Social Archives

Different Fields of Sociology & Major Theoretical Perspectives

April 9, 2014 No Comments

Sociology is subdivided into many specialized fields, of which a partial list includes: Applied Sociology Collective Behaviour Community Comparative Sociology Crime and Delinquency Cultural Sociology Demography Deviant Behaviour Formal Organizations Human Ecology Industrial Sociology Law and Society Race and Ethnic Relations Rural and Urban Sociology tratification and Mobility Social: Change, Control, Organization, arid Psychology Sociology of: Education, Knowledge and Science, Occupations, Professions, Religion, and Small Groups These topics are not the exclusive property of sociology and other disciplines share its interest in many topics. For example, its interest in communication and public opinion is shared by psychology and political, science,-Criminology is shared with psychology, political science, law, and so on. Sociology is especially close to psychology and anthropology, and overlaps them so constantly that any firm boundaries would be arbitrary and unrealistic. (Hurton and Chester, 1984: 25-27) Major Theoretical Perspectives A crucial element in sociology is theory. A theory is […]

Social Psychology

Historical Perspective of Sociology

March 8, 2014 No Comments

Historical Perspective of Sociology toward understanding the definition of Sociology — All inquiries were once a part of philosophy, that great mother of the sciences, and philosophy embraced them all in an undifferentiated and amorphous fashion. One by one, however, with the growth of Western civilization, the various sciences Cut the apron strings, as it were, and began to pursue separate and independent courses. Astronomy and physics were among the first to break away, and were followed thereafter by chemistry, biology, and geology. In the nineteenth century two new sciences appeared: psychology or the science of human behaviour; and sociology j or the science of human behaviour; and sociology, or the science of human society. Thus, what had once been cosmology, a subdivision of philosophy, became astronomy; what had once been natural philosophy became the science of physics; what had once been mental philosophy, became the science of psychology; and […]

Social Psychology

Passionate Love and Companionate Love

March 26, 2013 No Comments

Define and elaborate passionate love and companionate love. Also make a comparison between these two types of love. Yes we’ve all experienced it. It is the most universal emotion and the most powerful. It shapes, gives meaning to, and destroys lives. How much of us do we give when we love? Can one define and measure love? We have ways to measure aggression, prejudice, and attraction – but how do we measure love? Passionate Love Elizabeth Barrett Browning posed a similar question: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Psychologist Robert Sternberg (1998) views love as a triangle, whose sides of varying lengths are passion, intimacy, and commitment. Sociologist John Alan Lee (1988) and psychologists Clyde and Susan Hendrick (1993) identify three primary love styles – eros (self-disclosing passion), ludus (uncommitted game playing), and storge (friendship) – which like primary colors, combine to form secondary love styles. […]

Social Psychology

Concept of Aggression & Aversive Incidents That Influence Aggression

March 22, 2013 No Comments

Define and explain the concept of aggression. What are the aversive incidents that influence aggression? Discuss. What is Aggression? “Textbook defines it as ‘behaviour that is intended to harm another individual” HOWEVER, there are numerous examples of behaviours that exhibit aggression: murdering for money, verbally and physically assaulting someone, accidentally injuring someone, working persistently to sell a product, and many, many more Almost every definition that psychologists have tried to come up with for ‘aggression’ can contradict a perfect example of something that is aggressive. Important words to know… Violence – extreme acts of aggression Anger – strong feelings of displeasure in response to a perceived injury Hostility – a negative, antagonistic attitude toward another person or group Instrumental Aggression – inflicting harm, in order to obtain something of value (i.e. hiring a hit man) Emotional Aggression – inflicting harm for its own sake (i.e. a fight at a hockey […]

Social Psychology

Social Facilitation and why are we aroused in the presence of others?

March 18, 2013 No Comments

Q.No.3 What do you know about Social Facilitation? Also briefly explain why are we aroused in the presence of others? Social Facilitation: Studies on social facilitation concern the extent to which a given piece of an individual’s behavior is affected by the real, imagined or implied presence of others. Perhaps the first social psychology laboratory experiment was undertaken in this area by Norman Triplett in 1898. In his research on the speed records of cyclists, he noticed that racing against each other rather than against the clock alone increased the cyclists’ speeds. He attempted to duplicate this under laboratory conditions using children and fishing reels. There were two conditions: the child alone and children in pairs but working alone. Their task was to wind in a given amount of fishing line and Triplett reports that many children worked faster in the presence of a partner doing the same task. Triplett’s […]

Social Psychology

Persuasion, Elements of Persuasion and Resisting Persuasion: Attitude inoculation

March 16, 2013 No Comments

What is persuasion? What are the essential elements of Persuasion? Give summary of the case study “Resisting Persuasion: Attitude inoculation”. Persuasion : Persuasion refers to the process by which a person’s attitudes or behaviour are, without duress, influenced by communication. Persuasion pervades over almost all human activities and it is geared to information transmission in such a way as to get people to revise old pictures (Predisposition) in their minds, or form new ones, and thus change their behaviour. To some others persuasion is seen as “Communication to influence choices”. Still to others it is “a process that changes attitude, belief, opinion or behaviour”. Actually, we try to sell ideas, concepts, products etc. through the art of persuasion. Persuasion may be carried out in offices, workplaces, homes, etc. by fellow workers or neighbours. Persuasion has been treated as an art, a craft and a science since ancient times and classical […]