Assignment#1

Allama Iqbal Open University

Introduction to Sociology: Culture and

Semester: First Semester( Autumn2020)

Degree: BS(English)

Ayesha Iftikhar
Q .Sociology is the scientific study of human society . Elaborate?
A . As an introduction to sociology, this unit will cover the definition of

sociology and give the brief introduction about the questions sociologists

try to answer. In this unit we will examine some philosophical questions

having to do with whether sociology is a science of not The origin and the

Development of sociology as a discipline will also discuss in this unit

OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIT

After studying this unit students will be able

1 To define sociology and discuss its importance to our every day life.

2. To be able to identify important historical factors in the development of sociology

3 To be able to describe an important sociological contribution made by early sociologist and modern
development in sociology.

WHAT IS SOCTOLOGY?

Sociology is the study of human life groups and societies matter is our own behaviour as social being.
The main contribution of sociology is that it can help people better to understand their own lives, it does
so by explaining of a local factory as a purely personal problem or even a tragedy as the loss of a job.
Individual in his own capacity perhaps gives a little thought to the underlying cause of such occurrences.
Sociology can help to explain such experiences by exploring who is responsible for it , perhaps,
politicians, investors or trade unionists and perhaps, whether what has happened is part of a wider
social trend in unemployment. Often in making sense of society we begin to make more sense of our in
own lives. Thus the practice of sociology involves gaining knowledge about ourselves, the society in
which we live and other distinct from our in space and time. Thus we can see that sociology is the
systematics study of social behaviour and human societies.

As a field of study, sociology has extremely board scope. The major goal of sociology is to identify
underlying, recurring patterns of and influences on social behaviour. For this some of the questions
sociologists ask and try to answer are largely factual Comparative developmental and theoretical in
nature

Factual Questions:

Being members of a society we all already have certain amount of factual knowledge about it. For
example, everyone in Pakistan is aware that there are laws that are supposed to observe and to go
against there is to risk criminal punishment .But the knowledge possessed by the average individual of
the legal system, and of the nature and types of criminal activity, is likely to be sketchy and incomplete.
Many aspects of crime and justice need direct and systematic sociological investigation. Thus we might
ask, what forms of crime are most common? What proportion of people, who are engaged in criminal
behaviour, are caught by the police? And how many of these are in the end found guilty. Factual
question are often much more complicated and difficult to answer than one might think.

Comparative Question:

Factual information about one society of course, will not tell us how far we are dealing with an unusual
case rather than a very general set of influences. Sociologists often want to ask comparative question,
relating one social context within a society to another, or contrasting examples drawn from different
societies. In each society there are many institutions, which help in smooth running of society. Sociology
helps in conducting a comparative importance and utility. This comparison is not limiting, within a
society. In European societies arranging marriage is purely a matter of concerned couple while in India
and Pakistan it is a responsibility of parents to arrange marriage of their children.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

Early origin:

Human beings have always been curious about the source of their own behaviour. But for thousands of
years our attempts to understand ourselves relied on ways of thinking passed down from generation to
generation. The background to new approach was the series of sweeping changes, the French
Revolution in 1789 and the industrial Revolution brought to European New industries and technologies
changed the face of social and physical environment. Large number of people, who were engaged in
agriculture sector had been leaving for work in factories.

Abdul Rehman Ibn Khaladum :

He was born on May 27,1332 in Tunis North Africa. He was a great Muslim scholar. In his lifetime he
served a variety of Sultan in Tunis , Morocco, Spain and Algeria as ambassador and member of the
scholar’s council. He was the first who studied society in a scientific manner and gave many ideas that
common with contemporary sociology. He was committed to the scientific study of society, empirical
research and the search for causes of social phenomena. He devoted considerable attention to various
social institutions and their interrelation. He was interested in comparing primitive and modern
societies.
August Comte:

Pride of place 1s usually given to The French author, August Comte (1789-1857) because he actually
coined the term “Sociology”. Comte’s aim was to create a theoretical science of society which would
both explain the past development of mankind and predict its future course. He hoped that the study of
social behaviour in a systematic way would eventually lead to more rational human interaction Comte
regarded sociology as the last science to develop, but as the most significant and complex of all science
According to Comte, society must be studied in the Same scientific manner as the world of nature He
divided the study of society into social statics and social dynamics
Social Statics: involves those aspects of social life that have to do with order and stability and dynamic
refers to those aspects of social life that have to do with social change and institutional development.

