Dissertation on Sociology

Sociology, being a dynamic science, captures all the past and contemporary trends, which find their reflection in all spheres of our life. The biggest excitement in sociology for me is the way how the social ties affect the behavior of an individual and what consequences may follow.

Primarily, I would like to comment on some scientific methods used in sociology for that they comprise a certain interest for me personally. The research is an integral part of any sociological study, because observations and statistics play the crucial role in gaining the knowledge in sociologic science. Besides the common research methods used for centuries, the new ones emerge now and make up the visual sociology, a branch of the science reinforced by the development of technology.

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According to Macionis (2009), images and photography help either to study the individuals described on these images or understand people’s points and opinions on the topic highlighted with these visual aids. The film industry also contributed significantly to the development of sociology. Now it is possible to make conclusions about the social life of the people even on other continents, and I view this as a certain step toward global integration and improvement in communication. Even better in-depth view is achieved by the film directors who manage to disclose the functioning of a certain social unit or institution from the inside emphasizing on both individual challenges and social hierarchy. We refer to such works as documentaries.

An outstanding collision occurs between two sociological theories: positivism and humanism. As for me, it is arguable why both are almost equally relevant. One may see that positivism rests upon objectivity that is the basis of any research. The positivistic studies deal with observing natural processes and declaring the outcomes. Each scientist pursues no personal goals in doing a research, that’s why the outcome is supposed to be unbiased and credible. On the other hand, humanistic stance appears to be more individual for each researcher and contradicts the idea of objectivity at the whole. At the same time, the scientist may not be enough objective if he or she does not participate in social processes which are the center of the study. Participant observation is highly valuable in sociologic studies. Besides, Macionis (2009) mentions that scientific methods are only tools to complete the research, while the explanation is generated by the researcher who has to apply knowledge and creativity as well as to gather the data I order to come up with a relevant conclusion or solution.  

So that I have mentioned some research tools, I would like to switch now to the global approach. It is obvious, that the historical background plays an important role in sociological findings. When observing the societies, we proceed through the development of the human race from the primitive level and up to the highly organized societies with infrastructure, technical advancement and social security. Biological sciences only distinguish the steps of human development calling it evolution, while sociology classifies the same according to different principles (Macionis, 2009). One of the most outstanding definitions of society according to the Oxford English Dictionary suggests on the absence of choice for a human when staying with other individuals. That is how we come to a conclusion that a person does not have much influence on the society – on the contrary, mostly the society with its culture chooses for the person. The next case presents addition opinion for this idea. 

In the modern world, diverse cultures usually co-exist even in terms of one country or one region. Nowadays our society is not as biased and prejudiced as it was in the previous centuries, though some cultural phenomena still take place in the contemporary society. An interesting suggestion is made by Theodor W. Adorno in his ‘critical theory’ (Adorno, 1976), which also finds its reflection in the book of Macionis, J. (2009). The theory studies the ways how individuals are subjected to intrusion of ideology in terms of their own society. According to the theory, the culture obtains certain traits that apply to all members of the culture without exceptions, so an individual is not able to refuse the cultural ideology or suggest on his own. Each individual is just a part of such system and lacks self-regulation. I would say that this may be inherent to any culture through its definition of a large-scale involvement.

Finally, I never thought of the suicide from the perspective of a social phenomenon. While some people consider this a fully personal decision, the statistical data impress: more than twice more people in the world for the last fifty years committed suicide and much more people had unsuccessful attempts (Macionis, 2009). The most widespread profile for a person who is about to take his life for the last century is a young male individual who usually possesses economical freedom and the freedom of choice. This results in the loss of connections with the society, so nothing keeps the person from self-murder. Previously I had a suggestion that young girls are more subjected to suicide due to high sensitivity and psychological disorders as a consequence.

Sociology is an effective tool not only in studying the anthropogenic processes but also in leading and even manipulating the masses. Precise observation may show how closely it is interconnected with political, legal, economical, technological and even ecological factors from our everyday life.

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