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Differences between natural sciences and social science
What is sociology about
Sociology as a separate science
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I will be arguing that Sociology is not a natural, strong science, although I believe it is still a science. Sociology being a science or not depends on what is meant by the word science. I believe that Sociology cannot be a science if looking at it from a natural, physical science perspective. Although, I think that sociology is a science if trying to understand it from a social science perspective. Using methods from common sense and ideology is what differentiates both social and natural science from non-science. Respectable sociology is logically derived from experiential proof (McNeill and Chapman, 2005: Pg.185).
"The purpose of Sociology is the scientific study of human society through the investigation of people’s social behaviour". Giner ("Sociology", 1972)
“Scientism is a term to suggest the firm application of the principles of science to the social world, so that an inflexible and inappropriate sociology is developed.” (Lawson, Garrod and Lawson, 2001: Pg. 446.) Sociology is a complex mixture different perspectives. Many sociologists reject the thought that they are able to follow sociological questions through firmly empiricist, natural science methods. (Brunsma, Iyall Smith and Gran, 2013: pg. 412) Ideology is used to show a systematic set of beliefs that support the interest of selected social groups in society (Garrod and Lawson, 2001: pg. 224).
Sociologists who are positivists believe that sociology has many of the features of science. Positivism shares many similarities to the practical research methods used by scientists, for example, it’s collection of data. (Ross, 1953 pg. 22) The main positivist belief is that the role of the sociologist is merely to collect data that they are able to objectively observe, ...
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..., Max Weber, quoted; "Sociology is a science which attempts at interpretative understanding of social action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of its cause and effects".
Overall, it can be argued either way whether sociology is a science or not. I believe that there is more sociological evidence to suggest that sociology is a form of social science, although not a strong, natural, physical science.
The study of society cannot be as precise, as natural and physical sciences can be. But it is false to say that there is no chance of sociology being a science. In my opinion, if the research methods, tools and techniques used are scientific then sociology can be perceived as science. Sociologists use different scientific methods in the study of society. I have mostly a positivistic view on sociology and I believe it should be entitled to be a science.
A sociologist should be able to observe and understand the realities of human behavior and the social settings in which it happens without being influenced emotionally or personally.
Sociologists researchers first make ontological assumptions. That is to say, they decide what they are studying or what should be studied. They decide what the subject matter consists of and the meanings behind it. They must consider the social reality and the nature of being, in relation to the subject matter.
Sociology is the study of the relationships that humans have with each other and social institutions. It aims to understand the links that exist between individuals and the social structures around them and also the functions that these social institutions perform in society.
Sociology cannot be clearly explained as there are many different theories and theorists; so far none of them have been defined as a correct answer. Although with all this information of theories and theorists sociology is relatively explained as agreed philosophies that delivers a reason for human society. Sociological theories are like most other theories, they are selective, and there is no quantity of theory to explain everything or define the infinite amount of information that exist or comprehend the methods of observing reality. Sociological theories vary and can be linked to each other according to various criteria. The two main perspectives of sociology are the micro sociological approach and the macro sociological approach. The micro sociological approach is based more on the persons being capable of their own independent thoughts feelings and behaviour; therefor society is built through their interactions amongst each other and the significances they attach to them. This approach is defined using Social Action Theory and Symbolic Interactionism. The Macro Sociological approach is on a much bigger scale and consists of a person being born into a current society which will then shape their behaviour. It centres on the organisations, values and the culture of that particular society and how it impacts an individual and their role in life. This approach is made clearer using Functionalism, Feminist and Conflict Theories.
After reviewing the article titles given for this first assignment, I believe they indicate that Sociology, generally speaking, is not only a study of diversity or commonality in traits among people; it is also a science about factors in a person’s life and how these factors culminate responses. Interestingly enough, its topics of concern seem to be directly determined by current and common events of the world. Through the invention and expansion of new ideas, popular trends and fashions through time, Sociology adapts to responsibly to service the very subjects of interest it studies; for, even the slightest change of a person’s daily experience can have an insurmountable impact on attitude, personal growth, family dynamics and basic group behavior.
