CSS Sociology Complete Guide With Free Preparation Material

I. General Sociology

• Individual: Sociability or the sociality of man.
• Culture:
  • Meaning and Characteristics (Culture is variable, learnt, social, shared, transmissive, dynamic and adaptive).
  • Types (Material, Non-material).
  • Functions (transfer of knowledge, define situation, provide behaviour pattern, moulds personality).
  • Elements of culture (norms, values, beliefs, sanctions, customs).
  • Culture and Socialization; formal and non-formal socialization, transmission of culture, cultural relativism.
  • Sub-cultures, Ethnocentrism and xenocentrism, Cultural lag, High culture and popular culture.
  • Multiculturalism, assimilation, and acculturation.
• Society:
  • Meaning and characteristics.
  • Community; meaning and characteristics.
  • Individual and society, Relationship between individual and society.
  • Two main theories:
    • The social contact theory.
    • The organismic theory.
  • Social and cultural evolution of society:
    • Hunting and Gathering Society.
    • Herding and Advance Herding Society.
    • Horticultural Society.
    • Agrarian Society.
    • Industrial Society.
    • Post-modern Society.
• Social Interaction: Caste and classes, Forms of social classes, Feudal system in Pakistan, Social Mobility—nature of social mobility and its determinants in Pakistani society, Culture of poverty.
• Social Control: Mechanisms of social control—formal and informal means of social control, Anomie, Alienation and social Integration—Means of social integration in Pakistani Society.
• Social and Cultural Change and Social Policy:
  • Processes of Social and Cultural Change—discovery, Inhibitions to social and cultural change in Pakistan.
  • Social planning and directed social and cultural change.
  • Effect of Industrialization, Urbanization, Modernization, and Modern Means of Communication on Social Change.
• Public Opinion: Formation of public opinion, concept of opinion leader, characteristics of opinion leadership.
• Community:
  • The rural community, Traditional Characteristics of rural life.
  • The urban community, Rural–Urban convergence, Urbanism, Future of cities in Pakistan.
• Social Institutions:
  • The nature and genesis of institutions, The process of institutionalization.
  • Functions of Social Institutions: Family, Religion, Education, Economy and Politics.
• Social Problems in Pakistan:
  • High population growth rate, Rural–urban migration.
  • Issues of technical/vocational training, Deviance and street crime, Unemployment, illiteracy, and School drop-out.
  • Smuggling, Prostitution, Poverty, Drug Addiction, Child Labour and Abuse, Bonded Labour.
  • Social customs and Traditions affecting Women in Pakistan, Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence.
  • Issues concerning the Elderly in Pakistan.

II. Sociological Theory:

• Three sociological perspectives:
  • Structural Functionalism.
  • Symbolic interactions.
  • Conflict.
• Theorists: Ibn-i-Khaldun, Spencer, August Comte, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Karl Marx, Parson.

III. Methods of Sociological Research:

• Scientific Method, Steps in research, Types of Questionnaire Research Design.
• Surveys, Observation, and Case Studies.