Speaking Historical background of research problem

Vocabulary to use

the first studies/ investigations on the problem

to pay attention to

to observe/ to consider

to be the first/ to pioneer/ to initiate

to go back to

at that time/ in that period

by that time

since that time

recently/ lately

in the 1990s/ throughout the 90s

from 1990 to 2000

to find/ to discover

to explain/ to account for

to confirm/ to support

to believe/ to think

to be poorly/ well understood

to require further study

to stimulate interest in

to lay the foundation for

Answer the questions:

1. Who was the first to recognize your research problem?

2. What aspects of the problem did researchers concentrate on at that time?

3. What aspects of the problem have been considered recently?

4. Has the problem been widely studied?

5. Is the problem well understood at present?

6. What aspects of the problem still remain unsolved?

Speak about the history background of your research problem.

Work in pairs: ask for and give information on the historical background of the research problems under study.

Grammar notes

Passive voice

(на примере правильного глагола to study - изучать)

	Present	Past	Future
Simple	am is studied are	was studied were	will be studied
Progressive	am is being studied are	was being studied were
Perfect	have been studied has	had been studied	will have been studied

Read the sentences from sociological texts, underline the examples of Passive voice. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. As an academic discipline, sociology is usually considered a branch of social science.

2. Psychology and social psychology are often confused with sociology.

3. Sociology is defined by Weber as "a science concerning itself with the interpretive understanding of social action".

4. In spite of the diversity of the types of the social organizations, they are united by some common features (wholeness and stability, existence of the organizational culture, the defined behavior of its members, the ability to adequately respond the challenges).

5. It is recommended to use the functional-diagnostic method for the development of existing organizations.

6. The social evolution is accompanied with the integration of the organizations, the rise of their stability and the complication of the mechanism of administration of the social organization.

7. The various means and ways of the decision of problems are used.

8. Nineteen century civilization was not destroyed by the external or internal attack of barbarians.

9. The vitality of the civilization has not been sapped by the devastations of World War I nor by the revolt of a socialist proletariat or a fascist lower middle class.

10. Yet the victory of fascism was made practically unavoidable by the liberals' obstruction of any reform involving planning, regulation, or control.

11. The radical illusion was fostered that there is nothing in human society that is not derived from the volition of individuals and that could not, therefore be removed again by their volition.

12. The theory was introduced into France in 1863 by M. Michel Breal.

13. The term "sociological theory" has been widely used to refer to the products of several related but distinct activities carried on by members of a professional group called sociologists.

14. Social scientists have been led to detect sociological gaps in the application of their theory to concrete social behavior.

15. This is clearly shown by an example from Melanesia.

16. In a word, since language was made of human elements, translating human states, it could not be applied to nature without transforming it.

17. When words were once forged to represent these personalities which the popular imagination had placed behind things, a reaction affected these words themselves.

18. However, it will be said that in whatever manner religions may be explained, it is certain that they are mistaken in regard to the real nature of things: science has proved it.

19. Power is conceived to be possessed by one person or group to the degree that it is not possessed by a second person or group over whom the power is wielded.

20. American society is, according to Parsons, characterized by the primacy of values of “instrumental activism”, which entails that one main “collective goal” of the society is the furtherance of economic productivity.

21. But as a matter of fact, they were divinized but slowly.

22. In most cases where power is being used, there is no overt sanction employed (instances where force is used, for example, are relatively rare in the exercise of power).

23. It is particularly necessary to stress, Parsons argues, that possession and use of power should not be identified directly with the use of force.

24. It is still quite common for sociologists naively to assert or to assume that conformity to any specific course of social action is founded either on “internalization” of appropriate moral values or upon some form of coercion.

25. The importance of the typology is diminished by the lack of any attempt to specify how these different ways of securing compliance are related together in social systems.

26. Small children are evaluated positively in Western nations but neutrally in Japan.

27. Economic progress has been studied by sociologists since the beginning of the century.

28. The everyday character of the racial barriers has been revealed by these field studies.

29. The nature of applied sociology can more easily be grasped by examining those characteristics that distinguish it from basic sociology.

30. Is the quality of applied work evaluated in accordance with a dual set of criteria?

31. Several reasons have been identified for this late development.

32. Different theoretical concepts were combined to compare and contrast historical processes.

33. No matter how this phenomena is defined, it is changing the way sociologists conduct their work.

34. The Internet and the Web are often described as a medium of communication.

35. Many new opportunities of conducting scientific research will be offered in the nearest feature.

36. Sociologists will be challenged not only to stay current with the new tools for research but to conduct research on the rapidly growing cultures of the Internet.

37. Japan has been regarded as an exceptional case among industrialized nations.

38. Evidences are based on these findings.

39. Structural and cultural similarities were widely shared in world society and culture approach.

40. Communicative and interactive processes have been included within social institutions.

41. . These claims constitute the ''core propositions'' of culture diffusion theory; over the years, each has been qualified and elaborated upon, and corollaries have been created.

UNIT 4