NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY

NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY

By

Prof.M. Thanga Darwin

            Sociology is the branch of knowledge and it has its own characteristics. Sociology has different nature in society. It is different from other sciences in certain respects. The following are the main characteristics of sociology and they are as follows.

Naturally the study of sociology has two opposite views.

1) Sociology as a science.

2) Sociology is art or not a science or is a social science.

1. Sociology is a science

Sociology does make use of scientific methods in the study.

Science:

       Science is a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of fact or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws. Science is a systematic body of knowledge and based on reason and evidence.                            

Characteristics of science:

1. Objectivity: Scientific knowledge is objective. Objectivity simple means the ability to see and accept facts as they are, not as one might wish them to be.

2. Verifiability: Science rests upon sense data, i.e., data gathered through our senses—eye, ear, nose, tongue and touch.

3. Ethical Neutrality: Science is ethically neutral. It only seeks knowledge. How this knowledge is to be used, is determined by societal values.

4. Systematic Exploration: A scientific research adopts a certain sequential procedure, an organised plan or design of research for collecting and analysis of facts about the problem under study.

5. Reliability: Scientific knowledge must occur under the prescribed circumstances not once but repeatedly.

6. Precision: Scientific knowledge is precise. It is not vague like some literary writing.

7. Accuracy: Scientific knowledge is accurate. Accuracy simply means truth or correctness of a statement or describing things in exact words as they are without jumping to unwarranted conclusions.

8. Abstractness: Science proceeds on a plane of abstraction.

9. Predictability: Scientists do not merely describe the phenomena being studied, but also attempt to explain and predict as well.

10. Generalization: The possibility of a concise consistent and concrete formulation. The capacity to form generalizations and make predictions.

Scientific characteristics of sociology

1. It study social phenomenon: It is known as, mother of all social sciences’. It is systematic way of dealing with ideas, careful observation and recording of factual data, and witch scientifically analysed by logical bases through with generalization can be made.

2. Sociology is factual:  It deals with facts only, use scientific methods to solve the problems.

3. Sociology frames lows and attempt to predict: science can make prediction on the bases of universal and valued laws related to problem salving approach.

4. Principle of sociology is universal: the principles of sociology provide to be true at all time and places, if conditions do not very. 

5. It discovers the cause and effect relationship: sociological principles and structures have cause and effect relationship in subject matter and it provides universal and valid laws.

6. Sociological principle is veridical: The laws of sociology prove and true at every verification and re-verification. anyone can examine their validity.

2.Sociology not a science

Social Science:

   “The study of human society and of individual relationships”.  Its including sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, and history etc.

Non-Scientific Has Characters of Sociology

1. Lack the experimentation: sociology deals with human relationship, which can be neither measured, weighted nor see or analyse.

2. Lack of objectivity: The sociologist cannot maintain complete its objectivity to understand its external action.

3. Lack of exactness:  The prediction might not be true. The laws and conclusion cannot be expressed in precise term.

4. Inability to measure subject matter: It inability to measure the subject matters of sociological principles.

5. Lack of perfect exactness: because social phenomenon is too vast, human motivations are complex. It is difficult to make prediction about human behaviour. So that the sociologist unable to make exact knowledge.

6. Cannot Mack predictions correctly: social phenomenon is too vast, human motivations and behaviours ore are complex, which Mack difficulty in predictions.

7. Terminological inefficiency: Wards are essential tool for thought and making principle. sociology not yet have developed adequate set of scientific terms.

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIOLOGY

Robert Bierstedt has in his book ‘The Social Order’ maintain the following natural characteristics of sociology

1. Sociology is an independent science: It is not treated and studies as a branch of any other science like philosophy or political philosophy or history.

  2.  Sociology is the social science and not a physical science: As a social science it concentrates its attention on man, his social behaviour, social activities and social life.

3.   Sociology is the categorical and not a normative discipline: Sociology "Confines itself to statement about what is, not what should be or ought to be". As a social science sociology is necessarily silent about questions of value and it is ethically neutral.

4. Sociology is the pure science and not an applied science: The main aim of pure science is the acquisition of knowledge and it is not bothered weather the acquired knowledge is useful or can be put to use.

4. Sociology is the relatively an abstract science and not a concrete science: Sociology does not confine itself to the study of this society of that particular society or social organization, or marriage, or religion, or group and so on. It is in this simple sense that sociology is an abstract nor a concrete science.

5.  Sociology is the generalizing and not a particularizing or individualizing science: Sociology tries to find out the general laws or principles about human interaction and association, about the nature, from, content and the structure of human groups and societies. It tries to make generalizations on the basis of the study of some selected events.

6. Sociology is the general science not a special science: The area of inquiry of sociology is general not specialized. It is concerned with human interaction and human life in general. It only studies human activities in a general way. Anthropology and social psychology often claim themselves to be general social science.

7.  Sociology is both rational and an empirical science: There are two broad ways of approach to scientific knowledge. Empiricism is the approach that emphasis experience and the facts that result from observation and experimentation. Rationalism is stresses reason and the theories that result from logical inference.

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