(1) It refers to human relationships that are highly personal, intimate, enduring. (2) It is a group of people who live together in a particular locality and share the basic conditions of a common life. To constitute a community the presence of sentiment among the members is necessary. (3) It is a group of people living t o g e t h e r i n a p a rt i c u l a r locality. (4) Community is concrete. (5) It is group of people living in a particular locality and having a feeling of oneness. (6) We can see the group and locate its existence. (7) E.g.: Hindu Community, Parsi Community etc.

Ethnocentrism:

• It is considered only their culture as superior and have an inferiority complex towards other cultures.
• They do not have moral respect towards other cultures.
• Ethnocentrism avoids mingling with other cultures.

Cosmopolitanism:

• The superior and have an inferiority complex towards other cultures is not prevalent in cosmopolitanism
• It encourages the exchange of values and ideas between different cultures.
• Cosmopolitanism has much more forward-thinking compared to ethnocentrism.

Marx argued that human society had progressed through different stages. These were : primitive communism, slavery, feudalism and capitalism. He believed capitalism would give way to socialism. • Capitalist society was marked by an ever intensifying process of alienation operating at several levels. • But he believed that capitalism was nevertheless a necessary and progressive stage of human history because it created the preconditions for an egalitarian future free from both exploitation, and poverty. • Historical materialism is a theory of history out lined by Marx and Friedrich Engels. It focuses on human societies and their development through history, arguing that history is the result of material conditions rather than ideas.

1. Definition of Society: Society is a web of social relationship. It is group of people who share a common culture, occupy a particular territorial area and feel themselves a unified and distinct entity.

II. Major Characteristics of Society: Despite the

variations in our understanding of society, the fact

remains that it is central concept in sociology. Characterization of society can be provided in terms of

certain traits.

Harry M. Johnson enlists the following characteristics: (i) Definite territory, (ii) Progency, (ii) Culture and, (iv) Independence

A brief description of each trait is given below:

1. Definite Territory: (a) A society is a territorial group. Some nomadic societies move about within a much larger territory than they occupy at any one time, but they regard the whole range as "their" country.

(b) There are of course, territorial groups within societies, for instance, claus, neighbourhoods, political outfits, cities, countries, etc.

2. Progency: (a) Members form every society. They are recruited in different ways also. But in a large number, the members of a society come by means of human reproduction within the group of people.

(b) Several societies also obtain members by adoption,

enslavement, conquest or immigration. But reproduction

within the group itself remains a fundamental source of

new members, in fact progeny is the most important

trait of society.

3. Culture : (a) A Society has a 'Comprehensive' culture in the sense that it is culturally self-sufficient. For instance, a society can carry on trade with other societies, but the cultural patterns involved in the trade are a part of the culture of the society itself.

The means of payment and the forms of contracts are culturally patterned.

(b) A comprehensive culture can have sub-cultures as well. For example we can

take the case of our own country. The Indian people have a comprehensive culture which gives them an identity. We have a common culture, a family system, a set of religious communities, linguistic entities, village communities, and above all history of shared pains and pleasures. The sub-cultures are, for instance, Rajasthan culture, Punjabi culture, Assami culture, etc.

(c) Bear in mind each sub-culture is characterised by its

respective characteristics. For good mutual relations

and harmony we should not try disturb any sub

culture.

4. Independence: The fourth and last trait of society is independence. It refers that a further characteristic of a society is that it is a sub-group of any other. We may define "Society" as such as permanent self contained and an integrated group.

The growth of sociology in India

• During the course of their rule in India, the British officials realised that for smooth administration, it was important that they acquire knowledge of Indian society and culture. This prompted the origin of Sociology in India.
• Western sociological writings about Indian society were sometimes misleading. For instance, the understanding and portrayal of the Indian village was unchanging. Many Indian scholars thus, took to sociological studies to close such gaps.
• The diversified nature of the Indian society in terms of region, language, religion, ethnicity, caste, etc also led to the growth of sociology in India in connection with the discipline of social anthropology. This is a characteristic feature different from that of the western countries where both disciplines have been kept distinct from each other.
• Indian sociologist realised that the transformation process of contemporary Indian society is different from that of the western society. Modernity as understood in the western European society is the outcome of scientific process and democratic ideas. Wheres as the same process of modernity was introduced in Indian society under the colonial regime.

