What is Sociology?

Sociology is the science or study of the origin, development, organization, and functioning of human society; the science of the fundamental laws of social relationships, institutions, etc. It generally concerns itself with the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, and institutions, and includes the examination of the organization and development of human social life. The sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. Most sociologists work in one or more specialties or subfields. The meaning of the word comes from the suffix "-logy" which means "study of," derived from Greek, and the stem "socio-" which is from the Latin word socius, meaning member, friend, or ally, thus referring to people in general. It is a social science involving the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies, sometimes defined as the study of social interactions. It is a relatively new academic discipline which evolved in the early 19th century. Because sociology is such a broad discipline, it can be difficult to define, even for professional sociologists. One useful way to describe the discipline is as a cluster of sub-fields that examine different dimensions of society. For example, social stratification studies inequality and class structure; demography studies changes in a population size or type; criminology examines criminal behavior and deviance; political sociology studies government and laws; and the sociology of race and sociology of gender examine society's racial and gender cleavages. New sociological sub-fields continue to appear - such as economic sociology and network analysis - many of which are cross-disciplanary in nature. Since the late 1970s, many sociologists have tried to make the discipline useful for non-academic purposes. The results of sociological research aid educators, lawmakers, administrators, developers, and others interested in resolving social problems and formulating public policy, through subdisciplinary areas such as survey research, evaluation research, methodological assessment, and public sociology. Sociological methods, theories, and concepts compel the sociologist to explore the origins of commonly accepted rules governing human behavior. This specific approach to reality is known as the sociological perspective. Sociology is methodologically diverse using both qualitative and quantitative methods, including case studies, survey research, statistical analysis, and model building among others

Auguste Compte

Auguste Comte was born in 1798 and had a significant part in the formation of sociology. Comte was the founder of French positivism. Comte can also be given credit for inventing or coining the term sociology. Comte was born a Catholic, but somewhere around the age of fourteen, he apparently stopped believing in God. At the same time, he left the ideals of his royalist family behind and became a republican. Comte attended the Ecole Polytechnique which was a leading scientific institution in France at the time. He was kicked out of this school for leading a student protest. Comte's philosophy of positivism developed from historical studies of the human mind. This led to Comte's views of the three stages of the history of sciences. In order as follows, the stages are: 1) Theological - nature has a will of it's own. This stage is broken down into three stages of its own, including animism, polytheism, and monotheism. 2) Metaphysical state - though substituting ideas for a personal will. 3) Positive - a search for absolute knowledge.

When Auguste Comte claimed to have invented the new science of sociology, he said that it was

going to be the science that held all other sciences together. As in the course of Positive Philosophy, he said that a science must depend on the previous science to be understood. It was also in the 47th volume of the book that he changed the name of the social physics to sociology. When Auguste Comte claimed to have invented the new science of sociology, he said that it was going to be the science that held all other sciences together. As in the course of Positive Philosophy, he said that a science must depend on the previous science to be understood. It was also in the 47th volume of the book that he changed the name of the social physics to sociology.

Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim was born in eastern France in 1858. At the age of thirteen, he had a traditional Jewish confirmation which was soon followed by an interest in Catholicism. This did not last for long thought, he soon became totally disinterested in all religions and became an agnostic. Durkheim was always a wonderful student when he attended the College d'Epinal and then later the prestigious Ecole Normale. Emile Durkheim was born in eastern France in 1858. At the age of thirteen, he had a traditional Jewish confirmation which was soon followed by an interest in Catholicism. This did not last for long thought, he soon became totally disinterested in all religions and became an agnostic. Durkheim was always a wonderful student when he attended the College d'Epinal and then later the prestigious Ecole Normale.

