X. Speak about higher education in Great Britain

 

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?

The name sociology was first suggested in the 1830s by the French philosopher August Comte, but for many years it remained only a suggestion. Comte urged others to study sociology.

People have had a deep interest in society since the beginning of human history, but the sociological perspective is a recent development, as it is the scientific approach to knowledge on which sociological research is based.

It was not until late in 19^th century that we can identify people who called themselves sociologists and whose work contributed to the development of the field. Among them were Herbert Spencer in England who published the first of his three-volume “Principles of Sociology” in 1876 and Ferdinand Tonnies in Germany. A decade later, Emile Durkheim published “Suicide”.

The first sociologists studied moral statistics. Their work proved so popular that it led to the rapid expansion of census questions. However, sociology as an academic speciality was imported from Germany. The progressive uncovering of social causes of individual behaviour produced the field called sociology.

Sociology is one of the related fields known as the social sciences. They share the same subject matter: human behaviour. But sociology is the study of social relations, and its primary subject matter is the group, not the individual.

Sociology is a broader discipline than the social sciences. In a sense, the purpose of sociologists is to find the connections that unite various social sciences into a comprehensive, integrated science of society.

Sociology consists of two major fields of knowledge: micro sociology and macro sociology. Micro sociologists study the patterns and processes of face-to-face interaction between humans. Macro sociologists attempt to explain the fundamental patterns and processes of large scale social relations. They concentrate on larger groups, even on whole society.

Sociological research is usually conducted by working group under the supervision of the leading sociologists of the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion. The public opinion poll is a criterion of the current social life within the society. It is the so-called social barometer of the country. In fact our fast-moving life makes it necessary to analyze things. So it is useful to examine the results of sociological surveys.

Sociologists attempt to use research to discover if certain statements about social life are correct. The basic tools of their research are tests, surveys, questionnaires, interviews, surveys and public opinion polls.

 

I. Practise the pronunciation of the following words from the text.

Sociology, suggestion, urge, research, rapid expansion, cause, behaviour, share, pattern, supervision, survey, questionnaire.

 

II. Find in the text international words.

III. Find in the text sociological terms.

 

IV. Give English equivalents for:

Oбщественные науки, развитие области, десятилетие спустя, самоубийство, вопросы переписи, социальные причины, поведение, предмет изучения, быстрое распространение, изучение общественных отношений, личное взаимодействие, основные образцы, изучать результаты социологических обзоров.

 

V. Arrange the following words into the pairs of synonyms:

1) to offer, 2) to stay, 3) personal, 4) start, 5) research, 6) aim, 7) link, 8) different, 9) reason, 10) main, 11) effort, 12) basic, 13) to carry out, 14)guidance, 15)effect, 16) definite.

 

a) face-to-face, b) beginning, c) investigation, d) purpose, e) connection, f) various, g) cause, h) primary, i) attempt, j) to conduct, k) fundamental, l)supervision, m) result, n) certain.

 

1. Match the word with its definition:

1) The study of the relationships between people, living in societies.

2) An idea that you give to someone.

3) To spend time to study something.

4) The feeling that you want to pay attention to something.

5) A period of one hundred years.

6) To come near someone or something.

7) The act of killing yourself intentionally.

8) The way that someone acts.

 

a) behavior b) century c) to approach d) interest e) suggestion f) to study g)suicide h) sociology

 

VI. Answer the following questiones:

1. Who was the first to suggest the name sociology?

2. Who were the first sociologists?

3. What were they mainly interested in?

4. What country was sociology as an academic discipline imported from?

5. What is the subject matter of sociology?

6. What is the goal of sociologists?

7. What fields of knowledge does sociology consist of?

8. What are the basic tools of sociological research?

 

VII. Prove by the facts that:

1. Sociology is a social science.

2. Sociology is a broader discipline than the other social sciences.

3. Sociology is made up of micro sociology and macro sociology.

 

VIII. Discuss in the group the following:

1. What do you think: sociology is a field of the arts or the sciences?

2. Can there be a civilization without the social sciences?

3. Your parents don’t want you to studysociology. How would youpersuaded them that this is your real vocation?

 

IX. Translate the following sentences into Russian:

1. He was greately concerned with the latest sociological research.

2. In their conversation they concerned a great number of vital problems.

3. His main concern was sociology.

4. They talked much concerning the main points of his report.

5. She was concernedwith the problem of social relations at the high level of the society’s development.

 

X. Speak on:

1. The origin of sociology.

2. Its subject matter.

3. Major fields of sociology.

4. Basic sociological research methods.

 

Модуль III