Knowra Social fact Social fact A way of acting, thinking, or feeling that exists outside any one individual and exerts constraint over people. Émile Durkheim used the concept to define sociology’s distinctive subject matter.
Socialization : The lifelong process through which people learn and internalize the norms, values, and practices of their society. It transmits shared ways of acting and thinking that constrain individuals.
Émile Durkheim : A French sociologist whose work helped establish sociology as an academic discipline. He formulated social facts as sociology’s distinctive subject matter.
Social structure : The enduring patterns of relationships and institutions that organize social life. Social facts are features of the patterned social world rather than isolated personal choices.
Social constraint : The limits on conduct imposed by social rules, expectations, institutions, or relationships. Constraint is one of the defining properties Durkheim assigned to social facts.
Social norm : A shared expectation about how members of a group should behave in particular situations. Norms are a clear case of collective expectations shaping individual conduct.
The Rules of Sociological Method : Durkheim’s 1895 book setting out principles for studying social phenomena scientifically. It gives the classic definition and methodological rules for studying social facts.
Collective representation : A symbol, idea, or category created and shared by a group. Durkheim treated shared representations as collective realities that shape individual thought.
Methodological individualism : An approach that explains social phenomena through the actions and interactions of individuals. It challenges explanations that treat social facts as irreducible collective forces.
Social institution : An established system of rules and roles that organizes a major area of social life. Institutions stabilize collective rules and make them durable beyond any one person.
Sociology : The systematic study of social life, institutions, relationships, and change. Social facts were proposed as the proper objects of sociological inquiry.
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