Sociology

Sociology:
The term “sociology” was coined by August Comte in the nineteenth century from the Latin word“socios” (companion with others) and the Greek word “logos” (study of reason) to describe the new science of social life.

"In the sense, sociology is the study of human interactions and inter-relations, their conditions and consequences".“The science of social phenomena "subject to natural and invariable laws, the discovery of which is the object of investigation"

"Sociology is a general science of society".

"Sociology is the science that deals with social groups".Science of social institutions.

science of collective behavior".The science of social relationships.The study of man-in-relationship-to-men.

"Sociology is the scientific study of social life".The science of social phenomena.

"Sociology is the study of man and his human environment in their relations to each other".

" The science which attempts the interpretative understanding of social action in order thereby to arrive at a casual explanation of its course and effects".

"Sociology is the study of systems of social action and of their inter-relations".

"Sociology is the scientific study of social aspects of human life".
“A science guided by the basic understanding that the social matters: our lives are affected not only by our individual characteristics, but by our place in the social world”.
Characteristics of Sociology

1) Sociology is an independent science:
Sociology as an independent science has its own field of study, its own boundary and methods. It is not treated and studied as a branch of any other science like philosophy, Political science and History.
2) Sociology is a Social science and not a Physical science:
Sociology is a humanistic science i.e. it deals with the social universe and not with the physical universe. It is particularly concerned with social facts and man's relationships, social activities and social life. It is intimately related to the social sciences like History, Political science, Economic, Psychology, Anthropology etc. It can be distinguished from Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry and other physical sciences.
3) Sociology is a Categorical and not a normative discipline:
Sociology as a science cannot deal with problem of good and evil, right and wrong and moral or immoral. It does not make any recommendations on matters of social policy or legislation or programme. It maintains a neutral posture making no value judgments of social issues. It only critically analyses social facts, objectively and scientifically. It confines itself to "what is" and not "what should be" or "what ought to be".
4) Sociology is a pure science and not an applied science:
Pure science refers to the acquisition of knowledge and applied science is converted with the applicability of knowledge of that science. Sociology is a pure science because its main purpose is to acquire knowledge about human society. It never bothers about the utilisation of knowledge. It only helps in the systematic analysis of social facts and issues, which ultimately helps the policy planners to utilise this knowledge for solutions. But sociologists themselves do not utilise this knowledge to life.

5) Sociology is relatively as Abstract Science and not a Concrete Science:
Sociology is not interested in concrete manifestations of human events. It is more concerned with the form of human events and their patterns. It is not concerned with a particular war or revolution in general as social phenomena. It analyses the types of social phenomena, social conflict and social control. Sociology does not confine itself to the study of this society or that particular society. It is in this simple sense that sociology is an abstract and not a concrete science.
6) Sociology is a Generalising and not a Particularising Science:
It aims to establish general laws or principles about inter-human interaction and associations; it seeks to find general principles about the nature, form, content and structure of human groups and societies. But it does not make a comprehensive description of particular events or societies.
7) Sociology is a General Science and not a Special Science:
Sociology as a science is concerned with human interaction and human life in general. Other social sciences like Economics, Political Science and History also study human interaction, but not the all-inclusive aspect of human relationship. The other social sciences concentrate on certain aspects of human interaction and activities. For example. Economics deals with the economic activities and political science deals with political activities and so on and so forth. Sociology of course, does not investigate economic, religious, political or any other kind of special phenomena. It studies human activities is a general way.
8) Sociology is both Rational and Empirical science:
Rational approach stresses on reason, logic and theories that result from logical inference. Empirical method stresses on facts and figures and not on speculation. Empiricists collect facts and rationalists co-ordinate and arrange them. Both theories and facts are necessary in the construction of knowledge. It is also required in sociological inquiry. If a theory is not backed by facts, then it is just a matter of opinion. Similarly, facts without theories are blind and directionless.
Importance of Sociology

A sociological look at the world provides a number of unique benefits and perspectives.

Sociology provides an understanding of social issues and patterns of behavior. It helps us identify the social rules that govern our lives. Sociologistsstudy how these rules are created, maintained, changed, passed between generations,and shared between people living in various parts of the world. They alsostudy what happens when these rules are broken.

Sociology helps us understand the workings of the social systems within which we live our lives.

Sociology helps us understand why we perceive the world the way we do.We are inundated with messages in a variety of forms about how we, and theworld around us, both are and should be.

