Sociology Optional (Fundamentals of Sociology as a discipline) by Smriti Rao Mishra

Model Answer

Question #1. Sociology has been quoted as the ‘Queen of all Sciences’ by Comte, however it shares an equation with various social science disciplines as well. Comment. 10 marks (150 words)

Approach:

• Very briefly in the intro why it is queen of all sciences according to Comte should be defined.
• Then Elaborate upon August Comte’s contribution – Social Sciences vs Natural Sciences, how Sociology adopts the supreme most position according to Comte.
• Can include comparison between Sociology and other disciplines
• Quote examples while comparing between disciplines to make clear understanding
• In Conclusion, take a holistic approach, how the application of Sociology is multidimensional.

Hints:

Sociology covers a broad range of subject matter and a wider range of theory and methods than most majors. Auguste Comte, a founding father of the discipline, referred to sociology as the "Queen of the Sciences" because it embodies the basics of all the other social sciences. He believed sociology held the potential to improve society and direct human activity, including the other sciences.

Comte separated statics from dynamics in his approach to sociology and this is, perhaps, his greatest contribution to modern sociology. The goal of this separation was to create a society that was based on naturalistic science. 

Comte spoke of sociology is the ‘crowning edifice’ of the hierarchy of sciences.

Sociology in comparison to other sciences:

Sociology and Psychology:-

Psychology is the science of individual behavior. Sociology attempts to understand behavior as it is organized in society and shaped by different aspects of society. Today there is hardly any doubt that Sociology has largely moved away from its early association with natural sciences, but Psychology continues to maintain its closeness with natural sciences. However, unlike Sociology, Psychology is not so well equipped to deal with the collectivity of the actors.

Durkheim who sought to establish a clear scope and method for sociology in his study of suicide by leaving out individual intentions of those who commit or try to commit suicide.

With increasing complexities in modern societies, sociology is also concerned with decoding symbolism which people manifest through social actions (symbolic interactionism of Mead). There are topics of common interest to both, like crime, juvenile delinquency, propaganda, socialization, imitation, domestic violence, alcoholism, 

Sociology and Economics:-

Economics is the study of production and distribution of goods and services but an economic activity is also a social activity and production involves social relations as well. 

According to Karl Marx the understanding of the superstructure consisting of various social institutions can never be complete unless seen in the context of economic substructure. Thus economic behaviour of a man is viewed as key to understand the social behaviour of man. On the contrary Durkheim tried to give social explanations a priority over economic explanations and at macro level economic activities happen in an autonomous manner guided by the needs of the society.

In few areas of economics like national income, development in underdeveloped area, financial inclusion, the economists has to collaborate with the sociologist to better understand the issue. Further economists predictive abilities suffer because of their neglect of individual behaviour, cultural norms and institutional resistance which sociologists study.

Economics without sociology is a mechanistic pursuit, with sociological insight, it becomes a humanistic endeavour.

Sociology and History:-

         “Sociology without history is rootless and history without sociology is fruitless”

Historians study the past; sociologists are more interested in the contemporary or recent past. According to Radcliff Brown” Sociology is nomothetic while History is idiographic”. In other words, sociology is analytical and generalizing while history is descriptive and particularizing.

Both the disciplines at times complementing each other, for instance, historical accounts of phenomena like industrial revolution have served as source of data for sociological studies. While, Durkheim’s work influenced Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre, who laid the foundation of the Annales School of History to study long term social history. 

Sometimes the contents of both the disciplines are inextricably mixed and taking view from both the lenses becomes vital for example-- Works like Weber’s ‘Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ and Sorokin’s Social and Cultural Dynamics’ blur the line of demarcation between history and sociology. 

 The present world is dealing with several social problems of great magnitude like poverty, beggary, unemployment, prostitution, over population, family disorganisation, community disorganisation, racial problems, crime, juvenile delinquency, gambling alcoholism, youth unrest, untouchability. A careful analysis of these problems is necessary in order to solve them. Hence the application of sociology has become multidimensional, therefore, new generation of sociologists has invented or used many concepts as tools of sociological research such as Habitus (Bourdieu), Deconstruction (Derrida), Structuration (Giddens) With their efforts new perspectives have developed such as post-industrialism, post-structuralism, post-modernism, neo-functionalism, neo-Marxism to analyse contemporary.

