Weber has immensely contributed to the study of sociology most of which are still in use today.

He
systemized the interpretive analysis (Verstehen) of meaning by diving it into 4 parts i.e.,
instrumental rational action which uses the calculation of different outcomes to pursue goals, value
rational action relies on a strategy to achieve results .for example an army man dies during war, his
action is rational because he did not try to escape rather he fought till the end, affective action does
not rely on calculations but our impulsive nature or emotions for example after being pranked by a
family member a person goes onto hit them in anger .this is governed by emotion and not a set goal
and traditional action which gives importance to long-standing customs which become habitual. For
example, a large number of house households in India as well as other regions follow the custom
that women should eat after men .there is no legal implications if they eat first or with men but it is
still followed because of customs(Classical)

Weber also developed the concept of ideal type as an analytical tool to use for his studies. This was
Weber’s way to compare the situations in the real world to a pure version of that situation, he
asserted that this was not a perfect version but a pure form of it. weber has defined three ideal
types i.e., legal authority -it is based on rule of law which comes into effect or gains “legitimacy ‘in
Weber’s words “on a belief in the legality of enacted rules and the right of those elevated to
authority under such rules to issue commands. obedience is given to the source of power rather
than the entity that holds the power .for example a lawyer is just a citizen without the knowledge of
the law or law books. Traditional authority is based on n “established belief in the sanctity of
immemorial traditions”, here authority moves in the lines of hereditary rather than merit. Weber
used his ideal type methodology to split the traditional authority into 2 early forms that are
gerontocracy where power was given to the elders on the basis of inheritance. The second form is
known as patrimonialism which is a more modern take still involving traditional domination coupled
with administration and military force. This is where the notion of rationality arose for Weber. The
third form of authority is charismatic authority, here obedience was legitimized through heroic acts
and revelations usually where the charismatic authority is seen as a god-like figure, for example,
Genghis Khan, Hitler, and Ghaddafi. The interesting bit about charismatic authority is that it only
lasts as long as the possessor is alive and is able to provide benefits, in a sense it is extremely
dependant and unstable (classic contm)(ritzer)
Weber’s view on rationalization is very significant.it talks about how it is only after a shift in social
factors was a modern society formed, during the industrial era things could not be done like it was
done before. according to weber the development of science, modern technology, and bureaucracy
is called collective rationalization. the coming of industrialization and capitalism pointed towards
rationalization .its is important to note the weber felt the outcome of rationalization wouldn’t be
very desirable, which once achieved would be difficult to escape from or in his words it would
resemble a ”steel-hard cage”.()weber divided rationality into two forms that are theoretical
rationality which involves abstract concepts .it is not bound by our daily realities and transcends
them. The next form is that of substantive rationality, it resembles practical rationality and gives a
choice of means to end within the system of values.(ritzer)

A large part of webers life was spent in understanding the relationship between religion and
capitalism.(ritzeer)Weber wrote one of the most influential sociology books ever called “the
protestant ethic”.in this book weber traces the rise of individualism and also talks about the
protestant reformation(classic)weber felt that the religious beliefs were just a mode of explanations
of the existence of suffering and evil. weber held strong ground in saying that protestant asceticism
was a major element that led to the formation of capitalism

Weber influenced the modern interpretation of values, weber insisted the social scientists should
not let personal biases or values interfere with their work
According to Durkheim the absence or lack of moral regulation is called anomie. anomie is caused by
a lack of discipline which society simply failed to instill. there are two major causes of anomie, the
first cause is the experience of being in a crisis, for example during war or an economic depression
that normally held value before no longer hold any value. the second cause is the lack of capital
regulation. (CLASSICAL and c)the free market in the 19 th century fulled the self-interest of people.
what this does is it makes the people blind to authority .this leads to disruption of tradition, religious
beliefs, etc resulting in people feeling broken down, disoriented, and meaningless(giddens).anomie
can result not only from negative social change but also from positive social changes such as the
drastic increase in salary or winning a lottery flusters people negatively. Durkheim says any drastic
life-changing event either negative or positive can also lead to anomie

