RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES/SCIENCES
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES/SCIENCES
The Relationship between Sociology and the
Social Sciences
The life of man is many sided.
There is
an economic aspect, legal aspect, a religious aspect, political aspect, and so
forth. Sociology, therefore, can understand a social life as a whole, by taking
help from other social sciences which study exclusively one or the other
aspects of human society. Sociology, for example, in order to understand a
particular society has to take material of the economics, political science,
history, anthropology, religion, morals, law and finally interaction with the
rest of the world. Therefore all sciences are interrelate and interdependent.
Sociology
in relation to other sciences
Sociology is mainly related to other social sciences.
Let's take a look at the most popular sciences it is related to:
·
Political science: they are very closely
related as one could not live without the other. Knowing about sociology in
politics is crucial when understanding how a certain government's society works
and what their necessities are.
·
History: it is clear that each society has grown
in their own way due to their unique past events. To analyse today's society we
must look back on its history and try to understand how it has developed and
why. What were the key factors to its evolution? This is why sociology and
history go hand in hand.
·
Economics: our society's behavior
and the economy are closely related. To study our economical activity we must
understand the social behavior that is causing it. Different societies produce
different consumptions, distributions and exchanges.
·
Psychology: although psychology and
sociology study human's behavior, psychology focuses more on their
psychological process triggered by social circumstances. Sociology tries to
look at society as a whole. Nevertheless, these two studies are closely
related.
·
Anthropology: this study focuses on
human biological and physiological characteristics and their evolution.
Cultural anthropology will depend even more on sociological characteristics.
It is necessary to study
and analyses between sociology and other sciences on the basis of their subject
matter, attitudes, study methods, etc.
Here, subject
matter refers to the contents of the subject, attitudes, refer to the
characteristics or features of the subject and study methods indicates the way
how we analyze or study it.
Both sociology and
history are concerned with social events. Sociology studies modern society
where historical development of society such as different stages of human life,
way of living, their culture/tradition, various institutions, etc. On the other
hand history studies the past in systematic manner.
|
Sociology |
History |
|
Is
is abstract discipline of human experience and nature |
It
is concrete discipline of human experience and nature |
|
Sociology
tries to find out the general law of the society |
It
tries to narrate the past events In chronological order |
|
Sociology
is analytical and interpretive science |
History
is descriptive science |
|
Sociology
is general science as it tries to establish generalization |
History
is particular science as it seeks to establish the sequence of events. |
|
Society
is comparatively young science. As it has the history of just two centuries. |
History
is aged social science which have very long history |
Sociology studies the
various social activities and social relationships of human beings. Whereas
political Science studies the political activities are also conducted within
the society as it deals with the political organizations, their principles and their
activities. It is also said that political science is incomplete without the
study of sociological background. The state, government, nature of government
organs, law and order, etc. are determined by social progress. In this context,
the root ground of both sociology and Political Science are society.
“Historically, sociology
has its main roots in Politics and Philosophy of history” – Gins Berg
The differences of
Sociology and Political Science are as follows:
|
Sociology |
Political
Science |
|
Sociology is the
general Science. |
Political Science is a
particular science. |
|
Sociology explains why
and how human become social being |
Political Science
assumes that human is a political being |
|
Sociology studies both
organized and unorganized community |
Political Science
studies only the organized community |
|
Its scope is winder as
it studies the whole sociology |
Its scope is narrow as
it studies the state and Government |
|
It studies both conscious
and unconscious activities of human beings |
It studies only
conscious activities of human beings |
|
Sociology is young
science which is not even two century long |
Political Science is
old Science which has very long history |
Sociology
and Economics
Every society is
influenced by economic factors whereas all the economic activities or process
are determined by the existing social environment. Without proper social
environment economics cannot go ahead. Economic factors pay significance role
in every aspect of our life. Economic development, industrialization,
production, distribution etc. cannot be made effective without the study of the
society.
According to Karl Mars
(founder of communism) made of production determines social relationship,
ideology and thought. Likewise, another sociologist, Maclver remarks that
economic phenomena is constantly determined by all kinds of social need and
activity in turn they are constantly re-determining, creating, shaping and
transforming social head and activities of every kind.
Sociology and Economics
are different in the following ways:
|
Sociology |
Economics |
|
Sociology
is the general science |
Economics
is particular science |
|
Sociology
is abstract in nature |
Economics
is concrete in nature |
|
Sociology
considers human as social being |
Economics
considers human as Economics being |
|
The scope
of sociology is wider. As it is considered with all social relationship |
The scope
of economics is comparatively narrower as it is concerned only with economic
activities |
|
Sociology
is a young science as its history is short |
Economics
is old aged science as it has a long history</ div> |
|
Sociology
studies human in sociological prospective |
Economics
studies human in economical prospective |
Sociology
and Psychology
It
is believed that sociology and psychology are closely related as there is no
meaning of sociology without psychology and vice-versa. Psychology is related
to consciousness which has to depend on sociology to understand human nature
and behavior in proper way. Psychology provides the real fact regarding the
matter of social structure, culture and social organizations to which an
individual belong to develop the personality. In this sense sociology must have
psychological basis as it depends on exploring the human nature in social
relationship. It helps the sociologist to be realistic and more objective so
that they can understand the human behavior properly.
