DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY

    The term 'Sociology' was coined by Auguste Comte, a French philosopher in 1839. It is the youngest of all social sciences. Sociology is the outcome of man's search for a more valid, and precise knowledge about the nature of man and the society.

The word 'Sociology' is derived from the Latin word 'Societus' meaning 'society and the Greek word 'logos' meaning 'study or science'. Thus, the etymological meaning of 'Sociology' is the 'science of society'. In other words, we can say Sociology is the study of man's behavior in groups or of interaction among human beings of social relationships and the processes by which human group activity takes place.

Definitions:

To make the study more clear, it is wise on our part to discuss some of the definitions given by famous sociologists. Unfortunately, there is no short-cut definition of Sociology so far. It has been defined in a number of ways by different sociologists, but no single definition of Sociology has yet been accepted as completely satisfactory.

August Comte, the founding father of Sociology, defines Sociology "as the science of social phenomena subject to natural and invariable laws, the discovery of which is the object of investigation."

Kingsley Davis defines Sociology as a "general science of society."

Durkheim defines Sociology as the "science of social institution".

Harry M. Jonson opines that "Sociology is the science that deals with social groups." Of the various definitions given by sociologists, the definition of Ginsberg seems to be more satisfactory.

Moris Ginsberg defines Sociology "as the study of human interactions and interrelations, their condition and consequences."

The scope of Sociology:

Scope means the subject matter or the areas of study. Every science has its own field of inquiry. It becomes difficult to study a science systematically unless its boundary or scope is determined precisely. Sociology as a social science has its own scope or boundaries. But there is no one opinion about the scope of Sociology. However, there are two main schools of thought regarding the scope of Sociology: (1) The Specialist or Formalistic school and (2) the Synthetic school. There is a good deal of controversy about the scope of Sociology between the two schools. The supporter of the first school believe that Sociology is a specific science and the scope should be limited whereas others believe that it is a general science and its scope is very vast