The name sociology was first suggested in the 1830s by the French philosopher Auguste Comte, but for many years it remained only a suggestion. Comte urged others to study sociology.
It was not until late in the19th century that we can identify people who called themselves sociologists and whose work contributed to the development of the field. Among these were Herbert Spencer in England who published the first of his three-volume “Principles of Sociology” in 1876 and Ferdinand Tonnies in Germany. A decade later, Emile Durkheim published “Suicide”.
The first sociologists studied moral statistics. Their work proved so popular that it led to the rapid expansion of census questions. However, sociology as an academic speciality was imported from Germany. The progressive uncovering of social causes of individual behaviour —inresponse to the questions raised bymoral statistics — produced the field called sociology.
Sociology is one of the related fields known as the social sciences. They share the same subject matter: human behaviour. But sociology is the study of social relations, and its primary subject matter is the group, not the individual.
There is a close connection between sociology and other disciplines such as psychology, economy, anthropology, criminology, political science, and history. But sociologists differ from psychologists because they are not concerned exclusively with the individual, they are interested in what goes on between people. They differ from economists by being less interested in commercial exchanges; they are interested in the exchange of intangibles such as love and affection. Sociologists differ from anthropologists primarily because the latter specialize in the study of proliferate and primitive human groups, while sociologists are interested in modern industrial societies. Criminologists specialize in illegal behaviour, while sociologists are concerned with the whole range of human behaviour. Similarly, political scientists focus on political organization and activity, while sociologists survey all social organizations. Finally, sociologists share with historians an interest in the past but are equally interested in the present and the future.
Sociology is a broader discipline than the other social sciences. In a sense, the purpose of sociologists is, in general, to find the connections that unite various social sciences into a comprehensive, integrated scienceofsociety.
Sociology consists of two major fields of knowledge: micro sociology and macro sociology. Micro sociologists study the patterns and processes of face-to-face interaction between humans. Macro sociologists attempt to explain the fundamental patterns and processes of large-scale social relations. They concentrate on larger groups, even on whole societies.
Sociologists attempt to use research to discover if certain statements about social life are correct. The basic tools of their research are tests, questionnaires, interviews, surveys, and public opinion polls.
II. Answer the following questions:
1. Who was the first to suggest the name sociology?
2. Who were the first sociologists?
3. What were they mainly interested in?
4. What country was sociology as an academic discipline imported from?
5. What is the subject matter of sociology?
6. What other disciplines is sociology closelyconnected with ?
7. What differs sociology from psychology and anthropology?
8. What is the goal of sociologists?
9. What fields of knowledge doessociology consist of?
10. What are the basic tools of sociological research?
III. Explain, the difference concerning the subject matter between:
a) sociology and economy;
b) sociology and criminology;
c) sociology and history.
IV. Prove by the facts that:
1. Sociology is a social science.
2. Sociology is a broader discipline than the other social sciences.
3. Sociology is made up ofmicro sociology and macrosociology.
V. Speak on:
1. The origin of sociology.
2. Its subject matter.
3. Differences and similarities of sociology and other social sciences.
4. Major fields of sociology.
5. Basic sociological research methods.
VI. Discuss in the group the following:
1. What do you think: sociology is a field of the arts or the sciences?
2. Can there be a civilization without the social sciences? Will it be a rational and healthy society?
3. Your parents don't want you to study sociology. How would you persuade them that this is your real vocation?
VII. Read the text and. say what part of the text characterizes the guiding principles of sociology.
Sociology, as a science, takes its point of departure from the materialist world outlook in its application to the solution of social problems. In this application sociology demonstrates its scientific character as it employs some guiding principles in the understanding of social affairs.
They are:
1) The society in its development is regulated by objective laws discovered by science.
2) Views and institutions, political, ideological and cultural developments arise on the basis of the development of the material life of society.
3) Ideas and institutions, which thus arise on the basis of conditions of material life play an active role inthe development of material life.
So, sociology studies regularities in social processes, connections between social events, which are independent of our consciousness and will, social relations and social institutions. Sociology is concerned, as well, with circumstances which give rise to the formation of aims and intentions in people's minds. Different people have different aims. This does not mean that individual psychologies differ, but it expresses the fact that people find themselves in different circumstances, with different interests arising from those circumstances.
VIII. Answer: What are the sociologists concerned with? Use the words in brackets.
The sociologists are concerned with (social institutions, social relations, social groups, group classification, group properties, group types).
IX. Translate the following sentences into Russian:
1. He was greatly concerned with the latest sociological research.
2. In their conversation they concerned a great number of vital problems.
3. His main concern was sociology.
4. They talked much concerning themain points of his report.
5. She was concerned with the problem of social relations at the high level of the society's development.
UNIT II
I. Read and translate the text: