Sociology is the scientific study of human society, its origins, structure, functions, and development. It uses methods like surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and case studies to collect empirical data and gain insights into social behavior and institutions. Some key approaches in sociology include evolutionary, interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives. Scientific research in sociology follows steps such as defining a problem, reviewing literature, formulating hypotheses, developing a research design, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.

2.  Scientific study of human society, it’s origin, structure,
function, and direction
 The word Sociology was taken from two foreign words:
Socius a Latin term which means companion or
associate
Logos a Greek term for study

3. 1. Sociology is an independent science.
2. It is abstract not concrete.
3. Sociology is a social science not a physical science.
4. Sociology is rational and empirical
5. Sociology can be a pure science and applied science.
6. Sociology is a general science not a special science.
7. Sociology is generalizing not individualizing.
8. Sociology is categorical not a normative.

4.  One of the major goals of this perspective is to identify
underlying, recurring patterns of influences on social
behavior. The sociological perspective goes beyond
identifying patterns of social behavior; it also attempts
to provide explanations for such patterns.

5. 1. Pure science. As a pure science, it aims to provide
knowledge about human society, not the utilization
of that knowledge.
2. Categorical discipline. As categorical discipline, it
is a body of knowledge about human society, and not
a system of ideas and values.
3. Synthesizing science. As synthesizing science, it
tends to come up with certain generalizations about
human interaction and association, about the
nature, form, content and structure of human groups
and societies

6.  Sociology started when people first began to make
observations about each other’s behavior. Sociology as
a science is a body of organized, verified knowledge
which has been secured through scientific
investigation. Sociology, as a science, rejects
myth, hearsay, folklore, and wishful thinking and
bases its inclusion on empirical evidence. All natural
phenomena can be studied scientifically, if we use the
scientific approaches. Any kind of behavior affecting
the environment can be a subject for scientific
approaches.

7.  The Evolutionary Approach – the earliest theoretical
approach was based on the work of Auguste Comte
and Herbert Spencer. This approach seemed to offer a
satisfying explanation of how human groups come to
exist, grow, and develop. Sociologist using this
approach as a frame of reference look for patterns of
change.
 The Interactionist Approach – suggests no grand
theories of society since society and social and political
institutions are conceptual abstractions , and only
people and their interactions can be studied directly.

8.  The Functionalist Approach – views society as an
organized network of cooperating groups operating
orderly according to generally accepted norms.
 The Conflict Approach – view society as one that is
held together through the power of dominant groups.
These theorist claim that the “share values” of
functionalists do not really exist, an artificial
consensus in which dominant groups or classes
impose these values and rules upon the rest of the
people.

9.  To ensure maximum consistency and efficiency, there
are certain steps that must be observed in researching
on a problem.
1. The researcher selects a problem area and specifies
research questions.
2. The researcher examines and researches data bases
to review existing results and define terms.
3. The researcher selects a research design.

10. 4. The researcher determines the research method. This
stage includes the three common aspects the
researcher must determine and these are:
a. Where and when the research will occur.
b. With whom specifically the research will be done.
c. How they will analyze the information and data
collected.

11. 5. The researcher describes and selects the respondents
to be used in the study.
6. The researcher selects and tests to score the pupil’s
writing.
7. The researcher conducts the study.
8. The researcher analyzes the data and determines the
implications of researches.
9. The researcher publishes the results of his study.

12.  The steps in a scientific research are:
1. Define the problem. A problem is needed and is
worthy of being studied and undertaken through the
methods of science.
2. Review the related literature. It would be a
waste of time to investigate a certain problem which
has already been undertaken.
3. Formulate hypothesis. The hypothesis is an
account defining a particular relationship between
two or more variables.

13. 4. Develop a research design. A research design is a
plan that must be carefully developed in order to prove
hypothesis. It is an outline of what should be
undertaken, what data will be sought, where and how
they will be collected, processed, and systematically
analyzed.
5. Collect the data. The data to be collected should be
in line with the research design.
6. Analyze the data. After collating the data, we
classify, synthesize, tabulate, and compare the
data, making whatever tests and computations are
necessary to help find the result.

14. 7. Draw conclusions. The conclusions will reflect back
to the hypothesis and, on the basis of the
conclusions, we either accept or reject the hypothesis.

15.  A case study is defined as an intensive study of a
person, group, organization, institution, or problem.
The case study enables us to examine a situation in
depth. This method has one limitation, though, and
that is the difficulty of making valid generalizations
(on the basis of one case) which is an important part of
the scientific method.
 The case study is also known as the scientific
biography, the case history, case work or diary of
development.

16.  The schedule is a list of questions that the sociologist
asks a person being surveyed is an interview situation.
With this, the sociologist can obtain more accurate
answers because he can interpret facial
expressions, tone of voice, and gestures.
Furthermore, he can ask the individual to repeat the
answers to explain them more fully. The disadvantage
of the schedule is that interviewers are so time
consuming that a large sample is difficult to obtain.

17.  The questionnaire is a list of questions that is filled
out by the person being surveyed. Sociologist
sometimes use both tools- the schedule, to get more
accurate answers from a small sample and the
questionnaire, to get less accurate and less specific
answers from a large sample.
 The most frequently used method to obtain
information about the social world is the survey
research. This quantitative technique involves
systematically asking people about their
attitudes, feelings ideas, opinions, values, or behavior
by using a survey.

18.  If the questions concern personal information about
age, income, and sex life, for example, the respondents
may not answer honestly.
 If the questions or responses are highly structured, the
results of the survey may not reflect the actual belief
of people being questioned.
 The difficulty of the respondents to interpret the
questions correctly.