Introduction to Sociology

February 7, 2010

What is Sociology
Sociology is the systematic study of social

behavior and human groups

Systematic approach is:
SCIENTIFIC METHOD or METHODOLOGY
systematic, organized series of steps
insures maximum objectivity and consistency
researching a problem
shared basis for discussion and analysis
promote reliability and validity

Modernity and Social Theory

"What experience and history teach us is this:

that people and governments never have learned

anything from history, or acted on the experience
deduced from it
prospect of learning something from history
developing a systematic understanding of the forces
Intimate relationship
social change instituted in the development of the

modern world that a discipline such as sociology - and

social science in general - could either exist or have
anything to study

Sociological Jorgen
Sociologism
Social agents/

individuals/social
actors
Consumers
Workers
Social totalities, status
groups, collectivities,
networks or classes
Society
Discourse

English
people
People when they buy

things
people when they do
things
groups of people
a lot of groups of people

trying to live together

what people say they do

Sociological Jorgen
Sociologism
Consciousness
Action
Oppression
Repression

English
what they think they do
what they actually do (always

very different)
what some people do to other

people when they do things

they disapprove of
what people do to themselves

when they think things that

other people disapprove of
Historical context
Structure
Agency

the way people have done

things in past influences how

people do things now
the fact that way in which

other people do things

influences how you do things

Nature & Scope of Sociology

Sociology is Both Rational and Empirical

Science
Empirical: Experiences & facts
Rational: Reasons & Theories

Sociology is a General and not a Special

Social Science
Sociology is relatively an Abstract and not a
Concrete Science
Sociology is a Pure and not an Applied
Science
Sociology is a Categorical and not an
Normative Science

Lecture 2
February 9, 2011

Methods of Research
Quantitative designs approach social

phenomena through quantifiable evidence

It involves
Methods which rely on statistical analysis
of many cases (or across intentionally
designed treatments in an experiment)
Ways to create valid and reliable general
claims

Methods of Research
Qualitative designs emphasize

understanding of social phenomena

through direct observation
It involves
Communication with participants
Analysis of texts
Stress contextual and subjective accuracy
over generality

Methods of Study
Cross sectional study
Longitudinal Study
Laboratory Study
Filed Study
Observational Study

Cross Sectional Study

Cross Sectional study forms a class of

research methods that involve observation

of all of a population, or a representative
subset, at a defined time.
It involves
Special data collection e.g. censuses
Including questions about the past
rely on data originally collected for other
purposes
It is moderately expensive
Past events may also contribute bias

Longitudinal Study
It is a correlational research study that

involves repeated observations of the same

items over long periods of time, often many
decades
In Sociology it is used to study
Life events throughout lifetimes or
generations
Track the same people
Differences observed in those people are
less likely to be the result of cultural
differences across generations
Observing changes are more accurate and
they are applied in various other fields

Laboratory Study
It is a study involving a comparison group

in which the investigator intentionally alters

one or more risk factors in order to discover
or demonstrate some fact or general truth
It involves
Standard conditions
One set up in such a way that all levels of
each intervention or treatment occur with
each level of response
Conditions can be almost completely
controlled

Field Study
It is a term used by naturalists for the scientific

study of free-livings in which the subjects are

observed in their natural habitat, without
changing, harming, or materially altering the
setting or behavior of the specimen under study
It involves
Collection of raw data
Studies to helps to reveal the habits and habitats
of various organisms
Sociometry: Quantitative method of measuring
social relationships
the hidden beliefs, the forbidden agendas, the
ideological agreements, the stars of the show

Observational Study
It is either an activity of a living being

(such as a human), consisting of receiving

knowledge of the outside world through the
senses, or the recording of data using
scientific instrument.
It involves
Techniques which may or may not feature
participation
Records information about social
phenomenon or behavior
way you look at things or you look at
anything

Lecture 3
February 14, 2011

The Roles of a Sociologist

The Sociologist as a Research Scientist
The Sociology as a Policy Consultant
The Sociologist as a Teacher
The Sociologist as a Social Action

Sociologist as a Researcher
Conducting Scientific Research
Foremost Task
Division of time between Teaching and
Research
Funding agencies: The Influencing Power
Militarism, Racism & other Oppressions
Biasness &Partisanship
What characteristics of poor people
contribute to the poverty?
What social arrangements produce
poverty?

