Scope of Sociology BA 1st Year Notes Study Material in English

Scope of Sociology BA 1st Year Notes Study Material in English: The term sociology is derived from the Latin term ‘societus meaning

‘society’ and the Greek term logos’ meaning ‘study’ or ‘science’. Thus etymologically, the term ‘sociology stands for the ‘science of society’.

Sociology is the study of human behavior living in society. Aristotle once said that, ‘Man is a social animal’. Forced by nature and related human needs, it is imperative for the man to live in society.

Some crucial definitions regarding sociology may be described as under:

“Sociology is the science of society”

-Ward: Popular Science Monthly, June 1902. p. 112

“Sociology is the science which studies society”.

–Howard W. Odum

Understanding Society The Principles of Dynamic Society,

“Sociology is the scientific study of society”

-Giddings : Inductive Sociology, p.9

‘Sociology is the science of human relations”

–Arnold M. Rose, Sociology: The Study of Human Relations,

“Sociology is the scientific study of social life.”

-Ogburn and Nimkoff

“Sociology deals with the behaviour of man in group.”

_Kimball Young

Meaning and Definitions of Sociology

‘Sociologists asserts that sociology is not only a science having its own subject matter, but also the mother of all social sciences. At the same time, there is a group of scholars complete that sociology does not entertain the subject matter that may be called its own. Contrarily, it is merely a collection of subject matter borrowed from different social sciences. This kind of allegation against sociology under present day originality is absolutely baseless. The present state of affairs is that sociology has not only gained the rank of distinct science, it has also been rightly conferred with the status of mother of all social sciences simply because of the depth of its subject matter.

Let us examine the views of different scholars, some arguing that sociology does not have a subject matter of its own, and some arguing favourably and calling it as the ‘mother of all social sciences.

There is a charge, framed against sociology that it is not the branch of knowledge having subject matter of its own, and in fact, it is a subject that borrows its contents from other sciences. But this is not a sound argument. There is no denial of the fact that sociology borrows its subject matter from other social sciences. And this is true as regards other sciences as well. This is the essential characteristic of all the sciences, and that one stream of knowledge can grow better only when it borrows the knowledge from the rest of the streams. The peculiar characteristic of sociology borrowing from the other sciences is that it does not assimilate that knowledge as it is, rather is gives the subject matter altogether new form and dimensions.

There is a very convincing reason why sociology so heavily depends in the matter of borrowing knowledge from other sciences and that reason is the wide dimension of its subject matter. A sociologist while studying the traits of a particular society has to thoroughly understand the people comparising that society, their eating and dressing habits, language spoken by them, their religious customs, the codes of morality observed by them, the state of economy, social institutions in existence, and further knowledge as regards many other respects.

No sociologist can deny the fact that sociology as a branch of knowledge has produced very extensive information pertaining to social institutions like family, marriages, the customs observed in different cultures, the habits of the people, their traditions, the existences of different classes, the kind of social security prevailing, the graph of crime and as regards many other such issues.

These are the topics that have been thoroughly discussed more in sociology than in any of other sciences.

The life in society is so highly complex that it cannot be elaborated within the territory of a single science. There is the need of specific sciences dealing with specific needs of society. This is the reason why there are economics, political science, law, history, and psychology etc. serving particular sort of social need. There is ‘law’ studying society and social life from its own angle.

Similarly, there is ‘economics’ studying society and social life from its own points of views. The same is true of sociology, understanding society and advancing its own interpretation on social life

Scope of Sociology

Broadly speaking, there are two different views in existence, discussing its scope in their own manner, as below :

Formal School of Sociology : This school emphasizes that sociology is a special science hence special status should be conferred upon this branch of knowledge. The main supporter of this school of sociology George Simmed confines the study of sociology in certain clearly defined spheres of human relationships. In his views, sociology is distinguished from other sciences in the sense that the former deals with the same topic from a different angle than the approach of the other sciences. Different social relationships, such as, competition, and subordination etc. examplified in different areas of social life, such as, economic, political, religious, moral or artistic, but the task of sociology is to unfold these forms of social relationships and to study them in abstraction.

In the opinion of Max Weber, another advocate of formal school of sociology, the aim of sociology is to interpret social behaviour. It is to be noted that social behaviour does nor encompass the entire gamut of human relations, as all the human actions are not social, Take for example the case of two vehicles colliding against each other is very much accidental, but their attempt to avoid that accident prior to its occurrence or the way that behave after facing the accident forms the real social behaviour. Sociology, in his views relates with the analysis and classification of different sorts of social relationships.

In the opinion of Vierkandt, sociology is that special branch of knowledge that relates itself with the ultimate forms of mental or psychic relationships linking one man with the other in the society. Historical societies, as for example, French or Chinese are of significance only as they explain specific kind of social relationships.

Kandt holds that every society has certain mental peculiarities, such as, love, sacrifice, search of fame etc., and there are such mental peculiarities that. bring one human being close to the other human beings.

Synthetic School of Sociology: This is the other school of sociology laying down that “sociology is a general science studying different events coming withing the scope of other science”

Durkheim, Sorokin, Hobbouse and

Karl Mannheim are the main advocates of this school. The first of what they assert is that sociology is the synthesis of social sciences. Sociology is the science of sciences, encompassing all the sciences within its scope.

Durkheim divides sociology into three main divisions, as below :

Social Morphology including all those subjects that are essentially of geographical characteristic, such as, population, its density and distribution etc.

1. Social Physiology divided into a number of smaller branches, such as, sociology of religion,  Sociology of morality, sociology of laws, and of the sociology of economic life.
2. The precise expression of General Sociology is assigned the task of finding out the general characteristics of these social facts and to ascertain whether there are any general laws of which the different laws propounded by special social sciences.

Sorokin divides the subject matter of sociology, as below

1. Subject matter studying relationship between different aspects of social phenomenon.
2. Subject matter studying general characteristics of social phenomenon.
3. Subject matter studying the manner in which social phenomenon is related with non-social phenomenon.

Karl Mannheim divides the subject matter of sociology into two main. divisions, as below :

1. Systematic and General Sociology discussing the main reasons behind human beings living together.
2. Historical Sociology discussing historical diversity and reality of general forms of society.

Truly speaking, the subject matter of all social sciences is society, but itis their approach-that distinguishes one social science from the other. As for example, economics is studied by keeping political approach into consideration, sociology is studied by keeping society into consideration. Macliver has very appropriately remarked that, “What distinguishes each from each is the selective interest.’

Nature of sociology Notes