Durkheims views on the development of capitalism are still very much relevant today.his views are
essentially expressed in Durkheim's work called “The Division of Labour”.
To explain the changing way in which society is held together Durkheim proposes two types of
solidarity that is mechanical and organic solidarity. the two societies differ in the activities the
subjects perform. I ,n organic solidarity the subjects perform distinct tasks which is what binds
them .organic solidarity can be divided into two kinds of positive solidarity. the first kind does not
need any intermediary to bind them to society while in the second form the individual relies on
society as he depends on the parts it is composed of. the first kind has more of an organized totality
of beliefs while the second kind is different with special functions. though these two kinds might
seem like opposites they are in fact a single one(classical and contepo) In mechanical solidarity the
subjects perform the same general tasks which bind them together. (ritzee) mechanical solidarity
grows in an inverse ratio o personality. mechanical solidarity is closely linked to collective conscience
and is unique in a way as it is the same in different regions big or small, it even moves through
generations and links them this means our “modern society” is based on organic solidarity. in today's
time, there is an extreme division of labour where there is a speciality in each occupation and each
product is a speciality in itself (c&c)
An important concept that Durkheim brought up is dynamic density, he believed the cause for the
transition from mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity was dynamic density. dynamic density
refers to the consequences of increased interaction and among people in society which are
increased competition, the struggle for survival and scarce resources.it may seem like organic
solidarity has no positives however it certainly has various positive aspects, for example, there is
greater efficiency lesser competition and differentiation which allows people to coexist with each
other with a much lesser chance of conflict and individuality which is the hallmark of organic
solidarity. durkheim however was not blind to the fact that division of labour could bring people
together, he says, “But if the division of labour produces solidarity, it is not only because it
makes each individual an exchange; as the economists say, it is because it creates among man
an entire system of rights and duties which link them together in a durable way
Durkheim was more interested in the non-material aspect of solidarity, he divided mechanical
solidarity and organic solidarity into repressive and restitutive law respectively. he reasoned that in a
mechanical society crime would have a high possibility of being given a disproportionately severe
punishment as it goes against the common morality and shared valued system which each person
holds. on the other hand, he reasoned that organic solidarity has restitutive law as there is a weak
common morality and shared value as everyone is so different their emotional response wont be as
severe as the individuals of mechanical solidarity hence leading to a more lenient punishment
usually were the wrongdoer is asked to make restitution to people harmed by the wrongdoer's
actions. (ritzee). divsion of labor can be understood using three simple factors that is the size of the
population, material density, and the intensity of communication between the people
There are various approaches to sociological research. sociological research cannot rely on a single
method and always requires several approaches to get accurate information. First, we need to know
what the specific elements of social research are. It includes a literature review to pinpoint the
points of interest and concepts for understanding the information better and to be more organized.
two main approaches include qualitative and quantitative .they differ in the sense that quantitative
research emphasizes on collection and analysis of data that looks at our social reality from an
external view and that incorporates the practices of positivism. contrastingly qualitative research
rejects positivism and looks at social reality as the creation of individuals creation. quantitative
research focuses on the deductive approach and qualitative research focuses on inductive
research .though they may sound like complete opposites it is not the case .infact many a time they
merge with each other forming something called mixed method research(byrman)
There are four main methods used in sociological research.
The first method is ethnography, it was used by the Humphreys for the tearoom trade.it is the first-
hand study of people usually through interviews. if done right it provides us with valuable
information about how people act in groups and communities and also their behavior. the next
method is called surveys, we all have filled a survey at some point in our lives and that is because it is
meant to be accessible and not in-depth and complicated. although it is not very complex it allows
us to get a much broader picture of research. the next method is known as sampling, it is essentially
a more concentrated form of a survey .where a small number of individuals are picked carefully
leading to a result that can be generalized to a large population. the next method is that of
experiment, it is done in a highly controlled setting. the researcher has complete control of the
situation .however experiments have major drawbacks for sociologists has with it they are no longer
able to study the relationship between macro and microsocial phenomena added to this they can
only focus on small groups. (Giddens).
Conducting these researches dot come without challenges .one major challenge is dealing with the
ethical side of things. . we will use the tearoom trade as a base to explain this .humphreys
mentioned that he never revealed his true identity and his true motive to visit the restrooms. he
never directly lied or put the subjects at direct risk of being exposed. if Humphreys had told them
the truth and his intentions before beginning however the outcome would be completely different