Question #2. Fact, Value, and Objectivity, render a scientific approach to Sociological study. Evaluate using examples. 15 marks (250 words)

Approach:

• Defining the key terms of the question is needed—fact, value and objectivity.
• Concepts of principal thinkers to support is desirable such as social fact by Durkheim,Value neutrality by Weber.
• Examples should be quoted to differentiate and for better understanding.
• In conclusion the signification of fact value and objectivity could be emphasized.

Hints:

Some Sociologists contend that Sociology as a discipline uses facts objectively. Others argue that values are inherent in any sociological investigation. Thus, Fact, Value and Objectivity are terms which are of great debate and significance in Sociology.

Fact:

A fact is regarded as an empirically verifiable observation. It has its own independent existence. Facts can be perceived by our tactical and audio-visual senses in similar manner by each one of us. Facts remain same in every situation and for all observers. Objective facts constitute the subject matter of natural sciences. Positivists conceptualized the new discipline of sociology lying on the bedrock of facts and empirical knowledge.

 According to Durkheim, social facts are the subject matter of the discipline. He developed rules of classification to study social facts. Through his work on suicide Durkheim exemplified the use of statistical tools, social facts to arrive at a fact based objective understanding of social reality. 

Later it was argued that sociology cannot be based on facts alone as human consciousness is intangible and cannot be measured against factual standards.

Value: Value refers to subjective disposition arising out of experience, bias, preferences and beliefs. They come from race, caste, language, religion or culture. Values represent what one believes and not necessarily what actually is.

Positivists claim that Fact and Value are not only different but also absolutely separable entities and value should be completely excluded from sociological enquiry. Values distort reality and produce a biased result. If a conclusion is based on fact, it is completely true, else it is completely false.

On the other hand Non –Positivists and other social researchers accorded great importance to values. It was later widely accepted that it is not possible to avoid them totally. 

Some other scholars have argued that the distinction between fact and value is impossible to maintain as Sociology doesn’t deal with mechanical elements. For instance, Alvin Gouldner states that fact and value cannot be separated in empirical research.

Objectivity:

Objectivity is an approach in which the attitude of a scientific investigator is detached, unprejudiced, value free and free from biases. 

Robert Bierstedt defines it as:-      

“objectivity means that conclusions arrived at as a result of inquiry and investigation are independent of the race, color, creed, occupation, nationality, religion, moral preferences and political predisposition of the investigator”.

Hence, objectivity pre-supposes value neutrality and predictability about outcome. It is one of the pillars of ‘Scientific Method’ and core of positivism.

Objectivity is desirable as Radcliff Brown urges the social scientist to transcend his ethnocentric and egocentric biases while carrying out research. But to achieve full objectivity is difficul and rather impossible according to few such as:

Gunnar Myrdal states that total objectivity is an illusion as “ chaos does not organize itself into a universe, we need viewpoints”and any viewpoint includes subjectivity.

Merton also believes on the similar lines that the very choice of topic is influenced by personal preferences and ideological biases of the researcher.

For example:- The study of Tepostalan village in Mexico ::> Robert Redfield studied it from a functionalist perspective and concluded that total harmony exists between various groups, while Oscar Lewis studied this village at almost the same time from a Marxist perspective, and found that the society was conflict ridden. 

Hence, complete objectivity remains an elusive goal and a researcher must make his value preference or ideological biases clear in the research monograph. But still researcher always tries her level best to achieve more and more objectivity.  

How to achieve objectivity

Comte Suggested using positivist methods and studying macro aspects.

Durkheim preferred inductive methodology and statistical techniques as stated in Rules of Sociological Method.

Weber claims Verstehen and Ideal Types can be used to ensure objectivity

Triangulation – Using various methods to cross check the outcome 

Multi-disciplinary peer review

Methodological pluralism

Refraining from advocating preference for any view point

Testing to improve reliability and validity.

CW Mills, Alvin Gouldner, David Horowitz have advocated that sociology must have commitment to certain basic human values and sociologists must be ready to defend human freedom and the pursuit of reason. To be value-neutral does not imply that one has no opinions. It simply means that when analysing data, sociologists must work to overcome their personal biases, particularly their own unconscious biases. 

In a nutshell, facts, values and objectivity all three have their own significance and importance in research and a researcher should incorporate fine proportion of all the three in a research for better results.