MODERN DEVELOPMENT:

While the origins of sociology were mainly European, the subject has become firmly established world-
wide and some of the most important developments have taken place in the United States in twentieth
century .The work of George Herbert Mead, a teacher at the university of Chicago, has had an important
influence on the development of sociological theory. He gave more attention to studying small-scale
social processes than overall societies He developed the new discipline of social psychology. The
perspective he developed is called symbolic interactionism. Talcott Parson was the most prominent
American sociologist. He was one of the main contributors to the development of functionalism, the
theoretical approach originally pioneered by Comte and Durkheim.

In the early 1900s, many of the leading sociologists of the United States saw themselves as social
reformers. They turned their attention to social problems and the lives of criminals, drug addicts etc.
and tried to improve a corrupt society. By the middle of the twentieth century, however, the focus of
the discipline had shitted. Sociologists restricted themselves to theorizing and gathering information.
Today sociology has not been limited to one viewpoint or concern its interests are more diverse than
ever. It is not limited to old social problem such as stratification, power or control, it also to study new
areas such as the impact of modern industrial society or over population on the city planning and natura
environment.

Q: Define interaction. Discuss the role off space and time in any interaction situation?
A: SOCIAL INTERACTION

Introduction:

Interaction is the basic concept in sociology. When the action of the one person stimulates a response I
other. We have interaction. In this unit we will study the importance of interaction in social life and its
different forms.
THE STUDY OF DAY TO DAY SOCTAL LIFE:

The mutual and reciprocal influencing by two or more people of each other's behaviour is called social
interaction. In other words social interaction is the process by which people act towards or respond to
other people. lt includes any and all social behaviour smiling at friend, driving a car in traffic. Asking
your teacher a question. Having an argument or calling a relative on the telephone. Social interaction
consists of me interplay between your action and those of the other people It is the building block that
makes all other forms of social Iife possible. Without it, you could not acquire the Knowledge and skill
that permit you to become a functioning member of society.

Winter we study social interaction we study day to day social life of the people. In other words it
involves the detail study of what people say, do and think moment by moment as they go about daily
lives. The relevant question here is that why do sociologists want to study individual’s everyday life.
There are two main reason as to why sociologists feel study of social interaction is so important.

1: One day to day routines give structure and form to what we do. We can learn a great deal about
ourselves as social life itself by studying social interaction.

2: Studying social interaction in everyday life points towards large social system. In fact large scale social
system depends on the patterns of society interaction in which member of society engage during the
course of their daily livers.

It means by studying social interaction at micro level sociologists Study the behaviour of individual and
at macreo level it helps to study largest groups, institution and social institution of any society. The base
elements/components of social structure are Statues, Social Roles, Groups and ‘Social institutions.
Social Role:

The concept role refers to behaviour expected of someone who holds a particular status. For example in
Pakistan, we expect that a mother will look after the baby and fulfill her basic needs even at the cost of
her own basic needs. A wife should be obedient towards her husband in every aspect of her life
However, actual performance vanes from individual to individual. Roles are a significant component of
social structure These expectations give a picture of certain social structure For example from the above
examples it is clear that in Pakistani society mother has a very important role and people expect a lot
from mother. Similarly it also shows that it is a male dominating society where it is expected that wife
has to obey her husband at any cost.

Role Conflict:

The concept role conflict refers to incompatibility among roles corresponding to two or more statuses.
Even the roles attached to a single status can create problems for an individual. Fulfillment of the role
associated with one status may directly violate the roles linked the roles linked to second Status. For
example a working-mother is physically and emotionally. Struggling to perform the duties of parenting
and working outside the home. Sometime women experience a serious conflict between these two
roles.

Groups:

A social group consists of two of more people who are bound to gather in relatively stable patterns of
interaction (You will study about the groups in detail in the next unit).

