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A Sociology Exhibit

Organizing Relationships

A Story of the Red Cross : Glimpses of F... (by Clara Barton)
Eugenics Marriage and Birth Control Prac... (by William Josephus Robinson)
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of C... (by Weber, Max)
Outlines of sociology (by Ward, Lester Frank)
Wanted, A Young Woman to Do Housework, B... (by Barker, Clara Helene)
Democratic Ideals and Reality : A Study ... (by Halford John Mackinder)
Ancient Society : Or, Researches in the ... (by Morgan, Lewis Henry)
Society, Its Origin and Development (by Rowe, Henry Kalloch)
Civic Education : Sociological Foundatio... (by David Snedden)
The Biology, Physiology and Sociology of... (by Winfield Scott Hall)
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs : Thr... (by John Davenport)
A Study of Siouan Cults (by Dorsey, James Owen)
Business Statistics (by Brumbaugh, Martin A.)
Conception Control and Its Effects on th... (by Barrett, Florence Elizabeth Perry, Lady)
Study of Child Life (by Washburne, Marion Foster, Mrs.)

Organizing Relationships: A Sociology Exhibit

Many disciplines beyond Sociology, such as Mathematics and Psychology and Economics, are utilized in the Social Sciences. In our Collections under these and other topics, contain hundreds of titles by writers and theorists who have dedicated to their lives to the study of human society. Featured books in the following collections include Herbert Spencer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Talcott Parsons and David Emile Durkheim.

Sociology of Past Power Structures

Throughout history, all sub-disciplines of Sociology, as well and religious and government groups have been studied and experimented with different methods of social organization of population. Sometimes, these attempts at social definitions and control have been tempered, but at other times, rigid – some men have use groups for their own gain. Ultimately, however, if social organization is to be implemented, it has to be understood.

From the beginning of time, both men and animals have used verbal and non-verbal cues and strategies to enforce hierarchy. With chimpanzees, it is the Alpha Male. With men: Domesday Books, mathematics and accounting, psychology and linguistics. The word “organization” is derived from the Greek word organon, which means "organ." Therefore, studies of how groups of people (with a common goal) structure themselves, is the study of mankind and its relationships as a collective.

The Domesday Book, created under the reign of William the Conqueror, has been studied to understand the role of documentation in asserting authority and also to facilitate taxation. According to Young Folks’ History of England, William the Conqueror was a Norman who conquered England. In 1086, he ordered the documentation of land, livestock and taxes under the administration of the previous rulers, to find out what would be transferred over to Norman rule. Whatever was recorded in the Domesday book could not be appealed. The data that William the Conqueror collected into the Domesday book revealed his tendency for control. In the book titled, William the Conqueror, it is said that “William would not set...over any part of his dominions before his time, and it was his policy to keep his children dependent on him. While he enriched his brothers, he did not give the smallest scrap of the spoils of England to his sons” (William the Conqueror, World Heritage Encyclopedia). Robert, his son, was angry about this and fought his father in a battle, but later asked for his pardon. Today, the Domesday Books is considered an artifact of sociological research. Domesday Studies, Being the Papers Read at the Meetings of the Domesday Commemoration 1886 examines how this document changed the course of history in the United Kingdom (Domesday Studies, Being the Papers Read at the Meetings of the Domesday Commemoration 1886, Edward P. Dove).

Debates in Defining Sociology

Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet was a 19th-Century Belgian mathematician, statistician and sociologist who introduced statistical methods into the social sciences. He assigned variables to the complexity of social phenomena, in order to measure the statistical laws underlying crime, marriage or suicide rates. Other scientists thought his ideas were controversial because it contradicted freedom of choice (“Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet,” World Heritage Encyclopedia).

