Sociology Research Project Essay

Sociology Research Project Rough Draft

Sociology is a discipline that studies the development, structure, and functions of societies. This discipline can be viewed as interdisciplinary because of the expansiveness in this field. Sociology began around the 19th century. Enlightenment thought was one of the first starting factors. People wanted more clarity and understanding of society. Although there are tracks of society thinking by the Greeks, the actual discipline was not founded until the 19th century. Institutionalization of sociology as a discipline began when Emile Durkheim founded the first sociology department in 1895 at the University of Bordeaux. (Wikipedia, "Foundation of the academic discipline.") Repko explains that "Sociology

The political revolutions during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through Europe caused social change and problems with social order that were concerning. (Crossman, History of Sociology) Social pressures like rationalization gave rise to the study of sociology. Rationalization is the replacement of traditions and values for behavior in society with concepts based on reason and practicality. (Wikipedia, "Foundation of the academic discipline") "This loss of values in the public sphere leads to the fragmentation of all cultural values." (Tsakiris, "Max Weber 's Theory of Rationalization" ) This concept was introduced by Max Weber, one of the founding fathers of Sociology. Rationalization was first seen in the creation of bureaucracies (Wikipedia,"Rationalization of Society") This idea was a concern to sociologist and others because it had a negative and dehumanizing effect on society, moving modernity away from the central tenets of enlightenment. They believed that decisions should not be made without emotions and sympathy. For example, the Nazi’s, their insistence on efficiency and calculability caused what were once men into killing machines. This is an example of why sociologist believed rationalization to be dehumanizing. Understanding why people do the things they do was the reason Sociology began. Rationalization was a critical factor in the rise of

Different theories are introduced while old unpopular theories disappear. The rise of capitalism in Europe was a cultural change that led to another development in the field. Karl Marx proposed The Conflict Theory. This theory is about dominant groups versus minority group relations and how this inequality creates conflict. ("Social Conflict Theory in Sociology.") This theory led others to draw off the conflict theory and development new theories. Over the years The Conflict Theory influenced studies of conflict like race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, culture and how they affect people 's