Sociology is something I didn’t know about until I took this class. This class introduced sociology to me. I learned about how society basically made boys supposed to like blue and girls supposed to like pink. Sociology is “the systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions” (Ferris and stein 2014: p9). Sociology is not something you just learn when you are just born. You learn about sociology throughout your life. Sociology is displayed around things such as being around different environments, friends, and family. Education is a sociology idea that can examine a person’s class and schooling. The higher the education you have,
Sociology emerged from the desire of humans to understand our behaviour. However, throughout the years the way humans behave and believe has been passed through generations; and it was mainly explained in religious terms. The origins of sociology started with the social movements of the late XVIII century such as the French Revolution in 1789 and the subsequent Industrial Revolution in Europe. (Giddens, 1997)
To get a sense of this imperative role that religion plays in defining sociological behavior; we need to take a look at the beginnings of modern academic sociology. We see that it began with analysis of religion, as seen in Emile
A wide range of people all over the world inaccurately come to the conclusion that sociology is merely, ‘the study of the obvious’ and the application of common sense, this statement could not be further from the truth. Common sense derives from statements such as, ‘opposites attract’, however the Sociological sense takes this belief and carries out numerous tests to discover whether it is fact, or fiction.
I think everyone should ask themselves what is sociology? I believe that sociology is the scientific study of social behavior or society, including its origins, development, organization, networks, and institutions. This is a huge topic to cover. Sociology explains the way people act and think, based on
Sociologists develop theories to explain and analyze society at different levels and from different perspectives. Sociologists study everything from the micro level of analysis of small social patterns to the “big picture” which is the macro level of analysis of large social patterns.
Before I started taking the course of sociology I wasn’t really expecting to learn anything, it was just supposed to be an easy online class. However, that was not the case. It challenged my mind. I started to see sociology all around me, starting with family, then friends, and how I see things overall in general. The fact that we have an everyday life in which there are patterns in ways of living is what sets a platform for a sociological breakdown and for being a part in what we do. A better way of understanding ourselves. We use sociology in many ways every day. One central and important study of sociology is the study of everyday social life. Everyday life and sociology are definitely two different words and situations, but they tend to hold a close relationship. While sociology is the study of the human interaction, everyday life consists of everyday human interaction. Everyday life is filled by human beings interacting with one another, ideas, and emotions. Sociology studies the interactions with all of these and shows how mere interaction resulted in things such as ideas. For an example, race and ethnicity are important concepts in the field of sociology and are ones that are studied a great deal. Race plays a large role in everyday human interactions and sociologists want to study how, why, and what the outcomes are of these interactions. Current sociological theories focus mainly on how there are many different factors in our everyday items of life, like movies. We were assigned a final to write a review for a movie in sociological form. The movie that was on the list that also happened to be one of my favorite movies, Toy Story. When we were assigned the assignment, I never thought about how in-depth it was with sociol...
Sociology, as a form of science, is therefore also criticized for making scientific studies a means to an end unto themselves, as well as for not recognizing the importance of the individual.
Sociology is a study of society social life, social change, and social causes and consequences of human behaviour and allows us to gain an understanding of the structure and dynamics of today’s society, looking at the interlinking links patterns of human behaviour. Sociology looks at the in which social structure and institutions affect our everyday life. Sociological imagination was founded by C. Wright mills in the 1950`s it is an overall understanding of that some of the things that happen in society may lead to a particular outcome. Mills said it is “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and wider society.” sociological imagination can also be defined as the ability to look at how sociological situations can unfold due to how everyone is different. The way we behave is shaped by the situation that we find ourselves in, the values and norms that we have and the way that other members of society act around us. It is also a way of thinking about how things in society have led to a particular outcome, and understanding of what led to that specific outcome. Sociological imagination is an ability to look at things socially and how they interact and influence each other gaining an understanding of different cultures and class systems.
To Quote Anthony Giddens: "Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals in the street up to the investigation of world-wide social processes“(1989). Gidden’s statement describes sociology as a study that helps us understand our own behaviour as human beings in a social word. Sociologist study everything from the interaction between people in the street to the interaction between different countries. Sociologists aim to study how societies have changed over, how societies are structured and organized, the norms of society. It’s also important to understand that not all sociologists agree with each other, Sociologists often debate with one another to prove/disprove certain theories and concepts. By studying Sociology is it helps us analyze social conflicts on a micro and macro scope. Through a macro level, we can study large-scale social organization and large social categories it also examinees social processes and patterns society as a whole. We can analyze individuals much deeper on a micro level. This way we study a human by face-to face interactions. Its important as humans to understand the way our society came together and the reasons to how elements work and function together. Sociology gives us a deeper