Sociologist as a Researcher
Correcting Popular Nonsense
To clear out rubbish of misinformation
Cluttering of social thinking
E.g. nonsense about race, class, sex
difference
White race is superior
Women are intellectually inferior to men
The most important Function

Sociologist as a Researcher
Making Social Predictions
Track record is not impressive
Policy based on certain assumptions
about the present & future
E.g. The trend towards employment of
women will continue until most of the
women are working for most of their
married lives
The present popularity of jeans & causal
clothing will be followed by a return to
high style clothing

Sociologist as a Policy
Consultant
Social decision is a prediction
To estimate the probable effects of a social

policy
Contribution to the selection of policies
To achieve the intended purpose
Would low birthrates and small family norm
increase marital happiness?
Yes; there is a research evidence that
smaller families are better off in every
way.

Sociologist as a Technician
Clinical Sociology has appeared to describe the

work of sociologist as Technician

New name for the same work sociologists have
been doing for long
it is the broadening of sociologists efforts to be
useful in society
Sociologist works as an applied scientist
Usage of scientific knowledge in pursuing certain
values
Question of ethics
Has scientific integrity been compromised?
What clinical appointments are proper for a
Sociologist to accept?
Still a QUESTION

Sociologist as a Teacher
Value neutrality vs value commitment
E.g. Should the sociologist supervise an

objective study of facts & theories

OR

Should the course be designed to dedicated

advocates of an action program?

Should the sociologist convert the students
to conservatism, liberal reformism or
revolutionary activism?

Sociologist as a Social Action

Sociologist should tell society how to use the

discovered knowledge
Sociologists know about the public problems
and they should be public advocates of
these problems
Major roles in making decisions about public

policy
Involve themselves in major issues of society
Show what they have learnt from their
experiences
Sociologists should show the relationship

between values

Lecture 4
February 23, 2011

Culture
Culture from the Latin cultura stemming from

colere, meaning "to cultivate") is a term that has

various meanings.
However, the word "culture" is most commonly
used in three basic senses:
Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities,

also known as high culture

An integrated (incorporated) pattern of human
knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon
the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and
practices that characterizes an institution,
organization or group

Culture
Culture is everything which is socially learned

and shared by the members of a society.

Culture can be divided in to two main types
Nonmaterial Culture consists of the words
people use
Ideas & customs
The beliefs they hold
The habits they follow
Material Culture consists of the manufactured
objects
Tools & Furniture
Automobiles
Cultivated farms, roads and bridges

Culture and Society

Two different words with different meanings
Culture is an organized system of norms and

values which people hold

Society is an organization of people whose
associations are with one another
E.g. Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa has a number of
societies we call Tribes but they share a
similar culture.

Social & Cultural

Development
Two important factors
Biological Factors
Geographic Factors

Biological Factors
Sociobiology a new attraction in Sociology
It is the systematic study of the biological basis

of human behavior
The interaction of biology and culture influence
human behavior to develop the human society
In the beginning the culture accumulation was
very slow
Caves
Simple stone tools
Edible roots to eat
Fire produced by lightning or stones
Humans were more like Apes

Biological Factors
Culture started growing when first Man came into

being about 150,000 years ago.

Human started using brains to build culture
Social Evolution the exciting idea of nineteenth
centaury
Charles Darwin wrote the book Origin of Species
Human has evolved from lower orders of life
Survival to the fittest
Auguste Comte in his book Positive Philosophy
states three stages through which human thought
moved
The Theological
The Metaphysical
The Positive (Scientific)

Biological Factors
Herbert Spencer (Giant of nineteenth

centaury) says that:

Societies moved from simple to complex
systems
From homogeneous to heterogeneous
End misery and increase human happiness
Anthropologists deny this fact
E.g. many primitive tribes have more
elaborated kinship system
More ritualistic and ceremonial life than
modern societies

Lecture 5
March 2, 2011

Culture
Prosperities of Culture
Ideal n Real Culture
The topics discussed in class in the shape of

presentations from different groups.

Lecture 6
March 30, 2011

Social Organization
An organization is:

the planned, coordinated and purposeful action

of human beings
working through collective action
to reach a common goal or construct a tangible
product.

Advantages of organizations are:

Enhancement (more of the same)
Addition (combination of different features)
Extension
Disadvantages are:
Inertness (through co-ordination)
Loss of interaction

Family
In human context, a family (from Latin: familiare) is a group

of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence.

In most societies it is the principal institution for the
socialization of children.
Family concepts are:
Affinity (Kinship of Spirit), marriage, economy, culture, tradition,

honor, and friendship

that grow extending to
community, village, city, region, nationhood, global village and
humanism.
A family group consisting of a father, mother and their

children is called a nuclear family.

