TEACHER: MS.

MEHREEN KHAN

1ST LECTURE
SOCIOLOGY
•Sociology is the study of social life, social change,
the social causes and consequence of human
behaviors.
SIOCIOLOGY – AN
INTRODUCTION
ORIGIN OF SOCIOLOGY

The word SOCIOLOGY comes from

 Latin word “ socious” ( companions)
 Greek word “ logos” ( study of).
DEFINITIONS
 Sociology is the systematic and scientific study of human social
life. Sociologists study people as they form groups and interact
with one another. The groups they study may be small, such as
married couples, or large, such as a subculture of suburban
teenagers. Sociology places special emphasis on studying societies,
both as individual entities and as elements of a global perspective.

 Sociology has been defines by number of ways by number of
people.
 The science of society (WARD & GRAHAM SUMNER)
 The science of social phenomena ( F.H.GIDDINGS)
 The science of institutions ( DURKHEIM)
 The study of social action ( WEBER)
 The science of collective behavior.( PARK)
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
EARLY ORIGIN:
 Human beings have always been curious about the source of their own
behavior. But for thousands of years our attempts to understand ourselves
relied on ways of thinking passed down from generation to generation
 . Though we can find the traces of study of human societies as early as
fourteenth century in the work of Ibn khaldun
 . The systematic study of human behavior and human society is a relatively
recent development in West , whose beginnings can be found in the late
eighteenth century. The back ground to the new approach was the series
of sweeping changes, the French Revolution in 1789 and the industrial
Revolution brought to Europe. New industries and technologies changed
the face of the social and physical environment. Large number of people
who were engaged in agriculture sector had been leaving for work in
factories. In consequence, cities grew at an unprecedented rate, providing
an anonymous environment in which the custom and values of small, tight
knit traditional community could scarcely survive
ABDUL REHMAN IBN KHALDUM:

 He was born on May 27, 1332 in Tunis North Africa.

 He was a great Muslim scholar. In his life time he served a
variety of sultans 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 are common with contemporary
sociology. He was commited 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 interrelationship. He
was interested in comparing primitive and modern
societies.
AUGUST COMTE
 Pride of place is 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 behavior in a
systematic way would eventually lead to more rational human
interaction. Comte regarded sociology as the last 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 dynamics refers to those aspects of
social life that have to do with social change and institutional
development
HERBERT SPENCER ( 1820 – 1903)

 Spencer viewed society as similar to the living body. He

depicted society as a system , a whole made up of interrelated
parts. Just as a human body is made up of organs like the
kidneys, lungs, and heart etc. so so society is made up of
institutions like family , religion, educational, the state and the
economy. Such an image of society is in line with what
sociologists now call structural functional theory. For change , he
found ideas in Charlis Darwin’s evolutionary theory . Spencer
used the concept of evolution of animals to explain how societies
change over time . Similarly ha adapted Darwin’s view of the “
survival of the fittest” . Spencer felt that survival of the fittest
occurs in both the biological and the social realms and that there
should be no interference with this process in the social world.
KARL MARX ( 1818- 1883)
 Marx thinking was strongly influenced by the work of a German
Philosopher, George Hegel. Hegel saw history as a dialectical
process, a series of clashes between conflicting ideas and forces.
Hegel focused on dialectical approach in the material world.
This is an important transformation because it allowed Marx to
move the dialect out of the realm of philosophy and into the
realm of science of social relation. Under Marx’s analysis,
society was fundamentally divided between classes who clash in
pursuit of their own class interests. This view forms the basis for
the contemporary sociological perspective of conflict. Although
Marx did not view himself as a sociologist he made a critical
contribution to the development of sociology and other social
sciences.
EMILE DURKHEIM : ( 1858- 1917)

 The French sociologist believe that the sociologist must

study the social facts in the same way as scientists study
nature.
 . His main work is the concept of social fact or any pattern
that is rooted in society rather than experience of
individuals. The basic examples are the value and norms of
a society. One of his famous studies, regarding this is
concerned with suicide.
 Durkheim observed society as being characterized by
three elements. The first is that society is structured.
Second society has power and third the structural
patterns can be viewed as facts.
EMILE DURKHEIM : ( 1858- 1917)

