Sociology should be about examining the biography of individuals in the context of the
history and structure of societies.
The sociological imagination is important for all members of society who wish to
understand, change and improve their lives.
Mills (1959) “The Promise”
Sociologists distinguish between ‘troubles’ and ‘issues’
Troubles (individual focus):
Personal needs, problems, or difficulties that can be explained as individual shortcomings
related to motivation, attitude, ability, or judgment.
Issues (Sociological focus):
A matter that can be explained only by factors outside an individual’s control and immediate
environment (therefore influenced by social forces)
1