Sociology helps us identify what we have in common within, and between, cultures and societies. Sociologists know that, although people in different parts of the city, country, or world dress differently, speak differently, and have many different beliefs and customs, many of the same types of social forces are at work shaping their lives.

Sociology helps us understand why and how society changes. Obviously, the social world is constantly changing. This change has been a major interest to sociologists from the beginning of the discipline. However, many sociologists believe that sociology should not stop with only explaining society and how and why the world changes skills and perspectives to work to improve the world.

Sociology provides us theoretical perspectives within which to frame these understandings and research methods that allow us to study social life scientifically.

Areas of Sociology

1. Social Organization This refers to social institutions, social groups, social inequality, social mobility, religious groups, and bureaucracy.These are the examples of social organizations: social institutions, social groups, social inequality, religious groups and bureaucracy.
Social Institution- Family and School
Social Groups- Farmers Association and Professional Associations
Social Inequality- Unemployed ,pleasants, and poor people
Religious Groups- Catholic, Protestants and Muslims
Bureaucracy- Government Agencies and Local government Units
2. Social Psychology This refers to human nature and its focus on social processes as they affect the individual. The observations in their emotions, attitudes, perceptions and culture in ther community, school market and church.
3. Social Change This studies ecological changes, population, migration, technological change, new production techniques, culture change, political processes, social transformation, modernization, mass communication, and the impact of natural disaster.
The Point of Inquiry in Social Change
A.Ecological Change
• Why are there so many diseases that occur now a day?
B.Migration
• Why do people migrate?
C.Technological change
• What are the new technologies now?
D.New production
• What are the things that man produce?
E,Culture Change
• What are the fading values that we have now?
F.Political Processes
• What political activities you are joining?
G.Social Transformation
• What are the good and bad ways of having social transformation?
H.Mass Communication
• Do you think television and computers strongly influence the behavior of the people?
4. Population This studies size, growth, demographic characteristics, as well as corruption, migration, changes vis-à-vis economic, political and social systems.
5.Applied Sociology This is concerned with resolving social problems through sociological research.
• Squatters, prostitution, large family size, migration of nurses, and poor nutrition .
SQUATTERS. Those who are living in the squatter area, what might be the reason for them to migrate in the urban area or in the city? What are the research variables when we study this problem?
Those people living in a certain area but they do not own the land. For the sociological research to solve the problem of squatters , what is the reason for them to migrate in the city? The research variables to study the problem of squatting are the background on employment, educational qualifications, occupation and source of income.
PROSTITUTION. Do you think prostitution and squatting have the same research variables as social problems? Usually those who are living in squatter areas are also the breeding ground for prostitution even drug abuse and illegal gambling. The research variables may still on low income and unemployment. The given research variables for squatters have the same reason for this social problems.
MIGRATION OF NURSES. What might be the reason why nurses would like to work in other countries? The high salary and lucrative remunerations for nurses who are working in Europe ,USA, Canada and Australia. As compared with the Staff Nurse who is working in government hospital they are only receiving meager salary which is 10 times higher once you work in other country.
POOR NUTRITION. Who are usually affected by poor nutrition? The children have usually the problem of malnutrition. The research variables are the income of the family, food intake, employment and occupation of the family. The usual cause of poor nutrition is the result of low income and unemployment in the family.

6. Sociological Theory and Research This is a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions or behavior; or the discovery and development of research that tests the validity, applicability and usefulness of the results of the investigation for the improvement of life.
Questions:
1. Give an example of problem in the community, school, hospital or any other places of the society?
Examples:
a) The Dengue Cases in Community X
b) Waste Management System in the Hospital
c) Poor Sanitation in the Community
1. How do you test the validity, applicability and usefulness of the results?
a) Dengue Cases- The increasing number of dengue cases in particular sitio
b) Waste Management System- The poor disposal of waste that result to longer treatment period or even infection of patients in the hospital
c) Poor Sanitation- The lack of drainage, waste disposal and unsanitary practices in the community that increase the cases of communicable or non-communicable diseases in the area.
1. What are your findings in the problem?
a) Dengue Cases- For every week, there are 3 dengue cases of that sitio.
b) Waste Management System- There are 5 cases of infection in the hospital because of poor waste management program.
c) Poor Sanitation- There are 4 cases of varied illness as a result
1. What are your solutions and recommendations?
a) Dengue cases b) Waste Management System c) Poor Sanitation