Religion has been a subject of study and reflection for a very long time. Sociological findings about society are different from religious reflections. The sociological study of religion is different from a religious or theological study of religion in many ways. One, it conducts empirical studies of how religions actually function in society and its relationship to other institutions. Two, it uses a comparative method. Three, it investigates religious beliefs, practices and institutions in relation to other aspects of society and culture.

• During the colonial period every policy was made towards the strengthening and expansion of British capitalism. It changed the very laws of the land.
• The colonial rule changed not just land ownership but even decided what crops should be grown and what should not be.

1. Definite Territory : (a) A society is a territorial group. Some nomadic societies move about within a much larger territory than they occupy at any one time, but they regard the whole range as "their" country.

(b) There are of course, territorial groups within societies, for instance, claus, neighbourhoods, political outfits, cities, countries, etc.

2. Progency : (a) Members form every society. They are recruited in different ways also. But in a large number, the members of a society come by means of human reproduction within the group of people.

(b) Several societies also obtain members by adoption, enslavement, conquest or immigration. But reproduction within the group itself remains a fundamental source of new members, in fact progency is the most important trait of society.

3. Culture : (a) A Society has a 'Comprehensive' culture in the sense that it is culturally self-sufficeint. For instance, a society can carry on trade with other societies, but the cultural patterns involved in the trade are a part of the culture of the society itself.

The means of payment and the forms of contracts are cultrually patterned.

(b) A comprehensive culture can have sub-cultures as well. For example we can

take the case of our own country. The Indian people have a comprehensive culture which gives them an identity. We have a common culture, a family system, a set of religious communities, linguistic entities, vilage communities, and above all history of shared pains and pleasures. The sub-cultures are, for instance, Rajasthan culture, Punjabi culture, Assami culture, etc.

(c) Bear in mind each sub-culture is characterised by its respective characteristics. For good mutual relations and harmony we should not try to disturb any sub-culture.

4. Independence : The fourth and last trait of society is independence. It refers that a further characteristic of a society is that it is a sub-group of any other. We may define "Society" as such as permanent self contained and an integrated group.

Statistics as aggregate of numerical facts : Some quantitative information relating to an individual like Ram has two brothers cannot be taken as statistics. In the same way Ram has 100 rupees in his pocket cannot be taken as statistics. Only the aggregates of data will be taken as statistics. Given below are some examples of statistics.
1. Birth rate in India is 18 per thousand as compared to 8 per thousand in USA.
 2. There are 40 students in Class XI compared to just 20 students in Class XII. 

Give and take among different disciplines (or subjects) :

(i) Sociology is one age group of social sciences, which also includes authropology, economics political science and history.

(ii) The division among various sociail sciences are not clearent, and all share a certain range of common interest, concepts and methods, Today there is greater gave and take among all disciplines because most subjects rela ted with social sciences are interrelated and upto some extent interdependent also.

(iii) Socilogy and Economics : (a) The sociological approach looks at economic behaviour in a broarder context of social norms, values, practices and interest. The coporate sectors managers are aware of this. The? large

investment in the advertisment industry is directly linked to the need to re-shape lifestyles and consumption patterns.

(b) The define scope of economics has helped in facilating its development as a highly focused, coherent discipline, Sociologists often entry every the economists for the precision of their technology and the exactness of their measures. And the ability to traslate the results of their theortical work into practical suggestion having measure implication for public policy. Yet economists predictive ability often suffer precirely because of their neglect of individual behaviour, cultural norms and institutional resistance which sociologists study.