This term can be contrasted with an extended family.
Extended family is used synonymously with consanguineous

family or joint family

Family in East
Family in East is based on joint family system.
Six key aspects of Joint Family are:
head of the family takes all decision
all members live under one roof
share the same kitchen
three generations living together (though often two or

more brothers live together, or father and son live

together or all the descendants of male live together)
income and expenditure in a common pool- property
held together.
a common place of worship
all decisions are made by the male head of the family

Family Structure
Immediate family:
Spouse (Husband | Wife) Parent (Father | Mother) Child

(Son | Daughter) Sibling (Brother | Sister)

Extended family :
Grandparent Uncle Aunt Cousin Nephew Niece

Common ancestor
Family-in-law:
Father-in-law Mother-in-law Brother-in-law Sister-in-

law
Kinship:
Affinity Marriage Adoption Divorce Disownment

Relationships:
Familial love Parental love Marital love Brotherly love

Lecture 7
April 11, 2011

Social Institutions
The Institutional Concept:
A system of norms to achieve a goal or

activity that people feel is important.

They are structured processes through which
people carry on their activities.
Institutions & Associations:
Institutions dont have members, they have

followers.
Examples are:

Institutions & Associations

Example 1: Religion
Religion is a system of ideas, beliefs, practices and

relationships.
A Mosque is an association where people accept the same
beliefs and follow the practices of a particular religion.
Example 2: Football
The game is set of rules and practices with supporting

values and sentiments.

The players are the association of persons who play the
game
Example 3: Banks
Banking institutions are standardized ways of handling

transactions
Bank is an association of bankers who carry out those
transactions.

The Development of
Institutions
The Process of Institutionalization:
Institutions emerge as the unplanned products of

social living.
People group practical ways of meeting their
needs.
They find workable patterns which harden through
repetition into standardized customs.
With passage of time, these patterns acquire a
body of supporting folklore which justifies them.
For example:
The custom of dating developed as a means of
mate selection.
Banks gradually developed as a need of storing,
transferring and borrowing.

The Development of Institutions

Institutionalization consists of establishment of

definite norms which assign status position and

role functions for behaviors.
It involves replacement of spontaneous or
experimental behaviors with behaviors which
are expected, patterned, regular and
predictable.
A social relationship becomes institutionalized
when:
A regular system of statuses and roles has been

developed
That system of statuses and roles has generally
been accepted in society.

Individual Roles in Institutional Behavior

Institutionalized Role is the set of behavioral

expectations that limit ones free choices.

Not all roles are institutionalized.
Roles that are generally accepted and respected in
a society are the institutionalized roles.
For Example:
All judges act a good deal alike when on the bench,

however they may differ at other times from each

other.
Every minister, priest or religious scholar fulfills its
duties defined by institutions. Its hazardous when they
deviate from them.
When Edward VIII insisted to get married to a divorces
woman, he was forces to abdicate the throne of
England.

The Institutional Traits

The Cultural Symbols:
Symbols serve as shorthand reminder of the

institution.
Citizens are reminded of allegiance to government
by the flag, family to the wedding ring/Nikahnama,
education by the school and system of economics to
brand names and trademarks.
Music also has symbolic meanings like national
anthems, school songs, national songs, religious
hymns.
Buildings are becoming institutional symbols too
Its hard to think home without a house, religion without

a mosque or church, education without a school

building.

The Institutional Traits

Codes of Behavior:
People involved in institutionalized behaviors

have to carry out their appropriate roles.

These roles are often expressed in formal codes
such as oath of allegiance, the marriage vows,
the medical professions oath.
People sometimes dont perform their roles
properly.
Husband and wives may prove unfaithful to marital

vows.
Citizens not paying the taxes
If there are no sure punishment for violation, the

code may be quietly ignored.

The Institutional Traits

Codes of Behavior:
Behavior in any role has informal traditions,

expectations and routines which one

absorbs through observation and
experience.
For Example
Children who never lived in happy family face

difficulty in successfully filling the roles of

parent and husband or wife.
Institutionalized roles can be performed

successfully by those who internalized the

proper role attitudes and behaviors.

The Institutional Traits

Institutional Ideologies:
Ideology is a system of ideas which sanction a set of

norms.
Norm defines how people are expected to act whereas
Ideology explains why people should act and why they
sometimes fail to act.
It includes both
Central beliefs, norms of institution
Rational justification for the application of institutional

norms.
Simpler cultures do not have developed behavioral

ideologies
Complex cultures generally have elaborated
institutional ideologies.

Lecture 8
April 15, 2011

Religion
Religion is a cultural system that creates

powerful and long-lasting meaning, by

establishing symbols that relate humanity
to beliefs and values.
Many religions have narratives, symbols,
traditions and sacred histories that are
intended to give meaning to life or to
explain the origin of life or the universe.
They tend to derive morality, ethics,
religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from
their ideas about the cosmos and human
nature.