The author of Adolphe Quetelet, A Statistician discusses Auguste Comte as another researcher of social physics and sociology, but that Quetelet invented the method of investigation for “social physics” (Adolphe Quetelet as Statistician, Frank Hamilton Hawkins). So Comte reinvented the term sociologie (sociology) to differentiate it from Quetelet’s collection of statistics (“Adolphe Quetelet,” World Heritage Encyclopedia). Comte believed that there was an order of nature, not of man, which could be scientifically understood by unifying history, psychology and economics. Social ills could be remedied through sociological positivism, or using a broader philosophy that methodologically orders scientific observations (Outlines of Sociology, Lester Frank Ward). In this book, Ward writes Comte’s use of the term “hierarchy” did not imply subordination. “There is genetic affiliation without subordination. The more complex and less exact sciences may be regarded as the children of the more simple and exact ones, but between parent and offspring there is no difference or rank.” Additionally, he wrote that Comte “laid the foundations for understanding the more complex sciences by acquainting himself with the simpler ones upon which the other sciences successively rest” (Outlines of Sociology, Lester Frank Ward). Other social scientists like Karl Marx also mixed scientific methods to measure social impacts of industrialization occurring in Europe, documented in his work Wage Labour and Capital ("Wage Labour and Capital," Karl Marx).

Studying Social Life

David Émile Durkheim was a 19th century French sociologist who believed that sociology should study phenomena attributed to society at large, rather than being limited to the specific actions of individuals. Barbara Anne Mendheim however, applied sociology differently in The Sociology of Gender in a Kindergarten-First Grade Classroom. She writes that people gain knowledge of the social world by identifying typicality and finding language to order their social experience. For example, girls understand that being a girl means being personally relevant and intimate with other people. Boys understand being a boy through being powerful and competent in the world (The Sociology of Gender in a Kindergarten-First Grade Classroom, Barbara Anne Mendheim). However, in Woman: Her Charm and Power, Robert Downes uses sociological methods to explore how women in Egyptian and Iranian society were given opportunity for education and in leadership. But in Roman culture, women’s roles were to birth children. Women’s positions in society are influenced by the dominant culture’s definition of their functions and role in society (Woman: Her Charm and Power, Robert Downes).

Sociology has also been used to study group relations. Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism discusses how entrepreneurs used religion to spread the system of capitalism. By tapping into religious belief systems, he proffered, people could work toward their profit making motive.

Works Cited

"August Compte." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

“David Émile Durkheim.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Domesday Book." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Dove, P. Edward. "Domesday Studies, Being the Papers Read at the Meetings of the Domesday Commemoration 1886." London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1886.

Downes, Robert. Woman: Her Charm and Power. London: The Epworth Press, 1900.

Hawkins, Frank Hamilton. Adolphe Quetelet as Statistician. New York: Columbia University Press, 1877.

“Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Marx, Karl. "Wage Labour and Capital." Neue Rheinische Zeitung, April 1849. Reproduced: World Public Library, 2002. Web.

Mendheim, Barbara Anne. The Sociology of Gender in a Kindergarten-First Grade Classroom. Diss. University of Florida, 1979.

“Norman People.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Sociology." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Ward, Lester Frank. Outlines of Sociology. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1921.

Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Scribner, 1930

“William the Conqueror.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Yonge, Charlotte Mary. Young Folks’ History of England. Boston: Estes and Lauriet, 1879.

Sociology Collections

"Organizing Relationships: A Sociology Exhibit" demonstrates how sociological methods have been used to study the configuration of power, through documentation, analysis of order, and social effects. Sociology brings together different methods of thinking, to understand the complexity of society more accurately, and why we should always be vigilant of power.

Learn more about how the discipline of sociology is used, in these collections:

Top 100 books on Sociology

A Story of the Red Cross : Glimpses of F... (by Clara Barton)
Eugenics Marriage and Birth Control Prac... (by William Josephus Robinson)
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of C... (by Weber, Max)
Outlines of sociology (by Ward, Lester Frank)
Wanted, A Young Woman to Do Housework, B... (by Barker, Clara Helene)
Democratic Ideals and Reality : A Study ... (by Halford John Mackinder)
Ancient Society : Or, Researches in the ... (by Morgan, Lewis Henry)
Society, Its Origin and Development (by Rowe, Henry Kalloch)
Civic Education : Sociological Foundatio... (by David Snedden)
The Biology, Physiology and Sociology of... (by Winfield Scott Hall)
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs : Thr... (by John Davenport)
A Study of Siouan Cults (by Dorsey, James Owen)
Business Statistics (by Brumbaugh, Martin A.)
Conception Control and Its Effects on th... (by Barrett, Florence Elizabeth Perry, Lady)
Study of Child Life (by Washburne, Marion Foster, Mrs.)

