For Health Science Students - Carter Center

LECTURE NOTES

For Health Science Students

Introduction to Sociology

Zerihun Doda, M.A.

Debub University

In collaboration with the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative, The Carter Center,

the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopia Ministry of Education

June 2005

Funded under USAID Cooperative Agreement No. 663-A-00-00-0358-00.

Produced in collaboration with the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative, The Carter

Center, the Ethiopia Ministry of Health, and the Ethiopia Ministry of Education.

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Limited permission is granted free of charge to print or photocopy all pages of this

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?2005 by Zerihun Doda

All rights reserved. Except as expressly provided above, no part of this publication may

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without written permission of the author or authors.

This material is intended for educational use only by practicing health care workers or

students and faculty in a health care field.

PREFACE

Sociology

is

conventionally

a

is

discipline

called

that

the

belongs

social

to

science.

what

The

discipline plays a leading role in the social sciences. The

term sociology literally means the science of society; for

the term itself in its direct sense denotes that. Sociology

as an academic discipline arose in the first half of 19th

century (in 1837, to mention the exact year) as a special

science dedicated to unravel the fundamental laws

governing the societal phenomena and human social

relationship with primary interest in analyzing the

problems and societies of the modern, western world. It

has, thus, conventionally been accepted to associate

sociology with the study of the modern, industrialized

societies of western world.

Health science students learning this discipline have a

great advantage of gaining fresh insights and practical

benefits in their personal lives and professional

practices. Sociology along with other sisterly disciplines

such as anthropology, economics, social psychology,

human/

cultural

geography,

history

and

political

sciences has now become an essential component of

i

the health and medical sciences curricula in universities

and other training institutions abroad. Following this

example, similar institutions in Ethiopia have also

included this course in their curricula.

These lecture notes on introductory sociology are

prepared for the health and medical sciences students

in institutions of higher learning in Ethiopia. Its purpose

is to provide the students with basic ideas and

knowledge in the science of sociology. By learning the

materials presented in this lecture notes, it is believed

that students will be able to understand and appreciate

the

basic

issues,

principles

and

approaches

of

sociology. Students may also gain an indirect benefit of

appreciating

the

social,

cultural,

and

behavioral

dimensions of health and disease.

Specifically, the main learning objective of introduction

to sociology is to familiarize the students with the basic

ideas, issues, concepts and principles of sociology.

Students will be able to describe the meaning, scope,

methods, history and importance of sociology, and its

relations to other disciplines. The students will also be

able to appreciate the relevance of sociology in their

ii

personal and future professional practice. A brief

discussion of the survey of

social problems in

contemporary Ethiopian society will also help them

understand their nature, causes and types; and their

relations to health and disease.

The lecture notes are organized into seven chapters: the

First Chapter introduces important introductory issues

such as the definition, subject- matter, theories, history

importance and basic research methods of sociology,

and its relationship to other disciplines. Chapter Two

discusses the concepts of society and culture that are

central to sociology. In Chapter Three, the concept of

socialization is discussed. Here, the meaning, bases,

necessity, goals and types of socialization are important

issues of the chapter. Chapter Four deals with some

aspects of social organization and social interaction.

Three

important

dimensions

of social

processes,

namely, social stratification, social mobility and social

change will be discussed in Chapter Five, while an

overview of social pathologies (focusing on Ethiopia)

and methods of social action and intervention will be

dealt in the Sixth and Seventh Chapters, respectively.

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