Religion
The word religion is sometimes used

interchangeably with faith or belief system,

but religion differs from private belief in
that it has a public aspect.
The practice of a religion may also include
sermons, commemoration of the activities
of a god or gods, sacrifices, festivals,
feasts, trance, initiations, funerary services,
matrimonial services, meditation, music,
art, dance, public service, or other aspects
of human culture.

1st Row: Christian Cross, Jewish Star of David, Hindu Aumkar

2nd Row: Islamic Star and crescent, Buddhist Wheel of Dharma, Shinto Torii
3rd Row: Sikh Khanda, Bah' star, Jain Ahimsa Symbol

The Development of Religion

The development of religion has taken

different forms in different cultures. Some

religions place an emphasis on belief, while
others emphasize practice.
Some religions focus on the subjective
experience of the religious individual, while
others consider the activities of the religious
community to be most important.
Some religions claim to be universal, believing
their laws and cosmology to be binding for
everyone, while others are intended to be
practiced only by a closely defined or localized
group.

Four largest
religions

Adherents(follow % of world
ers)
population

World
population

6.8 billion

Figures taken
from individual
articles:

Christianity

1.9 billion 2.1

billion

29% 32%

Islam

1.3 billion 1.57

billion

19% 21%

Buddhism

500 million 1.5

billion

7% 21%

Hinduism

950 million 1
billion

14% 15%

Total

4.65 billion 6.17

billion

68.38%
90.73%

The Functions of a Religion

There are three functions of a religion
1. Doctrines: A pattern of beliefs which

defines the nature of the relationship of

human beings to one another and to God.
2. Rituals: Which symbolize the doctrines and
remind people of them.
3. Behavior Norms: The series of norms
which are consistent with the doctrines.
. The work of explaining and defending the
doctrines, carrying out the rituals and
reinforcing the desired behavior norms leads
to the complex pattern of worship and

Religious Belief in Christianity

Luke Timothy Johnson writes that "Most

religions put more emphasis on orthopraxy

(right practice) than on orthodoxy (right
belief).
Christianity puts more emphasis on belief
than other religions.
The Church has throughout its history set out
creeds that define correct belief for Christians
and which identify heresy.
Judaism and Islam have each created
sophisticated systems of law to guide
behavior, but have allowed an astonishing
freedom of conviction and intellectual

Religious Belief in Christianity

Buddhism and Hinduism concentrate on the

practices of ritual and transformation rather

than on uniformity of belief
Tribal religions express their view of reality
through a variety of myths, not a 'rule of faith'
for their members."
Christianity by contrast places a peculiar
emphasis on belief and has created ever more
elaborate and official statements in its creeds.

Religious Belief in Judaism

Whether Judaism entails belief or not has

been a point of some controversy.

Some say it is does not, some have suggested
that belief is relatively unimportant for Jews.
"To be a Jew," says de Lange, "means first and

foremost to belong to a group, the Jewish

people, and the religious beliefs are secondary.
Others say that the Shema prayer, recited in the
morning and evening services, expresses a
Jewish creed: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God,
the Lord is One."
Maimonidess Thirteen Principles of the Faith

are sometimes taken as the statement of

Maimonidess Thirteen Principles of

the Faith
God is the Creator.
God is a unity.
God is incorporeal.
God is the first and the last.
It is right to pray to God and to no other.
The words of the prophets are true.
The prophecy of Moses was true.
The Torah was given to Moses.
The Torah will never change.
God knows all the deeds of human beings and

all their thoughts.

God rewards those who keep His
commandments and punishes those that
transgress them.

Religious Belief in Islam

Muslims declare the shahadat, or testimony: "I

bear witness that there is nothing worthy of

worship except Allah, and I bear witness that
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."

Lecture 9
April 25, 2011

Political-Economic Institutions

Each Society developed institutional ways of

meeting needs for food, clothing , housing and

whatever else if needed.
E.g. food sharing was an institutional practice
in many simple societies
Every household in the village had a right to a

share of the kill made by anyone in the village

Thus economic institutions emerge from

peoples trial and error efforts to meet their

needs
It is emerged from the success of one group in
imposing duties and obligations upon another

Political-Economic Institutions

Trade developed when people wanted

something their neighbor produced

The process of exchange became standardized,

orderly and predictable and therefore

institutionalized.
Economic Institutions emerged when people

developed orderly routines for exchanging

goods, assigning work tasks and recognizing
claims upon one another.
The domestication of animals, the
establishment of settled agriculture with
claims to land and eventual development of
industries led to development of economic n

Political-Economic Institutions

The growth of political authority paralleled the

growth of cultural complexity

From family head to tribal council to chief

The word civilized implies a system of civil law

in place of traditional authority administrated

by set of designated officers.
Civil govt. became necessary when the ancient

river valley civilization arose along the Nile.

