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Introduction to Sociology
Nandy Nedd
Essay Outline #1

Title: “Sociology is the systematic observation of social behavior” Introduction: Sociology is the science of society.

Body: * Science is defined as the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena, Sociology is a science because it uses the methodologies of observation, experiment, comparison and historical research to understand social behavior whereas Interpretive Sociology goes on assumptions about how we come to know about social phenomena. * Using the positivist approach which assumes that an objective reality exists “out there”, Sociologists study this reality without changing it any way, they strive to remain objective so that their own attitudes and beliefs do not influence their results whereas in the Interpretive approach, lived experience may be distorted by false consciousness and ideology * In A general View of Positivism, Comte (1798 – 1857) argues that “the primary object of positivism is to generalize our scientific conceptions and to systemize the art of social life, According to him; true knowledge is based on experience of senses and can be obtained by observation and experiment, while it is for our heart to suggest our problems, it is for the intellect to solve them. * In his book “Rules of Sociological Method”, Durkheim writes –“The first and most fundamental rule is – consider social facts as things.” By considering social facts as things, he means to say that they can be directly observed and objectively measured. This reflects the positivist approach of Durkheim
Limitations:
* Sociologists can rarely make precise determinations of cause and effect because of the complexity of human behavior * Social patterns are constantly changing over place and time * Objectivity is very

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