Institution:

Horton and Hunt defined ‘institution’ as ‘an institution is an organized system of social relationships
which embodies certain common values and procedures and meets certain basic needs of the society’
The family the economy. The government. The health care system, the education and religion system
are all examples of social institutions By studying social institution sociologists gain insight into the
structure of a society (You will study about the institutions in detail in the units No 14 -18).
 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Speech is important in most social behaviour It distinguishes our social activities from those of animals.
However, even when an encounter is primarily conversational, nonverbal cues of various kinds play an
essential role in the process. For example clapping indicate a sign of appreciation and rising two fingers a
sign of victory without using words

Body Language:

This is the most basic type of communication. Relation between an infant and other people consist at
first entirely at body contact Later, these are largely replaced by the visual cues of facial and gesture
expression. Body language can occur in a very wide variety of ways but facial expressions and hand
gestures are the most obvious forms of body language The certain facial expressions are universally
recognized such as fear. Anger amusement etc. Gestures However, are culturally relative and the people
belonging to that specific culture can understand there meanings. For example the people of India touch
the feet of their elder to show respect. In Pakistan women usually cover then head to show the respect
to elder People from these cultures can understand these gestures without any explanation

Physical Proximity:

Whenever people engage in a social encounter they must choose some degree of physical proximity.
Hall (1959 1966) has suggested four zones of private space He calls them, intimate distance, casual-
personal distance, social distance and public distance Intimate distance, of up to one and a half feet, is
reserved for very few social contacts. Only those involved in relationships in which regular bodily
touching is permitted such as parents and children husband and wife. Casual-Personal distance from one
and a half feet to four feet is the normal distance for encounters with friends and close acquaintances.
In this distance limited intimacy of contact is permitted such as greeting someone with) a hug or
consoling someone by holding hands etc .Social distance from four feet to twelve feet, this zone this
usually maintained in formal settings of interaction as in job interviews. The fourth zone is that of public
distance or beyond twelve feet.
Proximity vanes with the social setting. At a crowded party people stand close together moa big sitting
room people may sit 4-10 feet apart though 5’ feet is more common for discussions in the work
situation.

There are implicit cultural rules about these matters.

INTERACTION INSPACE AND TIME:

All interaction occurs in a particular place and has a specific. duration in time Our actions over the
course of a day tend to be zoned in time as well as in space. For example people who go out to work
spend a ‘Zone’ say from 9 am of 5 pm. of their daily time Working time spent at wok normally means
spatial movement as well a person journeying between home and work may take a bus from one area of
a city to another When we analyze the context in which social interaction goes on it is often useful to
analyze people's movement across time and space Because In modern societies, the zoning of our
activities is very strongly influenced by the experience of clocks and clock time (Gidden. 1992) Without
clocks and the precise time of activities - and thereby their coordination across space - industrialized
societies could not exist (Wright 1968. Mumford 1973) Eviatar Zerubavel (1979) demonstrated this in
his study of the temporal structure of a large modem hospital. A hospital has to operate on a twenty
four hour basis and coordinating the staff and resources 1s a highly complex matter, For instance the
majority of the nurses work for set periods on different wards moving around the different sectors of
the hospital. and they are also called upon to alternate between day and night shift work. All these
individuals and the resources they need have to be integrated both in time and space.

Thus all social interaction is situated in time: and space. We can analyze different situations and see
different knowledge i the context of time and space. So what is real in one society is not necessarily real
in another. For example much of the reality of medieval Europe seems native and ignorant to us and no
doubt much of our reality will look father quartet to people hundred or thousands of years tram now.

Q: Define Social group and explain its different types with example?
A: SOCIAL GROUP

Being a social animal man lives collectively. Man cannot conceivably survive in his physical setting
without social life. Living and interacting with others gives birth to different groups While we each have
Our Own individuality, the 'we' feelings that can only be achieved in social qroups is central to our
existence as human beings So most of us belong to numerous groups. For example the families into
which we are born, schools colleges or business firms where we study and work. We live in a certain
country and a particular neighborhood, which is also considered as our groups.

Horton and Hunt (1964) define group as “groups are aggregates in which people have a consciousness of
membership and of interaction. Giddens (1992) defines group as simply a number of people who
interact with each other on a regular basis. Such regularity tends to weld participants together as a
distinct unit with an overall social identity. Members of group expect certain forms of behaviour from
one another: that are not demanded of non-members. Groups differs in size, ranging from in limited
associations like a family.

