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“+ Objectives:, v To give a basic understanding of sociology., v To understand the nature of scientific study of Sociology., “ Introduction:, , Sociology studies the behaviour of human beings in society. It may, however, be, rightly pointed out that other social sciences, such as Political Science, Economics,, History, etc., do the same. Sociology studies this social aspect of man. Sociology, differs from other social sciences in this particular respect. No other social science, takes the study of social relationship as it? central theme. The focus of interest of all, other social sciences is different., , In the family of social sciences, Sociology is comparatively a new entrant. But, because of its dealing with social problems, social relationships and social interactions, the importance of the study of this subject has considerably increased. It has, considerably developed in methodology, scope and approach. Attempts are now being, made to study every social problem scientifically and objectively, eliminating, subjectivity to the extent possible a distinctive way of examining human interactions., Sociology is the systematic study of social behavior and human groups. It focuses, primarily on the influence of social relationships upon people’s attitudes and behavior, and on how societies are established and change. As a field of study sociology has a, very broad scope. It deals with families, gangs, business firms, computer networks,, political parties, schools, religions, and labor unions. It is concerned with love,, poverty, conformity, technology, discrimination, illness, alienation, overpopulation, and community., , The purpose of sociological study is not, however, simply to describe social, relationships, but also to analyses them and to discriminate between their specific, forms, varieties and patterns. The sociologists are expected to look ahead and to, suggest guideposts for social action in response to the changes which give rise to, social problems., , In the 19th century a French philosopher named Auguste Comte (1798 — 1857) gave, the name ‘Sociology’ to this new social science. ‘Sociology’ is composed of two, words: Socius meaning companion or associate, and logos meaning word., , Thus, the term formed from these two words means talking about society, as Geology, (geos meaning earth) means talking about the earth, Biology (bios meaning life), means talking about life and Anthropology (anthropos meaning man) means talking, about man. Socius is a Latin word and Logos is a Greek word, and the name of our, discipline is thus a hybrid offspring of two languages., , SOCIOLOGY, , LATIN «—WY SOQCIUS+ LOGOS —GREEK WORD, WORD, , , , SOCIETY + SCIENCE, In simple word, Sociology means the scientific study of society., * Definitions:, , e According to Ward- “Sociology is science of society”., , e According to Giddins -“Sociology is scientific study of society., , e According to Sorokin -sociology is a study first of all the relationship and, correlations between various classes... second between the social and non social, aspects of life and third it studies general characteristics common to all classes, of society., , e According to Ogburn -“Sociology is concerned with the study of social life, and its relations to the factors of culture, natural environment, heredity and, group.”