Feudalism was a set of economic and

political institutions which developed in the

number of places as an intermediate stage
between the tribal societies and the national
state.

Political-Economic Institutions

From the beginning, Governments have been

involved in economic affairs.

Rome had state operated mines throughout the

empire, requiring a constant stream of slaves

and convicts for their operation
The mercantilist system of the 17th & 18th

centuries assumed that it was the

responsibility of the state to control and direct
all economic activity.
Mercantilism is an economic theory,
considered to be a form of economic
nationalism, that holds that the prosperity of a
nation is dependent upon its supply of capital,

Political-Economic Institutions

In past economic activities of governments

have expanded enormously.

With economic development comes division of

labor.
We have 12,000 occupations listed in
Dictionary of Occupational Titles
Warfare also feeds the growth of government.
A disciplined army can defeat an unorganized

horde many times its size.

In modern societies, the social service function

has become a powerful source of

governmental growth.
A century ago, western government began

Political-Economic Institutions

Types of Modern Governmental-economic

systems:
There are three different types of

Governmental-economic systems.
1. Mixed Economies
2. Communist Societies
3. Fascist Societies

Political-Economic Institutions

Mixed Economy: It is a balanced economy

that includes a variety of private and public

control, reflecting characteristics of both
capitalism and socialism.
Most mixed economies can be described as
market economies with strong regulatory
oversight, in addition to having a variety of
government sponsored aspects.
There is not one single definition for a mixed
economy, but the definitions always involve a
degree of private economic freedom mixed
with a degree of government regulation of
markets.

Political-Economic Institutions

Economies ranging from the United States to

Cuba have been termed mixed economies.

The economic freedom side includes privately
owned industry for reasons including individual
freedom, economic efficiency (most especially
the allocate efficiency provided by the invisible
hand of markets), and the incentive to
innovate provided by competition.
The government regulation side addresses
concerns that the private sector cannot be (or
at least has never yet been) well equipped to
address, such as environmental protection,
maintenance of employment standards, and

Political-Economic Institutions

In some mixed economies, it even includes

various degrees of centralized economic

planning, that is, state ownership of some of
the means of production for national or social
objectives.
Mixed economies as an economic ideal are
supported by people of various political
persuasions, typically centre-left and centreright, such as social democrats or Christian
democrats.

Political-Economic Institutions

Communist Society: It is the society

postulated by the ideology of communism: a

society which is classless and stateless, based
upon common ownership of the means of
production with free access to articles of
consumption, the end of economic exploitation.
The term "communist society" should be
distinguished from "communist state", the
latter referring to a state ruled by a party
which professes the communist ideology.
In Marxist theory, communism is a specific
stage of historical development that inevitably
emerges from the development of the

Political-Economic Institutions

In a communist utopia, economic relations no

longer would determine the society. Scarcity

would no longer be a factor. Alienated labor
would cease, as people would be free to pursue
their individual goals.
It would be a democratic society, enfranchising
the entire population.
A communist society would also have no need
for a state, whose purpose was to enforce
hierarchical economic relations (thus Marx
wrote of "the withering of the state").
Capitalism is an economic system in which the

means of production are privately owned and

Political-Economic Institutions

Fascist Society: Fascism is a radical,

authoritarian nationalist political ideology.

Fascists advocate the creation of a totalitarian
single-party state that seeks the mass
mobilization of a nation through indoctrination,
physical education, and family policy including
eugenics.
Eugenics is the "applied science or the biosocial

movement which advocates the use of practices

aimed at improving the genetic composition of a
population," usually referring to human
populations

Political-Economic Institutions

Fascists produce their nation's rebirth based

on commitment to the national community

based on organic unity where individuals are
bound together by suprapersonal connections
of ancestry, culture, and "blood".
Fascists believe that a nation requires strong
leadership, singular collective identity, and the
will and ability to commit violence and wage
war in order to keep the nation strong.
Fascist governments forbid and suppress
opposition to the state.
Fascism was founded by Italian national

Lecture 10
May 2, 2011

Educational Institutions

Development of Educational Institutions:

Ancient societies had no educational

institutions
Children learn what they needed to learn by

watching whatever was going on and helping

wherever practical.
A father would give his son instructions in
hunting and these lessons were the nearest
thing to educational institutions.
Schools appear when cultures became too

complex for all needed learning to be handled

easily within family

Educational Institutions

Development of Educational Institutions:

Developing religions often require that great

legends, chants and rituals should be

memorized.
With full time specialists as teachers and
formal classes of students, operating apart
from the family and viewed as necessary and a
proper way to train these boys, we can say
that educational institutions have arrived.