“In a real sense, a group is a collection of people interacting together in an orderly way on the basis of
shared expectations about one another’s. Behaviour as a result of this interaction, members feel a
common sense of belonging. They distinguish members from non-members and expect Certain kinds of
behaviour from one another that they would not necessarily expect from outsiders " lt Means to belong
to a group is to give way to others the right to make certain decisions about our behaviour while it is
assuming that this is our responsibility to act according to the expectations of others. It can be clear with
this example as a member of the family. Children are expected to conform to the parents’ expectations.
So if a mother (in Pakistani society) says to her son "As long as you are living under my roof, you are not
allowed to wear a short at home especially in the presence of your sisters” AS a member of the family
son is expected to conform to the parent's expectations and the parents are controlling the behaviour of
the son as he is a member of the group that is a household, So it is with all social groups to which we
belong.
How the groups should be classified is a difficult task for sociologists. Should the groups be classified on
the basis of area or blood or should classification be based on cultural heritage or according to
occupation of the people. One of the broadest and widely accepted distinctions is between small,
intimate primary groups and large impersonal secondary groups

Primary and Secondary Groups:

The groups to which we belong are not all of equal importance to us. Some groups tend to influence
many aspects of our lives and bring us In to personal and familiar association with other Charles Horton
Cooley used the term Primary Group for this. He defined primary groups as a small group whose
members share personal and enduring relationships secondary groups are defined as a large and
impersonal social group whose members pursue a specific interest or activity. A primary relationship is
personal, sentimental such as family relation or friendship. Individuals in secondary’ groups do not have
intimate ties with each other and normally come together for specific purposes. A committee or club is a
good example of a secondary group. The distinction in real life is not always as ‘clear as these definitions
might suggest. For example, people who regularly attend committee meetings together might become
very friendly and spend time with one another informally. Similarly, family or friendship groups are not
always enduring. We can see the break up in families and friendship too

In-Groups and Out-Groups:

Group in which people have feelings of belongingness such as family, caste, sex, profession is in-groups
These are in groups because people feel that they belong to them. Out-group is a group or category to
which people feel that they do not have personal feelings or belonging with it.

VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS

Those social groups, which we choose to join, are called voluntary associations. Examples of these
groups are friendship, cliques, professional, associations, political and religious associations. Voluntary
associations are those organizations, which are established on the basis of common interest. Voluntary
associations are different from bureaucratic organizations. They are participatory and non-hierarchical
large numbers of such associations are found in most modern societies though they were common in
pre-industrial societies too. People of these groups gather due to certain common interest and
sometime pay for the membership. Examples of these associations are Working Women Association,
Staff Association. Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) etc. Voluntary associations can provide
support to people. When people cannot handle their personal problems alone they form and join these
types of association for example Traders Associations.

Formal Organization:

An organization is a large association of people run on impersonal lines, set up to achieve specific
objectives more efficiently. Most social systems in the traditional world developed over lengthy periods
as a result of custom and habit Organization, on the other hand, are mostly designed and established
with definite aims in view and housed in buildings or physical settings specifically constructed to help
those aims. For example hospitals, colleges or business firms carry on their activities mostly in
constructed buildings .Even if we do not have any direct contact with these organizations we depend
upon these organizations throughout our lives. In modem societies, We are all much more
interdependent than was ever the case before Many of our requirements are catered for by others we
never meet, and who may live many thousands of miles away In such circumstances organizations
provide a tremendous amount of co-ordination.

BUREAUCRACY:

Bureaucracy is an organization model rationally designed to perform complex tasks efficiently. Modern
organizations are in a large degree bureaucratic in nature. According to Weber, bureaucracy is a
response to the administrative requirements of industrial societies. He stresses that the expansion of
bureaucracy is inevitable in modem societies. Weber also believes that bureaucracy have a number of
mayor failings, which have important implication far the nature of modern social life. He paints out that
a limited number of bureaucratic organizations existed in the traditional world. Military control all affairs
of the society. But It is only in modern times that bureaucracies have developed fully and are found in
most areas of social life. In order to look at the origins and nature of the expansion of bureaucratic
organizations, Weber constructs an ideal type of bureaucracy Weber identifies basic characteristics or
elements of the ‘deal type of bureaucracy. These characteristics includes’ Specialization, hierarchy of
authority, written rules and regulations, impersonality, employment based on technical competence,
Specialization, hierarchy of authority, written rule and regulations, impersonality, employment based on
technical competences no control on means of production.

