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THE SOCIOLOGY

A Study of Society


ii

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iii

THE SOCIOLOGY

A Study of Society

Irshad Ahmad Wani

EDUCREATION PUBLISHING (Since 2011)

www.educreation.in


iv


v

Dedicated to

OUR PARENTS


vi

CONTENTS

S.No. Title Page

1. Introduction to Sociology 1

Meaning, Sociology & Common sense, Nature,

Subject-Matter & Scope

Emergence of Sociology: French revolution, Industrial

Revolution and Enlightenment Period.

Relationship of Sociology with History, Anthropology,

Economics, Philosophy and Psychology.

2. Research Methodology 19

Nature and Significance of research, Types of research,

Ethical Issues in research

Scientific method: Concept & features,

Research design: Formulation & types. Hypothesis &

its types.

Sampling Method, Sampling terms, Sampling Design,

Purpose and types

Data collection: Types, importance & Sources.

Interview: Meaning & types. Observation: Meaning &

types. Social survey Method: Meaning, types &

Procedure. Case study Method: Meaning, advantages &

Disadvantages, Questionnaire, Report Writing

Positivism and its critique & empirical approach.

3. Sociological Thought 72

August Comte: Law of three Stages, Positivism, Social

Statics & Social Dynamics and Hierarchy of Sciences.

Emile Durkheim: Division of Labour, Social facts,

Religion & Society and Suicide.

Karl Marx: Class and Class Conflict, Dialectical

Materialism, Historical materialism and Alienation.

Max Weber: Social Action, Power & authority,

Religion & economy and bureaucracy.

Elite theory by Vilfredo Pareto.


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Interactionism: C.H Cooley, Evolutionary Theory:

Herbert Spencer. Functional Analysis: R.K Merton.

Schools of Thought: Formalistic & Synthetic.

Perspectives of Sociology: Positivism, Functionalism,

Marxism, Interactionism, Ethnomethodology,

Phenomenology, Dramaturgy.

4. Basic Concepts 143

Society, Community, Association, Social Groups:

Primary, Secondary and reference group.

Culture: Meaning, Types, elements & its aspects.

Socialisation: Meaning, elements, Process, stages,

theories of sociolisation, agents of sociolisation.

Role and status, Norms and values.

5. Social Institutions 199

Family, Marriage, Kinship, Religion, Secularisation.

6. Social Stratification 286

Concept, features, forms and its theories.

Stratification & Gender.

Caste System, Class system, Social Mobility.

7. Indian Society 336

British Cultural policies in India, Indian Social

thinkers, Composition of Indian Society, unity in

diversity. Rural society. Urban Society, Tribal Society.

Scheduled Castes & constitutional Remedies.

Scheduled tribes & Constitutional remedies.

Local Government: Urban & rural, composition,

Panchayat Raj, Jajmani System.

8. Social Change 391

Meaning, Characteristics, Terms associated with social

change, factors, theories, approaches of social change

in India.

Education as an instrument of Social Change. Process

of social change in India: Sanskritization,

Westernization, Modernization.


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9. Social Processes 435

Meaning & its types: cooperation, accommodation,

assimilation, competition & conflict.

10. Social Problems 448

Social deviance, Crime, truancy, vagrancy, Juvenile

Delinquency, Alcoholism and Drug Addiction.

11. Social Control 464

Development, Meaning, Need & Purpose.

Means of Social Control (Formal & Informal).

Agencies of Social Control.

12. Social Movement 472

Meaning, Causes, types, theories.

Peasant movements in India, Nationalist Movements in

India.

Different Acts of Indian Constitution.


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PREFACE

Flether (1970) writes, „I am a person first, A sociologist second, I am a

sociologist because I find the subject, among other subjects, necessary to

me as a person. My concern about sociology is a necessary part of a

much wider philosophical concern to understand man and the world he

lives, and to know, as best as I can, how to improve man‟s situation‟.

Berger‟s statement is more interesting: „if one asks undergraduates why

they are taking sociology as a main subject, one often gets the same

reply, “because I like to work with people”. Thus, sociology and man are

the kindred phenomena. They are the dual aspects of the same process.