While early on in his work, Durkheim classified social facts by exteriority and constraint, he later gave his views a 180 degree turn and said that they were internalized and a part of the consciousness of individuals. Durkheim was highly involved with groups and structures and the characteristics that make them

up. He did not want to focus on individual attributes. When studying groups, Durkheim focused on the rates that certain things occurred. This allowed him to compare separate groups and structures more effectively. One of the main things that he studied in groups were suicide rates in groups. Through these types of studies, Durkheim was able to see how different groups were integrated. Integration shows that some groups have strong control over it's members and others allow their members to have more control over their own actions. Emile Durkheim used his own terms to describe the differences in groups and the way they think and act. He defined mechanical solidarity as members of a society being more devoted to the common good when individual differences are minimized. Organic solidarity, he said, was a product of a division of labor the developed because of differences in a group. A brilliant man, Durkheim knew that moral unity was necessary for the survival of a group. Emile Durkheim died in 1917.

Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a social scientist and a philosopher. Although he was one of the greatest social thinkers during the 1800's, most of ideas and intellect were not recognized until after his death. Marx was born in 1818 to a middle class German family. Marx became a communist when he moved to Paris in 1843. This was when he wrote the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts. These writings outlined communism and were not published until the 1930's. While Marx was in Paris he met the man who would become his life long friend and partner, Friedrich Engels. It was with Engels that he wrote the Communist manifesto in 1848. Engels helped Marx survive by being one of his major sources of income during the 1850's when Marx was not able to do it with only his writings. Another manuscript that was published after his death was called The German Ideology. The idea behind this discussed how an individual's nature is affected by the material conditions that determine their production. Karl Marx believed that social change is what was needed for a better society, and to get social change there must be class conflict. Marx's major concern of social change was economic change. Marx's most well known work dealt with class conflict, the opposition between the capitalists and the working class. The capitalists are also known as the bourgeoisie. They are the ones that are responsible for controlling the land, factories, etc. The working class, which is also known as the proletariat, are the workers that are being exploited by the bourgeoisie. One of the larger manuscripts that Marx ever wrote in his life was called The Grundrisse. The Grundrisse (which means outlines) also was not published until after Marx's death. This manuscript was 800 pages long and discussed things such as capital, labor/wages, property, etc. This was completed in 1857. It was ten years later that he finally published the first part of Capital. Capital was a work that outlined the capitalist process in detail. There were several other parts completed to this work, but they were not published until Engels did so after Marx's death.

Marx is now known as one of the founders of Communism, modern Socialism, and Sociology. Since his death Marxism has led to socialist thought and much more. Karl Marx died in 1883.

Max Weber

Max Weber was born in 1864 and he too was considered by some to be the father of sociology. Weber looked at sociology in terms of it being an extensive science of social action and in the beginning he would only focus on specific social contexts. Somewhat in contrast to this belief, he later believed that one of the most distinguishing characteristics of a society is their change or shift in motivation that is caused by structural or historical forces. The concept of the ideal-type came about so the sociologists and others would have a method to do historical-comparative studies. The ideal-type is mainly discussing Moral ideals. Weber used this method to form an ideal-type bureaucracy with the following: hierarchy, impersonality, written rules of conduct, promotion based on achievement, specialized division of labor, and efficiency. Weber defined such bureaucracies as goal oriented organizations designed according to rational principles in order to efficiently attain their goals (Verstehen). Weber saw many advantages in bureaucracies but he also saw that sometimes the power shifted only to those at the top and resulted in an oligarchy. Rationalization is a process in which a person enters, applying practical knowledge to achieve an end. Rationalization is a large part of Weber's theories on bureaucracy. This is also where Weber and Marx begin to agree on some of the models of organization and rationalization. Both socialism and capitalism are the rational forms of sciences and organizations.

Weber also discussed authority. Weber sought to know what gave the power to one individual to be able to claim authority over another individual, such as man over woman. He also used the ideal-type to explain this in terms of traditional authority (pre-modern), rational-legal authority (modern), and charismatic. Max Weber said that sociology is a science that is concerned with a social action and the course and/or consequences of the action. He had a large influence on many of the ideas that are used in sociology today. Max Weber died in 1920.