Sociology and other social sciences

Introduction

• Different social sciences deals with the different aspects of social life of man.
• According History, Anthropology, Psychology, Economics and Political science, these social sciences.
• It is essentials for the student of sociology to know in what respect his subject differs from other social sciences and what ways it is related to them.
• Some social thinkers says that sociology is the basic and sole

social science and others are its divisions.

• It is essential for us to know the interrelations between sociology and history, economics, anthropology, political science, psychology.

Sociology

• Sociology as science of society on the other hand is interested in the present. It studies various stages of human life.
• Sociology has thus to depend upon the history for its

materials. e.g.

• If he wants to study of marriage and family he must study their historical development also. Similarly he wants to know the impact of Islamic culture on the Hindu culture.

Anthropology

• The word anthropology derived from two Greeks words, Anthropos- meaning man and logos mean study.

Thus anthropology is the study of man.

• The science of man and his works and behavior.
• In number of universities anthropology and sociology are administratively organized into one department.

Difference between sociology and anthropology

Sociology

• Sociology is the study of modern civilized and complex societies.
• Sociologist study the institutions marriage, family or processes such as change, social mobility.
• Sociologist studies small as well as large societies.
• Sociology makes use of observation, interview, social survey, questionnaires and other method of techniques in its investigations.

Anthropology

• Anthropology concerns with un civilized

or primitive and non literate societies.

• Anthropology study human primitive

cultures.

• Anthropology usually concentrate on small

societies.

• Anthropology directly go and live in the communities they study. They make use of direct observations and interviews.

History

History is a study of past, which people already lived. Data for historian come in the form of records from museums, libraries and personal collection of people.

History is the reconstruction of man’s past. It is study of the experience of man kind. It is a record of the human past.

Historian are interested in what happened at a particular time in the past.

Historian are only concentrate only on the past.

Difference between sociology and history

Sociology

• Sociology is interested in the study

of present with all their complexity.

• Sociology is relatively young social science. It has very short history of its own.
• Sociology is an analytical science.
• Sociology is generalizing science.

History

• History deals with the past events of

man. It is silent regarding the present.

• History is an age-old social science. It has a long story of 2000 years or even more.
• History is descriptive science.
• History is an individualizing science.

Political science

• Political science has its own topics such as origin, evolution and functions of state, the forms of government, types of constitutions, administration law, legislation, elections, voting, political movements.
• Political science is concerned with state. There are some common topics of interest for both sociologist and political scientists. Such as war, mass movements, government control, public opinion, propaganda, leadership, elections, voting.
• Further many social problems are also deep problems[clashes of Muslims and Christians, Hindus and Muslims, Asians and Europeans.

Difference between sociology and political science

Sociology

• Sociology is a science of society.
• Sociology studies all kind of societies organized as well as unorganized.
• Sociology has a wider scope.
• Sociology studies man as fundamentally a social animal.
• The approach of sociology is sociological. It follows its own methods in its investigations.

Political science

• Political science is a science of state and

government.

• Political science studies only the politically

organized societies.

• Political science studies is a special science because it concentrates only on the human relationships which are political in character.
• Political science is an older science comparatively. It has centuries of history.

Psychology

• Psychology is the study of individual behavior and mental processes- what occurs in the mind.
• It analyses attitude, emotions, perception, process of learning and values of individuals and process of personality formation in society.

Difference between sociology and psychology

Psychology

• Psychology studies behavior of individual in society. Its focus of interest is individual and not the society as such.
• Psychology concerned with behavior of individuals.
• Psychology studies the individual’s behavior from the view point of psychology factors involved.

Sociology

• Sociology studies society and social groups.
• Sociology analysis social processes.
• Sociology studies society form

sociological point of view.

Economics

• Economics deals with the economic activities of man.
• Economics studies the aspects of production, distribution and exchange and consumption in society.
• It studies the structure and function of economic organization like banks, factories, market, business, firms, corporations, transport.

Difference between sociology and economics

Sociology

• Sociology studies all kind of relationships.
• Sociology is general social science.
• Sociology is a science of recent

emergence.

Economics

• Economics deals with only those social relationships which are economic in character.
• Economics is a special science.
• Economics has attained an

advanced degree of maturity