II. Answer the following questions.

1. What methods are the basic tools in every sociological research?

1. Who conducts sociological research?

2. What is considered to be a social barometer?

3. Where is the public opinion poll carried out?

4. In what form may it be conducted?

5. What are the questionnaires like?

6. How do the polled express their opinions?

7. What do assessments expose?

8. What is the aim of the polls?

10. How are all data given?

III. Ask your groupmates:

why the statistical methods are used for the sociological survey;

under whose supervision sociological research is conducted;

why it is useful to conduct a public opinion poll;

by what means the poll is carried out;

who the respondents are;

if the polls are popular in this country.

IV. Find in the text the facts to prove that:

1. Statistical methods are a useful tool in sociological research.

2. Public opinion poll is a social barometer.

3. It is carried out in different forms.

4. The respondents may react differently.

V. Divide the text into four logical parts.

VI. Speak on the main points of the text.

VII. Discuss in the group the following problems:

1. Opinion polls are useful and necessary.

2. They reflect the true picture of the situation.

3. You would like to carry out such a poll.

4. You would like to act as a respondent.

VIII. Try to make up your own questionnaire and offer it to your groupmates.

IX. Look through the fresh newspapers and find there some information on the latest polls. Be ready to comment on it.

Word study

I. Memorize the following words and word-combi­nations:

sociological research sociological survey

public opinion

public opinion poll

to conduct a poll

to carry out a poll

the polled

respondent

to assess

to reassess

assessment

II. Use them in your description of some sociological survey.

III. Fill the gaps with one of the following words:

to conduct, conclusions, to examine, poll, to assess, assessments

1. Statistical methods are used to analyse the data and draw ... .

2. The opinion ... is carried out nationwide.

3. Leading sociologists ... a poll all over the country.

4. The polls are directed to ... social and political situation.

5. The respondents give their ... verbally and in writing.

6. Sociologists carefully ... the obtained data.

IV. Complete the following sentences.

1. The public opinion poll is a criterion of ... .

2. It is the so-called ....

3. The poll is carried out ... .

4. It may be verbal in the form of ... .

5. The opinion poll is conducted by means of ... .

6. The polls are directed to ... .

7. The poll data are given in ... .

Тема 3. Origins of sociology

I. Read and translate the text.

History. Perhaps no early civilization had a more profound impact on Western social thought than did ancient Greece. Greek social philosophers and teachers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle made lasting contributions to our ideas about the relationship between the individual and society. Although social thinkers long had pondered the influence of society on human behaviour, the formal discipline of sociology did not emerge until the early nineteenth century. Sociology is a relatively new academic discipline. It emerged in response to the challenges of modernity. Increasing mobility and technological advances resulted in the increa­sing exposure of people to cultures and societies different from their own. The impact of this exposure was varied, but for some people in­cluded the breakdown of traditional norms and customs and warranted a revised understanding of how the world works. Sociologists responded to these changes by trying to understand what holds social groups to­gether and also explore possible solutions to the breakdown of social solidarity.

Auguste Comte and Other Founders. The term sociology was coined by Auguste Comte (1798—1857) in 1838 from the Latin term socius (companion, associate) and the Greek term logia (study of, speech). He wrote Positive Philosophy, the first systematic sociological approach to the study of society, which offered solutions to social problems. Comte hoped to unify all the sciences under sociology; he believed so­ciology held the potential to improve society and direct human activity, including the other sciences. While it is no longer a theory employed in Sociology, Comte argued for an understanding of society he labeled The Law of Three Stages. Comte, not unlike other enlightenment thinkers, believed society developed in stages: the first was the theological stage where people took a religious view of society; the second was the me­taphysical stage where people understood society as natural (not super­natural).

Comte's final stage was the scientific or positivist stage, which he believed to be the pinnacle of social development. In the scientific stage, society would be governed by reliable knowledge and would be under­stood in light of the knowledge produced by science, primarily sociolo­gy. While vague connections between Comte's Law and human history can be seen, it is generally understood in Sociology today that Comte's approach is a highly simplified and ill-founded approach to understand social development.

Other classical theorists of sociology from the late 19th and early 20th centuries include Herbert Spencer (1820 – 1903), Karl Marx (1818 – 1883), Ferdinand Toennies (1855 – 1936), Emile Durkheim (1858 – 1917), Vilfredo Pareto (1848 – 1923), and Max Weber (1864 – 1920). As pioneers in Sociology, most of the early sociological thinkers were trained in other academic disci­plines, including history, philosophy, and economics. The diversity of their trainings is reflected in the topics they researched, including reli­gion, education, economics, psychology, ethics, philosophy, and theolo­gy. Perhaps with the exception of Marx, their most enduring influence has been on sociology, and it is in this field that their theories are still considered most applicable.

Sociology and Other Social Sciences. The social sciences comprise the application of scientific methods to the study of the human aspects of the world. Psychology studies the human mind and micro-level (or individual) behavior; sociology examines human society; political sci­ence studies the governing of groups and countries; communication studies the flow of discourse via various media; economics concerns itself with the production and allocation of wealth in society; and social work is the application of social scientific knowledge in society. Social sciences diverge from the humanities in that many in the social sciences empha­size the scientific method or other rigorous standards of evidence in the study of humanity.

Sociology Today. In the past, sociological research focused on the organization of complex, industrial societies and their influence on in­dividuals. Today, sociologists study a broad range of topics.

As the study of humans in their collective aspect, sociology is con­cerned with all group activities — economic, social, political, and reli­gious. Sociologists study such areas as bureaucracy, community, deviant behavior, family, public opinion, social change, social mobility, social stratification, and such specific problems as crime, divorce, child abuse, and substance addiction. Sociology tries to determine the laws gover­ning human behavior in social contexts; it is sometimes distinguished as a general social science from the special social sciences, such as econo­mics and political science, which confine themselves to a selected group of social facts or relations.

It should also be noted that recent sociologists, taking cues from anthropologists, have realized the Western emphasis of the discipline. In response, many sociology departments around the world are now en­couraging multi-cultural research.

Taking a Closer Look