(c) Sociology unlike economics usually does not provide technical solutions. But it encourages a questioning and critical perspective. This helps questioning of basic assumptions. Recent trends have been seen a resurgence of economic sociology perhaps because of both this wider and critical perspective of sociology.

(d) Sociology provides clearer or more adequate understanding of a social situation than existed before. This can be either on the level of factual knowledge, or through gaining an improved group of why something is happening (in other words, by means of theoretical understanding).

answer

(1) Association is partial (2) It is an artificial creation. (3) It is formed by individuals for the pursuitoftheirindividual interest. (4) Significance of association for a person is so log as it serves their purpose. (5) Membership of association is voluntary. We choose our associations. (6) Community sentiment is not an essential feature. (7) It has got its office bearer to manage the affairs (8) It works mostly through written laws and rules

A constitution is a written set of laws and fundamental principles to develop a relationship between the people and the government which comprises a number of articles about the state.

Sociology is the study of social life of humans, their groups, and societies. It is important to study sociology in order to understand the society as a whole. It helps us in understanding that how the social systems within the society are interconnected.

The study of origin of sociology is important because it helps us to understand that why this subject and how this subject was originated. It is important to study the origin and growth of sociology to understand the principles and perceptions up on which the subject is developed and based.

A constitution is a written set of laws and fundamental principles to develop a relationship between the people and the government which comprises a number of articles about the state.

The study of the origin and growth of sociology is important due to following reasons:

(i) Auguste comte (of France) is called the father of sociology because he coined the sociology 1830, for that branch of science which studied human behaviour. Before his life time and during his life time most of the issue and concern of this discipline also date back to a time when European societies was undergoing greatly changes in that period (approximately 18 and 19th century) with the advant of industrialisation and capitalism.

(ii) Without the study of origin and growth of sociology we can not understand several personnel as well as social issue. For example. In 18th and 19th century due to industrialisation several problem raise before people and government. Urbanisation or factory production are concerned to all modern society. No doubt these specific feature different. For example the problem of Urbanisation and factory production of India nay be different from advance western or European country. Indian society visit colonial parts and various diversities is different from the social setup of Britain or France. The people of India can know their problems or issues after the study of sociology because sociology of India reflects origin and growth of different individual or social problems.

(iii) Indians are closely linked to the history of British capitalism and colonalism. Capitalism is the west centailed a worldwide expansion. No doubt colonialism was essential part of modern capitaism and industrialisation. The writings of western sociologist on capitalism and other aspects of modern society are therefore relevent for urderstanding social change in India.

(iv) Sociology in India also had to deal with western writings and ideas about Indian society that were not always correct. These ideas were expressed both in the accounts of colonial officials as well as western scholars. For many of them Indian society was xontsant to western society. We take just one example here, the way the Indian village was understood and portrayed as unchanging.

(v) Further more social anthropology in India moved gradually from a preoccupation with the study of 'primitive people' to the study of peasants, ethinic groups. Social clases, aspects and features of ancient civilisations, and modern industrial societies. No rigid divide exists between sociology and social anthropology in India, a characteristics feature of the two subjects in many western countries. Perhaphs the very diversity of the modern and traditional, of the village and the metropolitan in India account for this

Social control is necessary for an orderly social life. The society has to regulate and pattern individual behaviour to maintain normative social order. Without social control the organisation of the society is about to get disturbed. If the individual is effectively socialised, he confirms to the accepted ways from force of habit as well as from his desire of being accepted and approved by other persons.

If he is inadequately socialised, he has a tendency to deviate from the accepted ways, but he is forced towards conformity by the pressures of social control. According to Kimball Young, it is necessary “to bring about conformity, solidarity and continuity of a particular group or society”. It is possible only through social control. Society has to make use of its mechanism to accomplish the necessary order and discipline.

Herbert Spencer has put forwarded the view that society is a collection of group of individuals. Man lives in society because it has a utility. Through society he is able to preserve his identity and views. In order to preserve his identity and characteristics, he has to exercise some control for which certain rules and institutions are created. These agencies of social control are helpful for preserving the identity of the individuals and society.