Sociology as a form of consciousness needs to be focused on the students

and this may help them to make a better and brighter tomorrow. It is

therefore important to study man in society and the society in man.

This book „The Sociology‟ is specially written for the students

(Under Graduate & Post Graduate) while keeping in view their demands

& expectations. This book has been written in a simple, clear and lucid

manner while keeping in view the understanding value of the students.

This book has twelve units like Introduction to Sociology,

Relationship of Sociology with other Social Sciences, Research

Methodology, Sociological Thought, Basic Concepts I (Society,

Community, and Association, Culture & Socialization), Basic Concepts

II (Primary Groups, Norms & Values, and Status & Role) Social

Institutions (Family, Marriage, Kinship & Religion), Social Stratification

(Caste & Class), Social Mobility, Indian Society (British Policies, Indian

thinkers, Composition Of Indian Society, Unity in diversity, Rural

,Urban & Tribal Society, Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes,

Panchayat Raj, Jajmani System), Social Change & Processes of Social

Change in India, Social Deviance, Social Control and Social Movements.

The topics incorporated in each unit mentioned above include origin,

development and basic concepts, or meaning and definition of the sub-

topics.

The present work is thus, a kind of friendly venture. However, I am

alone responsible for the criticism and shortcomings. I look forward to

receive comments from my readers to enable me to further improve this

manuscript.

I hope that this book will be useful for the candidates preparing for

different exams throughout the India.

Authors

Irshad Ahmad Wani (Sociology)

Mukhtar Ahmad Shah (Education)


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Irshad Ahmad Wani

I am deeply indebted to my Teacher, Guide & H.O.D Prof. (Dr) Aneesa

Shafi (Department of Sociology, University of Kashmir) and to my

Research Supervise Dr. Salima Jan (Director EMMRC, University of

Kashmir) who have always been a source of inspiration and

encouragement from the very inception of my career.

I am also really grateful to my mother, my brothers and my Friends

especially to Mr. Waheed Ahmad Ganaie, Mr. Sofi Jeelani, and Mr.

Umer Rashid Dar and to Dr. Ab. Qayoom Mir.

I also wish to record my deep sense of thanks to Roohiya Mohi-uddin-

Shah and Heemu g for their support in this venture.

Finally, I thank Educreation - the publisher – for publishing this volume

in an attractive form.

Mukhtar Ahmad Shah

I am really grateful to my parents, my colleagues, my friends especially

Mr. Irshad Ahmad Wani, Ms. Sumaya Din Malik and Ms. Iqra Majid

Khan for their wishes and their support in the making of this series.

Authors


xi



A STUDY OF SOCIETY

[1]

1

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

In the beginning of 19th century a French thinker August Comte felt the

need of a separate science which could adequately study social

phenomena on the basis of positive principles & could find out

underlying laws. The French Philosopher August Comte (1798-1857)

often called the Father of sociology-first used the term „Social Physics‟

for this new science and he later changed this to „Sociology‟ in 1839 (in

his book „Course de Philosophy‟) to refer to the scientific study of

society completely believed/argued that society need scientific

knowledge based on facts & evidence to solve its problems, (particularly

the ills created by French Revolution and the Enlightenment) not

speculation & superstition. He tried to create a new science that would

not only explain the past of mankind but also predict its future course.

Like all sciences, Comte believed that this new science of society should

be based on observation and reasoning, should be used to create a better

society.

The word Sociology is composed of two words; the Latin word

„Socius‟ means „Society‟ and Greek word „Logos/Logy‟ means to

„study/Science‟. Thus, the etymological meaning of sociology is the

scientific study of society

.

Definition

Sociology has been defined in a number of ways by different

sociologists.

Lester Frank Ward and William Graham Sumner defined it simply as

“the science of society,” and Franklin Henry Giddings as “the science

of social phenomena.” Sociology has also been defined as “the science of

institutions” (Durkheim) and as “the science of social organization and

social change” (Kovalevsky). Others have conceived of sociology as the

science that studies human relationships (Simmel), as the study of “social

action” (Weber) or of “social processes” (Small), or as “the science of

collective behavior” (Park).


