TLÜ ÕIS

Study and Analysis of Society

Course code

RAS6010.YK

old course code

Course title in Estonian

Ühiskonna uurimine ja analüüs

Course title in English

Study and Analysis of Society

ECTS credits

6.0

Assessment form

Examination

lecturer of 2024/2025 Autumn semester

Triin Roosalu (language of instruction:Estonian)

lecturer of 2024/2025 Spring semester

Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.

Course aims

Acquisition of the basic knowledge of the aims of analysis of society and main concepts, theories and areas of such analysis;
Acquisition of the ability of seeing the connections between societal issues and personal biographies (including the student’s own);
Acquisition of the basics of methodology used to analyze society;
Creating an understandig of the discipline of sociology.

Brief description of the course

The following theoretical concepts will be touched upon:
• Classical sociological theories: functionalism, conflict theory, societal exchange, symbolic interactionism
• Society and culture: high culture, mass culture, subculture, globalization and multiculturalism, cultural universals and ethnocentrism, civilization, value, meaning, model, ideology, lifestyle and way of life
• The build of society and functional needs: division of labour, institutions, organizations, bureaucracy
• Societal order: deviance, norms, anomie, social control, power, anarchy, social problems
• Stratification: status, classes, unequality, social mobility
• Individuals and society: belonging, solidarity, groups, roles, social and personal identity
• Societal change: modernity, postmodernity, risk society, scial conflicts and integration
• Estonian society: demographics, social problems, stratification, education, labour market, civil society, ethnic and gender relations
• Methods for studying society: research plan, research questions, sample, validity and reliability, qualitative and quantitative methods, observation, questionnaire, interviews

Learning outcomes in the course

Upon completing the course the student:
- knows main areas of sociiological research; main theories and concepts used in these fields;
- is able to differentiate these from the rest of sociological knowledge; is able to connect these theoreis and concepts to rea life phenomena.

Teacher

Karmo Kroos

Study programmes containing that course