Specialization:

The organizational model of bureaucracy has a goal-oriented approach. It works lo promote efficiency.
That is why specialized experts are employed in each position to perform specific tasks .By working at a
specific task people are more likely to became highly skilled in their respective field. But in some cases it
can lead to trained incapacity For example in an organization everyone has own work to Jo and some
time they do not bother what is happening next to them and in case of emergency of need no one can
do other's work but his on her own.

Hierarchy of Authority:

There is a clear-cut hierarchy of authority, I,e, each position is under the supervision of a higher
authority. A bureaucracy looks like a pyramid with the position of highest authority at the top .There is a
chain of command stretching from top to bottom. Each higher office controls and supervises the one
below it in the Hierarchy.
Q: Define and differentiate between culture and society. Also briefly explain the elements of a
culture?
A: SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION:
Society is a largest group to which any individual belongs. In this unit we will study how societies have
passed through various stages of man's Cultural development from its earliest stage of unspecialized
hunting and gathering to a complex industrial societies.
DESCRIPTION OF SOCIETY:

The concept of society refers to people who interact in defined territory and share culture. In other
word "society is a group of interacting people who share certain common values beliefs and the culture
the product of this group life or human interaction is the way of life of any society. A W Green has said,
"A society is largest group to a which any individual belongs” He further says. "A society’ is made up of a
population, organization, time, place and interest.” John F. Cuber says. "A society may defined as a
group of people who have lived together long enough to become organized to consider themselves and
be considered as a unit more or less distinct from other human units.”
HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETIES:

The earliest type of human society consisted of hunters and gatherers. Instead of growing crops, or
tending animals, these groups gained their livelihood from hunting. fishing and gathering edibles plants
growing in the wild. Only a very small number of such societies are still in existence today. Examples
include the Aborigines of Australia and the Pygmies of Central Africa Research by Anthropologists has
provided much information about hunting and gathering societies. Given the diversity of human culture,
we have to be careful in generalizing even about one type of society, but some common characteristics
of hunting and gathering societies do set them apart from other types (Schriro 1984, Gidd
CULTURE

INTRODUCTION:

To live in a society or qroups people have to develop certain patterns. these patterns provide a
framework within which the members of the society are expected to operate Obviously this framework
is based an some sort of system In this unit we will study how aspects of culture develop and how they
spread from one society to another We will also study to a importance of language in a cultural
development Every culture has some norms and sanctions to reward and penalize the behaviour of its
members We will study about these in detail in this unit.
MAJOR TOPICS:

1: Meaning and nature of culture

2: Development of culture

3: Elements of culture

4: Cultural Integration

5: Cultural Variation
MEANING AND NATURE OF CULTURE:
By culture we mean that complex set of 'earned and shared beliefs. customs, skills. habits, traditions and
knowledge common to the members of a society. In other words culture is a social: heritage of a society
According to Ralph Linton “The culture of a society is the way of life of its members, the collection of
ideas and habits which they learn share and transmit from generation to generation” Sir Edword Taylor
defined it as “Culture is that complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art. Moral, laws customs
and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
When we use the term ‘culture’ in our daily life we often think of ‘it as equivalent to the higher things of
the mind. art, literature. music and painting. AS sociologists use it. the concept includes such activities
but also far more Culture refers to the whale way of life of the members of a society. It includes how
they dress their marriage customs and family life. Their patterns of warm, religious beliefs and
ceremonies and leisure pursuits .It covers also the goods they create and which become meaningful for
them as ploughs. factories machines, computers, books. buildings technology etc.

DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE:

Tracing the development of culture is not easy. The process of expanding culture has been under way
for thousands of years and way continue in the future. The evidence of human societies can trace back
many million of years. Some 2-5 million years ago people used tools and had containers for storage.
From the ruins of Texila and Monjodharo, are can trace the element of very rich culture.
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE:

As you have studied in section 2. 3 that culture is a way of life. Which people learn, share and transmit
from generation to generation. Each culture has its own distinctive way of handling this basic task of
learning and transmitting. For that purpose every culture develops its own symbols, language, values
and norms, which its members learn and share.