Top 100 books on Psychology

An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision (by Berkeley, George)
The Secret Places of the Heart (by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George))
Psychology from the Standpoint of a Beha... (by Watson, John B. (John Broadus))
Group Psychology and the Analysis of the... (by Freud, Sigmund)
The Art of War (by Tzu, Sun)
On dreams (by Freud, Sigmund)
The Elements of Psychology (by Edward Lee Thorndike)
The Story of the Mind (by James Mark Baldwin)
Psychological Types or the Psychology of... (by C. G. Jung)
Psychology and Religion West and East (by C. G. Jung)
Talks to Teachers on Psychology, And to ... (by James, William)
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery (by Lawrence, Robert Means)
Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory (by Freud, Sigmund)
Illusions : A Psychological Study (by Sully, James)
The Psychology of Beauty (by Ethel Dench Puffer)

Top 100 books on Economics

Essay on the Principle of Population, An (by Malthus, Thomas)
Letters of David Ricardo to Thomas Rober... (by Ricardo, David)
Women and Economics: A Study of the Econ... (by Charlotte Perkins Gilman)
Alfred Weber's Theory of the Location of... (by Weber, Alfred)
Autobiography of Mother Jones, The (by Jones, Mary Harris)
The People of the Abyss (by Jack London)
The Conquest of Bread (by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, Kniaz)
King Coal (by Sinclair, Upton)
Theory of Moral Sentiments, The (First E... (by Smith, Adam)
Effects of the Corn Laws (by Malthus, Thomas)
The Poverty of Philosophy (by Marx, Karl)
An Essay on the Principle of Population (by Malthus, Thomas)
The Evolution of Modern Capitalism (by John A. Hobson)
Wage Labour and Capital (by Marx, Karl)
The Iron Heel (by London, Jack)

Top 100 books on Government

Discourse on Inequality (by Rousseau, Jean Jacques)
Chronological Tables of the Chinese Dyna... (by E. R. Lyman, Tso-Ting Wang, Theodore Wong)
An Introduction to the Principles of Mor... (by Bentham, Jeremy)
An Essay on the Principle of Population (by Malthus, Thomas)
The Letters of Junius
The American Democrat : Or, Hints on the... (by James Fenimore Cooper)
The Republic, Score Plato Rep (by Plato)
Discourses on the First (by Niccolò Machiavelli)
Robert's Rules of Order Revised for Deli... (by Robert, Henry M. (Henry Martyn))
Utopia (by More, Thomas, Sir)
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (by Thoreau, Henry David)
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (by Thoreau, Henry David)
Lex, Rex : The Law and the Prince, A Dis...
On Liberty (by Mill, J. S.)
Declaration of Colonial Rights : Resolut...

Top 100 books on Law

The Law (by Bastiat, Frédéric)
Prince, The (Version 2) (by Machiavelli, Niccolo)
Amendments to the United States Constitu... (by United States, Founding Fathers of the)
Terrorism, Asylum Issues, And U.S. Immig... (by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee On the ...)
Nuclear proliferation : future U.S. fore... (by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Inter...)
Magna Carta (by Unknown)
Utilitarianism (by Mill, John Stuart)
The Development of the Associative Princ... (by Christopher Barker)
Bleak House (by Dickens, Charles)
Crime and Punishment (by Dostoyevsky, Fyodor)
Draft Mandates for Mesopotamia and Pales... (by League of Nations. Council)
The Fiscal Threat to U.S. Foreign Policy (by Spiers, Ronald I.)
Report to Congress in Accordance with 35... (by United States Department of the Treasury)
Roman Law in the Modern World (by Sherman, Charles Phineas)
The United States' Constitution (by Fathers, Founding)

