The " Society" is usually used to designate the members of specific in- groups, persons rather than the social relationships of those persons. Thus we speak of a Harijan speak of Ar ya Samaj or Brahman Samaj. A society is intangible; it is " a process rather than a thing, motion rather the structure ".
Some definitions are as follows :-
- " A number of like - minded individuals, who know and enjoy their like - mindedness, and are, therefore, able to work together for common ends. " - Giddings
- " Society is a system of usages and procedures, authority and mutual aid, of many groupings and divisions, of controls of human behaviour and of liberties. " - MacIver and Page
- " A soceity is the larger group to which any individual belongs. " - Green
Thus, soceity is to be interpreted in a wider sense. It is both a structural and functional organization. It consists in the mutual interactions and mutual interrelations of the individuals but it is also a structure formed by these relations. It is a pattern, a system and not the people . Those who define it as a group of people interpret it in terms of 'A Society ' as distinguished from 'Socity'.
Human beings is the social animals and human beings stand out as distinct species. Human beings claim man alone has a soul, has higher level of intelligence, has a speaking ability, has sociability and hence civilized from the sociological point of view this uniqueness can be attributed to the sole factors of culture. Culture includes all modes of thought and behaviour and all kinds of material or non-material achievement of man that are handed down from one generation to another through language. Study of culture involves on the study of human society. The difference between marriage and mating : legitimacy and illegitimacy; authority and dominance can be understood only with cultural interpretations. Most of the sciences of man ( the so called humanistic science ) are actually the science of culture. Man's political, economic, educational, occupational and such other activities are all influenced by culture. The social sciences are devoted to the study of mental and not physical phenomena. " From the sociological point of view the physical objects are products made possible only by transmission of principles and ideas from person to person ".
The Basic Feature of Society : Man is a social animal and he always lives in society. Human society, in comparison with societies, is unique in several respects. Some characteristics of human or animal is societies are as follows :-
As Kingsley Davis has pointed out any society involves a certain level of association. But this association is more intricate than a more aggregation and less complex than an organism.
Further, the units that the societies bring together at the level of association are not cells or organs, but individuals. The terms 'aggregation' and 'organism' are to be understood to know the real nature of societies.
The emergence of society can be considered to be a great step in organic evolution. But it is a step taken by only some species and not yet all. Thus the analogy must be understand only as an analogy and not as an identity.
Societal Needs : The societies have certain common needs which must be fulfilled. These needs which may be regarded as " Primary Needs " define the necessary conditions for the existence of any society. According to Kingsley Davis, these societal needs may be classified into four major categories. The needs for population, specialisation, solidarity and continuity.
The Need for Population : Society is composed of separate organisms without whom no society could exist. The three basic needs of the organisms are as follows :-
2. The need for Specialisation : Group co-operation among members pre supposes the idea of division of labour and specialisation. The degree of specialisation may differ from society to society.
3. The Need of Solidarity : Societies must guarantee some mode of contact between the members and provide for some motivation for such content. Social solidarity or cohesiveness in the group would be found.
4. The Need for Reproduction : The society or the group must be able to perpetuate its structure, and character. There must be provision for the continuity of the social system even beyond the life-span of any one individual or generation. This is possible only when there is provision for the members to reproduce their kind.
From above it is clear that any kind of society requires certain conditions for its existence. The members of a group or society may not realise them always and strive for their requirements.
Bio-Social Systems : According to Kingsley Davis societies may be classified into two broad types depending upon the nature of social patterns. Social patterns are determined by heredity or culture. Societies that have patterns fixed by 'heredity' may be called 'bio-social', and and those fixed by 'culture' may be called 'socio-cultural'. Thus , the term 'bio-social system' stands for animal society whereas the expression 'socio-cultural system' represents human society.
# Heredity, the main trait of Bio- Social System
The non- human social system meets its basic needs mainly through the mechanisms that are determined by heredity. Here a change in the social order is possible only from the change in the germ plasma. The society is in the grip of organic evolution. It is biological in character and hence the name 'bio- social system'. Kingsley Davis has carried on his discussion of bio- social system and socio- cultural system at three levels :-
In the first level he makes a comparison between the mammalian and other non- mammalian societies.
At the second level, he compares the primates, the highest kind of mammals, with the lower mammals on the one hand, and with the human beings on the other ; and
At the third level ; he concentrates on the human society which represents the socio- cultural system.
# Culture the Greator of Gaulf Between Human Beings and Primates.
The Homo Sapines, the high minded type of primate has a clear edge over other primates for it has facility of cultural. Society is bio- socio- cultural. It can be referred to as ' socio- cultural ' or in simply as ' human society '. According to Kingsley Davie's, culture provided the sole explanation for the marked differences that we find between human society on the one hand and non- human society, on the other. Hence he calls the human social system " Socio- Culture System ". The dominant role of culture in the socio- cultural system are as follows :-
Division of labour based on culture.
Continuous sexuality conditioned by culture.
Symbolic Communication
The speed of learning.
The volume of learning.
Division of labour in learning.
Social survival depends on culture.
The cultural invention of writing.
Normative control of behaviour.
The moral order of the human society.
The normative factor modifies bio- social traits.
