Иностранный язык. Социология

Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации НОВОСИБИРСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

81.2 Англ.
И 683






№ 4014

ИНОСТРАННЫЙ ЯЗЫК социология Методическое пособие для студентов 1-го курса специальности «Социология»













НОВОСИБИРСК

2011

ББК 81.432.1-923
     И 683



    Работа состоит из 4 разделов, включающих тексты с разработанными к ним заданиями, целью которых является подготовка студентов к самостоятельному чтению и пониманию оригинальной литературы по социологии на английском языке. Последовательность тем, представленных в пособии, соответствует учебной программе данной специальности.




Составители:

Л. С. Сокол, канд. филос. наук, доцент;
Е.В. Якушко, ст. прей.




Рецензент
В.Г. Шабаев, канд. филол. наук, доцент





Работа выполнена на кафедре иностранных языков ГФ НГТУ















© Новосибирский государственный технический университет, 2011

                UNIT 1. THE NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY

                Text: What is sociology?




    The sociologist has a distinctive way of examining human interactions. Sociology is the systematic study of social behavior and human groups. It focuses primarily on the influence of social relationships upon people’s attitudes and behavior and on how societies are established and change. As a field of study, sociology has an extremely broad scope and it deals with families, gangs, business firms, political parties, schools, religions, labor unions, etc. It is concerned with love, poverty, conformity, discrimination, illness, alienation, overpopulation and community.
    The Sociological Perspective. In human society, newspaper, television and radio are usual sources of information about such groups and problems. However, while the basic function of journalists is to report the news, sociologists bring a different type of understanding to such issues. The perspective of sociology involves seeing through the outside appearances of people’s actions and organizations.
    One major goal of this perspective is to identify patterns of and influences on social behavior. For example, sociologists study the passionate desire of movie or rock fans to see in person, to talk with, even to grab the clothing of a star. Why do people feel this need so powerfully?
    The sociological perspective attempts to provide explanations for such patterns. Sociologists are not content to just recognize that millions of people want to meet stars, rather they examine the shared feelings and behavior of fans within the larger social context ofhuman culture.
    The Sociological Imagination. In attempting to understand social behavior, sociologists rely on unusual type of creative thinking, sociological imagination, i.e. an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the society. Thus, instead of simply accepting the fact that movie stars and rock stars are the “royalty” of human society, we could ask, in more critical sense, why we are not interested in meeting outstanding scientists, or elementary school teachers, or architects. Sociological imagination can bring new understanding to the daily life around us.


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    Sociology and Social Sciences. The term science refers to the body of knowledge obtained by methods based upon systematic observations. The sciences are commonly divided into natural and social sciences. Natural science is the study of the physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change. Astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology and physics are all natural sciences. Social science is the study of various aspects of human society. The social sciences include sociology, anthropology, economics, history, psychology and political sciences.
    These academic disciplines have a common focus on the social behavior of people, yet each has a particular orientation in studying such a behavior. Anthropologists usually study cultures of the past and preindustrial societies that remain in existence today. Economics explore the ways in which people produce and exchange goods and services. Historians are concerned with the peoples and events of the past and their significance for us today. Political scientists study international relations, the workings of the government and the exercise of power and authority. Psychologists investigate personality and individual behavior. In contrast to other social sciences, sociology emphasizes the influence that society has on people’s attitudes and behavior. Humans are social animals; therefore, sociologists scientifically examine our social relationships with other people.
    To better illustrate the distinctive perspectives of the social sciences, let us examine sociological and psychological approaches to the issue of gambling. Viewed from the perspectives of psychology, gambling represents an escape into a fantasy world where great fortune can be attained easily, By contrast, sociologists focus on the social networks that develop among many gamblers. Participants in gambling establish friendship groups. For such persons gambling is a form of recreation and may even be their primary social activity. This example shows that by viewing social phenomena from several perspectives, we can enhance our understanding of human behavior.
    Sociology and Common Sense. Human behavior is something about which we all have experience and at least a bit of knowledge from a source of wisdom, which is called common sense. In our daily life, we rely on common sense to get us through many unfamiliar situations. Unfortunately, this source of knowledge is not always reliable. For example, it was once considered “common sense” to accept that the earth is flat.
    Like other social scientists sociologists do not accept something as a fact because “everyone knows it”. Instead, each piece of information must be tested and analyzed in relationship to other data. At times the findings of sociologists may seem like common sense. Yet, it is important to stress that such findings have been tested by researchers.

