SOCIOLOGY-AN

INTRODUCTION
SOC-100

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY.
 • Introduction:
• Sociology is a branch of social science that uses systematic methods of Empirical Investigation
and Critical Analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and
activity.
• The culture turn of the 1970s and 1980s brought more humanistic interpretive approaches to the
study of culture in sociology.
• Hence sociology encompasses all social aspects of human life and is a broad discipline in terms of
both Methodology and subject matter and its traditional focus includes social relations, social
stratification, social interaction, culture and deviance
• It’s approaches include both Qualitative and Quantitative research techniques.

• Definitions:
• “Sociology is the science of society” ( Ward and Graham Sumner)
• “Sociology is the study of social systems” (William E. Cole)
• “Sociology is the science of collective behaviour” (Park)
• “Sociology is the systematic study of human groups and social life in modern societies” (Ken
Browne)
• “Sociology is the study of. Human society, including both social action and social organisation.”
(Kalhoun, Light and Keller)
 • Origin and development of sociology:
• Sociology- the Science of society was originated as a special discipline in 1836 by August Comte-
a French, with the name of “social physics”.

• Its foundation was laid by Allama Ibn-e-Khaldun, A Muslim historian of Tunis. He named this
new science Ilmul-Imran.

• The old Muslim thinkers were Al-Raazi ,Ibn-e-Sina, Imam Ghazali, Shah wali Ullah Dehlvi.

• The European old social thinkers were the Socrates, the Plato, Thomas Hobbes and others.

• The notable thinkers of modern times are Spencer, Weber, Nimkoff, Simmel and Maciver.

• Sociology is generalizing science of society. It studies general events and not the particular ones.

• Applied Sociology:
• The knowledge of sociology is applied in the solution of social problems. It explains the socio-
cultural conditions which direct towards the solution of problems .This field is called Applied
Sociology.
 • Sociology Before August Comte:
• Sociology has a long past but a very brief history. Sociology is one of the oldest and yet
the youngest of sciences.

• It is one of the oldest sciences in the sense that even centuries ago, men were thinking
about society; how it should be organized, man; his destiny and the rise and fall of
people and civilizations. Though they were thinking in sociological terms, they were
called philosophers and historians.

• We find sociological ideas in the writings of philosophers. Plato’s Republic and

Aristotle’s Politics are some of the ancient sources of social thoughts.

• Sir Thomas in his ‘Utopia’, H.G Wells in his ‘A Modern Utopia’ and James
Herrington in his ‘Common Wealth of Oceana’ have made attempts to project a
picture of an ideal society.

• It was in the 19th century that systematic attempts were made by August Comte,
Spencer, Weber and others to study the society and establish a science of society called August Comte
‘Sociology’

• Establishment of Priciples and building blocks of sociology were laid by sociologists

like Khaldoon, Spencer, Comte, etc.
 • Early Sociologists :
Given the social conditions that provoked their inquiry, the early sociologists focused
their attention on the forces that hold society together and on the forces that fragment it.

• August Comte:
• The title “Founder of sociology” usually goes to the French philosopher August Comte (1798-
1857).

• Comte was a somewhat eccentric person (he claimed to practice “mental hygiene,” meaning that
he refused to read anyone else’s books), but was one of the most original thinkers of its time.

• It was he who coined the term “sociology” and who argued, in 1838, that the methods of science
should be applied to the study of society.

• Comte established two specific problems for sociologist investigation, “social statistics” and
“social dynamics”.

• Social statics refers to the problems of order and stability.

• Social dynamics refers to the problems of social change.

• Herbert Spencer :
• Another important nineteenth-century figure was Herbert Spencer .

• He devised a theory to explain the problems of social order and change.

• Spencer compared human societies to living organisms.

• The parts of an animal, such as the lungs and the heart, are interdependent and contribute to the
survival of the total organism. Similarly, Spencer argued, the various parts of society, such as the
state and the economy, are also interdependent and work to ensure the stability and survival of the
entire system.

• Many also believe there has been a general tendency for societies to move from the simple to the
complex.

• Karl Marx :
• The third most important of the nineteenth-century social thinkers was Karl Marx .

• He wrote brilliantly on subjects broad and diverse as philosophy, economics, political

science, and history. His influence has been immense.

• Millions of people accept his theories with almost religious fervor, and modern socialist and
communist movements owe their inspiration directly to him.
• Emile Durkheim:
• The French sociologist Emile Durkheim has strongly influenced this discipline.
• Durkheim dealt with the problem of social order; he argued that societies are held together by
the shared beliefs and values of their members, especially as these are expressed in
religious doctrine and ritual.
• Durkheim also made the first real breakthrough in sociological research with his painstaking
statistical study of suicide in various population groups.
• He was able to show that suicide rates vary consistently from one group to another, proving
that the act of suicide is influenced by social forces and is not simply the individual matter
that it might appear to be.

• Max Weber :
• The German sociologist Max Weber, a contemporary of Durkheim, has perhaps had a
stronger influence on Western sociology than any other single individual.
• He was a man whose sociological investigations covered such diverse fields as politics, law,
economics, music, cities, and the major world religions.
• He viewed the direction of social change in industrial societies with distaste, feeling that the
world was being “disenchanted” by bureaucracy.
 • Nature of sociology:
• Robert Biersted explained the characteristics of sociology in his book “The social order”.
• Sociology is an independent science:
• Sociology is an independent science and has its own field of study, boundary and method it is not
treated and studied as a branch of any other science like Philosophy or political philosophy and
history.
• Sociology is a social science not physical science:
• Sociology belongs to the family of social science not a family of physical science. In the social
science we study about man and his social behaviour and activities in society so we can say that
sociology is related to other social sciences like history, political science, anthropology etc
• Sociology is categorical not a normative discipline:
• Under this statement we discuss sociology as “ What is, not what should be or ought to be”.
Sociology does not tell us about values and doesn’t make any kind of value judgments. It is neither
moral nor immoral but amoral; it means its neutral.
• Sociology as abstract not concrete science:
• It does not mean that sociology is an art not a science. Nor does it mean it is
unnecessarily complicated and difficult. It means sociology is not interested in the
display of emotions or feelings of human events or human behaviour in physical form. It
is only concerned with human events and patterns.
• Sociology is generalising not particularising:
• Sociology tries to find out the general laws and principals about human interactions, about the
nature, form, content and structure of human group and societies. It does not study each and every
event and it is not possible also, but it tries to make general rules on the basis of the study of some
selected events.

• Sociology is general not a special science:

• In sociology we discuss about the General human relations and interests in society. While
other social sciences like history, economics, etc, we study about the special field of their
concerned limitations. Other social sciences study man and his certain aspects in those fields
which are in their limits. Sociology studies human activity in a General way.

• Sociology as rational and empirical science:

• Scientific knowledge uses two ways to solve any problem; as in empiricism way we focus on
experienced facts and observations, while the rationalist way, we stress reason and theories
that are logical. The empiricist collect facts and the rationalist coordinates and arrange them
but in sociology both are useful a theory is nothing more than an opinion if it does not match
by heart and solid facts.
• Conclusion:
• We can conclude that from the above that sociology is an independent, a social, a pure, and
an abstract, a general both rational and empirical social science.
 • Sociology is knowledge:
• Sociology, being a science exists in the form of theories, principals and laws. This organized
knowledge is enduring and lasting. Sociology has developed its own methods to get reliable facts
about a certain matter. These methods are scientific in nature by which the validity of matter can
be sought . By doing research, valuable facts and information is added to the existing knowledge of
the discipline. Without research no technique for the curing of disease and for building bridges
would be possible.

• Subject matter of sociology:

• The subject covers a large number of area in its study. The specialized area of inquiry include
problems, phases of social life and institutional structure, social problems such as poverty, crime
problems and delinquency, physical and mental diseases. Social institutions as family, school,
college, mosque and market are fields of special interest.

• Sociological theory:
• It analyses the principles and concepts as generalization of science. Scientific methods used in
social research are tools of collecting new facts while theory is previously existing knowledge .
Circulation of Elite between classes in a society, residues and derivatives are theories of Pareto.
Durkheim's theories of collective representation and suicide attain an important position in
sociological knowledge. Evolution of species and survival of fittest are hypothesis of Charles
Darwin and are under discussion today in sociology. Similarly a large number of sociological
theories exist today as lasting knowledge.
• Historical sociology:
• Primitive and pre-literate societies of recent past are subject matter of study. Remote culture of
ancient societies have been studied by anthropologists, which are a source of huge information for
comparative study of cultures of past and present. With the information received, an answer of
origin and explanation to our present ways of life is discovered. We study culture change by this
method.

• Sociology of family:
• Family is the first institute for a person. In this field questions for inquiry like how did the oldest
institute originate, how it evolved ,what are the universal functions of this institute, what forms it
has adopted in different times, what are recent trends of a modern family, And what are major
problems faced today to the integrity of the institution are discussed.

• Sociology of community:
• The organization and problems in both rural and urban city of community are different and are
analyzed in this branch.

• Rural sociology studies rural social structure, rural problems, its causes and consequences and
socio- cultural changes taking place in rural areas.

• Urban sociology is more interested in urban social structure, urban problems, its causes and
consequences and socio-cultural changes taking place in urban part of the society.
• Sociology of religion:
• We study origin and development of institute of mosque. The institution performs certain
functions for integration of social groups. These functions and problems of the institution are of
equal important in Sociology. Sociology of Quran, Hadith and Fiqah analyses concepts,
principles and generalization in Sociology of Islam.
• Educational Sociology:
• The aims and objects of educational institutions are studied in this field. The activities
of the institution and problems arisen and relationship with other institutions are also
important topics of inquiry. The school is related with community, both affecting each
other in various ways.
• Political sociology:
• The origin, development, functions and problems of the government and various social
implications in political movements are the areas of study in this field. Distribution of power and
authority, state and citizen relationship and good governances are the topics of political sociology.
• Sociology of Law:
• It is the study of formal social control of society.
• The sociological factors responsible for such behaviors are of much interest in this field; such as
• Conformity to Laws
• Non-Conformity to laws.
• Relationship between society and law and bearing of one upon the other (change in one thing
affecting a change in other) also falls in this category.
• The Sociology of Law and Economic life:
• It is a new branch of sociology defined by Neil Smelser as, “ The application of general frame of
reference, variables and explanatory models of sociology to that complex of activities concerned
with the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of scarce goods and services”
• The focus of economic sociology is on;
• Economic activities.
• Relations between sociological variables
• Sub-Divisions of Economic sociology
• Its Subdivisions include:
• Occupational sociology
• The sociology of work
• The sociology of complex organizations
• Industrial sociology
• Plant sociology
• The sociology of consumption.
• The Sociology of Knowledge:
• “The sociology of knowledge is the study of relationship between human thoughts and the social
context within which it arises and the effects prevailing ideas have on societies”

• The term first came into use in 1920. In 1960s, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann applied
sociology of knowledge much more closely to everyday life.

• The Sociology of Terrorism:

• The sociology of terrorism seeks to understand terrorism as a social phenomenon and how
individuals and nations address it.

• Common topics include Wars of terrorism, Major conflicts of borders and states, etc.

• Social Psychology:
• It is concerned with socialization process of an individual’s life and collective behavior like

• Public mass, Crowd, Mob, Strikes and public opinion.

• Propaganda and other techniques used also share this field.

• Social Psychiatry:
• The fight between society and individual and its impacts upon the individual resulting in mental
disorders and anti-social behavior are the fields of inquiry.
• Social Disorganization:
• It deals with the problems of Mal-adjustment, crime, delinquency, poverty, ill-health, population
movement, prostitution, etc.

• Human Ecology and Demography:

• Relationships between communities, neighborhoods and other spatial distribution are of major concern in
this field.

• Other fields:
• Major other fields of specialization in sociology are Folk sociology, The Sociology of Art, Industrial
sociology, Medical Sociology, Military Sociology and Sociology of consumer behavior.

• Perspective:
• A perspective is a broad assumption about society and social behavior that provides a point of
view for the study of specific problems .

• For example:

• Ken brown has given the example to understand the perspective. Imagine three people looking at
the same place; a pickpocket, a police officer, and a shopkeeper. The pickpocket sees the
opportunity to steal, the police officer sees the crime, and the shopkeeper sees the customer .

• All are looking the same street but different aspects . All they see will depend upon what they want
see The perspective.
 • Major Theoretical Perspectives:
• There are four major theoretical perspectives of sociology.
• The evolutionary perspective
• The functionalist perspective
• the conflict perspective
• The interactionist perspective

• The Evolutionary Perspective: Macionis

• This is the earliest perspective in sociology based on the work of August Comte, Spencer.
• “ It focuses on how human societies originate and grow over a period of time”
• Sociologists using perspective look for a pattern of change and development appearing in different
societies in different times.
• After a few decades of its origin, it faded away and is now once again becoming fashionable.
• The Functionalist Perspective:
• It is also called order perspective. According to Maccionis:
• “ Functionalist perspective is the framework for building theory that sees society as a
complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.”
• This perspective was given by Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim.
• Spencer compared societies to living organisms. Each Organism has a structure, having different
components i.e. heart, lungs, brain etc. These structural components perform certain functions,
that results in positive consequence of the whole system. In the same way, Society has a structure.
Its components are social institutions i.e. Family, schools, religion, politics etc. Each component
performs its function and contribute to the stability of society.
• Functionalist theory implies that society tends to be organized, stable, well integrated system, in
which most members agree on basic values. It implies that all the elements of social system are
tend to “fit together” to maintain the stability and equilibrium.
• Functionalist believe that whenever something becomes completely dysfunctional, automatically
removed by the society. If something exists in society no matter how negative it is, it will still
remain in the society.
• Main focus of the functionalist is on social order stability and equilibrium in society.
• Sudden and rapid changes cause social disruption in society.
• The Conflict Perspective:
• According to Maccionis:
• “ Conflict perspective is a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of
inequality that generates conflict and change.”
• This perspective derives information from Karl Marx, who saw the struggle between social
classes as the “Engine”of history and the main source of change.
• Conflict theorists assume that societies are in constant state of change, in which conflict is a
permanent feature. Conflict is not only violence; It includes tension, competition, hostility, and
disagreement over goals and values .
• The conflict is not occasional, it’s a continual process that is inevitable part of social life. So
conflict is not necessarily destructive, but it also has positive results.
• In many social movements i.e. woman rights and against use of nuclear powers, conflict is
important source of change.
• According to Marx, Conflict is between bourgeoisie “a wealthy and powerful group who have
control and means of production” and proletariat “the poor laborer.”
• The Interactionist Perspective:
• According to Maccionis:
• “ It’s broad focus on social structures that shapes society as a whole.”
• The interactionist perspective in sociology is a view of society that focuses on the way in which
people act toward, respond to, and influence one another.
• This perspective derives information from Max Weber who emphasized the importance of
understanding the social world from the viewpoint of the individuals who act within it.
• It does not focus on large structures as the state the economy or social classes. Instead, it is
concerned primarily with the everyday social interaction that takes place as people go about their
lives.
• Society is ultimately created, maintained, and changed by the social interaction of its members.
• Symbolic Interaction:
• “Symbolic interaction is the interaction that takes place between people through symbols”
• They essential point is that people do not respond to the world directly, they place a social meaning
on it and respond to that meaning.
• The words of this, book, the red light of traffic signal, have no meaning in themselves, rather
people learn to attach symbolic meaning to these things and they order their lives on the basis of
these meanings.
• Sociologists using this perspective usually focus on specific, detailed aspects of personal everyday
life.
• The criticism is that it neglects larger social institutions and processes which, after all, have
powerful effects on social interaction and on our personal experience.

• 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 produced by these methods.”
• According to Neuman:
• “Science is a social institution and a way to produce knowledge.”
• The Nature of Science :

• Some people think science as a particular knowledge and some think of it as a

particular method to investigate natural phenomena. Science is considered as both
knowledge and as method of investigation. The assumptions of science are as
following:
• There is an object world quite different from the subject world.
• The truth of the object world can be explored by an unbiased investigation by man
and by employing what is known as the scientific method.

• Sociology and other social sciences:

• Sociology deals with the general processes of society hence other social sciences
share certain traits with sociology.
• Following are its relations with economics, political science, history, anthropology,
psychology, statistics, criminology ,etc.
Sociology and Sociology Economics

economics: Sociology studies all kinds of

social relationships.
Economics deals with only
those relationships which are
Relationship: economic in character.
Economics is concerned with the social life of
people in the special field of production,
distribution and consumption of wealth goods and Sociology is a general social Economics is a special social
services. In this three process social life of men in
science. science.
various form of goods and service is required.

It is concluded that the function of the economy

institutions are developed and governed by the
The scope of sociology seems The scope of economics is
norms of society. Study of society in respect of its to be wider. narrower.
norms, groups and institution is sociology. The
functions conditions and problems of other
Sociology is a science of Economics has attained an
economic institutions are the developments of
social life Dealt by sociology. recent emergence. advanced degree of maturity.
The study of poverty, unemployment, inflation is
equally important to economists and sociologists.
Sociology of Economics is an area of Sociology is abstract in Economics is concrete in
specialisation in sociology. nature and less precise also. nature. It is more precise.
Sociology and Sociology Political Science
Sociology is a science of society. Political science is a science of state
Political science: and government.

