Indiana Social Studies S.1.1
The Standard
Define sociology and trace its development as a distinct discipline.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain that sociology studies patterns in social life, such as how groups and institutions shape behavior. They trace how industrialization raised new questions about society, then describe how Comte named the field and Durkheim used evidence to study it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can define sociology in their own words and give an example of a question a sociologist might ask. They can put industrialization, Comte, and Durkheim in a rough sequence and explain each one's place in the field's development.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think sociology studies only individual choices, rather than patterns across groups. They may also think Comte and Durkheim did the same work, or that sociology began before the social changes it sought to explain.
How to Assess It
- On an exit ticket, ask students to define sociology, then write one sentence each about how industrialization, Comte, and Durkheim shaped the field.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs cards for industrialization, Comte naming sociology, and Durkheim studying suicide rates; have them build an annotated timeline.
Ask students to write: How might crowded factory cities have led people to ask new questions about society?
Play a matching game with names, dates, and contributions; require students to explain each match to a partner.
Show two U.S. Census charts of household size from different decades; ask what changed and what a sociologist might investigate.
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Printable S.1.1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to S.1.1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- S.6.1
Define social groups as understood in sociology and distinguish groups from crowds and aggregates.
- P.1.1
Define psychology as a discipline and identify its goals as a science.
- S.1.3
Illustrate the relationship of sociology to the other social science disciplines, including history, economics, psychology, and political science.
- S.1.2
Identify key figures in the development of the discipline of sociology.
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