B_USo Introduction to Sociology

University of Finance and Administration
Winter 2014
Extent and Intensity
2/1. 7 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Petr Matějů, Ph.D.
Subdepartment of Management and Marketing – Department of Economics and Management – Departments – University of Finance and Administration
Contact Person: Ivana Plačková
Prerequisites
No pre-requisites for this course.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
The main objective of this course is to introduce students to sociological thinking and to develop what sociologists - referring to the work of one the most influential sociologist Charles Wright Mills - call “sociological imagination”. Students will be guided to realize how their own lives and lives of other people are influenced by the society, in which they live, be it local community, nation, or global society. This particular approach should primarily increase students’ interest in the discipline and motivate them to get acquainted with basic concepts and theories which would help them to understand social structures and processes through both critical thinking and analytical instruments this discipline has developed to carry out truly scientific research. To achieve this particular objective, students will be guided not only to learn but also to “practice sociology" on small research projects.
Students who successfully complete the course:
1. will be able to distinguish between a “laymen” and “scientific” approach to the observation of the society, while maintaining a “common sense” and developing critical thinking;
2. will get acquainted with basic concepts and theories sociology applies to study society, its main structures and processes;
3. will understand the basics of logic of sociological research, its types, phases and methods.
Syllabus
  • 1.What is society like which we live in? From a laymen “everyday experience” to sociological understanding. Sociology vs. common sense. What makes sociology a scientific discipline? Do we need clearly defined concepts and theories? Do we need research and data to understand society? What is an ideal relationship between theory and facts? What is a critical thinking?
  • 2.When and why sociology was founded as a scientific discipline? What the founding fathers gave sociology to its cradle? What were the main social problems the founding fathers struggled to understand? Why sociology was established as a “positive” science? What are the main lessons we can learn from answers to these questions?
  • 3.Principal sociological concepts I: Why sociology needs clearly defined concepts? What is society? What are the main factors determining main characteristics of a society?
  • 4.Principal sociological concepts II: Society and culture, human being as biological and social entity, process of socialization, heritability and social learning (nature vs. nurture), extremes in beliefs about the role of inheritability; social roles and identity; language, culture, and cultural (symbolic) capital.
  • 5.Principal sociological concepts III: Social control and deviation. Sociological meanings of “control” and “normality”, various levels of deviations from shared values and norms, individual and social causes of deviations, different degrees of adaptation, stigma and stigmatization.
  • 6. Principal sociological paradigms: the nature of paradigm, main differences between a paradigm and theory; consensual and conflictual paradigms, interpretative sociology. Why sociology is multiparadigmatic discipline? Advantages and disadvantages of a multiparadigmatic nature of sociology.
  • 7. Big issues in contemporary sociology I: Social inequality and social structure. What makes a difference between “difference” and “inequality”. Is social inequality inevitable? How society affects life-chances of individuals and various social groups? The role of education and educational system in the reproduction of inequality. Social mobility and its influence on the “openness” of society.
  • 8.Big issues in contemporary sociology II: Organization, bureaucracy, power: relationships between organization, power and authority; main differences between organization and institution.
  • 9.Big issues in contemporary sociology III: Elites and middle classes: various approaches to the definition of middle class, the role of middle classes in modern societies (Mills), classical theories of elites (Pareto, Mosca, Michels), elites and instruments of maintaining power in modern industrial and post-industrial societies (Mills).
  • 10. Big issues in contemporary sociology IV: Sociology of social transformation. What has happened in post-communist countries? Was it “transition” to “capitalism” or transition with and open end (open society)? Transformation as a renewal of vital social relationships; capitalism without capitalists, formation of elites in East-Central Europe.
  • 11.Sociological research and its principal types and phases. What makes a sociological research really good research? When should we opt for a qualitative research? What are its main advantages? When should we follow quantitative research strategy? What are its main advantages and limits? Relationships between the theory, hypothesis, and data. Types of samples, conditions that must be met to test hypotheses and generalize the results on a “target population”.
  • 12.Examples of good research projects. The most important international comparative research projects and their contribution to better understanding of “big issues” of contemporary sociology.