Relationship: Sociology studies all kinds of Political science studies only

societies; organized as well as politically organized societies
Political science deals with the social life of people,
unorganized.
distribution of power and authority among
individuals on the basis of social positions. Sociology Sociology has a wider scope. Political science is a narrower field.
also deals with the structure and function of
governing institutions of social control. In sociology
status and roll are determine and distributed Sociology studies man as social Political science studies man as
according to the cultural values of the society animal. political animal.
because it is the norms of society which shape a
values and institutions without study of these
concepts we cannot the study of politics. Sociology is a general social science Political science is a special social
Common foci of attention : which studies all kinds of social science which concentrates only on
relations in a general way. human relations which are political in
Rise and fall of government, propaganda, political character.
change and relationship with society and state are
The approach of sociology is The approach of political science is
important in studying sociology and political science
common aspects of both science are war, mass sociological; it means that it follows political; it has its own methods like
movement, revolution, government control, its own methods in addition to historical, philosophical, comparative,
leadership, etc may be cited here as examples scientific method in its statistical, etc.
sociology of political science is also an area of study
investigations.
in sociology
Sociology is quite young. It isn’t even Political science is an older science. It
Further many social problems like communal riots, two centuries old. has centuries of history of its own,
border disputes between different states, caste
from the days of Plato.
conflict are also deep political problems
Sociology and
History:
Relationship:
In history, form of expression is mainly
literary and scientific; it is based on
records of unique events. The historical
record is a source of data for historical
method (used in sociology). This
historical method used in social research
is itself an indication of relationship with
sociology.
Sociology:
Sociology is interested in the study of
present social phenomena and their
complexes.
Relatively, sociology is a younger
science with a history not even two
centuries old.
Sociology is an analytical science.
Sociology is abstract in nature; it
studies the recurrent and universal
phenomena and conflicts.
Sociology is generalizing science; it
seeks to establish generalizations.
It follows sociological approach; it
studies events from the viewpoint of
social relationships involved
(sociological view point).
History:
History deals with the past events of
man. It is silent regarding the present
times.
History is an age old science with a
history of 2000 years or even more.
History is a descriptive science.
History is concrete; its is interested in
the unique , individual and particular
events themselves.
History if individualizing science; it
seeks to establish the sequence in
which events occurred.
It follows historical approach; it
studies human events in accordance
with time order.
Sociology and
Anthropology:
Relationship:
Anthropology is the study of man.
In this subject we study; Pre-
history, linguistics, physical
anthropology, archaeology and
cultural anthropology. Main aim of
these areas is to study the culture of
primitive societies. In Sociology the
emphasis is upon the study of
structural function and problems of
culture in society whereas culture is
the subject matter of cultural
anthropology.
Social and cultural anthropology is
an independent branch of both
sociology and anthropology.
Sociology
Sociology studies the modern,
civilized and complex societies.
Sociologists study parts of society
and specialize in institutions like
family, marriage, or in processes
like social change and social
mobility.
Sociologists study large as well
as small societies.
Sociologists make use of
observations, interviews, social
surveys, questionaries and other
methods and techniques of
investigations.
Anthropology
Anthropology concerns itself with
the simple, uncivilized or primitive
and non-literate societies.
Anthropologists study societies in
all their aspects; as in whole.
They concentrate their studies in a
given cultural area like Negaland
or Melanesia.
Anthropologists usually study
small societies like of Nomads,
Bakarwal, etc.
Anthropologists directly go and
live in the societies they study.
They use methods of direct
observations and conduct
interviews.
Sociology and Sociology Social psychology
Sociology studies society and social Social psychology analyses mental
Psychology: groups. It has no primary interest in processes of man.
the individual, not in his personality
Definition:
nor in his individual behavior.
Psychology is the field which deals with human nature or
human activity in general. Mental temperature, personality
traits and rising of the self are a few of the psychological Sociology analyses social processes. Psychology and social psychology are
areas of studying an individual. primarily concerned with the behavior
of individuals as such.
Relation with Sociology:
Sociology is interested in social Psychology studies the individual and
Socialization process in Sociology is one of the major forms and structures within which social psychology of the individual in
aspects of studying human personality conforming or non- the behavior of man take place. his social groups.
conforming to the norms of culture .Several psychological
theories like dollar’s “Frustration leads to aggression”
and other are important in studying deviant behavior in Sociology studies the groups Social psychology studies the
Sociology. The common areas of study in which psychology themselves and the larger social individual behavior from the
and sociology interplay their parts is called social
structure within which both viewpoint of psychological factors
psychology.
individual and group processes involved.
Common topics of interest for both science: occur.
Sociology studies society from the Social psychology studies behavior of
Sociologists and social psychologists may have to study
together certain common topics such as individual
sociological view point the individual in group situation or in
disorganization ,crime, delinquency, social disorganization, society. Its focus of internet is
propaganda, leadership ,war conflicts, suggestion, and so individual and not the society as such.
on.
• Sociology and Statistics:
• According to Lundberg, all phenomena can be quantified.

• The importance of ‘numbers’ is evident from the verdict in social phenomena.

• Statistics provides the researcher with methods and techniques of measuring qualitative aspects of
all the events also.

• In sociological studies, we collect data, manipulate and interpret statistically.

• Hence, statistics for social scientists is responsible for promoting the cause of scientific approach
in the subject.

• Sociology, Criminology and Education:

• Sociology covers the areas of criminology in which causes of crime and their methods of removal
are studied.

• With education, it has a closer relation in the sense that education is a rational method of making
people useful members of society.

• In teaching norms of culture to individuals, education gains an important hand in transmission of

culture values to the succeeding generation.
 • Applications of Sociology:
• Sociology deals with social events and is the study of structure, function and problems of human
groups. All human relations and social phenomena of any nature fall in the field of sociology.

• Sociological knowledge is quite vast and we can apply this knowledge in the explanation of mainly
all social events.

• Education and Research:

• Education: In the field of education, sociology explains the conditions and problems of social life
to the individuals.

• Research: Sociology is taught as a subject in various colleges and universities of Pakistan. There
are few research centers in Pakistan as well and these include Punjab University, Agriculture
University, etc.

