� Defining the Sociology� Need of sociology� Sociology and the Social Sciences� Sociology and the Social Sciences� The Development of Sociology

The term sociology was coined by Auguste Comte , a French philosopher,in 1839.

Sociology is derived fromthe Latin word “Societus” meaning societyand the Greek word “logos” meaning ‘study or science’

The meaning of sociology is thus the ‘the science of society’

1. The study of human social behaviour, especially the study ofthe origins, organization, institutions, and developmentofhuman society.2. Analysis of a social institution or societal segment as a self-containedentityor in relationto societyasawhole.containedentityor in relationto societyasawhole.

Sociology has been defined in a number of ways by differentsociologists. No single definition has yet been accepted as completelysatisfactory. For our purpose of study a fewdefinitions may be citedhere.

Auguste Comete, the founding father of sociology, definessociology as “the science of social phenomena subject to natural andinvariable laws, the discovery of which is the object of investigation".

Kingsley Davis says that "Sociology is a general scienceofKingsley Davis says that "Sociology is a general scienceofsociety".

Harry M. Johnson opines that "sociology is the science thatdeals with social groups".

Emile Durkheim : "Science of social institutions".

Park regards sociology as "the science of collective behaviour”.

Marshal Jones defines sociology as "the study of man-in-relationship-to-men".

Alex Inkeles says, "Sociology is the study of “systems of socialaction and of their inter-relations".

Kimball Young and Raymond W. Mack say, "Sociology is thescientific study of social aspects of human life".

A careful examination of various definitions cited above, makes itevident that sociologists differ in their opinion about definition ofsociology.

However, the common idea underlying all the definitions mentionedabove is that sociology is concerned with man, his social relations andhis society.

TheThe studystudy ofof peoplepeople inin groupsgroups

GroupsGroups inin thethe processprocess ofof selfself--formationformationthroughthroughthetheactionsactionsofof individualsindividualsthroughthroughthetheactionsactionsofof individualsindividuals

ThroughThrough thethe actionsactions andand forcesforces ofof thethe groupsgroupsthemselvesthemselves

“Sociology is the scientific study of human society andsocial interactions.”

What makes sociology “scientific?”What makes sociology “scientific?”

The Scientific MethodThe Scientific MethodThe Scientific MethodThe Scientific Method

� Science is “...a body of systematically arranged knowledge that shows the Gather Data

Analyze Data

operation of general laws.”

� As a science, sociology employs the scientific method Formulate hypotheses

Choose research design

Review of literature

� Sociology is the scientific study of social behaviour ofhumans.

� Sociology studies the social, economic, political, and religiousactivities of people.

� Sociologyhasits importancein analysingthe variousaspects� Sociologyhasits importancein analysingthe variousaspectsof communities and families, and their behaviour in socialchange and mobility, bureaucracy, addictions, crime and law,and all that influences people behaviour.

� They can analyse stuff and it makes it better to knowaboutthis information because it can get you somewhere .

� Sociology is the study of the social part of us, the pattern ofinteraction with other people which is necessary to our veryexistence.

� Sociology has been described as 'the scientific study of humangroup behaviour and 'the application of scientific methods ofinquiry to the puzzles of social life.

� We all participate in any number of social groups, many of whichoverlap. Sociologistsstudy how and why thesegroups interactoverlap. Sociologistsstudy how and why thesegroups interactwith each other and howthe interactions affect their members.Such analyses not only yield a clearer understanding of society andits components, but also allowsociologists to see both the causesand the possible remedies for our social problems.

Here are two main schools of thought regarding the scope ofSociology:(1) The Specialist or Formalistic school and(2) the Synthetic school.

Thereis a gooddealof controversyaboutthescopeof SociologyThereis a gooddealof controversyaboutthescopeof Sociologybetween the two schools.

The supporter of first school believe that Sociology is a specificscience and the scope should be limited whereas others believe that it is ageneral science and its scope is very vast.

� The Sociological Perspective

Social organizationIt is the study of the various institutions, social groups,

social stratification, social mobility, bureaucracy, ethnic groups andrelations, and other similar subjects like family, education, politics,religion, economy, and so on and so forth.

Social psychology

Areas of sociology

Social psychologyIt is the study of human nature as an outcome of group life,

social attitudes, collective behaviour, and personality formation. Itdeals with group life and the individual's traits, attitudes, beliefs asinfluenced by group life, and it views man with reference to grouplife.

Social change and disorganizationIt is the study of the change in culture and social relations

and the disruption that may occur in society, and it deals with thestudy of such current problems in society such as juveniledelinquency, criminality, drug addiction, family conflicts, divorce,population problems, and other similar subjects.

Human ecologyIt deals with the nature and behaviour of a given populationIt deals with the nature and behaviour of a given population

and its relationships to the group's present social institutions. Forinstance, studies of this kind have shown the prevalence of mentalillness, criminality, delinquencies, prostitution, and drug addictionin urban centers and other highly developed places.

Population or demographyIt is the study of population number, composition, change,

and quality as they influence the economic, political, and socialsystem.

Sociological theory and methodIt is concerned with the applicability and usefulness of the

principles and theories of group life as bases for the regulation ofman's environment, and includes theory building and testing asman's environment, and includes theory building and testing asbases for the prediction and control of man's social environment.

Applied sociologyIt utilizes the findings of pure sociological research in

various fields such as criminology, social work, communitydevelopment, education, industrial relations, marriage, ethnicrelations, family counselling, and other aspects and problems ofdaily life.

Nature of sociologySociology can be described as all of the following:The study of society.Academic discipline –body of knowledge given to - or received by - a disciple(student); a branch or sphere of knowledge, or field of study,that an individual has chosen to specialise in.Field of science –widely-recognized category of specialized expertise withinwidely-recognized category of specialized expertise withinscience, and typically embodies its own terminology andnomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by oneor more scientific journals, where peer reviewed research ispublished. There are many sociology-related scientificjournals.Social science –field of academic scholarship that explores aspects of humansociety.