INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

SUBJECT MATTER OF SOCIOLOGY:

While discussing its subject matter of sociologist, Sorokin said that, “It seems to be a study,
first of the relationship and correlation between various classes of social phenomena”
(correlation between economic and religious, family and moral, judicial and economic, mobility
and political phenomena and so on); second that between social and non social (geographical,
biological) phenomena; third the study of general characteristics common to all classes of
phenomena. Thus according to his view point sociology studies social events, relationships
between social and non social phenomena and generalized study of facts common to all aspects
of social life. In his book ‘Society, Culture and Personality’ he has said that sociology is more
or less concerned with the working of human beings. In this study he covers the study of human
behavior, social organizations, social phenomena and social values.

IS SOCIOLOGY A SCIENCE?
There is a continuing controversy about the nature of sociology. According to some sociologists
it is a science, while others strongly deny this claim.

WHAT IS A SCIENTIFIC STUDY?

For a scientific study it is essential that the whole study should be systematic and without any
subjectivity. A scientist is supposed to have a clear vision and a pointed approach. He should
have capacity to record unbiased decisions and properly classify data’s. He should also have
vision to collect only such data as is useful for his study. He should conclude his findings after
verification of data’s and not on morality or certain pre-supposed philosophies, nations and
ideas. The most important element of a scientific study is that a scientist should deal with facts
and not with ideal situations. Thus this study should be both factual and systematic. Then another
element is that its results should have universal application. Then in a scientific study there
should be cause effect relationship and it should also be capable of making certain safe
predictions.

IS SOCIOLOGY A SCIENCE?
Now a question arises as to whether sociology is science or not. Those who support the cause of
sociology as science plead that a present day sociologists must be methodological. He must base
his conclusions on impartially collected, analyzed and interpreted data. He should also be willing
to get his data tested anywhere to established its validity. They also argue that like natural
scientists, Sociologists are concerned with hard facts and not with ideal situations. They try to
analyses facts of social life as these are. They also believe that there are many social facts and
theories which the sociologists have developed after hard labor and these are universally
applicable, under similar circumstances. They also point out that like natural scientists, the
sociologists are very much concerned with cause effect relationship e.g. social stratification and
social disorganizations are the outcome of certain causes, which have their effects as well. As
with the natural scientists, so with the sociologists, it is equal true that like the former the latter
can make some safe predictions. They thus argue that “sociology is a science which attempts the
interpretative under-standing of social action in order to arrive at a casual explanation of its
causes and effects.”

SOCIOLOGY- NOT A SCIENCE:

There is other side of the picture as well. Many believe that society is not a perfect science. Like
the results of natural sciences, the results obtained by social scientists cannot be generalized and
these also cannot be same under all circumstances and at all places. The conditions always differ
from society to society and social changes are unavoidable. These are also very complex. Then it
is said that each human being has his own limitations and he provides information keeping those
limitations into consideration. He is not prepared to disclose secrets and thus the information
provided is not factual. It is also said that the many situations are not within the control of
sociologists and repeat experimentation is almost impossible. Each sociologist has subjective
approach to the problem under investigation. There is no stage of investigation in which there is
no subjectivity. Each one has some secrets which he is not prepared to disclose to the
investigators. Unlike natural scientist, a sociologist has no laboratory facilities and also has no
control over material to be experimented i.e. human beings. Not only this, but it is not possible to
repeat experiments. It is more or less not possible to make the safe predictions because nature of
social problems with which the sociologists are not the same all over the world.

NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY:

What is real nature of sociology about this controversy is likely to continue. According to Robert
Stead Sociology is a social science and not a natural science, because it deals with human beings
and social phenomena. It is positive and not normative science because it studies social
phenomena as it is and not as it ought to be. It is pure and not applied science because it studies
underlying factors of a social phenomenon. Sociology is an abstract and not a concrete science
because it studies society in general. It deals with society, which in itself is abstract and as such
the subject cannot be concrete. It is a science of generalization and not that of particularization
because it studies a social problem in general and not in particular way. It does not study a social
phenomenon from a particular angle. It is an empirical or rational science because it tries to
follow logical method of data collection.
SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY:

Scope means the subject matter or the areas of study. Every science has its own field of inquiry.
It becomes difficult to study a science systematically unless its boundary or scope is determined
precisely. Sociology as a social science has its own scope or boundaries. But there is no one
opinion about the scope of Sociology. However, there are two main schools of thought regarding
the scope of Sociology: (1) The Specialist or Formalistic school and (2) the Synthetic school.
There is a good deal of controversy about the scope of Sociology between the two schools. The
supporter of first school believe that Sociology is a specific science and the scope should be
limited whereas others believe that it is a general science and its scope is very vast
(1) Specialistic school:

The supporters of this school of thought are George Simmel, Vierkandt, Max Weber, Vonwise,
and F. Tonnies. The main views of the school regarding the scope of Sociology are as under:
(i) Sociology is a specific, pure and independent social science.
(ii) Sociology studies the various forms of social relationships.
(iii) Scope of Sociology is very narrow and limited.
(iv) Sociology deals with specific form of human relationship.
(v) Sociology need not study all the events connected with social science.
(vi) Simmel believes that it is a specific social science and it should deal with social relationships
from different angles.
(2) Synthetic school:
The supporters of synthetic school are the sociologists like Ginsberg, Durkheim, Comte, Sorokin,
Spencer, F. Ward, and L.T. Hobhouse.
According to this school-
(i) Sociology is a general and systematic social science.
(ii) Scope of Sociology is very vast.
(iii) Sociology needs help from other social sciences.
(iv) It is a synthesis of social science.
(v) Sociology is closely related with other social sciences.
SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES:
A brief look at some other social sciences includes:
Anthropology: looks at cultures within society and not the society as a whole.
Psychology: takes the individual out of the society to examine mental processes.
Economics: deals with the production and distribution of society’s goods. Political
Science: deals with society’s present and future governments.

Sociology and Psychology:

 Psychologists try to understand the working of the human mind (thoughts, emotions,
principles, experience) and how this affects one's behavior. It is a separate discipline from
Sociology but does assists sociologists in explaining some sociological processes. Sociology
can also help in explaining some of the aspects of Psychology, for example: how one's social
environment (sociology) influenced his principles and beliefs (psychology).

Sociology and Political Science:

 Political Science can be regarded as a branch of Sociology; dealing mainly with the political
aspects of Sociology. Sociology covers politics in society but Political Science is more in-
depth.

Sociology and Economics:

 Economics can be considered to be a highly complex branch of Sociology making it difficult

Sociology and Anthropology:

 Anthropology is oftentimes associated with the study of simpler societies while sociologists
study more complex societies. Also, it is said that while sociology tends to focus on social
institution, anthropology is more holistic in its approach to society. As the two disciplines
develop, similarities are being seen and the lines between the two disciplines are becoming
more blurred.