Sociology || Introduction to sociology

The Development of sociological thinking  When they start studying sociology many students are puzzled by the diversity of perspective they encounter. Sociology has never been a discipline where a single body of idea's is accepted as valid by everyone, though there have been times when some theories have been more widely accepted than others. Sociologist often disagree about how to study human behaviour and how research findings should be interpreted. This is quite normal and part of all scientific subjects. However, unlike physics or chemistry, sociology involves studying ourselves, and this can severely challenge our long-held views and attitudes. Sociology can be unsettling and disturbing. Nonetheless, we have to make every effort to set aside our emotional and political commitments while we are in the process of  'doing sociology'.      Theories and theoretical perspectives It is in fact that I brought a cup of coffee this morning, t...

What is sociology for ?  Sociology has several practical implications for our lives, as C. Wright mills emphasized when developing his idea of the sociological imagination. First, sociology gives us an awareness of cultural differences that allows us to see the social world from many perspective. Quite often, if we properly how other live , we aslo acquire a better  understanding of what their problems are. Practical policies that are not based on an information awareness of the ways of life of people they effect have little chance of success. For example , a white english social worker operating in a predominantly Latin American community in South London will not gain the confidence of its members without being sensitive to the different experience of ethnic groups in the UK.  Second, sociological research provides practical help in assessing the result of policy initiatives. A programme of practical reform may simply fail to achieve what it's designers...

   Is sociology scientific ?  In the early nineteenth century August comte described sociology as an emerging science that should adopt the successful and positivist methods of the natural sciences such as physics and chemistry to be successful. Durkheim , Marx , and the other founders of sociology aslo thought of sociology as a scientific subject, but today many sociologist are not so sure. "Can we really study social life in a scientific way " ? Are laud humphreys' observations on the tearooms really scientific? Before we can answer such questions we must first understand what this word means:  What exactly is science ?  Science involves the use of systematic methods of empirical investigation, the analysis of data, theoretical thinking and logical assessment of arguments to develop a body of knowledge about a particular subject matter.  On this simple defination, sociology is a scientific endeavour because both quantitative and quali...