Man is not only social but also cultural. Every society prescribes its own ways and means of giving social training to its new born members so that they may develop their own personality. This social training is called 'Socialisation'. Little of man's behaviour is instinctive. Rather, man's behaviour is 'learnt' behaviour. The process of moulding and shaping the personality of the human infant is called 'Socialisation'. Man is not born social. At birth the human child possesses the potentialities of becoming human. The child becomes a man or a person through a variety of experiences. He becomes then what the sociologist calls 'Socialized'. Man is man because he shares with others a common culture. Sociologists have given more importance to socialisation because man is a cultural being. Socialisation is often referred to as the ' transmission of culture ' the process whereby men learn the rules and practices of social groups. Education - purposeful instruction- is thus only a part of the socialisation process.
Some definitions are as follows :
Bogardus : Socialisation is the 'process of working together, of developing group responsibility, or being guided by the welfare needs of others'.
W.F. Ogburn : " Socialisation is the process by which the individual learns to conform to the norms of the groups".
Harry M. Johnson : Understands the socialisation as 'learning that enables the learner to perform social roles'.
The socialisation process has been discussed on the following subject matters and they are as follows :-
The concept of socialisation
The process of socialisation
Internalisation of social norms
Types of socialisation
Conditions of learning
Internalised objects
Theories of socialisation
The agents of socialisation
Role of culture in socialisation
Culture, socialisation and personality
Socialisation and cultural differences
Importance of socialisation
Failure of the socialisation process and the problems of faculty socialisation.
Sociology as a social science has been trying to develop its own method of study. Sociology has to face greater problems in evolving a satisfactory method in the comparison with other social sciences. Man' s social life is complex and multi-faceted. It is highly a challenging task for sociologists to collect, analyse, synthesis and finally generalise social data which are too numerous, complex and illusive. Some of the methods are given below :-
1. The Comparative Method : " The methods of comparing different societies or groups within the same society to show wheather and why they are similar or different in certain respects". To tackle the problems of society effectively and to make fruitful discoveries, sociology has to employ precise and well tested methods of investigation.
2. Historical Method : " A study of events, processes and institutions of past civilisations, for the purpose of finding the origins of antecedents of contemporary social life and thus understanding its nature and working". Historical sociology is a particular kind of comperative study of social groups; their compositions, their interrelationships and the social conditions which support or undermine them.
3. The Statistical Method : The term 'Statistics' may be used in two ways:
To refer to the application of statistical methods to social or non-social problems, and
To refer to the actual numerical data collected in relation to these problems. The term 'social statistics' or 'statistical method' refers to the method that is used to measure social phenomena mathematically. As Bogardus has pointed out " Social statistics is mathematics applied to human facts"
4. The Case Study Method : The 'Case Study' is a practice derived from legal studies. In legal studies a 'case' refers to an event or set of events involving legal acts. In sociology case study method is a holistic treatment of a subject. The case study may make use of various techniques such as interview, questionnaires, schedules, life histories, relevant documents of all kinds and also 'participant observation' for collecting information about the case under study. Thomas and Znaniecki's " Polish Peasant in Europe and America " - (1922) is a classic work in the field of case study.
5. The Functional Method ( Functionalism ) : In functional method or functionalism has been given greater emphasis during recent times in sociological studies. Functionalism refers " to the study of social phenomena from the point of view of the functions that particular institutions or social structures, such as class, serve in a society". Durkheim is the man who first gave a rigorous concept of social function in his " The Division of Labour in Society " and in " The Rules of Sociological Method".
6. The Scientific Method : The basis of study of any science or discipline is its methods. Sciences in general and natural science in particular follow the scientific method. The scientific method is added much to their credibility and objectivity. The scientific method consists of certain steps or procedures which are to be followed precisely and they are as given below:
Formulation of the Problem,
# Formulation of Hypothesis,
# Observation of Collection of Data,
# Analysis and Synthesis,
# Generalisation,
# Formulation of Theory and Law. Scientific method has a few limitations in sociology.
Limitations of the Scientific Methods in Sociology : Science is defined as a systematic body of knowledge. 'System' words refers to the method that is followed. This method is the scientific method. It is commonly followed in the case of physical sciences. Scientific method has few limitations in sociology. The limitations are as follows :- # Difficulty in the Use of Experimental, #Interdependence of Cause and Effect, # Intangibility of Social Phenomena, # Complexity of Social Data, # Unpredictability, # Problems of Objectivity.
The Scientific Viewpoint Method : Scientific outlook is very essential for a learner of a discipline like sociology. A man of science yearns to know. The scientific outlook or viewpoint refers mainly to the way in which an individual looks at the things. To have this scientific outlook or viewpoint or perspective he must have certain qualities and follow certain basic norms and some of them may be mentioned : # The scientist likes and loves truth, # The scientist maintains objectivity, # The scientist follows the a moral approach, # The scientist is free from prejudices or pre-conceived notions, # The scientist generally assumes that knowledge is worthwhile, # The scientist is broad minded in spirit, # The scientist is always analytical.
Sociology As A Science : There is a controversy about the nature of sociology as a science. ' Is sociology a science' is an issue which is highly debated and discussed. W.F. Ogburn, an American sociologist, is of the opinion that sociology is a science. According to him, a science is to be judged by three cretia : # the reliability of its body of knowledge, # its organizations, and # its method. Strictly speaking laboratory experiment is not possible in sociology. We may say that 'science' after all , is a method to dig cover the truth. Experimental method is not the only method of realising the truth.
The Sociological Point of View : The generally accepted meaning of sociology is that it is the science of society. But sociology is not the only science that deals with the human society and social phenomena. Different social sciences such as Economics, History, Political Science, Psychology, etc., also select one or the other aspect of society for their study. " Social disciplines are all studying the same external phenomena the facts of social life". As K. Davis points out, " It is rather a difference in the point of view or focus of attention".
