Sociology

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Sociology

• Systematic study of human societies with
  scientific methods
• It involves
• Reflection
• Observation
• Description
• Comparison
• Social influences in relationships, groups,
  societies, and social change

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Social Riddles

• Sociology is the search for solutions of social
  riddles
• Social Riddles are perplexing questions that
  dont have obvious answers or the obvious
  answers are 1) wrong, 2) simplistic, or 3)
  unquestioned

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Two Levels of Riddles

• Macro-Level
• Large scale , broad structures of society
• Interactions between nations, communities,
  organizations, and other large social units
• Micro-Level
• Small scale social interactions that occur
  between small groups, families, couples, and
  individuals
• Reference Groups

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Three Types of Riddles

• Riddles of Organization
• Why does poverty persist?
• Riddle of Comparison
• Why dont we eat hamsters? (labels)
• Riddle of Contradiction
• Is murder always murder?

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The Grand Riddle

• How much freedom do we have to shape ourselves
  and our culture?
• Are we only products of our culture?
• Are we all independent to change?