Importance of sociology

Sociology makes a scientific study ofsociety:

Prior to the emergence ofsociology the study of society was
carriedon in an unscientific manner and societyhad never been
the central concern of anyscience. It is through the study
ofsociology that the truly scientific study ofthe society has
been possible. Sociologybecause of its bearing upon many of
theproblems of the present world has assumedsuch a great
importance that it isconsidered to be the best approach to
llthe social sciences

•
Sociology is of great importance in thesolution of social
problems:
The presentworld is suffering from many problemswhich can
be solved through scientificstudy of the society. It is the
task ofsociology to study the social problemsthrough the
methods of scientificresearch and to find out solution tothem.

•
Study of sociology is indispensable forunderstanding and
planning of society:
Itis impossible to understand and solve itsnumerous problems
without support ofsociology. It is rightly said that we
cannotunderstand and mend society without anyknowledge of
its mechanism andconstruction. Without the
investigationcarried out by sociology no real effectivesocial
planning would be possible. It helpsus to determine the most
efficient meansfor reaching the goals agreed upon
•
Sociology has made greatcontribution to enrich
humanculture:
Human culture has beenmade richer by the contribution
ofsociology. The social phenomenon isnow understood in the
light ofscientific knowledge and enquiry. Ithas further taught
us to beobjective, critical anddispassionate. It enables man
tohave better understanding both ofhimself and of others.
•
Sociology has changed our outlookwith regard to the
problems of crime;
It is through the study of sociologythat our whole outlook on
variousaspects of crime has change. Thecriminals are now
treated as humanbeings suffering from mentaldeficiencies
and efforts are accordinglymade to rehabilitate them
as usefulmembers of the society.

•
The value of sociology lies in the factthat it keeps us
update on modernsituations:
It contributes to making goodcitizens and finding solutions to
thecommunity problems. It adds to theknowledge of the
society. It helps theindividual find his relation to society.
Thestudy of social phenomena and of the waysand means of
promoting what Giddens callssocial adequacy is one of the
most urgentneeds of the modern society. Sociology hasa
strong appeal to all types of mindthrough its direct bearing
upon many ofthe initial problems of the present world
Areas of sociology
•
Social organization
is the study ofthe various institutions, socialgroups, social
stratification, socialmobility, bureaucracy, ethnicgroups and
relations, and othersimilar subjects like family,education,
politics, religion,economy

•
Social Psychology
This refers tohuman nature and its focus on socialprocesses
as they affect theindividual. The observations in
theiremotions, attitudes, perceptionsand culture in their
community.

•
Social Change
This studiesecological changes, population,migration,
technological change,new production techniques,
culturechange, political processes, socialtransformation,
modernization,mass communication, and the impactof natural
disaster.

•
5.Applied Sociology
This isconcerned with resolving socialproblems through
sociologicalresearch.
•
Human ecology
deals with the natureand behavior of a given population andits
relationships to the group's presentsocial institutions. For
instance, studiesof this kind have shown the prevalenceof
mental illness, criminality,delinquencies, prostitution, and
drugaddiction in urban centers and otherhighly developed
places.

•
Sociological Theory andResearch
This is a set of statementsthat seeks to explain problems,
actionsor behavior; or the discovery anddevelopment of
research that teststhe validity, applicability andusefulness of
the results of theinvestigation for the improvement oflife.

Founder’s of sociology

•
Auguste Comte
The French philosopher
Auguste Comte
(1798
–
1857)
—often called the ―father of sociology‖—
first
used the term ―sociology‖ in 1838 to refer to the
scientific study of society. He believed that allsocieties
develop and progress through thefollowing stages: religious,
metaphysical, andscientific. Comte argued that society
needsscientific knowledge based on facts and evidence tosolve
its problems
—
not speculation andsuperstition, which characterize the
religious andmetaphysical stages of social development.

•
Comte viewed the science of sociologyas consisting of two
branches:
dynamics
,or the study of the processes by whichsocieties change; and
statics
, or thestudy of the processes by whichsocieties endure. He
also envisionedsociologists as eventually developing abase of
scientific social knowledge thatwould guide society into
positivedirections.

•
Herbert Spencer
•
The 19th
‐
century Englishman
HerbertSpencer
(1820
–
1903) compared society to aliving organism with
interdependent parts.Change in one part of society causes
changein the other parts, so that every partcontributes to
the stability and survival ofsociety as a whole. If one part of
societymalfunctions, the other parts must adjust tothe crisis
and contribute even more topreserve society. Family,
education,government, industry, and religion comprise
just a few of the parts of the ―organism‖ of
society.

•
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

•
Marx's theories about society, economicsand politics, which
are collectively knownas Marxism, argue that
all societyprogresses through the dialectic of classstruggle.
He was heavily critical of thecurrent socio-economic form of
society,capitalism, which he called the"dictatorship of
the bourgeoisie," believingit to be run by the wealthy middle
andupper classes purely for their own benefit,and predicted
that it would inevitablyproduce internal tensions which would
leadto its self-destruction and replacement bya new system,
socialism.

Emile Durkheim
(1858
–
1917)
did a personsystematically apply scientific methods
to sociology as adiscipline. A French philosopher and
sociologist, Durkheimstressed the importance of studying
social facts
, orpatterns of behavior characteristic of a particular
group.The phenomenon of suicide especially
interestedDurkheim. But he did not limit his ideas on the topic
tomere speculation. Durkheim formulated his conclusionsabout
the causes of suicide based on the analysis of largeamounts of
statistical data collected from variousEuropean countries.
•
Durkheim certainly advocated the use of
systematicobservation to study sociological events, but he
alsorecommended that sociologists avoid considering
people'sattitudes when explaining society. Sociologists should
only
consider as objective ―evidence‖ what they themselves can
directly observe. In other words, they must not
concernthemselves with people's subjective experiences.

•
The German sociologist

MaxWeber
(1864
–
1920)
disagreed with the
―objective evidence only‖ position of
Durkheim. He argued that sociologists mustalso consider
people's interpretations ofevents
—
not just the events themselves.Weber believed that
individuals' behaviorscannot exist apart from
theirinterpretations of the meaning of their ownbehaviors,
and that people tend to actaccording to these interpretations.
Becauseof the ties between objective behavior andsubjective
interpretation, Weber believedthat sociologists must inquire
into people'sthoughts, feelings, and perceptionsregarding
their own behaviors.

References
•
Blackwell Encyclopedia ofSociology.
Ed. by George Ritzer.
•
World of Sociology
. Ed. by Joseph M.Palmisano. Detroit : Gale Group, c2001.
•
Dictionary of Sociology
. By TonyLawson. London ; Chicago : FitzroyDearborn, 2001