Sociology, defined the most simply, is the study of the society. it has existed since the time of the great philosopher, Plato. The vast field of study of sociology helps us understand the dynamics that govern and affect human behavior, relations and attitude towards his society and components of it.
It explains the social structure and its intricate details; it seeks to demystify the principles of social-groups, organizations, and communities, and a plethora of other ingredients like class, caste, sex, religion, region, linguistics, etc. The framework of the society, the various institutions – economic, political, religious, are studied to determine the complexities and intricacies that affect individuals on one hand, and the society at large. Sociology focuses on social stratification, social and class relations, culture and traditions.
Thus the study of sociology broadly falls under four categories – social structure (family, education, stratification, etc), social systems (cultural identity, agents of social control, etc), social institutions (political, military, economic, medical, penal, etc), and social issues (crime, unemployment, poverty, illiteracy etc).
Experts and scholars have tried to understand theses social factors differently and have thus classified their principles into various ‘School of Thoughts’. The prominent among them are – Marxism, Functionalism, Feminism, and the New Right.
Marxism, initiated by Karl Marx, the communist upholder, believes that every and any capitalist society (economy) is distinguishable on the basis of the class struggle between the two classes – bourgeoisie (capital owners) and proletariat (working class). It is the exploitation of the latter that is a characteristic feature of such a society.
Functionalism, promoted by scholars like Talcott Parsons and Emile Durkheim, says that in a society, the comprising institutions and people play a definite role with the society.
Feminism bases its theories on the fact that the society is male dominated, discriminatory and patriarchal. In such a society, the men strive to prevent equality between the sexes, and thus deny equal rights to women. Feminist theory can be classified into Marxist feminism, radical feminism, and liberal feminism.
The New Right theorists, like Charles Murray and Sir Keith Joseph, assert that the traditional society has faced changes in roles because of the values generated in the mid 20th century (1960s and 1970s). They say that it is the nuclear family that is the bedrock of any society, and a welfare state will create a culture of dependency.
The study involves use of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
Historical Research – study of secondary data got from archives, journals, notes, memoirs, biographies etc.
Experimental Research – Isolation of a single social process, studying it, and use of that data to construct a new social theory or confirm an existing one. In this method, subjects are chosen to represent the test, according to the purpose of the study.
Survey Research – This method bases study on interviews, questionnaires, feedback, etc, from a group of people (according to purpose, as deemed necessary). The survey method is widely used today for market, healthcare, academic and other form of research studies.
Content Analysis – The analysis of the content of the interviews.
Longitudinal Research – Extensive study over a prolonged period of time of a particular social group or individual.
Observation Method – Information is recorded about social process or behavior using the data got from surveys. This can be done in two ways. Either the researcher personally is present on field participating in the activities for a period of time to acquire an in depth understanding of it. The other is relying on data collected by others.
Life Histories – Involves the study of the personal experiences of the subject.
Sociology is thus an interesting and intriguing field of study, which tries to reflect and reveal societal processes and phenomenons with the help of various techniques.