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                Vocabulary Practice





            I. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following


    Изучать человеческие взаимоотношения, изучение, общественное поведение, влияние общественных отношений на, область исследования, заниматься (интересоваться) чем-либо, источники информации, внешние черты, главная цель, выявить примеры, дать объяснения чему-либо, социальный контекст, полагаться на, творческое мышление, осознание (осведомленность), дать новое понимание, повседневная жизнь, область знаний, академические дисциплины, особая ориентации, исследовать способы, важность, международные отношения, работа правительства, применение силы и власти, исследовать личность, в отличие от, подчеркивать (выделять), подход к, рассматривать с точки зрения, наоборот, сосредоточить внимание на, общественная деятельность, общественные явления, увеличивать (усиливать), здравый смысл, мудрость, сведение - сведения; важно отметить (подчеркнуть), проверить (испытать), исследовать.


            II. Supply the sentences with the missing words or word combinations, choosing among those given below


    1)     The sociologist has ... of examining human interactions. 2) Sociology is the .study of social behavior and human groups. 3) As a field of study, sociology has an .scope. 4) Sociologists are not.to just recognize this fact. 5) Thus .simply accepting this fact as it is, sociologists study and analyze it thoroughly. 6) This term.the body of knowledge obtained by methods .systematic observations. 7) Sciences are.divided into natural and social ones. 8) Natural science is the study of . of nature. 9) Social science is the study of .ofhuman society. 10) Sociologists .examine our .with people. 11) Let us examine different approaches to the .of gambling. 12) Participation in the gambling ... friendship groups. 13) For such persons gambling is ... 14) In our daily life we.common sense to get us through. 15)Each piece of information must be analyzed ... other data.

In relationship to, rely on, a form of recreation, establish, issued, scientifically, social relations, various aspects, physical features, commonly, refers to, based upon, instead of, content, extremely broad, systematic, a distinctive way, unfamiliar situations.


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            III. Study the following word combinations and use them in the sentences of your own:


to focus on, to have some influence on, to influence smth., to deal with, to be concerned with, to report news, to involve doing smth., passionate desire, to see in person, to attempt to do smth., shared feelings, in a critical sense, to be interested in smth., to obtain, to include, to have a common focus on, to remain in existence, an approach to, to view smth. from several perspectives, at least, at times, to seem like.




                Comprehension Exercises




            I. Reread the text and answer the following questions


    1)     What does sociology focus on as a field of study? 2) What and who does it deal it? 3) What differs the work of a journalist from that of a sociologist? 4) What are the main goals of the sociological perspective? 5) Why is the sociological imagination very important in doing sociological research? 6) What types are the sciences commonly divided into? 7) What differs natural science from social science? 8) What social sciences do you know and what do they study? 9) What differs sociology from other social sciences? 10) Why should a social scientist view social phenomena from different perspectives? 11) What is common sense? 12) How should common sense be used by social scientists?


            II. Define the following key terms and memorize the definitions:


sociology, sociological perspective, sociological imagination, science, natural science, social science, common sense.

    III. Speak on sociology and its aspects in brief and illustrate your report with the situations or examples of your own.


            IV. Comment on the following topics, viewing them from the sociological perspective


    1) Gambling.
    2) Passionate desire of fans to see their stars in person.
    3)     Why aren’t we interested in outstanding scientists as passionately as in movie and rock stars?


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                Text: What is Sociological Theory? Origins of Sociology




   Why do people commit suicides? One traditional common sense answer is that people inherit the desire to kill themselves. Another view is that sunspots drive people to take their own lives.
   Sociologists are not particularly interested in why any one individual commits suicide; they are more concerned with why people in general take their own lives. In order to undertake such a research, sociologists develop theories that offer a general explanation of some types ofbehavior.
   In sociology a theory is a statement or series of statements that uses concepts to explain problems, actions or behavior. An effective theory will have both explanatory and predictive power. That is, it will help us to develop a broad and integrated view of seemingly isolated phenomena and to understand how one type of change in an environment leads to others.
   An essential task in building a sociological theory is to examine the relationship between bits of data, gathered through the researches, that may seem completely unrelated. For example, in researching the problem of suicide sociologists are primarily concerned not with the personalities of individual suicide victims, but rather with suicide rates and how they vary from country to country. And their research suggests that suicide, while a solitary act, is related to group life. They have developed a theory to explain how individual behavior can be understood within a social context. Their theory has predictive power, since it suggests that suicide rates will rise or fall in conjunction with certain social and economic changes.
   It is important to understand that a theory - even the best of theories - is not a final statement about human behavior. This theory of suicide is not an exception. Sociologists continue to examine factors which contribute to a society’s rate of suicide. The sociological research shows that the incidence of suicide increases following nationally televised stories about suicide, and the impact is the greatest after the publicized suicide of an entertainer or politician, and is somewhat less after the suicide of an artist, a criminal or a member of the economic elite.
   One means of classifying sociological theories is by the subject under study. Thus, there are theories concerning the causes of criminal behavior or the universal nature of religion. Yet, theories can also be distinguished by levels of analysis. There are two of them.
   Macrosociology concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilization. Thus, the above described cross-cultural study of suicide rates is an example of macrosociology.

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