Meani

ngofsoci
ology

Whati
sSoci
ology
?

• Soci
ology
:Sci
ent
if
icst
udyofsoci
albehav
iori
nhumangr
oups.

• Focuson:

 Howrel
ati
onshi
psinfl
uencepeopl
e’
sat
ti
tudesandbehav
ior
?
 Howsoci
eti
esdevelopandchange?

Soci
ologyistheyoungestscienceofothersoci
alsci
ences.Ingeneralsociol
ogyisthestudyof
soci
ety&i tispopular
lyknownassci enceofsociety.Soci
ologyemer gedasani ndependent
soci
alsciencei
nt he19thcentury
.AugusteComteaFr enchphilosopherconsi
deredasaf ather
ofsociol
ogyforthefir
stti
mei nhisfamousbook" Posit
ivephil
osophy".Hedefinedthetermi n
1838/39AD.

Comt e i
ntr
oduced t he word" soci
ology"fort he fir
stt ime in hisf amous book " Posit
ive
Phil
osophy "atabout1839.Et y
mol ogi
call
ythet er
m soci ol
ogyi st
hecombi nat
ionoft wowords
Lati
n wor ds Soci
us,meani ng society
,compani on orassoci at
e,and t he Greek 
word l
ogos,
meani ngstudyorsci ence.Thus,t heetymol ogi
calmeani ngofsoci ologyist hescienceof
soci
et yorscienti
fi
cstudyofsociety.Hedefinedsociologyast he“sci
enceofsoci alphenomena
subj
ectt onaturalandinvar
iabl
elaws, t
hediscoveryofwhi chistheobjectofinvesti
gati
on”.

Furt
hermoreEmil
eDur khei
m,HerbertSpencerandMaxWeberhaveal
socont
ri
buti
onforthe
devel
opmentofsoci
ologysothesethreeandAugustComt
eareknownasf
ourfoundi
ngfat
her
ofsoci
ology
.

Def
ini
ti
onofsoci
ology
 Soci
ologyasthestudyofsoci
ety
,thati
soft
hewebort
issueofhumani
nter
act
ionsand
i
nter
relat
ions.
-Gi
nsber
g

 Soci
ologyi
sasci
enceofsoci
ety
.–L.
F.War
d

 Soci
ologyi
saboutsoci
alr
elat
ionshi
p,t
henetofr
elat
ionshi
p,wecal
lsoci
ety
.–MacI
ver
&page

 Soci
ologyi
sthesci
ent
if
icst
udyofsoci
ety
.–F.
H.Gi
ddi
ng.
Thusf
rom t
heabov
edef
ini
ti
onwecandr
awt
hef
oll
owi
ngpoi
nts:

 Soci
ologyi
sthesci
enceofsoci
ety
.

 Soci
ologyi
sthesci
enceofsoci
alr
elat
ionshi
p.

 Soci
ologyi
sthest
udyofhumanbehav
iori
ngr
oups.

 Soci
ologyi
sthest
udyofsoci
all
i
fe.

 Soci
ologyi
sthest
udyofsoci
alact
ion.

Nat
ureofsoci
ology
Thereisst i
llcont r
oversyaboutt henatureofsoci ologyamongsoci ologi
sts.Ther earesome
soci
ologistwhoadv ocatessoci ologyasasci encebutsomeot herdenyi tandcl aimt hat
soci
ologyi snotasci ence.forthesoci ologistwhocl aim sociologyasasci ence,sayt hatthe
sci
enti
f i
cmet hodsuchasobser v ations,
recor ding,classifi
cat i
on,hy pothesi
s,v er
ifi
cati
onet care
usedinst udyingsoci alphenomena,whi chpr ovet hati tisasci ence.Butf ort hecrit
ics,who
denyit,arguet hatiti
snotasci ence,putt heirar gument st hatther eislackofobj ecti
vit
iesand
exper
imenti nst udyi
nganysoci al phenomenaasusedi nphy si
cal science.

Sociologyisthebranchofknowledgeandi thasitsowncharacterist
ics.Soci
ologyhasdif
ferent
natureinsociety.Itisdi
ff
erentf
rom othersciencesincert
ainr espects.Thef ol
l
owingaret he
mainchar act
eristi
csofsociol
ogyasenlist
edbyRober tBier
stedtinhi sbook"TheSocialOrder"
andt heyareasf ol
lows:

• Sociol
ogyisani ence:-I
ndependentsci ti
snottreat
edandstudi
esasabr
anchofany
othersci
encel
i
kephilosophyorpol
it
ical
phil
osophyorhi
stor
y.