IRSHAD AHMAD WANI

[2]

The Above Definition Given by Different Authors Shows

the Following Views

1. Sociology is the study of society.

2. Sociology is a science of social relationships.

3. Sociology is the study of social life.

4. Sociology is the study of human behavior in groups.

5. Sociology is the study of social action.

6. Sociology is the study of social groups and social systems.

Sociology, therefore, is the study of social life as a whole. It has a wide

range of concerns and interests. It seeks to provide classifications and

forms of social relationships, institutions and associations, relating to

economic, political, moral, religious and social aspects of human life.

Sociology and Common Sense

To many people, sociology appears to be a laborious study of the

obvious, an expensive way to discover what everybody already knows.

To these people, sociology is merely common sense. But sociology is

more than common sense because it is based largely on scientific

evidence. Often ideas or beliefs derived from common sense turn out to

be false, contradicted by facts from sociological research.

Sociological findings such as those that contradict commonly held

myths may surprise you. Of course, not every finding in sociology is

surprising. In fact, some confirm what you have known all along. You

should not be surprised, therefore, to learn from sociology that there is

more joblessness among Blacks than among Whites or that there are

more poor people than rich people in prison. But many other common

sense ideas have turned out to be false. By systematically checking

common sense ideas against reliable facts, sociology can tell us which

popular beliefs are myths and which are realities. For thousands of years,

people‟s common sense told them that the earth was flat, that big objects

fell faster than small ones, and that character was revealed in facial

features; yet today we know none of these is true. Today, science is

replacing common sense as a source of dependable knowledge.

When we do not know where our ideas come from or that they are

based on, we sometimes call them “common sense”. If we call them

common sense, we do not have to prove they are true, for then others will

join us in the collective self-deception of assuming they have already

been proved. If one presses for proof, one is told that the idea has been

proved by experience. The term “common sense” puts a respectable front

on all sorts of ideas for which there is no systematic body of evidence


A STUDY OF SOCIETY

[3]

that can be cited. What often passes for common sense consists of a

group‟s accumulation of collective guesses, hunches, and haphazard

trial-and-error learning‟s. Many common sense propositions are sound,

earthy, useful bits of knowledge. “A soft answer turneth away wrath”,

and “birds of a feather flock together”, are practical observations on

social life. But many common-sense conclusions are based on ignorance,

prejudice, and mistaken interpretation. When medieval Europeans

noticed that feverish patients were free of lice while most healthy people

were lousy, they made the common sense conclusion that lice would cure

fever and therefore sprinkled lice over feverish patients. You may have

heard the encouraging message that “Absence makes the heart grow

fonder,” but you may still remember the discouraging warning “Out of

sight, out of mind”. When facing such conflicting common sense ideas,

how can we tell which are correct and which are false? We can get the

answer from sociological research. It has shown, for example, that the

effect of one person‟s absence on another depends on the strength of the

initial relationship. If two people have loved each other deeply, like

Romeo and Juliet, absence will make their hearts grow fonder, but a high

school romance tends to disintegrate because such relationships are

usually not deep or serious enough to begin with. Common sense thus

preserves both folk wisdom and folk non-sense, and to sort out one from

the other is a task for science.

Only within the past two or three hundred years has the scientific

method become a common way of seeking answers about the natural

world. Science has become a source of knowledge about our social world

even more recently; yet in the brief period since we began to use the

scientific method; we have learned more about our world than had been

learned in the preceding ten thousand years. The spectacular explosion of

knowledge in the modern world parallels our use of the scientific

method. You will learn more about scientific method in the section

„Science, scientific method and critique.‟

In sum, it is not true that sociology is only common sense. If it were,

we wouldn‟t bother to study sociology. Why would we spend our time

learning something we already know? Common sense requires only a

willingness to believe what it tells us. It cannot tell us whether those

beliefs have any basis in fact. But sociology can. This is one of the

reasons that sociology is exciting. It enables us to see that what has long

been familiar - or just common sense - may turn out to be unfamiliar or

uncommon. While common sense gives us familiar and untested ideas,

sociology offers factually supported ideas as well as the excitement of

discovering something new about ourselves.


