Sociology · Foundations. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
Sociology is the scientific study of society, social relationships and group life. It is a general social science: it looks at the whole of social life, while economics, political science and psychology each take one part (the economy, the state, the individual mind). Social anthropology is its closest relative and traditionally studied small, non-literate societies by fieldwork.
Most questions ask you to match a founder with an idea or a book. Comte named the subject and wanted a science of society (positivism). Durkheim studied social facts, Weber the meanings behind action, and Marx class conflict. Long before them, Ibn Khaldun explained the rise and fall of dynasties through asabiyyah, group solidarity.
Students give Comte's terms to Spencer and Spencer's to Comte. Comte: the name 'sociology', three stages, statics and dynamics. Spencer: organism analogy and 'survival of the fittest'.
Answer: Emile Durkheim, in 'The Rules of Sociological Method'.
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