Sociology as a Science

Science is a systematically acquired, organized body of certified and changing knowledge which is based
upon observable facts and methods used to acquire this knowledge.
science tries to arrive at ‘law like explanatory generalizations. For the purpose of acquiring empirical data
and for processing them into law like statements science relies on a ‘method’. The basic elements of
SCIENTIFIC METHOD are:
a) Observation of an event that stimulates thinking.
b) Defining or classifying the terms or events being considered.
c) Formulating the research issue or hypothesis.
d) Generating a theory or proposition - a general statement that serves as a potential answer to the
research question.
e) Creating a research design in order to test whether the theory or proposition is valid.
f) Collecting data-working through the research design to make observations.
g) Analyzing the data
h) Making conclusions and evaluating the theory.
The earliest sciences to grow were physical and natural sciences.
exploring the physical and natural world and in being able to arrive at near universal laws, they came to be
viewed as models for other sciences to emulate.
Physical and natural sciences try to rely on measurement and quantification of data. Quantification brings
in exactitude and makes precise comparisons possible.
Sociology, being a late comer was also influenced and developed under the shadow of these positive
sciences. Early sociologists conceived Sociology as a positive science. For example, influenced by biology,
Herbert Spencer viewed society as an organism like entity; a unified whole made up of interconnected
parts
Even Durkheim regarded Sociology to be a positive science. social facts constitute the subject matter of
Sociology. He defined social facts in such a way that they were amenable to sensory observation and
exploratory generalization about them could be made by using positive science methods.
Radcliffe-Brown, Malinowski and even Parsons continue to view Sociology as a positive science and so did
most of the Chicago School sociologists.
Royce A. Singleton and Bruce C. Straits have said that “scientific social research consists of the process of
formulating and seeking answers to questions about the social world”. For example, why do husbands
batter their wives? Why do people take drugs? What are the consequences of population explosion? And
so on. Similarly, the issues of inquiry may be of rural poverty, urban slums, youth crime, political
corruption, exploitation of the weak, environmental pollution, and the like. To answer these questions,
social scientists have devised basic guidelines, principles and techniques. Scientific sociological research,
broadly speaking, is concerned with discovering, organizing and developing systematic reliable knowledge
about society or social life, social action, social behaviour, social relations, social groups (like families,
castes, tribes, communities, etc.), social organizations (like social, religious, political, business, etc.), and
social systems and social structures.
Theodorson and Theodorson have maintained that scientific method is “building of a body of scientific
knowledge through observation, experimentation, generalization and verification”.
According to Manheim, scientific research involves a method characterized by objectivity, accuracy and
systematization. Objectivity eliminates biases in fact-collection and interpretation: Accuracy makes sure
that things are exactly as described. Systematization aims at consistency and comprehension.
The assumption is that any statement pertaining to any social phenomenon made on the basis of scientific
inquiry can be accepted as true and meaningful, if it is empirically verifiable.
Although scientific research method depends on the collection of empirical facts, yet facts alone do not
constitute a science. For meaningful understanding facts must be ordered in some fashion, analysed,
generalized, and related to other facts. Thus, theory construction is a vital part of the scientific inquiry.
scientific knowledge is a cumulative process.
• The scientific method could either be an inductive method or the deductive method. Inductive method
involves establishing generalizations. While deductive method involves testing generalisations.

 Sociology can be termed a science because it fulfils the basic requirements of objective and rational
knowledge of social reality. Sociologists apply science to their study in the same way that natural
scientists investigate the natural world. One has to understand the following points in order to
analyze whether sociology is a science.
 Sociology employs the scientific method: Sociology is a science to the extent that it uses
 scientific methods of study. In selecting topic, defining a problem, reviewing of the literature,
formulating a hypothesis, choosing a research method, collecting the data, analyzing the results and
sharing the results, sociology is as scientific as a science.
 Sociological principles are veridical and reliable: The laws of sociology prove to be true and can be
easily verified. Sociological studies can to a large extent be reliable and valid. The measurement of
sociological variables can be reliable.
 Sociologists can make generalizations: Generalization can be made on the basis of microstudies.
These generalizations hold good for the society as a whole.
 Sociology can make predictions: On the basis of sociological studies, sociologists can anticipate the
future and make predictions concerning future events, occurrences, relationships, incidents and so
on.
 Sociology if factual: Sociology makes a scientific study of facts and the general principles involved in
them. All sociological studies are factual.
 Sociology is empirical: Sociological studies are based on evidence, observations and explanations.
All studies are measurable and are empirical stated.
 Sociology is cumulative: Sociological theories are built upon one another, extending and refining
the older ones and producing new ones.