Sociologyisthebranchofknowledgeandi thasitsowncharacterist
ics.Soci
ologyhasdif
ferent
natureinsociety.Itisdi
ff
erentf
rom othersciencesincert
ainr espects.Thef ol
l
owingaret he
mainchar act
eristi
csofsociol
ogyasenlist
edbyRober tBier
stedtinhi sbook"TheSocialOrder"
andt heyareasf ol
lows:

• Sociol
ogyisanindependentsci
ence:-Iti
snottreat
edandstudi
esasabr
anchofany
othersci
encel
i
kephilosophyorpol
it
ical
phil
osophyorhi
stor
y.

• Sociol
ogyisthepuresci
enceandnotanappli
edscience:-Themainaim ofpur
escience
i
st heacquisi
ti
onofknowledgeandi
tisnotbot
heredweat hert
heacqui
redknowledgeis
usefulorcanbeputtouse.
 • Sociol
ogyistherel
ati
velyanabstractscienceandnotaconcretesci
ence:-Soci
ology
doesnotconf i
neit
selftothestudyoft hissociet
yofthatpar
ti
cul
arsociet
yorsocial
organi
zati
on,ormarri
age,orr
eli
gion,orgr oupandsoon.Iti
sinthi
ssimplesensethat
sociol
ogyisanabst
ractnoraconcretescience.

• Sociol
ogyi sthe gener
ali
zing and nota par
ti
culari
zi
ng ori ndi
vi
dual
izi ence:-
ng sci
Sociol
ogytri
estof i
ndoutt hegenerall
awsorpr i
ncipl
esabouthumani nter
acti
onand
associ
ati
on,aboutt henature,fr
om,contentandt hestruct
ureofhumangr oupsand
soci
eti
es.Itt
ri
estomakegener al
i
zat
ionsonthebasisofthestudyofsome

• Sociol
ogyisthegeneralsciencenotaspeci ence:-Thear
alsci eaofinquir
yofsoci
ology
i
sgener alnotspeciali
zed.Itisconcer
nedwi t
hhumani nteract
ionandhumanl if
ei n
general
.Itonlystudieshumanact i
vi
ti
esinagener alway .Anthr
opologyandsocial
psychol
ogyoftencl
aimt hemselvestobegener
alsoci
alscience.

• Sociologyisbothrat i
onalandanempi ri ence:-Ther
calsci earetwobr oadway sof
approachtoscient
ifi
cknowl edge.Empi
rici
sm i
stheapproachthatemphasi
sexperi
ence
andt hefact
sthatresultfr
om observat
ionandexperiment
ati
on.Rati
onal
ism i
sstr
esses
reasonandthetheoriesthatresul
tfr
om logi
cali
nfer
ence.

Abovearethenatur
eofsoci
ologywhi chhel
pstoknowaboutt hesoci
ologychar act
eronitsfi
eld.
Iti
sclearfrom t
heabovethatsociologyisanindependent
,asocial,acat egori
cal,apure,an
abst
ract,
agenerali
zi
ng,
bothar at
ionalandaempiri
calandageneralscience.

Subj
ectMat
terofSoci
ology
• Eversi
ncethebeginni
ngofsociol
ogy,sociol
ogi
stshaveshownagr eatconcer
ninman
andinthedy namicsofsociet
y.Itisquitenaturalt
hatsoci
ologistshav edevel
oped
di
ffer
entappr
oachesfrom t
imetoti
mei nthei
ratt
emptstoenri
chitsst udy
.

• Themai nconcernofsoci ologyissociol

ogi
calanal
ysi
s.Itmeanst hesociologyseekst o
provideananal y sisofhumansoci et
yandcul t
urewithasociologicalperspecti
ve.He
evinceshisinterestintheev ol
uti
onofsocietyandtri
estoreconstructthemaj orstages
i
nt heev ol
utionar ypr
ocess.Anat temptisalsomadet oanal
yzet hef act
orsandf orces
under l
yi
nghistoricalt
ransformati
onofsociet
y .