as the subjects would be more aware of each piece of information they give it. here there is a slight
dilemma in his ethics on whether to be truthful and get carefully constructed answers or be covert
and get truthful honest answers. this wasn’t such a big issue, what was a big issue was when
Humphrey took the number plates of his subjects and tracked them down to their homes where he
would take neutral surveys. this was unethical as he could have exposed all the men and put them in
danger as homosexual activity was punishable .nowadays researches like this are not considered
legitimate .various organizations such as the ESRC and ISA and much stricter ethical rules to keep
utmost confidentiality
The second challenge in conducting research is the involvement of values. we naturally expect that
the researches conducted are free from personal biases, which would be true years ago but now
social scientists agree that they always band will have biases and is seen as something natural.
values can enter at any time of the research process. for example a researcher may grow
affectionate to his subjects or even be appalled by them. another approach is where the research is
not trying to shy away from values for example a feminist writing about women empowerment is
going to be biased in her research.
Values create a slight confusion for the researchers as they are in a dilemma on which route to take
and follow. (Bryman)
Intellectual forces play an important role in the study of sociology in terms of its influence.
The enlightenment played a significant role in the development of sociology in its later periods.
“enlightenment was the creation of a new framework of ideas about man, society and nature, which
challenged existing conceptions rooted in a traditional world view, dominated by Christianity”(peter)
The enlightenment can be traced back to the renaissance with the printing of the bible and various
other books which allowed people to view information from individual points of view which lead to a
lot of people thinking for themselves and questioning authority usually of the clergy .before the
enlightenment only the priests and his close subordinates could read the scriptures and give their
interpretations to the people which did not allow them to analyze the content from their point of
view .however once the printing of books began a large number of people got the opportunity to
read and interpret the world in their way. (peter Hamilton)the philosophes of the enlightenment era
challenged the clergy as the keepers and distributors of knowledge and wanted to redefine what
social knowledge was outside the sphere of religion.
During this period there were many shifts in development and philosophical thought.it was more
indirectly negative than directly positive. the enlightenment was influenced by mainly two factors
that are philosophy and science of the 17 th century.
Thinkers during the enlightenment era tried to focus on using empirical research with rationality
rather than abstract and speculative research. they moved towards a more scientific and reality-
based study. the main idea of enlightenment is that it is much easier for people to understand ideas
through empirical research and reason. the enlightenment philosophers of this period were leaning
towards rejecting traditional beliefs with reason as they found it to be holding back human growth
and development. (ritzer)the founding concepts of society were interwoven with the
enlightenment .concepts such as progress, it was thought that through empiricism and reasoning an
environment could be created where the men are happy and free from the evils of a society that is
based purely on beliefs and assumptions. with the help of science, man could gain so many new
abilities such as more efficient agriculture, invention of various machines, cures for illnesses,
etc. .with every new phenomenon comes a reaction. In this instance, there was a reaction from the
conservatives, specifically the French catholic counter-revolutionary philosophy which was
represented by Louis de Bonald. Bonald wanted to reverse the enlightenment and go back to a more
peaceful and harmonious time. they viewed God as superior to all and the enlightenment
philosophers were seen as inferior..bonalds views although extreme gives us information about the
conservatives. they were against the reasoning and rationalism of the enlightenment period and
kept away from it. they gave high regard to tradition, religion, and imagination and did not desire
and looked down upon social change and upheavals
Zeitlin explains to us about of the conservative reaction provided the basis for the French
sociological theory. the ten propositions should be viewed as a precise basis of sociological theory in
France. firstly he how shows the contrast between the enlightenment thinkers and conservatives by
saying the enlightenment thinkers focused on the individual and the latter focused on society as a
whole. secondly, he mentions that society was seen as a complex entity that had many components
in which individuals just filled in the spaces. thirdly the individual was seen as the creation of society
itself. fourthly society was seen as being interdependent and interrelated because of which decisions
should be made with care as to not break the balance and undermine the system as a whole. the
following points can be summarized by saying the change was not welcomed, a larger point of view
of society was taken resulting in the inability to see the negatives. family, religion, and occupation
were seen as an essential aspect of individuals and society, modern ideas were seen as being
disorganized and disorienting, seeing the change into a more rational society they began to put
more emphasis on ceremony and worship to have a sense of power and finally, the hierarchical
system was supported by conservatives as they gave importance to rewards and status.
Through this, we can ascertain that the enlightenment contained the greatest intellectual influence
on the study of sociology. the ideas such as reason, empiricism, progress, science, etc took a
stronghold and formed the basis of what sociology is today.

Panopticsm
Panoptoicsm is one of the tools used to bring about disciplin