MODULE- I

THE NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY

STRUCTURE
1.1. The meaning of Sociology: Nature, Scope, and Origins
1.2. Sociological Perspectives: Positivism, Functionalism, Conflict, and Interactionism
1.3. Relevance of Sociology
Subject matter.
1.4. Summary
1.5. Questions

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Comprehend the meaning,nature, scope, significance, and origins of sociology as a social
science.
• Appreciate insights from different sociological perspectives and the various contributions
made by the pioneers of sociology.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Explain the meaning, nature, scope, and relevance of sociology as a social science.
2. Outline the origins of sociology in Europe.

INTRODUCTION
An understanding of sociology will not be possible without explaining its significance and relationship with
other social sciences. As students there is a growing fascination to move towards various specialized
disciplines like economics, psychology, commerce, history, politics, management, and so on. However,
dear readers, our fundamental question to you is that are these disciplines as discrete as they appear to
be? The answer seems to reflect some sort of a paradox. Each of these disciplines are considered to be
specialized areas of learning. Yet, whether we deal with human behaviour or historical events over a period
of time, whether we deal with the political framework or business operations, what we need to bear in mind
is that everything operates in a social context or fabric. The latter impacts every aspect of our lives. Even
the decisions made by say for example a businessman cannot be treated apart from the social milieu that
he is a part of. In other words, human behaviour cannot be understood apart from the social context. This
includes the society at the macro level and groups as well as organizations/agencies with their norms and
expectations.
Thus, sociology is one discipline that encompasses different disciplines in social sciences as it deals with
almost every aspect of society. Auguste Comte, a French sociologist, who is known as the ‘father of
sociology’ coined this term. This is composed of the Latin word ‘socius’ meaning companion and the Greek
word ‘logos’ meaning science or study. Therefore fused together it stands for the science or the study of the
society.

This leads us to an understanding of what exactly a society is. We can look at societies at people coming
within territorial boundaries and interacting with each other. Hence, we may look at societies as being
composed of a web of interactions. These may interpersonal, inter-group and even between individuals and
groups. One can say that sociology makes an attempt to understand the impact of groups and hence the
society at large on the individuals. Once people interact, they give birth to institutions. The term ‘institution’
in sociology is different from the manner in which it is used in common parlance. According to American
sociologists Paul Horton and Chester Hunt, ‘institution’ refers to “an organized system of social
relationships which embodies certain common values and procedure and meets certain basic needs
of the society.” Sociology looks at the five basic institutions: Marriage and family, economy,
education, religion and political-legal. These are institutions as each one of them comprises
normative patterns with structured relationships working towards the attainment of certain goals. For
example, in marriage and family, the spouses play their roles in relation to each other. It includes
the ritualistic complex, the child rearing practices and so on organized in a well-defined manner.
Sociology endeavours to understand the most obvious functions or the manifest functions and the
latent or the hidden functions of institutions. For example, the most obvious function of marriage and
family is procreation. The latent functions could include companionship in old age. Sociology takes a
look at both the forces that promote stability as well as change in society. Lastly, it also takes a look
at different social issues in regional and global contexts.

Sociology can be viewed as a discipline that critically challenges or ‘debunks’ (a term used by Peter
Berger) established notions of ‘truth’ related to the society. For example, in a world where we all face
the pandemic, we jump to conclusions and theorizations as to what might be the possible causes.
These may be based on certain events and occurrences which lead us to thinking in certain
directions. Sociology fits into the picture as it would enable us to go beyond/to transcend what is
visible or what we already know by questioning and researching. In other words, what appears to be
familiar/true/real need not be so.

To conclude this section, sociology is a vast arena that encompasses every aspect of our lives. It
helps us debunk the so called reality and helps us challenge our own assumptions.

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1.1 THE MEANING OF SOCIOLOGY: NATURE, SCOPE, AND ORIGINS

What is Sociology?
Sociology is the scientific study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social
interaction, and culture. The term sociology was first used by French sociologist, Auguste
Compete in the 1830s when he proposed a synthetic science uniting all knowledge about human
activity.

What Do Sociologists Study?

Sociologists study all things human, from the interactions between two people to the complex
relationships between nations or multinational corporations. While human beings have their
distinct personalities, a large part of our existence is ‘social’ as societal forces impact decision
making and our choices. Sociology is the scientific study of society, patterns of social
relationships, social interaction, and culture of everyday life. It is a social science that uses
various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge
about social order, acceptance, and change or social evolution. While some sociologists conduct
research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, others focus primarily on
refining the theoretical understanding of social processes. Subject matter ranges from the micro-
sociology level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and the social
structure.

The different traditions focus on social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion,
secularization, law, sexuality, gender, and deviance. As all spheres of human activity are affected
by the interplay between social structure and individual agency, sociology has gradually
expanded its focus to other subjects, such as health, medical, economy, military and penal
institutions, the Internet, education, social capital, and the role of social activity in the
development of scientific knowledge.

Some of the technical definitions of Sociology are as follows:

1. ‘Sociology is the science of society or of social phenomena -L.F. Ward

2. The subject-matter of sociology is the inter-action of human minds’. -L.T. Hobhouse

3. ‘Sociology is the study of human inter-action and interrelation their conditions and
consequences’. -M. Ginsberg

4. Sociology is the science that deals with social groups; their internal forms or modes of
organization, the processes that tend to maintain or change these forms of organization and
relations between groups’. -H.M. Johnson

5. ‘Sociology is a special social science concentrating on inter-human behavior, on processes of

sociation, on association and dissociation as such.’ -Von Wiese

6. ‘Sociology is the study of the relationships between man and his human environment.’ -H.P.
Fairchild

7. ‘Sociology may be defined as a body of scientific knowledge about human relationships.’ -J.
F. Cuber
8. ‘Sociology is a body of learning about society. It is a description of ways to make society
better. It is social ethics, a social philosophy. Generally, however, it is defined as a science of
society.’ -W. F. Ogbum

9. ‘Sociology asks what happens to men and by what rules they behave, not in so far as they
unfold their understandable individual existences in their totalities, but in so far as they form
groups and are determined by their group existence because of inter-action.’ –Simmel

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10. ‘Sociology is the science of collective behavior’. -R. E. Park and F. W. Burgess

11. ‘General sociology is on the whole the theory of human living together.’ -Ferdinand Tonnies

12. ‘Sociology is a body of related generalizations about human social behavior arrived at by
scientific method.’ -Lundberg, G. A.

13. ‘Sociology in its broadest sense may be said to be the study of interactions arising from the
association of living beings.’

14. ‘Sociology deals with the behavior of men in groups.’ – Kimball Young

15. ‘Sociology is the science which attempts the interpretive understanding of social
action.’ - Max Weber.

16. ‘Sociology may be defined as the study of the ways in which social experiences function in
developing, maturing and repressing human beings through inter-personal stimulation.’ – E. S.
Bogardus.

17. ‘Sociology is the scientific study of the structure of social life.’ -Young and Mack.

18. Sociology is the name applied to somewhat inchoate mass of materials which embodies our
knowledge of society.’ -Arthur Fairbanks.

19. ‘Sociology is the synthesizing and generalizing science of man in all his social relationships.’
-Arnold Green

20. ‘Sociology is a science for scientific social development. -G. Duncan Mitchell

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 21. ‘Sociology is the scientific study of social relationships, their variety, and their
forms, whatever affects them and whatever they affect.’ -T. Abel

22. ‘Sociology is the science of the structure and functions of social life.’ -John W. Bennel

23. ‘Sociology is a generalizing science of socio-cultural phenomena viewed in their generic

form, types and manifold interconnections.’ -P. A. Sorokin

24. ‘Sociology is an attempt to account for the origin, growth, structure and activities of society
by the operation of physical causes working together in the process of evolution.’ –Giddings

The chief interest of sociology is the people, the ideas, the customs, the other distinctively human
phenomena which surround man and influence him, and which are, therefore, part of his
environment. Sociology also devotes some attention to certain aspects of the geographical
environment and to some natural as contrasted with human phenomena, but this interest is
secondary to its preoccupation with human beings and the products of human life in association.
Our general field of study is man as he is related to other men and to the creation of other men
which surround him.’ -М. E. Jones.

‘Sociology seeks to discover the principles of cohesion and of order within the social structure,
the ways in which it roots and grows within an environment, the moving equilibrium of changing
structure and changing environment, the main trends of the incessant change, the forces which
determine its direction at any time, the harmonies and conflicts, the adjustments and
maladjustments within the structure as they are revealed in the light of human desires, and thus
the practical application of means to ends in the creative activities of social man.’ –
MacIver.

The common idea underlying all definitions is that Sociology is concerned with human
relationships. Its emphasis is on the ‘social’ aspect of these relationships. Maclver has clarified
that whatever topic may be included in the subject-matter of sociology, its real subject-matter is
social relationships.

The basis of social inter-action or social processes is social relationships. It is on account of such
relationships that there is human inter-action. Therefore, if we include social processes or any
other matter within the subject-matter of sociology, their study can be carried only in the context
of social relationships.

Man becomes a social animal only when he enters into social relationships. The different aspects
of social life, viz., political or economic are but the expressions of social relationships.
Therefore in studying sociology we are in fact studying social relationships in one form or the
other. Its subject-matter is society rather than the individual though the individual cannot be left
utterly out of account.

In studying social relationships, the sociologists attempt to discover the evolution of society, its
systems and structures, the development of social institutions and their functions, the customs
and rules regulating social relationships, the groups and communities formed by man throughout
history, the nature and interdependence of these groups lice family, case, economic groups,
religious groups etc., and the phenomenon of social change.
The Origins of Sociology

The emergence of sociology in Europe may be understood against a backdrop of structural changes
in the society - the French Revolution, the industrial revolution, and colonialism.

It is now important to understand how this discipline of sociology emerged in western Europe in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The French Revolution in 1789 precipitated the endeavour
towards a creation of a new order. It is imperative to understand the background to the revolution.
The French society with its feudalistic structure centred around the ‘Three Estates’ - The clergy, the
nobility and the commoners defined these estates. However, the absolute rights were vested in the
king. Hence, France thrived for about 200 years under the absolute monarchy of the Bourbon
dynasty. It was under Louis XIV that the France went bankrupt as he waged costly wars. The
economy lay in shambles. Around the eighteenth century, France entered the age of enlightenment
or reason. Some thinkers like Montesquieu, Locke, Voltaire and Rousseau believed in the power of
empirical research and reason. These ideas were opposed by conservationists like Louis de Bonald
and Joseph de Maistre. In other words, they strongly upheld customs and traditions. The anarchy
that prevailed in the French society led to the germination of sociology as according to August
Comte, a return to the Middle Ages was impossible due to scientific and technological
developments. Hence sociology emerged as a discipline to restore order by scientifically diagnosing
the problems that enveloped the society. It would attempt to providing a blueprint that would help in
reconstructing France.

The industrial revolution that started in England in the 18th century with the factory system brought
about a kind of inequality which resulted in a few profiting compared to others who were exploited by
being made to work for long hours and being paid less. With a huge influx of migrants from nearby
areas and the burgeoning urban population, a number of problems emerged such as overcrowding,
pollution etc. Thus, many social thinkers focused on upheavals generated by these processes.

Colonialism also contributed to sociology as many European nations colonized parts of Asia and
Africa. These were exploited for their natural resources and cheap labour. In fact, racism fuelled the
legitimization of European dominance over colonized territories. This became an oft written area in
sociological studies.

From Europe, sociology then spread to other parts of the world.

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1.2. Sociological Perspectives: Positivism, Functionalism, Conflict, and Interactionism
For an understanding of different sociological perspectives, it is imperative to define the term
‘theory’. The latter is an attempt to explain some phenomena by putting forth a set of ideas. A theory
can be built up on the basis of previous empirical studies or any research by itself may pave the way
for a theoretical set of explanations. A theory itself can set the tone for further research. In sociology,
theories have been advanced to explain and understand different social phenomena. Eminent
sociologists have advanced their views or perspectives of looking at society. Similar approaches or
ways of looking at things constitute theoretical perspectives. These can be outlined as follows:

1. Positivism - The major proponent of this school of thought was the founding father of
sociology, Auguste Comte. As mentioned earlier, he coined the term sociology in 1839. He
envisaged a science of the society that would be instrumental in systematically diagnosing
problems and providing a blueprint for reconstructing society. According to him the methods
used in natural sciences could be used in studying social phenomena. If matter could be
objectively quantified in terms of different measures like weight, temperature, etc., human
behavior could also be measured similarly. In this schema of things, observable behavior or
empirical facts become important. Meanings, feelings and sentiments have no place. What
is observable and quantifiable can be accurately measured. He explained the evolution of
societies through the Law of Three Stages:
a. Theological Stage – Here, the occurrence of different phenomena was attributed to
gods and goddesses (forces that were compared to humans and thus, personified
deities).
b. Metaphysical Stage –In this stage, the attribution to religious forces gave way to
abstract entities.
c. Positive Stage – In this phase, science is predominant. Observation or the “here and
now” is important compared to religion or abstract forces.

Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist also advocated a scientific way of thinking as he

collected data on suicide rates and membership to different religions by using statistical data.