IRSHAD AHMAD WANI

[4]

Nature of Sociology

Sociology is a scientific discipline. It is a science in the sense that it

involves objective and systematic methods of investigation and

evaluation of social reality in the light of empirical evidence and

interpretation. But, it cannot be directly modeled on the patterns of

natural sciences, because human behavior is different from the world of

nature. Among other differences, the subject matter of sociology is

flexible and dynamic.

What is Science?

Science refers to the application of objective methods of investigation,

reasoning & logic to develop a body of knowledge about given

phenomena. There are three goals of science. The first is to explain why

something happens. The second is to make generalizations, that is, to go

beyond the individual cases and make statements that apply to a

collectively. The third is to predict, to specify, what will happen in

future, in the light of the available stock of knowledge.

The idea of scientific research is to acquire objective knowledge,

free of bias and prejudice. This is why insistence in sociology is to

achieve natural sciences. The proper method of science is to have

constant test of explanatory propositions by matching them against facts

– whether obtained experimentally or empirically. In this context,

sociology is a science because it fulfills the basic requirements of

objective and rational knowledge of social reality and applies scientific

method. Johnson viewed that sociology to some extent has the following

characteristics of science;

a) It is an Independent Science - sociology has now emerged into

an independent science. It is not treated and studied as a branch

of any other science. As an independent science it has its own

field of study, boundary and method.

b) It is Theoretical - it attempts to summarize complex

observations in abstract logically related propositions, which

purport (intend) to explain causal relationships in the subject

matter. Its main aim is to interpret and to inter-relate sociological

data in order to explain the nature of social phenomena and to

produce hypotheses whose final validity can be checked by

further empirical research.

c) It is Empirical - it is based on observation and reasoning, not on

supernatural/speculative revelations, and its results are not


A STUDY OF SOCIETY

[5]

speculative. All aspects of sociological knowledge are subject to

evaluation made about social behavior or can be put to test for

empirical evidence.

d) It is Cumulative: - sociological theories are built upon one

another, extending & refining the older ones and producing the

new ones. S such theoretical integration becomes a goal in the

construction of sociological formulations. Thus, sociology is

cumulative.

e) It is Non-Ethical: - sociologists do not ask whether particular

social actions are good or bad; they seek merely to explain them.

It addresses issues. Study of human relations is the prime

consideration in sociology. In this context, Morris Ginsberg,

observes that ethical problems should be dealt with neutrality,

objectivity & rationality based on a thorough knowledge of a

situation alone can ensure scientific status to the discipline of

sociology.

The other Features of Sociology are

1. Sociology is a social science and not a physical science.

2. Sociology is a categorical and not a normative discipline.

3. Sociology is a pure science and not an applied science.

4. Sociology is relatively an abstract science and not a concrete science.

5. Sociology is a general science and not a particular science.

6. Sociology is both a rational and empirical science.

In all these respects, sociology is far from having reached

perfection; but is being steadily made.

Subject-Matter of Sociology

Sociology is not only a science with its own subject matter but the

mother of all social sciences.

It has been said by some critics that sociology does not have a

subject-matter of its own and that it is a Hotchpotch of different social

sciences. It is argued that sociology is a mere collection of the

observation and hypotheses which are to be found in the work of the

specialists (like Political Science, History, Economics etc.) in these

fields. It may be stated that this view is totally incorrect and today

sociology is not only a separate science with subject-matter of its own

but it has also acquired that high status which entitles it to be called the

„Mother of All Social Sciences‟.


IRSHAD AHMAD WANI

[6]

Sociology is the scientific study of human life, social groups, whole

societies and the human world as such. It is dazzling and compelling

enterprise, as its subject matter is our own behaviour as social beings.

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 behaviour, social

organizations, social phenomena and social values. He is thus altogether

opposed to formal school of thought.

1. Sociologist seeks to provide an analysis of human society with a

sociological perspective

2. Sociology has been concerned with the study of fundamental bases

of social life such as social relationships, personality, culture, social

groups, institution, association community and social system

3. Sociology has given sufficient attention to the study of the origin,

development structure and functions of wide variety of social

institutions and organization both micro and macro level.