Robert Bierstedt in his book The Social Order mentioned the following characteristics of the nature of
sociology:
1. Sociology is a social science, not a natural science.
2. Sociology is a categorical or positive and not a normative science. Sociology is a pure or theoretical
science and not an applied science. Sociology is an abstract science and not a concrete one.
3. Sociology is a generalizing science and not a particularizing science. Sociology is both a rational and an
empirical science.
4. Laboratory of Sociology is the Social World

The important uses of scientific research in Sociology are:

• It improves decision-making;
• It reduces uncertainty;
• It enables adopting new strategies;
• It helps in planning for the future; and
• It helps in ascertaining trends.
• It is because of this value of scientific research that today many sociologists are
engaged in research- some on full-time basis and some on part-time basis. Many
university teachers divide their time between teaching and research. The funds for
research are provided by the UGC, UCSSR, UNICEF, Ministry of Welfare and Justice,
Government of India, World Bank. The scientific inquiry should not be conducted
when availability of adequate data is doubtful, there is time constraint, cost (of
inquiry) is higher than value, and no tactical decisions need to be made.

Certain objections have been raised by the academic community to challenge the scientific status of
sociology. Some of these are as follows:

 Problem of objectivity: The scientific status requires the researcher to take a detached, impersonal
and unprejudiced view of the phenomenon being studied, describing what is and not what ought
to be. Sociologists are accused of being subjective in their research, seeing what they want to see,
expect to see and are conditioned to see. Sociologists, like other social scientists, allow their
perceptions to be distorted by cultural and personal biases. Objectivity attempts to undo such
distortions – a task difficult to achieve while dealing with human beings. It is claimed that an
unbiased and objective study cannot be made in sociology, that a value-free sociology is not
possible. Because sociologists are part of the social world they study, being value-free in conducting
social research is difficult. Sociologists claim that these biases and the subjectivity can be minimized
by the practice of new methods of scientific research.
 Problem of accuracy and reliability: Since the entire world and its people are the subject of
sociological research, it is argued that such research cannot be totally accurate or reliable.
Responses differ from person to person, from place to place and from time to time. Response of an
individual may differ over a period of time or at different intervals. Therefore, reliability and
accuracy of sociological studies comes under scrutiny.
 Problem of predictability: human behavior is too complex to allow sociologists to precisely predict
any individual’s action. Each individual in the society has his own individualistic approach towards
society, which is spontaneous and can be impulsive. This human character or nature makes it
difficult for sociologists to predict future responses.
 Lack of laboratory research: Sociological studies have the problem of complete lack of laboratory
research. In the worlds of Gillin and Gillin, ‘…. the laboratory method is only one general procedure
 of accurate observation’. Some of the characteristics of the laboratory method are (i) control over
conditions, (ii) facility of repeating experiment, (iii) objective observation and (iv) apparatus. Since
these conditions are not completely fulfilled in sociology research, it cannot be totally scientific.
 Problem of exactivity: Sociology cannot be called real science because firstly, its laws and
conclusions cannot be expressed in precise terms. Its findings are often limited in time and space
owing to the fact that social phenomenon is too vast, and human motivations too complex.
 Problem of terminology: Sociology also suffers from the exact and clear terminology in the sense
that the same words convey different meanings to different persons. it has not developed an
adequate set of scientific terms.
 According to Giddens, ‘Sociology is a science in the sense that it involves systematic methods of
investigation and the evaluation of theories in the light of evidence and logical.