There are a number of reasons why people allow social influences to affect their thoughts and behavior. One reason is that we often conform to the norms of a group to gain acceptance of its members. ... Additionally, group conformity enables a sense of cohesion within a society.

"Pluralities and Inequalities among the societies:

In the Modern world, one can adapt to more than one society. Among foreigners, he may exhibit himself as a society member of India. Within India, if he uses the word society it means that he is talking about his society which denotes either religion or caste or another type of tribal society. It is called as pluralities among the societies.

In society, we find many types of people. It comprises of rich as well as poor, educated as well as illiterates, normal as well as abnormal, Police as well as thieves etc. The benefits enjoyed by people of high status in society are not provided to the downtrodden people. This is called as Inequalities among the societies."

While the norm is the general rule, by which the principles of moral conduct and legally accepted before society are governed. The law is the written, formalized and detailed norm that protects the faculty of an individual and obliges in the strict sense to be complied with. 

One of the main differences between law and norm is found in the level of obligatory nature with which the different subjects that form part of the population have to follow them.

In the case of the norm, the fact that it is obligatory or not will depend on its type and on the evaluation made by it of who is to follow it. The norm in itself only marks the expected behavior, but its breaking does not imply incurring in crime (although it can have consequences) unless we are talking about a legal norm.

In the case of the law and other types of legal norms, compliance is mandatory, resulting in a breach of a fault or crime and generating the application of a penalty.

The media are powerful agents of socialization. Through the media, culture is communicated to the masses. Serving society through social control, the media act as stress relievers which keep social conflicts to a minimum.

The three-component theory of stratification, More widely known as Weberian stratification or the three class system, was developed by German sociologist Max Weber with class, status and power as distinct ideal types.

Empirical Investigation refers to research conducted, and conclusions reached, by means of observation and documentation. For example, a wildlife researcher would go into the field to observe how animals coexist in a group in a natural setting.

Intellectual ideas into the making of sociology

• Sociologists and social anthropologists sought to categorise societies into types and to distinguish stages in social development. These features reappear in the 19th century in works of early sociologists, Auguste Comte, Karl Marx and Herbert Spencer.
• Efforts were therefore made to classify different types of societies on that basis, for instance: Types of pre-modern societies such as hunters and gatherers, pastoral and agrarian, agrarian and non- industrial civilisations. Types of modern societies such as the industrialised societies.
• Such an evolutionary vision assumed that the west was necessarily the most advanced and civilised. Non- western societies were often seen as barbaric and less developed. Indian sociology reflects this tension which go far back to the history of British colonialism and the intellectual and ideological response to it.
• Darwin’s ideas about organic evolution were a dominant influence on early sociological thought. Society was often compared with living organisms and efforts were made to trace its growth through stages comparable to those of organic life.
• This way of looking at society as a system of parts, each part playing a given function influenced the study of social institutions like the family or the school and structures such as stratification.
• The intellectual ideas that went into the making of sociology have a direct bearing on how sociology studies empirical reality.

Caste

• Individual’s position totally depends on the status attributes ascribed by birth rather than achieved. • Each position in the caste structure was defined in terms of its purity or pollution relative to others. The Brahmin priestly castes, are superior to all others and the Panchamas. • The traditional system is generally conceptualised in terms of the four fold v a r n a o f B r a h m i n s , K s h a t r i y a s , Vaishynavas and Shudra. In reality there are innumerable occupation-based caste groups, called Jatis. • The caste system in India has undergone considerable changes.

Class

• It is not dependent on birth, but it depends on profession, ability, skill, education etc. • It is open ended. • An individual can change his/her class & can acquire high status. • Types of class — High class, Middle class. Lower class, Agricultural class

Sociology, a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them. It does this by examining the dynamics of constituent parts of societies such as institutions, communities, populations, and gender, racial, or age groups. The role of the Sociologist is to research the way society is organized around power structures, groups and individuals. Sociology can study society with a wide variety of focuses.