Symbols:

A symbol is anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture. Symbols
serve as the basis for everyday reality. They are the means through which we make sense of our lives.
Symbols vary cross culturally and change over time. To some degree symbols even vary within a single
culture.

Language:

Language is a system of symbols that allows members of a society to communicate with one another All
cultures have a spoken language, though not all have a written language. Language tells us a great deal
about a culture Though language is a cultural universal, differences in the use of language are evident
around the world This is the case even when two countnes use the same spoken language For example
an Endqlish speaking person from United States may be puzzled first tme when an English frend says. ‘|
wil ring you up” English friend means that he will call you on telephone Similarly the meanings of non-
verbal gesture differ from one culture to another, the gesture of “Thumbs up” ts considering a bad thing
in Pakistant culture where as inhabitant of United States commonly use and attach pasitive meanings
with this gesture The symbols expressed in speech are the chief ways tn which cultura! Meaning are
formed and expressed But there are other ways of carrying language most notably waiting The invention
of writing marked a mayor transition 1 human history

Norms:

Every culture contains a large number of guidelines, which direct conduct in particular situation Such
guidelines are known as 'norms A norm is a specific guide to action that defines acceptable and
appropriate behaviour in particular situation For example in Muslim society" norms relating to privacy
state that an individual's house must not be entered without his permission. A person's private life is his
own concern and other: must not pry into ns personal affairs Norms guide behaviour in all aspects of
social life There are norms of dress, which define the types of clothing appropriate for member of each
sex. age group and social situation. There are norms governing behaviour with family, friends, neighbors
and strangers .There are norms, which define acceptable behaviour in certain situation such as class
room workplace. All a party, wedding and funeral etc. As a part of culture, norms are learned, share’ and
vary from society to society Norms provide order in society Norms “Help to make social life predictable
and comprehensible”.

If there were no norms stating how people should express pleasure or irritation, warmth ,or hostility it
would be difficult to understand the behaviour of others Lacking instincts, human being need norms to
guide and direct their actions In almost each and every area of social life norms define appropriate and
acceptable behaviour.

Value:

Unlike norms, which provide specific directives for conduct, ‘Values’ provide more general guideline. A
value is a belief that something is good and desirable. It defines what is important, worthwhile and
worth striving for like norms, values vary from society to society. Many norms can be seen as reflections
of values. A variety of norms can be seen as expressions of a single value .For example in the previous
example of privacy. Giving respect to some one's privacy is a value while “not enter same one’s house
without permission’ is a norm. Similarly not reading same one’s diary or private letters are norms to
maintain some one's privacy.

CULTURAL INTEGRATION:

Every culture has its own values and principles which ate integrated around the central themes .Every
culture also has sub-culture though they have some variation in traits and patterns but they are cased
on certain fundamental attitudes. For examples, in Pakistan's society we have very obvious four sub-
cultures, Punjab. Sindhi, Baluchi and Pathan. We can see the variation in dress from one culture to
another. But being Muslim the fundamental theme far dressing up is to cover the body in such a way
that fulfills the requirement of parda. So traditionally all dresses cover the whole body .You cannot see
anywhere in Pakistan a dress like Short Skint, Bikini or Nikar, as cultural traits. In general, several major
themes limit and balance one another but some time one basic theme dominate quite a lot to integrate
the whole culture. Cultural integration produces a sense of security and satisfaction among its members
But sometime it is not good because a small change in one part of the culture some time disintegrate
the whole. For example when Hindu believe that they are not allowed to go out of the country for visit
or settle. family ties were strong in spite of ‘Sas Bahoo’ (Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law)’s fights
When this practice changed it brought a series of changes in family system.
CULTURAL VARIATION:

There is variation not only among different culture but also within any specific culture. This variation can
take many forms, but usually. Reflects differences in norms and values of different groups in the
population. You can also observe this variation in your group culture. For example, there was a time
when people could smoke cigarettes anywhere and anytime, even in the presence of a patient or child
Now with the increase in health awareness, smoking in public has been severely restricted .On the other
hand watching a romantic film with brother and father was unacceptable in the past in our culture, now
becoming a common feature of the culture Women’s movement outside the house without “Burqa” was
very rare now women with Burqa especially in big cities are rare .
Q: Describe the role of early thinkers in development of sociology?

