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Areas of sociology

  • Social organization is the study of the various institutions, social groups, social stratification, social mobility, bureaucracy, ethnic groups and relations, and other similar subjects like family, education, politics, religion, economy, and so on and so forth.

  • Social psychology is the study of human nature as an outcome of group life, social attitudes, collective behavior, and personality formation. It deals with group life and the individual's traits, attitudes, beliefs as influenced by group life, and it views man with reference to group life.

  • Social change and disorganization is the study of the change in culture and social relations and the disruption that may occur in society, and it deals with the study of such current problems in society such as criminality, drug addiction, family conflicts, divorce, population problems, and other similar subjects.

  • Human ecology deals with the nature and behavior of a given population and its relationships to the group's present social institutions. For instance, studies of this kind have shown the prevalence of mental illness, criminality, delinquencies (преступность), prostitution, and drug addiction in urban centers and other highly developed places.

  • Population or demography is the study of population number, composition, change, and quality as they influence the economic, political, and social system.

  • Sociological theory and method is concerned with the applicability and usefulness of the principles and theories of group life as bases for the regulation of man's environment, and includes theory building and testing as bases for the prediction and control of man's social environment.

  • Applied sociology utilizes the findings of pure sociological research in various fields such as criminology, social work, community development, education, industrial relations, marriage, ethnic relations, family counseling, and other aspects and problems of daily life.

READING FOR CROSS-CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS

Read the excerpt below about the British society. Discuss how it compares with the situation in Russia. Make use of the given information in the role-play.

British society

The social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, with the concept still affecting British society in the early-21st century. Although definitions of social class in the United Kingdom vary and are highly controversial, most are influenced by factors of wealth, occupation and education. Until recently the Parliament of the United Kingdom was organised on a class basis, with the House of Lords representing the hereditary upper class and the House of Commons representing everyone else, and the British monarch is often viewed as being at the top of the social class structure.

British society has experienced significant change since the Second World War, including an expansion of higher education and home-ownership, a shift towards a services-dominated economy, mass immigration, a changing role for women and a more individualistic culture, and these changes have had a considerable impact on the social landscape. However, claims that the UK has become a classless society have frequently been met with scepticism. Research has shown that social status in the United Kingdom is influenced by the social class.

The UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) produced a new socio-economic classification of the British society. The reason was to provide a more comprehensive and detailed classification to take newer employment patterns into account. There are 8 categories in the new version:

1. Higher managerial and professional occupations

2. Lower managerial and professional occupations

3. Intermediate occupations (clerical, sales, service)

4. Small employers and own account workers

5. Lower supervisory and technical occupations

6. Semi-routine occupations

7. Routine occupations

8. Never worked and long-term unemployed

It is apparent that social class is a derived classification achieved by mapping occupation and employment status to class categories. But where do the raw data come from? The principal source of reliable national data comes from the decennial Population Census. Census data on occupation, employer and employment status are collected for the whole working population and 10 per cent of these data are then coded and used in analyses. Between Censuses, government social surveys also collect data required for social classifications, as do many academic studies. In addition valuable data for health and medical researchers are derived from death registration records which include the occupations of deceased persons.

In practice individuals are assigned to social classes by a threefold process. First, they are allocated an occupational group, defined according to the kind of work done and the nature of the operation performed. Each occupational category is then assigned as a whole to one or other social class and no account is taken of differences between individuals in the same occupation group, e.g. differences of education or level of remuneration. Finally, persons of particular employment status within occupational groups are removed to social classes different from that allocated the occupation as a whole.