Literature
    required literature
  • Jandourek, J.: Úvod do sociologie. Praha: Portál, 2003. ISBN 80-7178-749-3.
  • Jandourek, J.: Čítanka sociologických klasiků. Praha: Portál, 2010. ISBN 9788024729343
  • Keller, J.: Úvod do sociologie. Páté vydání. Praha: Slon, 1992. ISBN: 978-80-86429-39-7
  • Zich, F.: Úvod do sociologie. Skripta. Praha: VŠFS – Eupress, 2003
  • Simonová, N. : Vzdělanostní nerovnosti v české společnosti. Vývoj od počátku 20. století do současnosti. Praha: Slon 2011, kapitoly 1 a 3.
    recommended literature
  • Bourdieu, P. The Forms of Capital. Pp. 241-258 in “Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education” edited by John Richardson, New York, Greenwood, 1986. Původní text a jeho český konspekt bude k dispozici ve formátu PDF ve složce Dodatečn
  • Merton, R.K.: Studie ze sociologické teorie. Praha: Slon, 2007. Vybrané kapitoly.
  • Mills, Ch. W.: Sociologická imaginace. Praha: Slon, 2002 (vybrané kapitoly z vydání roku 1968 budou k dispozici ve formátu PDF ve složce Dodatečné studijní materiály)
  • Večerník, J., Matějů, P.: Zpráva o vývoji české společnosti 1989 – 1998. Praha: Academia, 1998. Vybrané kapitoly z vydání roku 1968 budou k dispozici ve formátu PDF ve složce Dodatečné studijní materiály.
  • Matějů, P. – Vlachová, K. (eds). Nerovnost, spravedlnost, politika. Praha: Slon 2000. ISBN 80-85850-82-6, kapitola 3.
  • Matějů, P. „Ke kořenům sociálně psychologického modelu sociální stratifikace.“ Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological Review, Vol. 41 (2005), No.1, 70-30
    not specified
  • Petrusek, M.: Základy sociologie. Praha: Akademie veřejné správy, 2009. ISBN: 978-80-87207-02-4
  • Večerník, J. Střední vrstvy v české společnosti a výzkumu: mizející, nebo zapomenuté? Lidé města/Urban people, Vol. 12 (2010), No. 3, s. 475 – 497.
  • Možný, I.: Proč tak snadno … Některé rodinné důvody sametové revoluce. Třetí vydání. Praha: Slon, 2009. Vybrané kapitoly.
  • Disman, M.: Jak se vyrábí sociologická znalost. Praha: Karolinum, 2002.
Teaching methods
Lectures and seminars in full-time study, tutorials in part-time study; compulsory seminar participation is 75% in full-time study, compulsory tutorial participation is 50% in part-time study. In full-time study, every topic will be covered by a lecture and a seminar. Lectures will be based on presentations of individual topics by the lecturer followed by a discussion. Seminars will be based on presentations prepared by students (usually 2 presentations per seminar, each about 20 minutes long, followed by a discussion). Presentations will draw primarily on assigned readings and other related material of the student’s own choice. Every student must sign up for at least 2 seminar presentations to be eligible to submit a final paper.
Assessment methods
a) To get a credit (which is a pre-requisite for the oral examination) student is required:
1. To attend seminars (min. 75%) and present there at least two times.
2. Submit a final paper on the selected topic of his/her own choice approved by the instructor. The paper will be at least 4,000 words (7 pages, 90 characters per line, 40 lines per page), not counting tables, figures and references. Use standard rules for citations. All source materials must be listed in the bibliography and references. Ideas, hypotheses and conclusions must be well supported by literature, facts, and/or other forms of evidence (secondary analysis is sufficient, primary analysis is not required). Criteria for evaluation of the paper: 1. ability to link theory to facts and available evidence (20 %), 2. structure of the paper, clearly defined questions and problems (20 %); 3. clarity and strength of arguments (20%); 4. work with the literature and other sources of information (20%).
b) Oral examination will have two parts:
1. Student will shortly present the paper and answer additional questions related to the topic of the paper.
2. Questions based on the course materials and topics covered by lectures and seminars.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
General note: Aa1.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2011, summer 2012, Winter 2012, Winter 2013.
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