Top 100 books on Politics

Meditations (by Aurelius, Marcus)
Capital : A Critique of Political Econom... (by Marx, Karl)
The Philosophical Works of John Locke : ... (by John Locke)
The Trial and Death of Socrates (by Plato)
Proposed Roads to Freedom : Socialism, A... (by Russell, Bertrand)
Heart of Darkness (by Conrad, Joseph)
The Trial (by Kafka, Franz)
The Republic (by Plato)
Proposed Roads to Freedom : Socialism, A... (by Russell, Bertrand)
Rights of Man, Score Aor Rom Volume Vol. II (by Paine, Thomas)
On War (by Von Clausewitz, Carl)
Mutual Aid (by Kropotkin, P.)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (by Franklin, Benjamin)
The History of the Russian Revolution Vo... (by Leon Trotsky)
Uncle Tom's cabin : or, Life among the l... (by Stowe, Harriet Beecher)

Top 100 books on Anthropology

Pathological Lying, Accusation, And Swin... (by Healy, William)
The American Beaver and His Works (by Lewis Henry Morgan)
Growing up in New Guinea; A Comparative ... (by Mead, Margaret)
Handbook of the Alabama Anthropological ... (by Alabama Anthropological Society, Montgomery.)
Public Health Publication : World Health... (by Margaret Mead)
The Female Offender (by Cesare Lombroso, Guglielmo Ferrero)
Anthropology and Modern Life (by Boas, Franz)
The Golden Bough : A Study in Magic and ... (by Frazer, James George, Sir)
The Living World : Containing Descriptio... Volume v 1 (by Arnold, Augustus C. L.)
Story of Man: from the First Human to Pr... (by Coon, Carleton Stevens)
Pedagogical Anthropology (by Montessori, Maria)
Animal Figures in the Maya Codices (by Tozzer, Alfred M. (Alfred Marston))
The History of Mankind Volume: v.3 (by Ratzel, Friedrich, 1844-1904)
Anthropology and a Lifetime of Observati... (by Colson, Elizabeth)
General Anthropology (by Boas, Franz)

Top 100 books on Mathematics

Flatland (by Abbott, Edwin A.)
A synopsis of elementary results in pure... (by Carr, G. S. (George Shoobridge))
Logic, Deductive and Inductive (by Carveth Read)
A Short Account of the History of Mathem... (by Ball, Walter William Rouse)
On Mathematics and Mathematicians (by Robert Édouard Moritz)
A Course of Pure Mathematics (by Hardy, Godfrey Harold)
The Elements of Euclid : The Errors by W... (by Euclid)
Deductive Logic (by Stock, St. George)
Theory of the Motion of the Heavenly Bod... (by Gauss, Karl Friedrich)
Flatland : A Romance of Many Dimensions (by Edwin Abbott)
The Aryabhatiya; With the Commentary Bha... (by Aryabhata)
Harmonies of the World, Score Astro How (by Kepler, Johannes)
Lectures on Ten British Mathematicians o... (by Macfarlane, Alexander)
An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers... (by Ivan Niven)
Projective Geometry (by Mathews, George Ballard)

Top 100 books on Economics

Essay on the Principle of Population, An (by Malthus, Thomas)
Letters of David Ricardo to Thomas Rober... (by Ricardo, David)
Women and Economics: A Study of the Econ... (by Charlotte Perkins Gilman)
Alfred Weber's Theory of the Location of... (by Weber, Alfred)
Autobiography of Mother Jones, The (by Jones, Mary Harris)
The People of the Abyss (by Jack London)
The Conquest of Bread (by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, Kniaz)
King Coal (by Sinclair, Upton)
Theory of Moral Sentiments, The (First E... (by Smith, Adam)
Effects of the Corn Laws (by Malthus, Thomas)
The Poverty of Philosophy (by Marx, Karl)
An Essay on the Principle of Population (by Malthus, Thomas)
The Evolution of Modern Capitalism (by John A. Hobson)
Wage Labour and Capital (by Marx, Karl)
The Iron Heel (by London, Jack)