According to Maclvers
Page, when we study the individual nature or the consequences we need to go
through psychological point of view. A part from this, there are following
dissimilarities :
|
Sociology |
Psychology |
|
Sociology
is general science. |
Psychology
is particular science. |
|
Sociology
studies the society from sociological point of view. |
Psychology studies the individual behavior. |
|
It analyses
social process. |
It analyses
mental process. |
|
The scope
of sociology is wider as it studies all aspects of human beings and society. |
The scope of physiology is comparatively narrower as it
studies only the mental aspects of society. |
|
Sociology
studies social organizations and institutions with their social
relationships. |
Physiology
studies individual as the members of society. |
|
Experimental
method is rarely used in sociology. |
Experimental method is mostly used in Psychology. |
Sociology
and Biology
Sociology is the study of
society including human evolution, their behavior, and their development and so
on. It also studies genetics and sexual behavior which can be considered as one
of the most important branches of Biology. As, Biology is related with the
biological development of living organisms, the biological development of human
beings also come under this.
Human behavior is
influenced or affected by heredity or gene which is studied in Biology.
Sociology also studies human behavior likewise one that major concerns of
sociology is marriage that is based on Biology.
Herbert Spencer explained
his theory of the evolution of society on the principle of natural
evolution. So, nature and society are very close to each other.
The followings are the
dissimilarities between them,
|
Sociology |
Biology |
|
Sociology is the
general science. |
Biology is pure
science. |
|
Sociology studies human
as social beings. |
Biology studies human
as biological beings. |
|
Sociology studies human
society and its development in sociological prospective. |
Biological studies
human beings and other all living organisms as well as their living organisms
as well as their development in biological prospective. |
|
Sociology analyses the
social process of human beings. |
Biological analyses the
biological process of human beings and other living organisms. |
|
Sociology is a young
science as it came into existence later which does not have even two hundred
(200) years history. |
Biology is old science
which has a long history. |
Sociology
not only borrows from other social sciences but other social sciences also
dependent on sociology. Actually there are two types of social sciences called
History
means only description ,while sociology means analysis, interpretations and
classifications.
The nature of History is not scientific, which can
not be retested .But the test of social phenomenon is possible. social facts
can be verified also.
Relation between sociology and political science:
Sociology and political science are also related in
the sense that they both concern the welfare of people in a society. Political
science basically deals with the distribution of power and the exercise of
power ,democracy, dictatorship, communism, how people vote etc. sociology has
its roots in politics. These two subjects have much common in subject
matters.the following points are showing relationship of both-
The important point is that king of any place is
social as well as political. There is no separate existence without each other.
In words of Giddings,"to teach the theory of
the state to men who have not learnt the first principles of sociology, is like
teaching astronomy or thermodynamics to men who have not learnt Newton 's law
of motions".(Principles of Sociology p.37.)
Both sciences explain the interdependency between
man and society. Political science says man is political while sociology say man
is social. Both need a group of people ,where he interacts.
The process of socialization is done by both
sciences. Both are helpful in development of social an political
consciousnesses.
The
Other Social Sciences
Summary The Other Social Sciences
Social sciences concern people’s relationships and
interactions with one another. Sociology, with its emphasis on social life,
falls into this category. A multidisciplinary field, sociology draws from a
variety of other social sciences, including anthropology, political science,
psychology, and economics.
Anthropology
Anthropology concerns individual cultures in a society,
rather than the society as a whole. Traditionally, it focuses on what might be
termed “primitive” cultures, such as the Yanomamo people of the South American
jungle, who live much the same way they did hundreds of years ago.
Anthropologists place special emphasis on language, kinship patterns, and
cultural artifacts.
Political Science
Political science concerns the governments of various societies.
It considers what kind of government a society has, how it formed, and how
individuals attain positions of power within a particular government. Political
science also concerns the relation of people in a society to whatever form of
government they have.
Psychology
Psychology takes the individual out of his or her social
circumstances and examines the mental processes that occur within that person.
Psychologists study the human brain and how it functions, considering issues
such as memory, dreams, learning, and perception.
Economics
Economics focuses on the production and distribution of
society’s goods and services. Economists study why a society chooses to produce
what it does, how money is exchanged, and how people interact and cooperate to
produce goods.
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