Introduction: The term ‘sociology’ was coined by a French social scientist, August Comte in 1838. The term is derived from a combination of two Latin words- ‘socius’ meaning ‘society, association, togetherness or companionship,’ and ‘logos’ meaning ‘study of, or to speak about.’ In simpler words, sociology can be defined as the scientific study of society. […]
Introduction to sociology
Explained: What is a Community in Sociology
Community is a vague term often used in sociology, social sciences in general and even natural and physical sciences. While there is no commonly agreed definition of community, various sociologist have tried to define it in the following way based on certain common features- Talcott Parsons stated that community can be defined as a “collectivity, […]
Sociology of Knowledge: Overview
The sociology of knowledge is a subfield of sociology which examines the social production of knowledge. It believes that knowledge and knowing are subjective to social positionality in terms of race, nationality, class, culture, gender, etc. It includes the entire field of knowledge, ideas, theories and mentalities to understand how groups and institutions come to […]
The Sociology of Gender: Overview
The sociology of gender is a subfield of sociology which concerns itself with masculinity and femininity i.e. social construction of gender, how gender interacts with other social forces and relates to the overall social structure. The field of study under gender sociology diversified over the years and has incorporated the feminist viewpoint. The starting point […]
Consumerism : Short Notes & Examples
Consumerism: Human beings always keep the money as secondary when there is a desire to acquire material possessions whatever the financial situation is. Consumption, as we all know is one of the activities of the economy without which industrialisation cannot be achieved. But, when we consider society engaging in the consumption of goods, we cannot […]
Self-fulfilling prophecy : Explained with Examples
The self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation about something or a prediction that later becomes true due to the terms of the prophecy itself. Although the prophecy might not be true initially, the positive feedback between belief and the behavior results in the initial false conception turn true. It affects the way people behave in the […]
Value Added Theory: Explained with Examples
The value-added theory recommends that for any social movement to emerge, certain determinants are necessary. This theory was developed by Neil Smelser and he proposed six determinants responsible for the development of a social movement. These six conditions, he believed, helped to give rise to collective behaviour. The first stage is that of structural conduciveness […]
