The Main Characteristics of Sociology Are As Follows:: 1. Sociology: A Generalizing Science

The main characteristics of sociology are as follows:
Sociology is one of the several social sciences. Each of the sciences

represents a particular way of looking at a common subject matter-
human behavior.
There are no hard and first boundary lines between the social sciences
since each of these perspectives has implications for each of the
others. Still, it is useful at the outset to have a survey of the
characteristics of sociology to distinguish its particular perspective
from those of other social sciences. The following are the main
characteristics of sociology.
1. Sociology: a Generalizing Science:

Sociology is a generalizing sciences and not a particularizing science. It
aims to establish general laws of principles about interactions and
associations. It seeks to find general principles about the nature, form,
content and structure of human groups and societies. Like history, it
does not attempt to make a description of particular events or
particular societies.
History is the study of human behavior from particularizing

perspective. But sociology is generalizing in its perspective. Whereas
history is concerned with particular wars and revolutions, sociology is
concerned with war and revolution in general as social phenomena, as
forms of social conflict and not with their particular and concrete
manifestations.
2. Sociology: a Generalized Science:

Sociology is a general science. It is not a specialized science like
history, political science and economics. These social sciences have
specialized subject matters and these are all parts of one general
subject matter: Man’s social behavior, which sociology studies. Only
certain kinds of behavior engage their attention. The economist, for
example, is interested in one kind of behavior, economic behavior. The
political scientist likewise is concerned with political behavior.
In contrast to these specialized sciences, the generalized sciences of

sociology, psychology, and anthropology recognize no such limitations
of scope of interest. One may readily speak of noneconomic or
nonpolitical behavior. But it simply makes no sense to speak of non-
psychological or non-sociological or non-anthropological behavior. All
behavior has psychological, sociological and anthropological
dimensions and the scientists in any one of these fields must
necessarily take all kinds of behavior into account.
Sociology studies social factors that all social phenomena have in

common, whether they are economic or political. Like economics, it
does not deal with the ‘economic’ behavior of man as such but sees
economic behavior “as simply a partial abstraction from the total
social behavior of the individual.” Although the focus of sociology is
also special one, the area of enquiry of sociology is general.
3. Sociology: a Social Science:

Sociology is a social science, a humanistic science. It is a social science
like economics, political science and psychology etc. It is not a physical
science. Sociology deals with social universe and not with the physical
universe. Sociology, deals with social facts, social phenomena, man’s
social relationships and behaviour.
4. Sociology: a Special Kind of Abstraction:

Psychology, anthropology and sociology have in common in their
interest in all aspect of human behavior. The difference between them
seems to lie in their different ways of thinking about human behavior
in general.
These differences may be understood by noting that human behavior

is a variable and that these three social sciences represent different
system of explanation of this variability. In other words these three
social sciences adopt three different kind of explanation of single fact
of human behavior, namely the variability in amount of discrimination
practiced by people against other racial groups.
The Psychologist tends to explain variability in behavior in terms of

the personalities of the behaving persons. Each kind of behavior is a
specific manifestation of kind of organizations of psychological traits
or elements.
For the anthropologist, variations in human behavior tend to be

explained by variations in culture. Different groups of people have
different ideas and moral conceptions, and persons living in groups
with different cultures may be expected to display different patterns of
behavior.
Sociology tends to explain variability in human behavior in terms of

variation in society of social structure. Different persons are seen to
have occupied different positions or statuses in that structure and
these positions condition the behavior of the occupants in a number of
ways.
These differences among psychology, “anthropology and sociology are

differences of emphasis rather than absolute differences. However,
Sociology is a special kind of abstraction. It has its own system of
explanation.
5. Sociology: an Objective Science:

Sociology is an objective, but not a normative science. This means that
sociology is primarily concerned with facts and not with value
judgments upon them. Durkheim shared the vision of an objective
sociology and in his Rules of Sociological Method, he urged that the
sociologist must ‘eradicate all preconceptions’ and deal with facts
rather than with his ideas about social facts. The German Sociologist,
Max Weber devoted major essay to the problem of objectivity or
“Value- neutrality” in sociology.
Sociology studies values as social facts but does not deal with the
problems of good or bad, desirable or undesirable. It is ethically
neutral. According to Weber, the sociologist may well be involved in
partisan political activity to stimulate his intellectual curiosity but
that, as a social scientist (e.g. a teacher of sociology) he must leave out
his personal bias, remembering always that a ” podium is not a pulpit”.
6. Sociology: a Pure or Theoretical Science:

Sociology is a pure science. It is not an applied science. This means
that sociology aims at the acquisition of knowledge and it has no
concern whether the acquired knowledge is useful or applied.
Sociology aims at exact description by the analysis of the properties
and relation of social phenomena and explanation by the formulation
of general statements.
In this way sociology adds to our knowledge about human society. The
aim of sociology is the acquisition of knowledge about human society.
Such knowledge can be used to solve social problems, but it is not an
applied science. The knowledge acquired by sociology is helpful for
administrators, legislators and social workers etc.
7. Sociology: a Rational and Empirical Science:

Sociology is both a rational and empirical science. It is empirical in the
sense that it is based on observation and experimentation. To quote
H.M. Johnson, “It is empirical, that is, it is based on observation and
reasoning, not on supernatural revelation and its results are not
speculative. Sociology is rational as it stresses on reason. Sociological
theories are built on the basis of logical inference.
The theoretical sociology emerged historically as a kind of speculation

as illustrated in the broad theoretical schemes of August Comte,
Herbert Spencer and other pioneers. In the twentieth century, most
sociologists have shifted their attention to the gathering of empirical
data about social life, a stage that perhaps reached its climax in the
1930’s.

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The main characteristics of sociology are as follows:

Sociology is one of the several social sciences. Each of the sciences

1. Sociology: a Generalizing Science:

History is the study of human behavior from particularizing

2. Sociology: a Generalized Science:

In contrast to these specialized sciences, the generalized sciences of

Sociology studies social factors that all social phenomena have in

3. Sociology: a Social Science:

4. Sociology: a Special Kind of Abstraction:

These differences may be understood by noting that human behavior

The Psychologist tends to explain variability in behavior in terms of

For the anthropologist, variations in human behavior tend to be

Sociology tends to explain variability in human behavior in terms of

These differences among psychology, “anthropology and sociology are

5. Sociology: an Objective Science:

6. Sociology: a Pure or Theoretical Science:

7. Sociology: a Rational and Empirical Science:

The theoretical sociology emerged historically as a kind of speculation

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