Scope of Sociology

Discuss the Scope of Sociology

 Scope of Sociology

Sociology is systematic and objective study of human society. Sociologists study individual's social actions. Social relationships such as between husbands and wife, teacher and student, buyer and seller, and social processes, namely, co-op ration, competition, conflict and organizations, communities and nations, and social structures (family, class and stage), are the basis of sociological enquiry. Interpretations guided by norms and values give rise to social institutions. Sociology, therefore, is the study of social life as a whole. Sociology 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. 

Though there is no consensus about the subject matter of sociology, yet it is agreed that sociology studies the interaction systems, which shape social institutions, the state and the normative order. Therefore, we study in sociology about social organization, social structure institutions and culture. 

Social Organization

The terms 'social organization', refers to inter-dependence of different aspects of society, and this is an essential characteristic of enduring social entities, such as groups, communities and collectivities. Herbert Spencer has used the term 'social organization' to refer to inter-relations (integration and differentiation) of the economic, political, and other divisions of society. Emile Durkheim implies by social organization almost exclusively, social interaction and regulation through consensus about moral and values. Currently, social organization is used to refer to the inter-dependence of parts of in-groups of all sizes, from a clique of workers in hospitals and factories to large-scale societies and organizations. 

Social Structure

Social structure refers to the pattern of inter-relations between individuals. Every society has a social structure, a complex of major institutions, groups, and arrangements, relating to status and power. It is said that the study of social structure is comparable to the study of human anatomy, and that of social organization that of physiology. 

Social Institution

A social institution is a procedure, practice, and an instrument, hence a semblance of a variety of customs and habits accumulated over a period of time. In every society, people create social institutions to meet their basic needs of survival. Institutions are instruments and tools of human transactions. An institution is thus a stable cluster of norms, values, and roles. 

Culture

Culture refers to symbols, signs and language, besides religion, rituals, beliefs and artifacts. In fact, culture is a guiding force in everyday life. As such culture is social. It is an instrument of shaping and reshaping human life and its ramifications. Culture is transmitted from one generation to the next through the process of socialization.