4. Sociology has given importance to the study of social interaction in

everyday life in different socio- cultural and historical perspective.

5. Sociology has placed high premium on the method of research.

Research in Sociology is becoming more and more rational and

empirical. Sociologists have sought the application of both

qualitative and quantitative scientific methods in sociological

research to go beyond surface level understanding of our social lives

in a better and new way.

6. Sociology is a fast growing discipline. It has several specialized

areas of enquiry. Each of which may employ its own approach,

method and techniques. Sociology of education, Sociology of

Gender, Sociology of Media, Sociology of work and Leisure,

Sociology of Consumption etc is the few among them.


A STUDY OF SOCIETY

[7]

Thus, the subject matter of sociology is social life as a whole and

deals with more general principles underlying all social phenomena.

Scope

The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of

passing encounters between individuals on the street to the investigation

of international relations and global forms of terrorism.

There are two main schools of thought regarding the scope of

sociology.

1. The specialist or formalistic school of thought

2. The synthetic school of thought

Specialist or Formalistic School of Thought

George Simmel, Vierkandt, Max Weber, Small, Von wise and Tonnies

are the main scholars of this School. According to Simmel and others

“Sociology is a pure science and independent science.

Sociology as a specific social science describes, classifies and

analyses the form of social relationships. Small and Tonnies opine that

sociology has only limited field.

The Synthetic School of Thought Emile Durkheim, Morris Ginsberg, Hobhouse and Sorokin are the main

advocates of this school. The synthetic school of thought conceives of

sociology as a synthesis of the social science. Synthetic school says that

sociology is a general science not a pure science or special social

science. According to the views of the scholars “All parts of social life

are intimately interrelated. Hence sociology should study social life as a

whole.

Durkheim says that sociology has three main fields of inquiry such

as social morphology, Social physiology and general sociology.

Ginsberg categorized the scope of sociology into four major

branches such as social morphology, Social control, social process and

social pathology.

Criticism

The views of the formalistic schools are widely criticized. A few of the

criticisms are follows:

1. Sociology is a general science. It should study both the general form

of social relationships along with their concrete contents.


IRSHAD AHMAD WANI

[8]

2. Sociology should not make any distraction between the form of

social relation and their contents. Both are interrelated. Social forms

are kept on changing when the contents change.

3. Though sociology is a pure science, It is a general subject. It also

concerned with human interaction and human life in general. Hence

it is related to other social sciences

Emergence of Sociology:

1. French Revolution

2. Industrial Revolution And

3. Enlightenment Period

Just how did sociology begin? In some ways it is difficult to answer

this question. By the time Jesus Christ was born, the Greeks and Romans

had already developed intricate systems of philosophy about human

behaviour. Even preliterate peoples tried to figure out social life. They,

too, asked questions about why there was war, why some people became

more powerful, or why some were richer. They often based their answers

on superstition, myths, or even the positions of the stars, however, and

did not test their assumptions.

Simple assumptions of truth - or observations mixed with magic or

superstition or the stars - are not adequate. All science requires the

development of theories that can be proved or disproved by systematic

research.

This standard simplifies the question of the origin of sociology.

Measured by this standard, sociology is clearly a recent discipline. It

emerged about the middle of the 19th century when European observers

began to use scientific methods to test their ideas.

The term sociology was first coined by August Comte a French

Philosopher, in 1839. The teaching of sociology as a separate discipline

started in 1876 in the United States, in 1889 in France, 1907 in Britain,

and after world war 1st in Poland & India.

The word sociology is derived from the Latin word „Socius‟ means

„Society‟ and the Greek word „Logos‟ means „Study/Science‟. Thus,

sociology means the scientific study of society.

Sociology grew at a time of new and creative social thought that

transformed and modernized all of the social sciences. New specialized

disciplines broke away from the long-established fields of history and

philosophy. Three factors combined to lead to the development of

sociology.

The first was the Industrial revolution. By the middle of the 19th

century, Europe was changing from Agriculture to Factory production.