A: As a general rule, there is less variation in traditional, pre-industrial societies than in modem
industrialized ones In traditional societies, which tend to be smaller. People live similar lives and share
similar values and cultural, changes take place relatively slowly. Modem societies tend to be larger to
contain more diverse population and to experience more rapid and uneven cultural change. August
Comte is considered one of the founders of sociology. He coined the term “sociology” in 1838 by
combining the Latin term socials (companion, associate) and the Greek term logia (study of, speech).
Comte hoped to unify all the sciences under sociology. He believed sociology held the potential to
improve society and direct human activity, including the other sciences.

His ambition to unify the sciences was not unique. Other thinkers of the nineteenth century (for
example, Herbert Spencer) held similar goals. This period was a key turning point in defining disciplinary
boundaries. In sociology’s early days, disciplinary boundaries were less well defined than today. Many
classical theorists of sociology (including Karl Marx, Ferdinand Toennies, Emile Durkheim, Vilfredo
Pareto, and Max Weber) were trained in other academic disciplines, including history, philosophy, and
economics. The diversity of their trainings is reflected in the topics they researched and in the occasional
impulse to unify the sciences in a universal explanation of human life.

One of Comte’s central questions was how societies evolve and change, which is known as social
dynamics. He also studied the trends in society which do not change, which is known as social statics.
Sociology today draws on these categories, though few sociologists have continued on Comte’s
theoretical work in this line.

While his theory is no longer employed in sociology, Comte, like other Enlightenment thinkers, believed
society developed in stages. He argued for an understanding of society he labeled “The Law of Three
Stages. ” The first was the theological stage where people took a religious view of society. The second
was the metaphysical stage where people understood society as natural rather than supernatural.
Comte’s final stage was the scientific or positivist stage, which he believed to be the pinnacle of social
development. In the scientific stage, society would be governed by reliable knowledge and would be
understood in light of the knowledge produced by science, primarily sociology. While Comte’s approach
is today considered a highly simplified and ill-founded way to understand social development, it
nevertheless reveals important insights into his thinking about the way in which sociology, as part of the
third stage, would unite the sciences and improve society.

August Comte: August Comte was one of the founding figures of sociology.

Neither his vision of a unified science nor his three-stage model have stood the test of time. Instead,
today, Comte is remembered for imparting to sociology a positivist orientation and a demand for
scientific rigor. As explained in the previous section, early sociological studies drew an analogy from
sociology to the natural sciences, such as physics or biology. Many researchers argued that sociology
should adopt the scientific methodology used in the natural sciences. This scientific approach, supported
by August Comte, is at the heart of positivism, a methodological orientation with a goal that is rigorous,
objective scientific investigation and prediction.

Since the nineteenth century, the idea of positivism has been extensively elaborated. Though positivism
now has wider range of meanings than Comte intended, belief in a scientifically rigorous sociology has,
in its essence, been carried on. The scientific method has been applied to sociological research across all
facets of society, including government, education, and in the economy.

Today, sociologists following Comte’s positivist orientation employ a variety of scientific research
methods. Unlike natural scientists, sociologists rarely conduct experiments, since limited research
resources and ethical guidelines prevent large-scale experimental manipulation of social groups. Still,
sometimes sociologists are able to conduct field experiments. Though quantitative methods, such as
surveys, are most commonly associated with positivism, any method, quantitative or qualitative, may be
employed scientifically.

Key Points

 August Comte was one of the founders of sociology and coined the term sociology.
 Comte believed sociology could unite all sciences and improve society.
 Comte was a positivist who argued that sociology must have a scientific base and be objective.
 Comte theorized a three-stage development of society.
 In sociology, scientific methods may include quantitative surveys or qualitative cultural and
historical analysis.
 One common scientific method in sociology is the survey.

Key Terms

 Law of Three Stages: The Law of Three Stages is an idea developed by August Comte. It states
that society as a whole, and each particular science, develops through three mentally conceived
stages: (1) the theological stage, (2) the metaphysical stage, and (3) the positive stage.
 positivism: A doctrine that states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and
that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific
method, refusing every form of metaphysics.
 August Comte: Isidore August Marie François Xavier Comte (19 January 1798 – 5 September
1857), better known as August Comte was a French philosopher. He was a founder of the
discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism