This article consist of Sociology TU BBA/BBS 5th Sem Notes part two
Sociology’s Scope and Subject Matter
Sociology’s Purpose
- The scope of sociology refers to the areas of sociological research or the field of sociological inquiry.
- There is no agreement among sociologists on the scope of sociology.
- According to V.F. Calberton, “since sociology is such an elastic discipline, it is impossible to establish where its borders begin and finish.”
However, when it comes to the scope of sociology, there are two schools of thought:
The Professional or Formal School of Thought
This school of thought is led by German sociologist Georg Simmel, with notable adherents including Vierkandt, Max Weber, Von Wiese, and Ferdinad Tonnies.
This school of thought believes that sociology is a separate and distinct science.
- It should investigate the social interaction as well as the many types of social relationships.
- Vierkandt believes that sociology should investigate the ultimate type of mental or psychic contact that connects human beings in society.
- According to Max Weber, sociology should analyze and categorize many sorts of social connections.
- Sociology’s goal is to interpret or comprehend social activity. Social conduct does not encompass the entirety of human connections.
Criticism of formal education
- Many academics have critiqued formalistic schools.
- The formal school has restricted sociology to purely abstract forms.
- Sociology should explore the actual contents as well as the general patterns of social connections.
- According to Morris Ginsberg, Simmel’s belief that the role of sociology is to analyze social interactions in abstraction is incorrect. He believes that studying social ties in the abstract without a thorough understanding of the concepts to which they refer in real life is futile.
- The formal school has thought about pure sociology, but no sociologist has been able to produce one thus far.
- Sociology is not the only field that analyzes social interactions; economics and political science are also engaged in the study of social relations.
The synthetic school of thought
- This school of thought believes that sociology is a synthesis of all other social sciences.
- Exponents of this school of thought include Emile Durkheim, Hob House, Morris Ginsberg, and P.A. Sorokin.
- This school of thought believes that all parts of society are intimately inter-related and that studying one part is insufficient to complete understanding of the entire society.
- As a result, sociology should investigate social life as a whole, with an emphasis on establishing sociology as a general social science.
- According to Morris Ginsberg, the basic duty of sociology may be divided into four categories, which are as follows:
Social Morphology is concerned with the number and quality of people. - It investigates social structures, groups, and institutions.
- It investigates both official and informal forms of social control.
- Social processes: It investigates cooperation, conflict, and integration, among other things.
Poverty, beggary, unemployment, prostitution, alcoholism, drug addiction, human trafficking, overpopulation, crime, and other social maladjustments and disturbances are studied in social pathology.
According to Emile Durkheim, sociology has three major divisions:
- Social Morphology: – It analyzes the geographical foundation of population life and population issues such as volume and density, local distribution.
- Social physiology: It is concerned with the many disciplines of sociology such as sociology of religion, morals, knowledge, economic life, language, and so on.
- Sociology in general: – General sociology is the philosophical branch of sociology. It is concerned with the broad aspects of social facts. Its purpose is to define general social truths.
Some Common subject matter of Sociology
Although there are certain common sociological topics, they are as follows:
- It refers to associational groupings such as social groups, communities, and collectivities. It reflects bank-like bureaucracy in a specific meaning.
- Social institutions are the established codes of conduct for carrying out collective activities. It is a system of norms and procedures that serve as a guide for human actions. It is the method through which the primary issues and activities are arranged and societal requirements are satisfied.
- Processes social: – Social processes are recurrent interactions, occurrences, and so on, such as collaboration, conflict, and competition.
- Social interaction: – Social interaction refers to how individuals respond to one another. In other terms, interaction refers to the action taken in reaction to others.
- Social relation: A social link that brings people together, such as caste, class, ethnicity, marriage, blood, nationality, humanity, and so on.
- Study of social issues: street kid Poverty, unemployment, drug and alcohol addiction, prostitution, human trafficking, divorce, and so forth.
- Social structure: – A social structure is the orderly organization of interconnected pieces such as groups, institutions, associations, and so on. Human conduct is directed and restricted by the general composition of society.