Educational Institutions

Structure of Educational Institutions in

Pakistan:
There are four basic types of Educational

Institutions
1. Early Childhood Education
2. Primary Education
3. Secondary Education
4. Higher Education

Educational Institutions

Early Childhood Education:

There are three sub types of early childhood
education
1. Preschool
Also known as Infant education, it is the

provision of education for children before the

commencement of statutory and obligatory
education, usually between the ages of zero
and three or five, depending on the jurisdiction.
2. Kindergarten
. literally means "children's garden is a form

of education for young children that serves

as a transition from home to the

Educational Institutions

Early Childhood Education:

There are three sub types of early childhood
education
3. Nursery School
. It is a school for children between the ages of

three and five years, staffed by qualified

teachers and other professionals who
encourage and supervise educational play
rather than simply providing childcare.

Educational Institutions

Primary Education:
There are three sub types of primary
education
1. Elementary School
It is an institution where children receive the

first stage of compulsory education known as

elementary or primary education.
Elementary school is the preferred term in
some countries, particularly those in North
America. Primary school is the preferred term
in the United Kingdom, India, Ireland, Pakistan,
Australia, Latin America, South Africa and New
Zealand

Educational Institutions

Primary Education:
There are three sub types of primary
education
3. Comprehensive School
. It is a state school that does not select its
intake on the basis of academic achievement
or aptitude.
. This is in contrast to the selective school
system, where admission is restricted on the
basis of a selection criteria
. In principle, it was originally conceived as a
"neighbourhood" school, which all students in

Educational Institutions

Secondary Education:
There are three sub types of secondary
education
1. Secondary School
It is a term used to describe an educational

institution where the final stage of schooling,

known as secondary education and usually
compulsory up to a specified age, takes place. It
follows elementary or primary education, and
may be followed by university education.
There are many different types of secondary
school, and the terminology used varies around
the world. Children usually transfer to secondary

Educational Institutions

Secondary Education:
There are three sub types of secondary
education
2. High School
It is used in some parts of the world, to describe

an institution that provides all or part of

secondary education.
The term "high school" originated in Scotland
with the world's oldest being the Edinburgh's
Royal High School in 1505.
The Royal High School was used as a model for
the first public high school in the United States,
the English High School founded in Boston,

Educational Institutions

Secondary Education:
There are three sub types of secondary
education
3. Upper School
Upper Schools tend to be schools within

secondary education.
Outside England, the term normally refers to a
section of a larger school.
There is some variation in the use of the term in
England. In England it is called as
1. State Maintained School
2. Independent School

Educational Institutions

Higher Education:
There are three sub types of higher education
1. College
A college (Latin: collegium) is an educational

institution or a constituent part of an educational

institution.
A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary
educational institution, an institution within a
federal university, an institution offering
vocational education, or a secondary school.
College also include various religious
madrassahs.

Educational Institutions

Higher Education:
There are three sub types of higher education
2. Institute
An institute is a permanent organizational body

created for a certain purpose. Often it is a

research organization (research institution)
created to do research on specific topics. An
institute can also be a professional body.
In some countries institutes can be part of a
university or other institution of higher
education, either as a group of departments or
an autonomous educational institution without a
classic full university status such as a University

Educational Institutions

Higher Education:
There are three sub types of higher education
3. University
A university is an institution of higher education

and research, which grants academic degrees in

a variety of subjects.
A university is a corporation that provides both
undergraduate education and postgraduate
education.
The word university is derived from the Latin
universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly
meaning "community of teachers and scholars.
Jamiah and Academies also fall under this

Lecture 11
May 9, 2011

Social Stratification: Social Class

Social Class:
It is a stratum of people of similar position in
the social status continuum.
The social position of janitor is not the same as
that of the college president.
A student will not greet them in exactly the

same manner.
The members of a particular social share the

same way of life including:

Money
Attitudes &
Values

Social Stratification

Types of Social Class:

The number of social class is not fixed nor
there are any definite boundaries that can
separate them.
Persons are found at all status levels from top
to bottom just as persons are found at all
weights and heights with no abrupt gaps in the
series.
There were previously three types of Social
Class
Upper, Middle & Lower

Now it has sixfold classification by breaking

Social Stratification: Upper Class

1. Upper-upper Class:
The top class is composed of the wealthy old

families.
They are socially prominent.
They have had money long enough that they
have forgotten when and how they got it.
Inherited wealth.
2. Lower-upper Class
They have much money but not for long.
Wealth has not transferred from generation to

generation.
These families are not that much socially
prominent.