Sociol
ogyhasgi
vensuff
ici
entattent
iontot hestudyofpri
maryunitsofsociall
if
e.Inthi
sar
eai
t
i
sconcer nedwi
thsocialactsandsoci alrel
ationshi
ps,i
ndi
v i
dualpersonali
ty,gr
oupsofal
l
var
ieti
es,
communiti
es,
associat
ions,organizat
ionandpopulat
ion.

• Sociol
ogyhasbeenconcer nedwi t
ht hedev
elopment,st
ructur
eandfunctionofawi de
vari
etyofbasi
csocialinsti
tut
ionssuchasthef amil
yandkinshi
p,r
eli
gionandpr oper
ty,
economic,pol
it
ical
,legal
,educati
onalandscienti
fi
c,r
ecr
eati
onalandwelfare,aest
heti
c
andexpressi
veinst
it
utions.
 • Sociol
ogi
stsar
econcer
nedwi
tht
het
askoff
ormul
ati
ngconcept
s,pr
oposi
ti
onsand
theori
es.

Soci
ologyhaspl
acedhi
ghpr
emium onthemet hodofr
esearchalso.Cont
emporar
ysociol
ogy
hastendedtobecomemoreandmor erat
ionalandempir
icalrathert
hanphi
losophi
caland
i
deal
isti
c.

• The f undamental soci al pr ocesses such as cooper ati

on and compet i
ti
on,
accommodat ion and assi milati
on,soci al confl
ict i
ncl
udi
ng war and r ev
oluti
on,
communi cat
ionincludingopi ni
on,f ormat
ion,expressi
onandchange,soci
alcontr
oland
devi
ance includi
ng cr ime,sui ci
de,sociali ntegr
ati
on and soci
alchange assume
prominenceinsociologicalstudies.

• Manyspeci al
ized st
udi
es such as soci
ologyofknowl
edge,soci
ologyofmedi
cine,
soci
ologyoflawetchaveemerged.

• Sociologyf ocusesonhumani nter

acti
onont hemut ualandreciprocalinfluencingbyt wo
ormor epeopl eofeachot her'sfeel
ings,at
tit
udesandact i
ons.Soci ologydoesnotso
muchf ocusonwhatoccur swi thinpeopleasitdoesonwhatt r
anspiresbet weenpeopl e.
Hencet hef ocusofsoci
ologicalinquir
yisonpeopl eassoci albeings-t heiractivi
ti
esin
rel
ationt ooneanot her.Sociologist
sar einter
estedint hewaypeopl est ructuretheir
rel
ationshipst hemanneri
nwhi chtheirsoci
alti
eswi t
hot her
sar eformed, sustainedand
changed.

Emer
genceanddev
elopmentofsoci
ology

Soci
ologyi
soneoft
heneweroft
heacademi
cdi
sci
pli
nes,t
raci
ngi
tsor
igi
nsnof
urt
herback

t
hant
hemi
ddl
eoft
heni
net
eent
hcent
ury
.Ithasashor
thi
stor
y.Soci
ology
,thesci
enceof

soci
ety
,ist
hey
oungestandi
tcamet
obeest
abl
i
shedonl
yint
heni
net
eent
hcent
ury
.TheFr
ench

phi
l
osopher
,AugustComt
e gav
e soci
ology and a pr
ogr
amme f
ori
ts dev
elopment
.For

t
housandsofy
ear
s,soci
etyhasbeenasubj
ectf
orspecul
ati
onandenqui
ry.Yetsoci
ologyi
sa

moder
nsci
encewhi
chor
igi
nat
edonl
ywi
thi
nlasthundr
edf
if
tyy
ear
sorso.

Thest
udyofsoci
ety
,howev
er,
canbet
racedt
otheGr
eekphi
l
osopher
s,Pl
atoandAr
ist
otl
e.The

phi
l
osophi
calbasi
sofPl
atoandAr
ist
otl
echar
act
eri
sedt
heobser
vat
ionsofmanf
orav
eryl
ong

per
iodoft
ime.Thel
i
ter
atur
econcer
ningsoci
etyandi
tspr
obl
emsf
oundpl
acei
ntheRepubl
i
cof

Pl
ato(
427-
347B.
C.)andi
nthePol
i
ticandEt
hicsofAr
ist
otl
e(388-
327B.
C.)
.
Pl
atowast
hef
ir
stWest
ernphi
l
osopherwhoat
tempt
edasy
stemat
icst
udyofsoci
ety
.Int
he

Et
hicsandPol
i
ticsofAr
ist
otl
ewef
indt
hef
ir
stmaj
orat
tempt
sofsy
stemat
icdeal
i
ngofl
aw,
the

soci
etyandSt
ate.I
nhi
sbookCi
cer
o,t
heRomant
hinker
,br
oughtt
hegr
eatGr
eeki
deasi
n

phi
l
osophy
,pol
i
ticsandl
awi
ntheWest
.

