Q1. What Is Sociology ?

The term Sociology was coined by Auguste Comte, a French philosopher, in 1839.
Sociology is the youngest of all the Social Sciences. The word Sociology is derived
from the Latin word ‘societies’ meaning ‘society’ and the Greek word ‘logos’ are
meaning ‘study or science’. The etymological meaning of ‘sociology’ is thus the
‘science of society’.In other words, Sociology is the study of man’s behaviour in
groups or of the inter-action among human beings, of social relationships and the
processes by which human group activity takes place.The scientific study of
society, interpersonal connections, and interactions is known as sociology.

Q2.What Is The Nature Of Sociology?

Sociology is the study of human interactions, their conditions and consequences.
It is a type of science that comprises investigative techniques which
areobjective and systematic. It gives rise to the evolution of the social truth
that is based on empiricalevidence and interpretation. However, it cannot be
directly based on natural sciences, since humanbehaviour is a unique
phenomenon. It also differs from natural sciences such that the contents of natural
sciences areconstant, while human behaviour, exhibits variations and flexibility.

Q3.Scope Of Sociology?
Sociology provides very wide scope and offers a specific way of looking at society
and helps us to understand it in a better way.It can focus on various aspects like
interaction between individuals and groups, national or international issues (like
hunger, unemployment, etc), culture and institutions (like family, society,
etc).Sociology is interrelated with all other social sciences and called as the mother
of all social sciences.

Q4.What Is The Subject Matter Of Sociology?

while discussing its subject matter of sociologist, Sorokin said that, “It seems to be
a study, first of the relationship and correlation between various classes of social
phenomena” (correlation between economic and religious, family and moral,
judicial and economic, mobility and political phenomena and so on); second that
between social and non social (geographical, biological) phenomena; third the
study of general characteristics common to all classes of phenomena. Thus
according to his view point sociology studies social events, relationships between
social and non social phenomena and generalized study of facts common to all
aspects of social life. In his book ‘Society, Culture and Personality’ he has said that
sociology is more or less concerned with the working of human beings. In this
study he covers the study of human behavior, social organizations, social
phenomena and social values. He is thus altogether opposed to formal school of
thought.
Q5.Purpose of sociology (importance)?

● Sociology studies society in a scientific way: Scientific knowledge about

human society is needed in order to achieve progress in various fields.
● Sociology focuses on the human beings as part of society: Man as a
social animal, why he lives in a group, communities and societies; and
their inter-relationship.
 ● Sociology enables the development of the individuals: Sociology studies
social institutions- home, family; school, educations, etc and their role
in the development of the individual.
● Sociology leads to a better social life: Knowledge of society, social
groups, social institutions, associations, their functions etc. helps us to
lead an effective social life.
● Sociology is of great importance in the solution of social problems: It is
the task of sociology to study the social problems through the methods
of scientific research and to find out solution to them. It helps Govts to
implement their schemes effectively.
● Sociology helps to understand the aberrations in human behaviour:
Aberrations in human behaviour like crime, unemployment, etc are
treated as social problems. The criminals are now treated as human
beings suffering from mental deficiencies and efforts are accordingly
made to rehabilitate them as useful members of the society.
● Sociology enriches human culture: Sociology has given us training to
have rational approach to questions concerning oneself, one’s religion,
customs, morals and institutions and enables man to have better
understanding both of him and his culture.

Q6.Sociology and its Relationship with other Social Science?

Sociology studies all kinds of relationships while Economics only deals with only
economic matters. Traditional economics is the production and distribution of
goods and services. It focuses narrowly only on the allocation of scarce resources.
Modern economics focuses on the broader framework of economic behaviour
provided by sociological approach, in a broader context of social norms, values,
practices and interests.

● Sociology and Economics: Sociology studies all kinds of relationships

while Economics only deals with only economic matters. Traditional
economics is the production and distribution of goods and services. It
focuses narrowly only on the allocation of scarce resources.Modern
economics focuses on the broader framework of economic behaviour
provided by sociological approach, in a broader context of social norms,
values, practices and interests.
● Sociology and Political Science:Sociology is a science of society whereas
political science is a science of state and government. Conventional
Political Science was primarily focused on political theory (idea of Govt)
and Govt administration (structure of Govt) rather than actual operation
(governance). Political Sociology focuses on the actual study of political
behaviour- pattern of voting, decision making, popularity of a party, etc.
It stresses on the inter-relationship between different institutions
including Govt.
● Sociology and history:Conventional History only studies about the past
based on concrete details. Sociologists are more interested in
contemporary or recent past and are likely to abstract from concrete
reality, categorize and generalize.Conventional History has been about
 kings and war; history of gender relations, society, changes in land
relations have traditionally been less studies which sociology focuses on.
● Sociology and psychology:Conventional History only studies about the past
based on concrete details. Sociologists are more interested in contemporary
or recent past and are likely to abstract from concrete reality, categorize and
generalize.Conventional History has been about kings and war; history of
gender relations, society, changes in land relations have traditionally been
less studies which sociology focuses on.
● Sociology and social anthropology:Anthropology is the study of humans
and the ways they live. Sociology studies the ways groups of people interact
with each other and how their behavior is influenced by social structures,
categories (rage, gender, sexuality), and institutions.

Both are considered as ‘sister discipline’, however the differences between them
are:

● Anthropology studies human behavior more at the individual level,

while sociology focuses more on group behavior and relations with
social structures and institutions.
● Anthropologists conduct research using ethnography (a qualitative
research method of participant observation, which involves in-depth,
repeated interactions with people.), while sociologists use both
qualitative and quantitative methods.
 ● The primary goal of anthropology is to understand human diversity
and cultural difference, while sociology is more solution-oriented with
the goal of fixing social problems through policy.

Q7.Sociology and society?

The definition of ''society'' comes from sociology. A society is a group of people

who live together in order to assist each other in living life and improving their
circumstances. There are varying levels of cohesion and many different elements in
different types of societies.

Q8.Community?

The word community has been derived from two words of Latin namely

"com' and munis. In English 'com' means together and 'munis' means to serve.
Thus, community means to serve together. It means the community is an
organization of human beings framed for the purpose of serving together.
Community is a people living within a geographical area in common inter
dependence. It exists within the society. It is bound by the territorial units. It is a
specific group while society is abstract.

"Community living is natural to man. He is born in it and grows in the

community ways. It is his small world. Men, we have seen began with group life.
Over the time, they occupied a habitat and while in permanent occupation of it;
they developed likeness, common habits, folkways and mores, interdependence and
acquired a name. They developed amongst themselves a sense of togetherness and
an attachment to their habitat. A community thus has a habitat, strong
community sense, and a manner of acting in an agreed and organized manner.