Social Stratification: Middle Class

3. Upper-middle Class:
They include successful business and

professional persons.
Blue-collar workers
Good family background.
Comfortable income.
4. Lower-middle Class:
They include clerks, semi professionals,

supervisors and top craftsmen.

White-collar workers
Suitable income

Social Stratification: Lower Class

5. Upper-lower Class:
They include steadily employed workers.
They are not exactly employed but are

considered as working people when

compared with the responsible workers
6. Lower-lower Class:
They include the irregular employed,

unemployed, migrants labors.

Some in this class are also living more or less
on welfare.

Determinants of Social Class

What places one in a particularly social class?

Is it birth, money, education, occupation or

what?
The answer to each question is yes.
The three determinants of social class are:
Wealth and Income
2. Occupation
3. Education
1.

Determinants of Social Class:

Wealth and Income

Money is necessary for upper-class position

but it is not directly proportional to ones

income.
Social class is a way of life and it takes a
good deal of money to live as upper class
people live.
Yet no amount of money will gain immediate
upper class status.
The new rich have the money but the lack the

way of life of the upper class person.

They can buy house, car, clothes, books,
furniture etc but it takes a little longer to learn
the formal manners of the upper class.

Determinants of Social Class:

Wealth and Income

Income from investment is more prestigious

than income from welfare payments.

Income from the professions is better then the

income from wages.

Money from speculating on stocks is better
than money from gambling on horses.
The nature and source of ones income carry

suggestions as to ones family background

and probable way of life.
Money is an important determinant of social
class because of what it suggests about
ones family background and way of life.

Determinants of Social Class:

Occupation

As people developed specialized kinds of

work, they got idea that some kinds of work

are more honorable than others.
Classical China honored the scholar and

despised the warrior.

Nazi Germany reversed the formula.
The high prestige occupations usually receive

the higher incomes.

Some times there is an exception and with
changing traits of occupation in modern
world the rule changes.
A popular entertainer may earn as much in a

week as Supreme Courte Justice in a year.

Determinants of Social Class:

Occupation

The importance of work is an unsatisfactory

test.
How can we say that a work of a farmer or a

police officer is less valuable to society than

the lawyer or a sociologist?
Surveys of data from many countries show

that a particular occupation has about the

same status rating in most urbanized,
industrialized societies.
Occupation is important because so many
other facets of life are connected with it.
Through occupation we can make some

guesses about the persons amount and

Determinants of Social Class:

Education

Social class and education interact in two

ways:
A higher education requires money and
motivation.
2. The amount and kind of education affects the
class rank secured.
1.

Education changes your life in two aspects:

It brings occupational skills.

2. It brings changes in tastes, interests, goals,
etiquettes and speech.
1.

Education in some ways is more important

than occupation
. Blue-collar workers differed widely from white-

Lecture 12
May 9, 2011

Social Mobility

It refers to the degree to which an individual's

or group's status is able to change in terms of

position in the social hierarchy.
It has two approaches which are:
Vertical Mobility: it most commonly refers to

material wealth and the ability of an agent to

move up the class system.
Horizontal Mobility: It refers to a more general
change in position

Inter-generational & Intra-generational Mobility

Intra-generational Mobility: Intra-

generational mobility ("within" a generation) is

defined as change in social status over a single
life-time.
Inter-generational Mobility: ("across"
generations) is defined as changes in social
status that occur from the parents' to the
children's generation.
These definitions have proven particularly useful

when analyzing how social status changes from

one time-period to another, and if a person's
parents' social status influences that of their own.
Sociologists usually focus on intergenerational

Absolute & Relative Mobility

Absolute mobility means that living standards

are increasing in absolute terms: You are better

off than your parents, and your children will be
better off than you.
Structural changes, such as changes in
occupational structure rates, mean that there is
more room at the top, which leads to high
absolute mobility rates.
For example, suppose a person begins their

working career with an income of $32,000. If a

decade later their income is $36,000 (adjusted for
inflation), they have experienced upward absolute
income mobility.

Absolute & Relative Mobility

Relative mobility refers to the degree to which

individuals move up or down compared to others

in their cohort.
In other words, relative mobility means that if
your family is poor, you have a decent chance of
moving up the relative income ladder.
Relative mobility relates to the openness or
fluidity of society and is insensitive to the impact
of structural changes.
For example, suppose a persons income

increases from $32,000 at the start of his working

career to $36,000 a decade later, whereas most
other people who began their work life around the

Roles of Status: Achievement

Achieved status is a position gained based on

merit, or achievement (used in an open system).

An open system describes a society with
mobility between different social classes.
Individuals can move up or down in the social
rankings; this is unlike closed systems, where
individuals are set in one social position for life
despite their achievements.