I
nthesi
xteent
hcent
ury
,apr
eci
sedi
sti
nct
ionwasmadebet
weenSt
ateandsoci
ety
.Thomas

HobbesandMachi
avel
l
iwer
etheout
standi
ngcont
ri
but
orsoft
her
eal
i
sti
cappr
oacht
osoci
al

pr
obl
ems.Hobbes i
n hi
s Lev
ithan and Machi
avel
l
iin hi
s Pr
ince anal
yses t
he sy
stem of

st
atecr
aftandal
soputf
orwar
dcondi
ti
onsf
orsuccessofSt
ate.

The ei
ght
eent
h-cent
uryEur
ope wi
tnessed t
he publ
i
cat
ion ofa numberofgr
eatwor
ksof

obser
vat
ion,f
orexampl
e,Rousseau’
ssoci
alcont
ractandMont
esqui
eu’
sDel
’
espi
ri
tdesl
oui
s.

Thesewr
it
ingswer
est
il
lint
hephi
l
osophi
calt
radi
ti
on,butt
heycont
ainedsuf
fi
cientanal
ysi
sto

l
ayf
oundat
ionf
orasepar
atesoci
alsci
ence.

Var
ioussoci
alsci
encesgr
adual
l
yev
olv
edi
nresponset
othev
ari
edneedsofhumanl
i
ving.The

wr
it
ingsi
nphi
l
osophi
calt
radi
ti
onl
aidf
oundat
ionf
ordev
elopmentofsoci
alsci
ences.Wi
tht
he

passageoft
imev
ari
oussoci
alsci
encesdev
elopedoneaf
teranot
herandbegant
opur
sue

separ
ateandi
ndependentpat
hoft
hei
rown.Pol
i
ticalphi
l
osopher
sinqui
redi
ntot
heev
olut
ionof

St
ate,
thegr
owt
handnat
ureofSt
ateaut
hor
it
yandv
ari
ousot
herpr
obl
emsofpol
i
tical
nat
ure.

Si
mil
arl
y,economi
cs as separ
ate and i
ndependentsci
ence i
nqui
red i
ntot
he pr
obl
ems

concer
ning pr
oduct
ion and di
str
ibut
ion ofcommodi
ti
esaswel
last
hel
argerquest
ion of

economi
cgr
owt
h.Thus,
studycar
ri
edonbymanaboutdi
ff
erentaspect
sofsoci
etygav
eri
set
o

di
ff
erent soci
alsci
ences l
i
ke Hi
stor
y,Pol
i
ticalSci
ence,Economi
cs,Ant
hropol
ogy and
Psy
chol
ogyet
c.AugustComt
ecr
eat
ed t
henew sci
enceofsoci
etyand coi
ned t
hename

soci
ologyi
n1839.

Soci
ologyhasal
ongpast
,butonl
yashor
thi
stor
y.Thest
udyofhumansoci
etyi
nsci
ent
if
icway

i
ssai
dtohav
ebegunwi
thAugustComt
e.Theemer
genceofsoci
ologyasadi
sci
pli
neof

academi
cint
eresti
sofr
ecentor
igi
n.I
tsemer
genceasadi
sci
pli
necanbeat
tri
but
edt
othev
ast

changest
hatt
ookpl
acei
ntheni
net
eent
hcent
ury
.

Thephi
l
osophi
calhi
stor
iansi
ntr
oducedt
henewconcept
ionofsoci
etyassomet
hingmor
ethan

t
hepol
i
ticalsoci
ety
’ort
heSt
ate.Theywer
econcer
nedwi
tht
hewhol
erangeofsoci
ali
nst
it
uti
on

andmadeadi
sti
nct
ionbet
weent
heSt
ateandwhatt
heycal
l
ed‘
ci
vi
lsoci
ety
’.

