Definition of Sociology including political science and history,
couldnt adequately explain the chaos
Sociology is the systematic and and upheaval he saw around him. He scientific study of human social life. decided an entirely new science was Sociologists study people as they form needed. He called this new groups and interact with one another. science sociology, which comes from The groups they study may be small, the root word socius, a Latin word that such as married couples, or large, such means companion or being with as a subculture of suburban teenagers. others. Sociology places special emphasis on studying societies, both as individual Comte decided that to understand entities and as elements of a global society, one had to follow certain perspective. procedures, which we know now as the scientific method. The scientific The Birth of Sociology method is the use of systematic and specific procedures to test theories in Auguste Comte (17981857), widely psychology, the natural sciences, and considered the father of sociology, other fields. Comte also believed became interested in studying society in positivism, which is the application of because of the changes that took place the scientific method to the analysis of as a result of the French Revolution and society. Comte felt that sociology could the Industrial Revolution. During the be used to inspire social reforms and French Revolution, which began in generally make a society a better place 1789, Frances class system changed for its members. Comtes standards of dramatically. Aristocrats suddenly lost research were not nearly as exacting their money and status, while peasants, as todays, and most of his conclusions who had been at the bottom of the have been disregarded, as they were social ladder, rose to more powerful and based mostly on observation rather than influential positions. The Industrial serious investigation. Revolution followed on the heels of the French Revolution, unfolding in Western In the United States, sociology was first Europe throughout the 1800s. During taught as an academic discipline at the the Industrial Revolution, people University of Kansas in 1890, at the abandoned a life of agriculture and University of Chicago in 1892, and at moved to cities to find factory jobs. They Atlanta University in 1897. Over time, it worked long hours in dangerous spread to other universities in North conditions for low pay. New social America. The first department of problems emerged and, for many sociology opened at McGill University in decades, little was done to address the Montreal, Canada, in 1922, followed by plight of the urban poor. sociology departments at Harvard University in 1930 and at the University Comte looked at the extensive changes of California at Berkeley in the 1950s. brought about by the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution and tried to Types of Sociology make sense of them. He felt that the social sciences that existed at the time, Not all universities approach sociology experiences of Polish immigrants only if the same way, and the new science they also understood their reality and evolved differently depending on where experiences before they left their it was taught and who was teaching it. homeland. The two major types of sociology that emerged were qualitative sociology and Today, qualitative sociology emphasizes quantitative sociology. Today, most understanding individuals experiences universities use both qualitative and by examining their books, television quantitative methods of inquiry, and one programs, interactions, and ceremonies, method is not necessarily better than among other elements. For example, a the other. sociologist hoping to understand the experiences of emergency medical Qualitative Sociology technicians (EMTs) might spend time riding in the backs of ambulances as the EMTs go out on calls. At the University of Chicago, Albion Small (18541926) developed Quantitative Sociology qualitative sociology, which is concerned mainly with trying to obtain Sociology at Harvard University an accurate picture of a group and how developed differently. Like the University it operates in the world. Small and his of Chicago sociologists, Harvard followers were particularly interested in sociologists wanted to understand the understanding how immigration was immigrant experience, but they went affecting the city and its residents. From about their research in a quantitative the middle of the nineteenth century to way. Quantitative sociology relies on roughly the middle of the twentieth statistical analysis to understand century, massive numbers of people experiences and trends. While some immigrated to the United States from a researchers at Harvard did talk to variety of countries. Chicago in people and observe them, many particular attracted many immigrants preferred to remain within the confines from Poland. Early sociologists were of the university and quantify their data fascinated by the social changes they to render it suitable for statistical saw taking place and began conducting manipulation. qualitative studies that involved personal interviews and observations of ethnic rituals and ceremonies.
Some University of Chicago sociologists
actually went back to Poland to interview people who were about to immigrate to the United States, who had relatives who were immigrants, or who had no intention of immigrating anywhere. In keeping with the spirit of qualitative sociology, the researchers felt that they could understand the