Roles of Status: Ascription

Ascribed status is a position based on who a

person is, not what they can do (used in a closed

system).
When this ascriptive status rule is used
(Medieval Europe), people are placed in a
position based on personal traits beyond their
control.
Mobility is much more frequent in countries that
use achievement as the basis for status.
However, societies differ on the amount of
mobility that occurs due to the direction of
structural changes in their overall status
systems.

Structural & Exchange Mobility

Structural mobility is a type of forced vertical

mobility that results from a change in the

distribution of statuses within a society.
It occurs when the demand for a particular

occupation reaches its maximum and more people

are needed to trade-off.
This means instead of positions reaching the

maximum and more people being needed,

positions are dropped and someone else must
step up to fill the position.
When ascriptive status is in play, there is not
much exchange mobility occurring.

Structural & Exchange Mobility

Structural mobility is a type of forced vertical

mobility that results from a change in the

distribution of statuses within a society.
It occurs when the demand for a particular

occupation reaches its maximum and more people

are needed to trade-off.
This means instead of positions reaching the

maximum and more people being needed,

positions are dropped and someone else must
step up to fill the position.
When ascriptive status is in play, there is not
much exchange mobility occurring.

Downward & Upward Social Mobility

Upward social mobility is a change in a

person's social status resulting in that person

receiving a higher position in their status
system.
Downward mobility results in a lower position.
A prime example of an opportunity for upward

mobility nowadays is athletics.

There is an increased number of minorities seeking
careers as professional athletes which can either
lead to improved social status or could potentially
harm them due to neglecting other aspects of their
life (e.g. education).

Downward & Upward Social Mobility

Transformative assets would also allow one to

achieve a higher status in society, as they

increase wealth and provide for more
opportunity.
A transformative asset could be a trust fund
set up by family that allows one to own a nice
house in a nice neighborhood, instead of an
renting an apartment in a run-down community.
This type of move would allow the person to
develop a new circle of friends of the same
economic status.

Social System

Societies which use slavery are an example of

low social mobility because, for the enslaved

individuals, upward mobility is practically
nonexistent, and for their owners, downward
mobility is practically outlawed.
Social mobility is normally discussed as "upward
only", but it is a two-sided phenomenon - where
there is upward mobility, there can also be
relative downward mobility.
If merit and fortune play a larger role in life
chances than the luck of birth, and some people
can manage a relative upward shift in their
social status, then some people can also move

Social System

This is the risk that motivates people in power to

increasingly devise and commission political,

legal, educational, and economic mechanisms
that permit them to fortify their advantages.
However, by controlling that inclination, it is
possible in a growing economy for there to be
greater upward mobility than downward - as has
been the case in Western Europe.
Not only does social mobility vary across types
of countries, it can also change over time.
Comparing the United States to the United
Kingdom, there was social mobility of different
degrees existing between the two countries

Social System

In the late 19th century, the U.S. had much

higher social mobility than in the UK, due to the

common school movement and open public
school system, a larger farming sector, as well
as higher geographic mobility in the United
States.
However, during the latter half of the 20th and
early 21st centuries, the difference between the
social mobilities of the two countries has
narrowed, as social inequality has grown in both
countries, but particularly in the United States.
In other words, the individual's family
background is more predictive of social position

Social System: Examples

Popular examples of upward social mobility from

America include:
1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Bill Clinton, who were born into working-class

families yet achieved high political office in adult

life
3. Andrew Carnegie, who arrived in the U.S. as a
poor immigrant and later became a steel tycoon.
Examples from other countries include
1. Pierre Brgovoy who started working at the

age of 16 as a metal worker and later became

Prime Minister of France
2. Ramsay MacDonald the illegitimate son of a
farm labourer and a housemaid who became

Social Mobility vs Economic Mobility

The ability of an individual to become wealthy

out of poverty does not necessarily indicate that

there is social mobility in his or her society.
Some societies with low or nonexistent social
mobility afford free individuals opportunities to
initiate enterprise and amass wealth, but wealth
fails to "buy" entry into a higher social class.
In feudal Japan and Confucianist China, wealthy
merchants occupied the lowest ranks in society
(at least in theory).
In pre-revolutionary France, a nobleman,
however poor, was from the "second estate" of

Social Regimes

Mobility regimes can be positive and/or an

negative sum.
Structural mobility is mobility resulting from
changes in the number and kinds of jobs
available in a society.
Examples: Great Depression, many job losses, the

government and many people in need of major

help.
According to sociologist John H. Goldthorpe,

social mobility is normally seen in two ways.

1. The first being that it is a basic source of social
"structuration.