Q1 “Sociology is the systematic study of human group and social life in society”.

Do you agree with the

statement? Discuss it with proper arguments.

Introduction
Sociology, for sure, is the systematic study of human group and social life in society. Sociology fulfills all
the necessary criteria to be a scientific discipline. Auguste Comte, the father of sociology, laid the basis
of sociology on scientific criteria. He coined the term social physics for sociology that also indicates his
intentions to treat sociology as a science.

Sociology as a science
Early sociologists assert their energies to make sociology as an independent scientific discipline. As
mentioned, Auguste Comte, placed sociology on top in his hierarchy of sciences. Emile Durkheim, a
pioneer sociologist, differentiate sociology from psychology with the concept of “Social Fact”. In social
fact he mentioned that human behaviour is not an outcome of a simple stimulus rather their behaviour
is guided from outside of human mind.
Example
The career ambitious of a Pakistani student will be different from the student studying in America
because of the different cultural values of the societies.

Theory of Suicide and Sociology

Emile Durkheim’s theory of suicide is another landmark in sociology to make it a scientific discipline.
Durkheim’s theory of suicide has two significant functions. Firstly, it is the first theory on suicide that
unfolds the contribution of social forces that leads to suicide. Prior to this theory suicide was only
considered as n psychological dysfunction of an individual’s mind. Secondly, this theory was a framework
for early sociologists to conduct sociological researches on scientific standards. This helped future
generations to analyse a problem from sociological lens.

The subject matter of sociology

The subject matter of sociology is human group and social life of human beings. Sociologists are not
interested in an individual rather they view society as a product of human interaction within human
groups. Similarly, sociology deals with social life of human beings.
Example
Emile Durkheim, a pioneer sociologist, in his famous study on religion he focused on the composition of
religion in terms of sacred and profane. He highlights the functions of religion and their impact on
human society.

The sociological perspectives

The sociological perspective can be defined as seeing general in the particular. Sociologists look for
general patterns in the behaviour of particular people. For example, attitude towards marriage among
women and men. There are three main sociological perspective that helps sociologists to understand
human society and human behaviour. First, structural-functionalist perspective; second, social-conflict
perspective; third, symbolic-interactionists perspective.

The structural-functional approach

The structural-functional approach is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex
system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. The renowned structural-
functional theories are Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, and Herbert Spencer. The structural-functional
approach mainly revolves around the idea that society is composed of five different social institutions
that work together to help societal stability.
Example
The five institutions are; family, education, politics, religion and economy. From spencer’s point of view
human society is similar to human body whose different parts work together to perform proper
functioning.

The social-conflict approach

The social-conflict approach is a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality
that generates conflict and change. The social-conflict approach is mainly based on the ideas of Karl
Marx. Marx view society in terms of economic inequality. He unfolded the exploitive relation between
bourgeoisie and proletariat.
Example
The exploitation of factory owners to factory workers.
The economic inequality among different countries.

The symbolic-interaction approach

The symbolic-interaction approach is a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of
everyday interactions of individuals. Human society is the product of human interaction. People attach
meanings to symbols and share those symbols with each other that helps them to create their own
reality. The symbolic-interaction approach has roots in the thinking of Max Weber who emphasized the
need to understand a setting from the point of view of the people in it.
Example
Marriage is a social function that can be found in almost every human society. However, the types of
marriage vary from society to society. In modern societies gay marriages and lesbian marriages are
common. Whereas, in traditional societies they are treated as taboos.

Conclusion
From above mentioned arguments and discussion one can easily conclude that sociology is the
systematic study of human group and social life. The subject matter of sociology is people and their
social life. The structural-functional and the social-conflict is the macro level approach to analyse human
society. Whereas, the symbolic-interaction approach is the micro level approach to study human society.
However, all these approaches emphasis on behaviour of people, interaction among people, and the
components of human society.