Sociology is a youngest social Sciences.

1. Sociology : a life lesson.
Definition of Sociology.
Areas of Sociology.
Development of Sociology.
History of Sociology
Sociological perspective
Information collected by..
Mahmud Imroz Khaled.
Department of Sociology,
University of Chittagong.
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2. DEFINITION
• Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social
relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. More simply
put, sociology is the scientific study of society.’ – Wikipedia.
• Science can be used to build a better world.’ – August Comte.
• Man is born in civil society and there he remains.’ – Montesquieu.
• Sociology was born of the modern ardor to improve society.’ – Albion W. Small.
• The function of Sociology, as of every science, is to reveal that which is hidden’ – Pierre Bourdieu.
• Sociology, a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that
preserve and change them. It does this by examining the dynamics of constituent parts of societies
such as institutions, communities, populations, and gender, racial, or age groups. Sociology also
studies social status or stratification, social movements, and social change, as well as societal
disorder in the form of crime, deviance, and revolution. – Britannica.

3. AREAS OF SOCIOLOGY
• Social organisation.
• Social Psychology.
• Social change and social disorganizations.
• Human Ecology.
• Population and Demography.
• Sociological theory and method.
• Applied Sociology.

4. DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY.
• The Origin of Sociology was laid by ‘Allama Ibn-e-Khaldun’ a Tunisian Muslim Historian. He named this
new science ‘Ilmul-Imran’ or a study of people. He said that “No historian could write the history of a
nation,, Until he studied the social life of tht population.”
• The word ‘Sociology’ originated in 1838 by a Frenchmen, August Comte in his book ‘Positive
Philosophy’. Comte is generally referred to a ‘Father of Sociology‘. He believed that the science of
sociology should be based on systematic observation and clarification.
• Karl Marx was also an important figure in the development of sociology, He proposed that all societies
are made up of two basic classes that are in constant opposition those who own or control the means
of production use this power to exploit and oppress those who do not. The social behavior of
individuals is determined by their position in the class society.
• Lester Ward, an American, published Dynamic Sociology in 1883. In this work he advocated social
progress through social action guided by sociologists.

5. • Emile Durkheim published the Rules of Sociological Method, outlining the methodology used in his classical
study of suicide in various population groups in 1895 . Durkheim is considered the pioneer in the development
of sociology. He firmly believed that societies were bound together by the commonly shared beliefs and
values of their members. He authored the first sociology text ‘Principles of Sociology‘.
• Max Weber believed that the methods used in the natural sciences could not be applied to the problems
explored in the social sciences. He argued that because social scientists study the social world in which they
there must be a certain degree of subjective understanding in their investigations. He believed that in their
work, sociologists should be value free, never allowing personal biases to influence either their research or
their conclusions.
• Different Universities Courses in sociology were offered in 1890s. In 1895, the American journal of Sociology
began publishing, and in 1905 the American Sociological Society now called the American Sociological
Association (ASA) was founded. Currently, most sociologists are members of the Association and gather at the
association’s annual meetings in order to address, discuss, and debate new research in the discipline.
Source – Internet.

6. HISTORY OF SOCIOLOGY
• 1377 – In his Muqaddimah, Ibne Khaldun describes ‘Asabiyyah’ the Arabian concept of Solidarity of social
cohesion.
• 1767 – Adam Ferguson’s essays on the history of civil society explainer the importance of Civil Spirit to
counteract the destructive influence of capitalism in society.
• 1813 – Henry de Saint Simon proposes a Science of Society in essay on the Science of Man.
• 1830-42 – August Comte’s cours in Positive Philosophy details the evolution of Sociology as a Science.
• 1837 – In theory and practice of society in America, Harriet Martineau describes the Social Inequalities in the
oppressive treatment of slave, women and the working class.
• 1848 – In the Communist Menifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels predict Social Change as a result of
Proletarin revolution.
• 1887 – Ferdinand Tonnies differentiates Between Traditional Community and Modern Society in
Gemeinschaft und Gesellshaft.
• 1874-85 – Herbert Spencer’s Multi volume system Of Synthetic Philosophy argues that society evolve like
forms, and Only the strongest survive.

7. • 1893 – In the division of labor in society, Emile Durkheim describes the Organic Solidarity of independent
individuals.
• 1895 – Emile Durkheim founds the first European Department of Sociology at the University of Bordeaux
and Publishes the rules of sociological method.
• 1904-05 – Max Weber in the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, offers a novel explanation of how
Modern society evolved.
• 1946 – Charles Wright Mills and Hans Heinrich Gerth introduce Weber's ideas to the English speaking
public in from Max Weber essays in Sociology.
• 1959 – In The Sociological Imagination, Charles Wright Mills argues sociologist should suggest the means
of improving society.
• 1967 – Harold Garfinkel presents a new methodology observing the everyday actions that foster social
order, in studies in Ethnomethodology.
• 1975 – Michael Foucault begins his study of the nature of power in society in Discipline and Punish.
• 1990 – Judith Butler questions traditional ideas of gender and sexuality in Gender Trouble Feminism and
the Subversion of Identity.
Source..
The Sociology Book.

8. MAJOR PERSPECTIVE IN SOCIOLOGY.
• Functionalism – Social stability is a perquisite for a healthy and
strong society. Social institutions maintained social order.
• Conflict theory – Society is built upon inequality on the basis of
Social class, gender, race etc. Social institutions maintain power
inequality.
• Symbolic Interactionism – Interactions are done through the
exchange the words, signs and symbols which have the power to
shape thought.
Thank you.