Sociology is the study of humanity based on several parameters. The most basic of these are:
- Culture, such as the language of society.
- Social structure, or how members of a given community interact.
- Socialization is how an organization is defined.
- Race or ethnicity, where one race may have an advantage or disadvantage over another.
- Gender, like the four parameters above, impacts the social structure of a society at any time.
The origins of sociology began when individuals began observing and analyzing these aspects and drawing conclusions explaining why people did what they did or predicting what they might eventually do as a society.
It has often been compared to psychology, although sociology focuses on humanity.
The science of sociology had its unofficial beginnings in philosophers from ancient civilizations who began to question aspects of the society in which they lived.
Studies were limited at the time. A more systematic approach had its roots in the period of Enlightenment when sociologists began proposing hypotheses about society to be proven by a theory.
Even then, it needs to be enhanced to what it is today. The origins of sociology were further developed during the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. The advent of new technology and progress forced many members of society to work longer, harder and dangerously to earn a living.
Amid all this sudden, apparent madness, some individuals managed to compare and contrast the way society used to be with its current state, although there was nothing they could do about it.
Around this time, Auguste Comte was credited as the father of science. The history of sociology states that it was known as ‘positivism’ at the time, and Comte was the person who coined the term we now use today.
He was concerned with how the structure of society was maintained, as well as the structure itself. He intended to use the data he gathered during his studies to further society’s progress. This school of thought was eventually known as applied sociology.
