Modern sociology uses several methods, including controlled experimentation, participant observation, and statistical analysis, this is sociology in its scientific nature. It covers a variety of traditions and theoretical views, including functionalism (a view of society as a system made up of a number of organized parts, all interacting on the basis of a common value system), structuralism (objects that are analysed as systems of relations), symbolic interactionism (the behaviour of individuals and small groups through observation and description, viewing people's appearance, gestures, and language as symbols they use to interact with others in social situations), Marxism(the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which formed the basis of communism), action theory, and critical theory. Current concerns include the development of more accurate and supportable rules employed by science, how individuals relate to the structure of society, and also with environmentalism and internationalism.
Getting back to the question, Sociology has often been called the ‘Science of Society’, and at its most simple level is scientifically studying why people in society behave as they do.
Auguste Comte, the founder of sociology century, called it The Queen of the sciences because he thought that it was the ultimate science as it was the science of people. Not long ago it was believed that human behavior was all to do with ‘fate’ and if you were destined to behave badly then you would. Another theory was introduced in which it was indicated that some people did better in school than others because they were born cleverer. Auguste Comte didn’t believe these simple assumptions and decided to investigate what really makes people behave how they do.
In Chemistry, proven theories make it possible to predict the behavior of elements. Auguste Comte transferred this to sociology, suggesting that the concept of “cause and effect” in human behavior makes it possible to formulate general laws of social development and thus predict the behavior of social agents. He theorised that the social world was made up of objective facts, independent of individuals, just waiting to be discovered. He supported the use of scientific methods of analysis to produce accurate, quantified data.
Similarly, the French social scholar C.H. Saint Simon shared the view that through the application of scientific positivism it is possible to discover the laws of social change and organization. The common thread in both lines of thought is the belief that within the study of human societies as with the natural sciences, ultimate truths exist. This however is seen as an erroneous belief by many interpretists, as the achievement of an absolute truth in sociology is impossible.
Before the 1960's there was a scientific approach to sociology known as positivist. It was based on ‘Empirical’ methods, which mean collecting data via observation, developing theories from this data and testing and refining them through more observation.
Since the 1960's however, a more subjective approach has been widely used. This particular approach is based on instinct and understanding. It involves an attempt to interpret human behaviour by identifying with the individual or groups being studied, rather than viewing from afar. This approach is known as interpretivist and has become more and more understandings in recent years.
A sociologist called Max weber tried to combine both the Objective and subjective approach. He preferred the unbiased approach found in ‘Objective’ methods and also liked to focus on interpreting the meaning of social action by individuals, not statistics. Sociologists also use background information like Official records, government statistics, previous reports and newspaper articles etc.
Sociologists use concepts to add simplicity and as a way of classifying their subject. Concepts act as guidelines and can help to give a better understanding of a subject. Concepts can change over time and can be interpretated by different sociologists in different ways. Concepts are still very useful in sociology because they act as a system of shorthand, which helps in describing complex or abstract ideas. Sociology has many uses. Sociologists collect as much evidence as possible and attempt to come to some conclusions and try to offer explanations. So they can tell us what affects divorce has on children for example. Sociology can tell us what affects things have on people so they may be able to be avoided in the future. Sociology helps to stop stereotyping and prejudices as it stresses that not everybody is the same. E.g. Women drivers. This is like science working out the problem by observing it then trying to solve it to prevent future disturbance.
A famous Sociologist named Ginsberg said, “Sociology is the study of human inter actions and inter relations, their conditions and consequences.” This is one of the many terms used to describe sociology in short. This I think is the most reasonable explanation for sociology.
Word Count 1,070
Bibliography
- Larry J. Ray (1999) Theorizing classical sociology: open university press
- Haralambos and Holborn (2000) Sociology: Themes and perspectives student handbook: Collins
-
Haralambos and Holborn 5th edition (2000) Sociology: Themes and perspectives: Collins
- Pc-cd-rom (2002) Reference suite: Penguin
-
WWW Virtual Library: Sociology:
-
Yahoo Social Science/Sociology Site:
-
Sociology internet resource:
The oxford dictionary (science p802) 2002 edition
The Hutchinson encyclopedia
The oxford dictionary (Marxism p549) 2002 edition
Student Media Services 2001 (Karina Johnson)
Student Media Services 2001 (Karina Johnson)