Thesecondwast
hemov
ementf
orsoci
alandpol
i
ticalr
efor
mswhi
chmadei
tnecessar
yto

under
takesur
vey
sofsoci
alpr
obl
emsl
i
kepov
ert
ywhi
char
osei
nthei
ndust
ri
alsoci
eti
esof

West
ernEur
ope.Thesoci
alsur
veycamet
ooccupyani
mpor
tantpl
acei
nthenew sci
enceof

soci
etyandi
twasoneoft
hepr
inci
pal
met
hodsofsoci
ologi
cal
enqui
ry.

Thesei
ntel
l
ect
ualmov
ement
s,t
hephi
l
osophyofhi
stor
y,andt
hesoci
alsur
veywer
ethemsel
ves

t
hepr
oductofsoci
alset
ti
ngsoft
heei
ght
eent
handni
net
eent
h-cent
uryWest
ernEur
ope.The

Phi
l
osophyofhi
stor
ywasnotmer
elyachi
l
doft
hought
.Itwasbor
noft
wor
evol
uti
ons,t
he

I
ndust
ri
alRev
olut
ion and t
he Pol
i
ticalRev
olut
ions i
n Fr
ance.Si
mil
arl
y,t
he soci
alsur
vey

emer
gedf
rom anewconcept
ionofev
il
sofi
ndust
ri
alsoci
ety
.

Thel
ongser
iesofr
evol
uti
onsusher
edi
nbyFr
enchRev
olut
ioni
n1789andcar
ryi
ngov
er

t
hrought
heni
net
eent
hcent
ury
,andt
heI
ndust
ri
alRev
olut
ionwer
ethei
mpor
tantf
act
orsi
nthe

dev
elopmentofsoci
ology
.Theupheav
alofFr
enchr
evol
uti
onwasat
urni
ngpoi
nti
nthehi
stor
y
oft
hinki
ngaboutsoci
ety
.Itwasal
sol
argel
yresponsi
blef
ort
hedev
elopmentofSoci
ology
.

Cont
ri
but
ionofFounder
s
AugustComt
e

Sociologyi sthey oungestsoci alscience.Augustcomt e,Frenchphi losophercoi nedt hewor d

"sociology"inhisbook' positi
vephi l
osophy' publi
shedi n1838AD. Hebel i
evedthatasci enceof
sociologyshoul dbebasedonsy st
emat i
cobser vationandcl assificati
on.Thiswasanewi deaat
thatt i
me.I twast hetimeofr easonandt heemer genceofr esearchbasesoci etyinEur ope.
Peopl e wer e seeking fr
eedom,j usti
ce,equal it
y ,human di gnity,happiness and pr osper it
y.
Theol ogicaldoctri
necoul dnol ongerf unct
ionorr uleov ert
hewor l
d.Positi
vist
susedt obel ieve
thesoci etycanbest udiedsci enti
fi
callybydev elopingcertainl awsl ikeinnat uralsci ences.
Comt eanal y
zedt heev ol
utionofhumant hinkingandi t sv
ariousst ages.Hegav et hreemaj or
stagesofsoci alev ol
uti
onanddev elopment ,theyar e;Theologi calstage,Met aphy si
calst age,
andst ageofposi tivi
sm.

Her
ber
tSpencer
Briti
shsoci althi
nkerHer bertSpencerhasgiv entheseminalideaswhichhelpstoexami net he
societyt hr
oughev ol
uti
onar yperspecti
veinhi sbook' Theor yofsocialevolut
ion'.
Evolution
i
ndi cateschangef rom withi
nr at
herthanoutside.Iti
sspontaneousandcontinuouschanget hat
takespl aceespeci al
lyinsoci alstr
uctureandsy st
em.Heusedsoci alevoluti
oninor dert o
explaint heor i
ginanddev elopmentofsoci ety.Hesaw soci alevol
uti
onasasetofst ages
throughwhi challt
hesoci eti
esmov edfrom simpletocompl ex;fr
om unif
ormitytomult
iformi t
y
andf rom homogenei tytohet er
ogeneit
y.

