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guys M going to buy bibhash Sharma's audio lecturer for socio optional if u wanna join join on cost sharing basis you may mail me on jha_naveen@hotmail.com for further details
Guidelines for Sociology Friends, you can refer the latest updated Guidelines (Edition: January 2016) for Sociology Optional which are posted by Aditya Mongra Sir on his Facebook Group: Sociology @ Aditya Mongra
Guidelines for Sociology Friends, you can refer the latest updated Guidelines (Edition: January 2016) for Sociology Optional which are posted by Aditya Mongra Sir on his Facebook Group: Sociology @ Aditya Mongra
please explain how sociology is empirical, theoretical, non-ethical and cumulative?
Since sociology is knowledge acquired through data and evidence it is different from common sense ideas which are based on assumptions. Since the positivist view of sociology strongly believes in sensory perceptions for validity of social phenomena we can say sociology is empirical. Sociology looks out for broad generalizations of specific phenomena and checks if the same generalizations are applicable to all societies. This quest of sociology to present a generalized explanation of a variety of related phenomena makes sociology theoretical. Sociology can be said to be non ethical because in many instances it doesnt comply with the rules and standards prescribed by a society. For eg. The conflict school believes that change and conflict is necessary for progress. Feminist school believes that the ethical boundaries are only projections of patriarchal stronghold over the society. Sociology is cumulative in two perspectives. Firstly, it is a cumulative knowledge which is accumulated by providing explanations of phenomena, criticism of explanation and further criticism of criticism. hence only that knowledge which has sustained most of the challenges thrown to it persists and helps in gaining better knowledge about society.Secondly, the scope of sociology has expanded over a period of time. Initially the formal school or specialist school assumed sociology to be a separate subject to be studied in isolation to all other subjects, then the synthetic school came up with ideas of intermingling sociology with other social sciences for a better understanding of the society, finally in the 20th century the encyclopedic school proposed that sociology should borrow from all fields of knowledge and not just the social sciences. Thus we can say that sociology is cumulative.
please explain how sociology is empirical, theoritical, non-ethical and cumulative?
@Spectre . Your doubt falls under 'Sociology as Science'. Please find below an explanation for your query.
What Is A Science? Tischler (l999) defines a science as "a body of systematically arranged knowledge that shows the operation of general laws". Tischler (1999) indicates that the term also refers to "the logical, systematic methods by which that knowledge is obtained". Comte was among the first theorists to advocate the use of scientific principles in the study of the social sciences. His argument was that the behaviour of humans was governed by the same laws of cause and effect as those that pertained to the study of the natural sciences and that this behaviour was measurable. This way of thinking led to the development of a school of thought which Comte called "positivism".
In the 20th Century, this term 'positivism' adopted a more scientific stance in which the theorists of the day emphasized scientific verification. However, the positivists have concluded that in general, sociology and the sciences have five characteristics in common.
1. It is empirical It is based on facts and information obtained through various methods of observation as opposed to speculation or imagination. It is based on what has been seen and recorded.
2. It is theoretical Information collected through research is organised in the form of theories, which consist of coherent and logically related principles. According to Haralambos (2000), a theory is a set of ideas that provides an explanation of something. In Sociology there are different theoretical perspectives (different approaches to the study of the same phenomena).
3. It is cumulative The sociologists builds upon the efforts of the predecessors. Most new theories develop, modify, expand and refine the older ones.
4. It is objective The sociologist does not allow personal preferences, biases and feelings to influence the research.
5. It is non-ethical This is related to the previous point. The researcher’s own values or opinions should not affect the research findings. The scientist’s duty is to discover the truth: to identify, describe, analyse and explain, but not to say whether it is good or bad.
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Comments
how sociology is empirical, theoritical, non-ethical and cumulative?
Friends, you can refer the latest updated Guidelines (Edition: January 2016) for Sociology Optional which are posted by Aditya Mongra Sir on his Facebook Group: Sociology @ Aditya Mongra
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Sociology looks out for broad generalizations of specific phenomena and checks if the same generalizations are applicable to all societies. This quest of sociology to present a generalized explanation of a variety of related phenomena makes sociology theoretical.
Sociology can be said to be non ethical because in many instances it doesnt comply with the rules and standards prescribed by a society. For eg. The conflict school believes that change and conflict is necessary for progress. Feminist school believes that the ethical boundaries are only projections of patriarchal stronghold over the society.
Sociology is cumulative in two perspectives. Firstly, it is a cumulative knowledge which is accumulated by providing explanations of phenomena, criticism of explanation and further criticism of criticism. hence only that knowledge which has sustained most of the challenges thrown to it persists and helps in gaining better knowledge about society.Secondly, the scope of sociology has expanded over a period of time. Initially the formal school or specialist school assumed sociology to be a separate subject to be studied in isolation to all other subjects, then the synthetic school came up with ideas of intermingling sociology with other social sciences for a better understanding of the society, finally in the 20th century the encyclopedic school proposed that sociology should borrow from all fields of knowledge and not just the social sciences. Thus we can say that sociology is cumulative.
What Is A Science?
Tischler (l999) defines a science as "a body of systematically arranged knowledge that shows the operation of general laws". Tischler (1999) indicates that the term also refers to "the logical, systematic methods by which that knowledge is obtained". Comte was among the first theorists to advocate the use of scientific principles in the study of the social sciences. His argument was that the behaviour of humans was governed by the same laws of cause and effect as those that pertained to the study of the natural sciences and that this behaviour was measurable. This way of thinking led to the development of a school of thought which Comte called "positivism".
In the 20th Century, this term 'positivism' adopted a more scientific stance in which the theorists of the day emphasized scientific verification. However, the positivists have concluded that in general, sociology and the sciences have five characteristics in common.
1. It is empirical
It is based on facts and information obtained through various methods of observation as opposed to speculation or imagination. It is based on what has been seen and recorded.
2. It is theoretical
Information collected through research is organised in the form of theories, which consist of coherent and logically related principles.
According to Haralambos (2000), a theory is a set of ideas that provides an explanation of something. In Sociology there are different theoretical perspectives (different approaches to the study of the same phenomena).
3. It is cumulative
The sociologists builds upon the efforts of the predecessors. Most new theories develop, modify, expand and refine the older ones.
4. It is objective
The sociologist does not allow personal preferences, biases and feelings to influence the research.
5. It is non-ethical
This is related to the previous point. The researcher’s own values or opinions should not affect the research findings. The scientist’s duty is to discover the truth: to identify, describe, analyse and explain, but not to say whether it is good or bad.