2. Functionalism – The basic idea of Functionalism is that it uses the organismic analogy that
considers society as being similar to a living organism. As every part performs a function
towards the sustenance of the organism, similarly, the different components of the society in
terms of groups and institutions also contribute towards the equilibrium or the stability. In
case of imbalance of parts, the society works towards restoring the equilibrium. Emile
Durkheim also can be considered as a proponent of this school as he emphasized the
primacy of society over individuals and hence, the integration of individuals with the society.
This came across in his ideas on ‘social solidarity’ or the ways by which society is held
together. He also emphasized that sociology is the study of ‘social facts’ or norms, customs,
and moral codes that are external to an individual (as he/she is not born with them) but exert
tremendous control on him/her.

Durkheim’s ideas on solidarity have been expanded in his explanations on division of labour.
He explained that in traditional societies that were homogeneous, people were bound
together by similarities or mechanical solidarity. In modern societies, with greater
specialization and differentiation, the solidarity was based more on differences as people
were dependent on each other in work processes.
 The primacy of society is also reflected in Durkheim’s study on suicide as a ‘social’ rather
than an ‘individual’ phenomena. A major contribution of his lies in his explanation of ‘anomie’,
a term used to explain normlessness or the failure of societal controls in modern societies.
Lastly, his ideas on religion emphasize the institution as being an integrative force.

3. Conflict – Functionalism emphasizes stability or equilibrium. However, it does not take into
account divisive forces between various groups. The conflict approach is a macro-oriented
paradigm as it views society as manifesting structural inequalities or conflict between and
among groups. Different factors such as race, sex, class, and age accentuate this. The major
proponent of this school of thought is the German social thinker Karl Marx. He has elucidated
the theory of class conflict in society. A class could be so defined on the basis of ownership
or non-ownership of means or forces of production which included raw materials,
equipment, technology etc. The relations of production referred to the relationships
between the owning and the non-owning classes. The owners or the bourgeoisie exploited
the workers or the proletariats who did not own the means of production but worked for long
hours and were paid less. As a result, workers felt alienated from the process of production
and the end products. Over a period of time, workers would rise in revolt and thereby
overthrow the capitalists which would lead to the emergence of a classless society or one
that would provide for the needs of all. Marx’s views have been criticized as the economic
factor became a prime determinant of ‘class’. It was the basis or the infrastructure on which
the superstructure, that is the culture, ideologies and institutions would be constructed. In
day-to-day scenarios conflict exists between different groups involving power play as
different groups seek to gain privileges and control resources at the cost of others.
4. Symbolic Interactionism – While the above theories are macro theories focusing on large-
scale structures or societies, this perspective takes a look at ‘micro’ entities in terms of
individuals or actors involved. This approach views society as a product of everyday
interactions of individuals. Actions, relationships, symbols and their meanings become
important. We construct the world around us through meanings that we attach to various
things. The German sociologist Max Weber and American sociologists like George Herbert
Mead and Charles Horton Cooley are significant contributors to this school.

As the foundation of this school is laid down by Max Weber, we shall give a brief on him. The
contributions of Mead and Cooley will be elaborated upon in the chapter on socialization.
Weber is considered to be the father of Interpretive sociology (understanding meanings that
people attach to the social world) or the qualitative approach in research traditions. This
takes into accounts thoughts and feelings. His concept of ‘verstehen’ refers to the ability to
see the world as others see it: ‘what’ people do and ‘why’ they do it. As social scientists, we
need to understand behaviours in terms of the subjective meanings that people attach to
phenomena.

These theoretical perspectives would shed rich insights in the study of different
behavior/phenomena. Positivism would focus on empirical data or factual information.
Functionalism would shed light on how practices contribute to the stability of the society or
the functions that they perform while conflict would take a look at the divisions between the
more and the less powerful groups. Lastly, the Interactionist approach would take a look at
the key actors and strategies employed by them and how they are influenced by the larger
society.

Sociology in India:

While in the West, the emergence of sociology could be attributed to the structural
transformations in the society and the subsequent revolution (the French Revolutionas
 mentioned earlier), in India it can be traced to the colonial rule. The British administrators
found the Indian customs and traditions exotic and wanted to understand the same.

Some of the areas that formed the basis of their studies related to the customs, traditions
and the institutions or the pillars of our society. These included caste, joint family, economy,
polity, village, and tribal studies.

As a discipline, sociology was formalized at the University of Bombay (1914), Calcutta

University (1917), Lucknow University (1921), University of Mysore, Osmania, and Poona
University.

Some of the eminent Indian sociologists who have studied various dimensions of caste and
stratification, village communities, and social change were Dr. G.S.Ghurye, M.N.Srinivas,
and A.R. Desai among others.

READINGS :
1.https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology/pages/1-3-theoretical-perspectives

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1.3.RELEVANCE OF SOCIOLOGY

The most distinctive feature of human life is its social character. All human beings have to
interact with other human beings in order to survive. Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher,
remarked that ‘Man is a social animal.’ Both nature and necessity impel man to live in society.
Man’s behavior in society is determined mainly by two forces—physical and social which he has
been trying to understand and control from time immemorial. It was quite natural that his
attempts to comprehend and control the natural phenomena had started earlier and met with
greater success than his attempts to understand the social phenomena because it was easier for
him to understand the physical phenomena by virtue of the fact that they were more concrete and
hence more observable with a greater degree of detachment.

Nevertheless, man has been trying since ancient times to take stock of his social environment and
to attempt to understand the problems created by it. But in these early stages man carried on the
study not of society but of the different aspects of society and that gave rise to different social
sciences, like History, Economics, and Political Science. Anthropology, Psychology, etc.
While, broadly speaking, all these social sciences deal with social phenomena and are, therefore,
interrelated and inter-dependent, each concentrates upon a particular phase of human conduct
and specializes in studying it.

Thus, History is the record of unique events relating to man; Economics is concerned with his
activities relating to production and consumption of wealth; Political Science deals with his
political activities and institutions; Anthropology studies his activities and institutions as they
existed in times long past; Psychology is interested in the springs of human action, the impulses
and motives that sustain mental and bodily activity and regulate human conduct.

These social sciences do not give us a complete picture of society. They may give a snapshot
view of society from various angles of vision but never a view of society in its comprehensive
totality and utility. The need was, therefore, felt for a general science which should purview the
society as a whole and ‘sociology’ was designed to achieve this end.

Thus Sociology appeared when it was felt that other fields of human knowledge do not fully
explain man’s social behavior. Sociology is, on the one hand, a synthetic discipline, trying to
unify from a central point of view the results of separate disciplines; and on the other, an analytic
and specialized science with its own field of research.

Sociology essentially and fundamentally deals with that network of social relationships we call
society. No other science takes that subject for its central concern.

As sociologists, we are interested in social relationships not because they are economic, political,
or religious, but because they are social. The focus of Sociology is on Socialness.

Figure 1 – Relationship between sociology and other social sciences

Source: https://learningrmps.com/2018/06/08/where-can-rmps-take-you-kerry-sociology-student-whyrmps/

1.4. SUMMARY

Sociology is not only a science with its own subject-matter but the mother of all social sciences.
It has been said surprisingly enough by some critics that Sociology does not have a subject-
matter of its own and that it is hotchpotch of different social sciences. It is argued that social
sciences like Economics, History, Political Science etc. are specializations and that Sociology is
a mere collection of the observation and hypothesis which are to be found in the work of the
specialists in these fields. It may be stated that this view is totally incorrect and today Sociology
is not only a separate science with subject-matter of its own but it has also acquired that high
status which entitles it to be called the mother of all social sciences.
 Sociology is the scientific study of society, patterns of social relationships, social interaction,
and culture of everyday life. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical
investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order,
acceptance, and change or social evolution. The discipline originated in Europe and then spread
to other parts of the world. Numerous theoretical frameworks have enriched the understanding of
sociology – Positivism, Functionalism, Conflict, and Interactionism.

1.5.QUESTIONS

1. Explain the nature, scope and relevance of sociology.

2. Outline the social and intellectual forces responsible for the emergence of sociology
as a discipline.
3. Examine the different theoretical perspectives in sociology. (
4. Explain the difference/relationships between Sociology and other Social Sciences.

DISCUSSION FORUM TOPICS:

1. How do each of these schools would possibly view commercial cinema?

2. For functionalism – Reading and discussing Social functions of malls by Wayne Wooden
(from https://andersonsclasses.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/0/9/26093804/chapter_5.pdf)

Videos:

1. https://youtu.be/3Efq-aNBkvc - Industrial Revolution

CONCEPT MAP FOR THE CHAPTER:

SOCIOLOGY: THE STUDY OF SOCIETY(SOCIALINTERACTIONS, PROCESSES,

INSTITUTIONS):------------ORIGINS (EUROPE)------------SCHOOLS: Positivism,
Functionalism, Conflict, Interactionism
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