Emi
l
eDur
khei
m
FrenchSoci ol
ogistEmi
leDurkheim hasgivenplatoni
cviewsr egardi
nghow andwhysui ci
de
occursinsocietyinhi
sbook'Theor yofsui
cide'
.Heisthefi
rstscholarinordertodi
agnoset
he
sociol
ogicalcausebehi
ndsuicide.Hesoughtoutsomescienti
fi
cr easonsthatfor
ceandcoer
ce
toanindivi
dual t
ocommi tsui
cide.

Thebookent i
tl
edwi t
h'Di
vi
sionoflaborsociet
y'.
Durkhei
m hasexpl
ainedhowdi f
fer
entdi
visi
on
oflabor
sar ecreat
edinordertoaccomplishthetaskontimewitheffect
ivel
yandexpert
ly.His
centr
alargumentinthi
sbookistheimportantofsharedsoci
alnor
msandv al
vesinmaint
aining
soci
alsoli
dari
ty.Therearetwot y
pesofsolidar
it
yi .
e.organicsoli
dari
tyi
sf oundinmoder n
i
ndustri
alsoci
eti
esinwhichunityi
sbasedoni nt
erdependence.Li
kewisemechanicalsol
i
dari
ty
i
sf oundint r
adit
ionalsoci
eti
es.Iti
sstronglybasedonhomogenei ty
,norms,v al
ue,bel
i
ef,
senti
mentsetc.

MaxWeber
Germanphi l
osopherMaxWeberbookent it
ledwi t
h'TheoryofBur eaucracy'haspr oj
ect
edt he
i
mpor t
anceofgovernmentmachinery.Itisat y
peofhi erar
chicalorganizationwhichisdesigned
rati
onall
yinordert ocoordinat
et hewor kofmanyi ndi
vidualsi npur suitoflargescaleof
admi ni
str
ati
ontask.Bur
eaucracycreatesdi f
ferentdi
vi
sionsofl aborsinor dertoaccompli
sht he
taskont i
mewitheffect
ivel
yandexper t
ly.Iti
sbasedonl awandr ules.

Rel
ati
onshi
pofsoci
ologywi
thot
hersoci
alsci
ence
Soci
ologyandEconomi
cs-Soci
ologyandEconomi
cshav
ecl
oser
elat
ion.I
ntheabsenceof
economicst
hereisnoanymeani ngofsoci
ology
.Economi
csi
sthest
udyoft
hepr
oduct
ionand
dist
ri
but
ionofgoodsandser
vices.

Thesubjectmatterofeconomi csaret r
ade,i
ndust
ri
es,moneyf l
ow,bank,product
ionand
di
str
ibut
ionet
c.Societyi
si nf
luencedbyeconomi
cfact
orswhi
leeconomicpr
ocessesarelar
gel
y
det
erminedbysocialenv
ironment .

Example:I
fpor
kispr
oducedanddi
stri
butedinBrahminsoci
etyt
heymaynotconsumei
tand
thepr
oducti
ongoi
nvai
nandeconomicprogresswil
lhamper
.

Soci
ologyand Psy
chol
ogy
-Soci
ology and psy
chol
ogy ar
eint
err
elat
ed each ot
her
.
Psychologyhast odependonsoci
ologytounderstandhumannat ure.Psychologyisthescience
ofment alpr ocessormind.Itst
udiesparti
cularl
ythehumanexper i
enceandbehav i
or.The
subjectmat t
ersofPsychol
ogyareemot i
on,fear,l
ove,anxi
ety
,interact
ion,personal
it
y,t
hinking
etc.Sociol
ogyandpsy chol
ogyarebothinvol
veinsol v
ingtheexisti
ngsoci alprobl
em.Bothar e
positi
vescienceandbothimpl
yscienti
fi
cmethod.

Soci
ologyandpol
i
tical
sci
ence
Poli
ti
calscienceisthescienceofpol i
ti
cs.I
tstudiest heconst
it
uti
on,pol
it
icalpar
ti
es,for
mat i
on
ofgov er
nment ,ci
vi
lsoci ety,pr
essuregroup,electionetc.Poli
ti
calsci
encepr ovi
desdat ato
soci
ology.Asapol i
ticalbei
nghowmanexer ci
sest hepowerwi thinsoci
etyandsocialst
ruct
ure
arealsotheconcernmat t
ersofsociol
ogyandpol it
icalsci
ence.Theknowledgeofsociet
yhelps
tomakethepol i
ciesforthepeople.Theleadershouldhavet heknowledgeaboutt
hesoci
ety
,
nor
msv alues,t
radit
ion,r
eli
gionet
c.Soci
ologybeli
evesthatthecommuni tyshoul
dbeawareof
i
tsri
ghtandduties.Hencesociol
ogyandpolit
ical
sciencear
et hetwosidesofthesamecoi
n.

