Humans crave social interactions; to withhold social interaction is a squandered effort. The study of social behaviors and human groups is known as sociology and is very broad. Sociology and social psychology go hand in hand. The principles are similar; but they are not identical. Socioeconomic class along with stratification have meaning only because of social psychology within the individual (Schaefer, 2011) and when motivating a group that surrounds an individual this is called conformity (kowalski & Westen.
There are quite significant differences between psychology, sociology, psychiatry and psychotherapy roles and they tend to deal with different types of problems, however there is considerable overlap in their work. The study of psychology and sociology are inextricably bound. Psychology is the study of the mind and its relation to behaviour. Sociology is the study of society, and society as a group of interdependent people. Psychology and sociology are related by their focus on people and behaviour.
In the past social psychologist was on two separate sides of the fence when it came to social psychology. One group focused on social behavior and how an individual respond to others. The other group focused on cognition known as social thoughts and is how people used their common sense to understand one self as wells as others in society. Today both groups have agreed that in social psychology there is a connection between behavior and cognition. Social behavior is influence by social thoughts and in order for one
Psychology is the scientific observation and analysis of the pattern between, the human mind and its functions to determine behaviour, which helps in gaining empirical evidence that can be useful to everyday life and its individuals (American Psychological Association 2013). However, a question that arises in the following debate is how can psychologists study the mind and mental processes? And how and whether the mind is a separate component from the body? Findings show evidence that the body and mind can work in sync together and have an influence on each other (Descartes, 1961). For instance, when we considered an individual suffering from anxiety; which targets a person psychologically, we can see how this can also can reflect in the physical being, such as losing weight long-term or lack of breath when having an anxiety attack.
Personality Theory Personality Theory is a diverse, in-depth topic that requires careful consideration and attention. What drives behaviors in society to make people act the way they do? What causes people to think the way they think? The study of personality or what is personality focuses on two main areas – understanding how the various characteristics of a person come together to make up the entire person. The other point is understanding the individual differences in personality characteristics, such as irritability or sociability.
Psychologists use two significant factors in their studies, statistics and research, to either validate or invalidate their theories. Research plays a significant role in the study of psychology; it is used to discover answers to questions, and is understood through the use of statistics. “Psychologists use statistical methods to help them make sense of the numbers they collect when conducting research,” (Aron, Aron, & Coups, 2009 p.2). This paper will address and examine the roles of research and statistics in the field of psychology, will thoroughly define research and the scientific method, and compare and contrast the characteristics of primary and secondary data. This paper will also explain the role that statistics play in research and their importance to the study of psychology.
Theories and Perspectives in Sociology, Understanding sociological Theory In the study of how society works, sociologists use theories, to help explain human behaviour. Within sociology, there are several theories and perspectives used to do this. These are divided into three main theories structural functional, Conflict and social action theory. The social action theory is micro a study of society, this theory looks at individual’s behaviour and how individuals interact with each other. As stated in Giddens, sociologists who support this theory see individuals as not created by society but as the creators of society.
Use of the Scientific Method in Sociology Sociologists are social scientists who observe the human society. As sociology is also the field of science, it needs to be studied with the application of scientific method. Scientific method is a systematic approach to researching questions and problems through objective and accurate observation, collection and analysis of data, direct experimentation, and replication of these procedures. The principles of the scientific method are mostly concerned with the way of conducting the observations. Sociologists who use scientific method should develop a hypothesis that is falsifiable and when observing the social phenomena they want to study, he or she should not put their personal beliefs in their observation.
Therefore, everyone has their own ideas and opinions about others, which can influence what we do and also how we interpret what others are doing. Moreover, we each live different lives and learn from our varying experiences, meaning our ideas can be very different from one person to another. In 1879 in Germany, Wilhelm Wundt opened a first laboratory dedicated to psychology, which was considered as a beginning of modern psychology. Before, the psychology was seen more as a philosophy and Wundt had the willingness to separate it by analysing the mind in a more complex way, with the focus being on objective measurement and control. Wilhelm Wundt: “The distinguishing characteristics of mind are of a subjective sort: we know them only from the contents of our own consciousness.” In comparison to the scientific approach and use of laboratories, psychodynamic psychology completely ignores the idea and focuses on what goes on ‘inside the head’ of people and attempts to make sense of how they see the world and relationships between
The Sociological Imagination The sociological imagination requires us to engage in the study of an individual’s biography. C. Wright Mills said that the sociological imagination is the ‘promise’ of sociology. Mills proposed that the sociological imagination enables the individual a way to liberate himself from these traps. The sociological imagination distinguishes between two very distinct spheres of reality; troubles and issues. Mills also feels that the sociological imagination works to distinguish between the "personal troubles of individual surroundings" and the "public issues of social structure."