A STUDY OF SOCIETY

[9]

This brought social upheaval, violently changing people‟s lives. Masses

of people were forced off the land. They moved to cities in search of

work where they met with anonymity, crowding, filth, and poverty. Their

ties to the land, to the generations that had lived there before them and to

their way of life were abruptly broken. The city greeted them with

horrible working conditions: low pay; long, exhausting hours; dangerous

work; foul smoke; and much noise. To survive, families had to permit

their children to work in these same conditions, some of them even

chained to factory machines to make certain they did not run away.

With the success of American and French revolutions, in which the

idea that individuals possess inalienable rights caught fire, the political

systems in western countries slowly began to give way to more

democratic forms. As the traditional order was challenged, religion lost

much of its force as the unfailing source of answers to life‟s perplexing

questions. Each fundamental social change further undermined

traditional explanations of human existence. The French Revolution,

which began in 1789, symbolized this dramatic break with political and

social tradition. French social analyst Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1895)

declared that the changes in society brought about by the French

revolution amounted to „nothing short of the regeneration of the whole

human race‟.

When tradition reigns supreme, it provides a ready answer: „we do

this because it has always been done this way.‟ Such societies always

discourage original thinking. Since the answers are always provided,

why for such explanations? Sweeping change, however, does the

opposite: by upsetting the existing order, it encourages questioning and

demands answers.

The second factor that stimulated the development of sociology was

Imperialism. The European had been successful in conquering many

parts of the world. Their new colonial empires, stretching from Asia

through Africa to North America, exposed them to radically different

cultures. Started by these contrasting ways of life, they begin to ask why

cultures differed.

The 3rd impetus for the development of sociology was the success

of the natural sciences. Just at the time when industrial revolution and

Imperialism moved people to question fundamental aspects of their

social world, the Scientific method – objective, systematic observations

to test theories – used n chemistry and physics had begun to transform

the world. Given these successes, it seemed logical to apply this method

to the questions now being raised about the social world.

For many social thinkers the radical transformation of society

produced born hope and anxiety. Political democracy and using


IRSHAD AHMAD WANI

[10]

standards of living were sources of hope. Yet there also emerged a deep

anxiety over the future.

Scholars recognized that an old order was gone, replaced by a new

order of unfamiliar and uncertain features .Among a varied group of

intellectuals in nineteenth century Europe, there developed a new

consciousness about society, a recognition of how revolutionary has been

the change in human society, how uncertain had the future become. From

such concerns as those, Sociology was born. Sociology has attempted to

provide answers to questions generated about the old and new forms of

society. The origin of Sociology, then, is rooted equally in two different

though related tasks.

Auguste Comte (1798-1857), who is known as the father of

sociology, recognized the absence of a general science that deals with

society as a whole. Comte combined two terms „Socius‟, Latin for

society , and „logos‟ , Greek for studying and coined „ sociology „ which

literally means “study of society” Comte defined sociology as the

abstract and theoretical science of social phenomena “subject to natural

and invariable laws, the discovery of which is the object of

investigation‟.

Comte was startled by the destructive effect of the French

revolution which, he believed, undermined the moral fabric of the

community. He wanted to establish a new social order based on what he

perceived to be the moral community. The task of recreating a new social

order required a new scientific discipline with objective laws. Thus was

born sociology as a science of society.

Relationship of Sociology with other Social Sciences

Just as humans today have an intense desire to unravel the mysteries

around them, people in ancient times also attempted to understand their

world. Their explanations, however, were not based only on

observations, but were mixed with magic and superstition.

To satisfy their curiosities about the around them, humans gradually

developed science, systematic methods used to study the social & natural

world, as well as the knowledge obtained by those methods. Sociology,

the scientific study of society and human behaviour, is one of the

sciences that modern civilization has developed.

In order to understand sociology and it‟s relation with other social

sciences let us contrast sociology with five men and women; all

blindfolded, were led to an elephant to touch him and asked to explain

What they „Saw‟. The first a „psychologist feeling the top of the head,

said, this is the only thing that counts. All feeling and thinking take place

inside here. To understand this beast, we need study only this.‟


A STUDY OF SOCIETY

[11]

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