Introduction of Sociology

The word Sociology is a combination of two words. The first word is “Socious” which
is a Latin word means Companion or Group.

The second word is “Logus” which is a Greek word means a comprehensive Study.

So, Sociology means the study of group life of people that can also be called as
Science of human societies.
 Historical
Background

A Muslim historian of Tunis, Ibn-e-Khaldoon (1332-1406) is

considered as the founder and father of sociology.

In his famous book Muqadmah, he called sociology as Ilm-ul-Imran.

The word Sociology was coined by a French social philosopher August

Comte (1798-1857).

Earlier, he called it Social Physics but when he came to know that

Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian statistician “had already used this word.
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So Comte changed the name from

social physics to Sociology in (1836).

August Comte is also considered as the

modern founder of Sociology.
 DEFINITION OF SOCIOLOGY

William Graham Sumner

“Sociology is the science of society.”

Kovalevsky:

“sociology is the science of social organization and social change”

Simmel:

“sociology is the science of studying human relationship”

Max Weber:

“Sociology is the study of social action.”

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John J. Macionis:

“sociology is the systematic study of human society.”

Ian Robertson:

“Sociology is the scientific study of human society and social

behavior.”
 Nature and Scope of Sociology

Sociology is the science of society. It is the study of the

group life of people.
So it is very important in all those fields where group life
exists.
Famous Greek Philosopher Aristotle remarked that ‘Man
is a social animal’.
Both his nature and necessity compels him to live in
society.
We can’t think of a man without society and a society
without man.
Regarding its scope, sociology is divided into two parts:
Theoretical sociology
Applied sociology
 Theoretical sociology

It is a branch of sociology which points out the social

problems of the society.
Pakistani society is a hub of social problems and it
has become prone to diversified social problems for
which social scientists are coming up with
appropriate scientific skills to address the social
pathologies and Sociologists are at the forefront in
such a pursuit.
 Applied sociology

In applied sociology, the causes and nature of

social problems are found why they exist and
how they can be rooted out from the society.

So sociology has a great scope as well as

importance in everyday life.

The scope, importance and significance of

sociology can also be described under the
following headings and topics……
SOCIOLOGY AS A
SCIENCE
 Research

Basically sociology deals with research.

It is a subject of research by nature.
Before starting any developmental plan or project in
an area by Government or other agency, an initial
report is prepared regarding that project.
This report is called as bench mark.
It is actually an initial survey report prepared by
sociologists about that particular project.
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A large number of sociologists are performing their

duties in many official or non-official organizations
of research which are listed below..
Ministry of health, labor and planning.
Ministry of social welfare and rural development.
Ministry of education, commission and census.
Pakistan Economy for rural development.
Pakistan economic research institute
 Educatio
n
A large number of expert sociologists are working as
teachers in different colleges and universities of
Pakistan e.g. they are working in universities and
colleges of Peshawar, Karachi, Hyderabad,
Faisalabad, Multan, Sargodha and Lahore.
The subject of sociology has also been introduced
and taught on Matric, Intermediate, Graduation,
Master, M.Phil and Ph.D levels in Pakistan.
 Rehabilitation of criminals:

The criminals are the product of society as well.

Their reform and rehabilitation is the responsibility
of society as well.
When a common man becomes familiar about the
environment of a jail, all his hesitation comes to an
end and he becomes a professional criminal and
learns more crimes in the company of the criminals
in the jail.
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The free atmosphere of outer society does not suit him

because no one respects him and he creates association
with jail by committing crimes again and again.
The government has appointed parole and probation
officers in order to keep those criminals into their
supervision who commit crime for the first time so that
they might be saved from the polluted environment of
jail.
The probation officer watches the activities and checks
the behaviour of the criminal during the period of his
sentence in a household atmosphere.
 Social Welfare

The main aim of sociology is the welfare and

improvement of the society and its people.
The rules and principles of sociology can also be
used for the welfare of the public.
If the people who are unemployed are kept busy in
various healthy activities, they can be escaped
indulging from many social evils and they can create
recreation for themselves.
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Pakistani society is facing many social issues like

drug addiction, robbery, bribery, deception,
unemployment and terrorism etc.
 In order to deal with these social evils, government
has launched many welfare schemes and programs
with the help of sociologists.
For example, anti-drug centers, employment
schemes, blood banks, youth welfare centers and
many other projects like these.
 Subject Matter of Sociology

Subject matter of sociology refers to those concepts

and topics that are included in the course of
sociology.
In other words, those topics on which sociology
focuses are called the subject matter of sociology.
 Social Interaction

When an individual, group or party influence the

behavior (overt or covert) of other individual,
group or party is called social interaction.
Due to social interaction, groups and organizations
come into being
 Social group

Social group is the basic and primary concept of

sociology
“Group is collection of two or more individuals who
are switch on for a long period of time on the basis
of common expectations and mutual relationship.”
 Culture

Culture and society are part and parcel with each

other.
“Culture is that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and
many other capabilities and habits acquired by a
man as a member of society.”
 Social Institutions

Institutions are the essential parts of any society.

Institutions are organized patterns of belief and
behavior centered on basic social needs.
 Socialization

A process through which a person acquires

personality is called socialization.
 Socialization is a continuous process in which man
learns how to live in society.
 He learns the rules and regulations, laws and
principles, norms and values of society.
 Personality

Personality and behavior are also common topics

discussed in sociology.
Personality is the totality of character, behavior as
well as physical appearance of an individual.
It flourishes through social interaction so it is the
product and creation of culture.
 Collective behavior

According to park and Burgess, sociology is the study

of collective behavior.
Collective behavior is a relatively spontaneous
social action that takes place when people try to
work out common responses to an ambiguous
situation.
 Social problems

Sociology is not merely a theoretical subject but it is

also providing assistance in solving many problems
of social life.
A social problem is a condition that at least some
people in a community view as being undesirable.
Sociologists conduct research in order to know about
the causes and consequences of these problems and
then suggest valuable measures to eradicate these
social problems from the society.
 Society

Human societies are characterised by patterns

relationships "social relations” between

individuals who share a distinctive culture, language
and institutions.
 Crime

Violation of formal norms (laws) is called crime e.g.

Murder, theft etc.
The criminals are the product of society and it is the
duty of the society to reform them as well.
 Social change

Social change refers to an alteration in the 

social order of a society. Social change may include
changes in nature, social institutions, social
behaviours, or social relations.
. Social change means those changes which take
place in society with the passage of time.
 Social stratification

With the evolution of society, man adopted various

professions in order to fulfill his basic needs and
necessities.
The division of people according to income, social
status and occupation is called as stratification.