 Like all the major founders of sociology , he was preoccupied with the
changes transforming society.
 . He tried to understand these changes in term of the development of
the division of labour. So Durkheim differentiated between two types of
solidarity. For most of history human societies were dominated by
collective conscience, or moral consensus. He termed this mechanical
solidarity meaning social bonds , based on shared morality, that bring
together members of pre – industrial societies.
 . As this type declined it was replaced by organic solidarity or social
bonds based on specialization , that unite members of industrial
societies.
 . In his view the growing division of labour led to the stage of anomie.
Anomie refers to loss of direction that is felt in a society or a condition
in which society provides little moral guidance to individual. In this
situation societal norms are conflicting or entirely absent.
NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY
 1. Sociology is an Independent Science
 2. Sociology is a Social Science and not a Physical Science
 3. Sociology is a Categorical and not a Normative Discipline:
 4. Sociology is a Pure Science and not an Applied Science:
 5. Sociology is relatively an Abstract Science and not a
Concrete Science
 6. Sociology is a Generalising and not a Particularising or
Individualising Science:
 7. Sociology is a General Science and not a Special Social
Science
 8. Finally, Sociology is Both a Rational and an Empirical
Science
SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES

 There are a wide range of subjects in

sociology. Sociological studies includes
colonialism, globalization, development of
sociology & social structure, social network.
SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES

 Globalization and social change.

 Understanding Group Attitude.
 Behaviors
 Race, Ethnicity & Migration.
 Social interaction & daily life
 Families & Intimate relationship.
 Religion
 Culture & Media
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY IN
EVERY DAY LIFE
 One central and important study of sociology
is the study of everyday social life
 While sociology studies human interaction,
everyday life consists of everyday human
interaction
 Everyday life is filled by human beings
interacting with one another, institutions,
ideas and emotions.
PERSPECTIVES

MAJOR THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES

 A perspective is a broad assumption about

society and social behavior that provides a
point of view for the study of specific
problems.
 There are three of these perspectives

 1) The Functionalist or Order perspective

 2) The Conflict Perspective
 3) The Interactionist Perspective
SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE

 “ According to Ian Robertson : “ Science refers

to the logical , systematic methods by which
knowledge is obtained and to the actual body of
knowledge produce by these methods.”
 According to Neuman: “ Science is a social
institution and a way to produce knowledge.”
 According to Horton and Hunt : “ A science is a
body of organized , verified knowledge which
has been secured through scientific
investigation.”
THE NATURE OF SCIENCE
 Science is non-ethical in the sense that it deals with the
study of events as they are and not what they should be.
 The scientist has no technique by which he can
determine what the ultimate values of a society should
be
 The knowledge attained by him is instrumental.
 Some people think of science as a particular knowledge
and some think of it as a particular method to
investigate natural phenomena
 We shall consider here science both as knowledge and as
method of investigation
TYPES OF SCIENCE

 Broadly science has been divided into two

types ( Neuman , Ian Robertson)
 1) Natural science
 2) Social science
NATURAL SCIENCE

 It deals with the natural phenomena of the world

includes plants, animals, moon, stars , river etc.
 Further divided into two
 Physical science: this type of natural science
deals with the matter and other non living stars
etc. It includes physics, chemistry, mathematics,
geology, geography, astronomy etc.
 Biological science: it is concerned with the all
kinds of living organism like animals, plants,
humans etc.
SOCIAL SCIENCE

 It deals with social process and human

behavior. It is more concerned with the
human and society. This includes sociology,
history, anthropology, economics, political
science, philosophy etc.
SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL
SCIENCES
 1) Sociology & economics
 2) Sociology & political science
 3) Sociology & history
 4) Sociology & anthropology
 5) Sociology & psychology
 6) Sociology , criminology & education
APPLICATION OF SOCIOLOGY

 1) Education & Research

 2) Agriculture
 3) Industry
 4) Trade & Bussiness
 5) Health
 6) Population Planning
 7) Social welfare
 8) Social policy , Planning & Development