• Agriculture:
• About 68% of our population is engaged in agriculture and it is the backbone of our economy.
Self-sufficiency has not been attained in terms of agriculture yet because of the old customs which
grip the agricultural sector tightly. Illiteracy, superstitions, lack of information regarding modern
methods of cultivation and non-availability of modern machinery and advanced seeds are some
major barriers.

• Students of sociology create tendency towards mechanized farming among the farmers and change
their traditional attitude by using techniques like propaganda, social mobilization, etc.
• Low yield per acre is the main problem of our agricultural sector. Adopting the ways of modern
technology will help us solve these problems as the main focus of these ways is to increase yield
per acre.

• Industry:
• The relations between workers and sociologists need urgent attention of sociologists and these
industrial relations are of much importance to industrial sociologists. The social situation becomes
tense when workers go on strikes or mill-owners shut their mills down, causing sociologists to get
involved and solve these problems via arbitration. Sociologists also arrange social security
programs for the welfare of the workers.

• Trade and Business:

• A sage and rational publicity in the developing society of Pakistan is necessary for the disposal of
goods. The sociologists boost up the disposal of industrial goods by publicity measures and raise
the quality of the products so that the consumption may be accelerated. They are also involved in
preparation of feasibility reports and assess the needs and demands of people.

• Health:
• The knowledge of sociology helps a lot in treatment of neurosis, adjustment of drug-addicts and
provision of free medicines to the needy. Whereas, sociologists are also at work in creating drug
banks and blood banks.

• They interact with those patients who show little progress and loose all hope of recovery and help
them change their attitude .
• Population Planning:
• Sociologists can motivate a person better than anyone else towards the control in the expansion of
population. Sociologists are playing conductive role in the adaptation of birth control practices in
the society.

• Social welfare:
• Sociologists are employed in Social Welfare, Women Development and Bait-Ul-Maal departments
of Government of Punjab to conduct various programs like; Child Welfare Association, Youth
Clubs, Orphanage centers, T.B Centers, etc.

• During war and peace , various other activities are conducted by sociologists in the rural and
urban areas of Pakistan.

• Social policy, Planning and Development:

• Importance of sociology has been recognized at a global level and governments are emphasizing
on making effective social policies. Public policy is another important field of sociology.

• In the development of cities, the services of sociologists are being required thus they are in high
demands in the fields of national planning, developmental schemes, planning commissions, etc.
 • Scope and Importance of Sociology:
• The scope of sociology is evident from its subject-matter but for classification. the categorical
explanation is given as follows:

• Scope of sociology:
• Sociology is growing popular by each passing day and it has 2 main aspects ;

• Sociology as Knowledge: Sociological Knowledge is a tool of life for man as it explains social
conditions and guides in all social phenomena of life. The universe is governed by certain general
laws as believed by Shah Walli Ullah Dehlvi. . Sociological knowledge provides these general
laws of society. No event occurs without a cause and all of the events are inter-related. Thus ,
sociology as knowledge is itself an aim of sociologists.

• Sociology as Profession: In educational and professional institutes, Sociologists are employed as

teachers and the subject is being taught to the trainees of public administration in various institutes
like Agriculture university, medical colleges of Pakistan, etc.

• Research:
• In research, sociologists are employed Government, semi-government and private organizations
such as; Social Science Research Centers of universities (SSRC), Health Education Centers,
Pakistan Institute of Development economics (PIDE), etc.
• Administration:
• On Administrative jobs, a large number of sociologists are working in Pakistan. Among
them, the following are important:

• Health and social welfare, Town planning, Jail Department, Power and Irrigation,
education, etc.

• Importance of sociology:
• Due to industrial revolution, inventions and discoveries, the world societies are facing
new problems. Sociology explains and solves such problems.

• Pakistani society:

• Pakistani society is facing many problems like poverty, illiteracy, mass failure in
examination, unemployment, pollution, etc. These problems need research and planning in
the light of sociological knowledge for their solutions.