Soci
ologyandbusi
nessmanagement
Toexceli nbusi ness,youneedmor ethanasol i
dgr aspofmat handeconomi cs.Busi
ness
requir
esanunder standi
ngofpeople--lar
gepopulat
ionsinpar ti
cul
ar.Sociol
ogyprovi
desthe
educationalbackgroundneededformanagerstounder st
andt hei
rempl oy
eesandcust omers.
Businessleadersthatunderst
andsociol
ogyareabl
etoant i
cipatecust
omerneedsandr espond
toempl oyeeproblemsi nwaysot
herscannot.

AnalyticalProcess- St
udyingsociologyhelpst odev el
opy ouranalyt
icalt
hinki
ngandcapabi
li
ti
es.
Sociologistsanalyzequal i
tat
iveandquant itati
vedat at
odet er
mi netheeffect
sofphenomenaon
apopul at
ion.Fori nst
ance,asoci ologistmaydi scoverthatacount ryhasanagegapduet oan
uncont rol
ledepi demict hataffectst hecount ry'
sabi l
i
tyt ocompet eglobal
ly
.Thisanal
yti
cal
method oft hinking hel
pst hosei nbusi nesswi ththeabi li
tytor esearchmarketdataand
eventual l
ydrawconcl usi
onsf rom thatdata.

HandlingEmpl oyees-Abackgr oundi nsoci

ologygivesbusi nessleader sandhumanr esour ce
manager sanadv antagewhendeal ingwit
hempl oyeesinthewor kplace.Sociol
ogi
stsstudy( and
are often awar e of)the cul t
uraland soci
alaspect st hatshape an i ndi
vi
dual.Wi tht his
background,t hoseinbusi nesscanav oi
dali
enatingempl oyeesorhur t
ingcompanyl oyalt
y.For
exampl e,thecompanymayhav eal ar
genumberofempl oyeesthatpr acti
ceaparti
cularrel
igion.
Ifthisr eli
gionstatest hatitsfoll
owersmustobser v
easabbat honweekends,y oucannot
reasonabl yaskthoseempl oy
eest oworkonweekends, basedony ourbackgr oundinsociology .

Mar ketOppor tuni

ti
es- Sociol
ogistsunder standt hatcertainphenomenacr eatecondi t
ionst hat
i
nfluencegr oupsofpeopl e.Forexampl e,ifbi rt
hr at
esdr opwithinacount ry,thatcount ry'
s
populationwi lleventuall
y" age"andr equireincreasedservicesf
ortheelder l
y.Thosei nbusi ness
wit
hsoci ologybackgr oundscani dent i
fysuchf act
orsandt heoppor t
unitiescr eatedwi t
hina
population.Fori nstance,abusi nessl eadercanl ookatacount r
ythatwaspr eviouslyrav agedby
warordi seaseandknow t hatit
speopl erequi r
ebasici nfr
ast
ructur
eof feringsandaccesst o
educationandmedi calfacili
ti
es.Ify ourcompanyspeci ali
zesinmedi calsuppl ies,thisi san
oppor t
unity;ify ourcompanysel lsluxur yv ehi
cles,youwoul dlookelsewher eandi dent if
ya
populationt hatrequiresy ourservi
ces.

Publ i
cRel ati
ons-
Sociol
ogyisf undament
altot hepubli
crelat
ionsdepar tmentofanymaj or
company .APRper son'
sbackgroundinsoci
ologytel
l
sherthatcer t
ainacti
onsbythecompany
willaffectit
scust omersbasedont hei
rcul
turalandeconomicbackgr ounds.Forexample,i
f
yourcompanyconduct sbusinessinanot
herpartoftheworl
d,y ourPRper sonmustknowt he
historyoft hatareat otai
l
ort hemessageandi mageoft hecompany .ThePR per son,f
or
i
nst
ance,wouldnotcr
eat
eapressr
eleasethatst
ressest
hei
ndependentnat
ureoft
hecompany
i
nacult
urethatpl
acesalar
gef
ocusonf amil
y.