Critical Thought Response: Part 1: Chapter 1: Introducing Sociology “In what sense is sociology a science? How does sociology differ from a natural science such as physics?” “-ology” originates from the Greek term “lógos” and means “the study of”. Sociology applies the use of scientific methods; therefore, it can be classified as a science. More specifically, it is a social science and can be described as the logical analysis of human behaviour in a societal setting. The subject matter sociology deals with can range from family to religion, crime to the state, from the shared beliefs of a common culture to the divisions of race, social stability to radical change in whole societies. Sociology unifies all this and more with the purpose of exploring how human exploits and awareness are shaped by and shape cultural and social structures; with the purpose of increasing social welfare. Natural sciences, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, …show more content…
The most evident distinction is the subject matter. One discipline studies people, social groups, etc. while the other studies “nature”. The difference is much more significant than it appears. Humans/social groups are wont to change. Suppose you read a study that reports that the city in which you are currently living in has a high unemployment rate and is also suffering from high poverty, whereas a neighbouring city might have a lower unemployment rate and better standard of living. If a sizeable amount of people living in your city read this study, you may notice some of them moving to the nearby city in the attempt to find a job. This shift in the population, naturally, can cause a sociologist’s research to become obsolete; social change had been provoked through studying social organization. With physics, on the other hand, research (to a certain extent) involves controlled variables and the outcomes can be denoted mathematically with the help of the mathematic tools that can evaluate outcomes