The effect of geographical conditions

Effect of geographical condition

Geographical conditions are not same everywhere which creates differences in the living tools. You may see different types of houses in the cold area compared to the houses in the hot area. The houses in the cold area have to be built with respect to the geographical condition and this strategy also applies for the houses to be built in the hot areas. So there is no way you can ignore natural factors. Not even house, but also many other decisions are hugely affected by geographical factors. Now we will be discussing those in short. Certain trees grow only in certain place; it would be hard to find those trees other place. People’s pattern of occupation differs from place to place or even nation to nation. Even people’s physical structures are not similar all over the world. African people are more strongly built than the Asian people and European people are comparatively fairer than the Asian and African people. What you think what is the reason behind this distinction? Does Geography play any role or not? If you think yes, then you are absolutely right, geographical condition in those areas plays a major role for those differences.

Biological environment affecting society

Like physical environment, biological environment also has great impact on the society we are living in. You see different types of people in different area. European people usually have blue eyes, sharp nose and straight hair and they are sometimes called Caucasoid. In the Malaysia, China and near India, you can see people totally different from European region. People living in those areas are called mongoloid and white-brown mix skin, small eyes is their fundamental characteristic. If you go to south-west from Asia, you will be seeing people having black skin, gigantic figure and curly hair. Therefore you see structure of people differs greatly from region to region. Like biological environment, Social environment also has major influence over the society we are living in. If you are living in a well developed economy, then your lifestyle would be different from the people living in less developed society. So like biological environment, social environment also affect our society

Different kinds of Environment affecting Society

Environment affecting society

There are physical, biological and social environment which affect the society we are living in. therefore knowing those environment could be beneficial. We will be discussing those sequentially

Physical Environment affecting Society

Whether you are living in the plains area, hills area or in desert area, certainly affect your lifestyle. If you live in hill area, you will be leading a complete different lifestyle compared to the people living in plain area. Population in plain area is visibly much greater than the hill area. Economy is also better in plain area along with better communication ways. In the plain area, you can see democratic political system like in Bangladesh but on the other hand mainly autocrat system prevails in the hill area where people are bound to follow their ruler’s orders. In the plain areas, most of the times we see homogeneous religion but on the other hand we see different religions prevail in the hill areas.     

Steps in Sociological research

Any research can be two types, one is quantitative and other is qualitative. In quantitative research you can do survey or census or even both. As a qualitative research you got many options in hand, you can go for case study, observation, FGD (Focus Group Discussion) and so on. Now we will talk a little bit about steps in sociological research below-

At the very beginning of the research you have to define the specific problem accurately. After defining the problem reviewing previous researches could be an effective tool. Then you can form a hypothesis or if you want you can make several hypotheses. Hypothesis is done; now decide what will be the research design. Next step would be determining a particular sample and collecting relevant information about that sample. Now that you have collected relevant data, your very next step should be analyzing those data systematically and then making conclusion. And of course last step is preparing your report.     

Scientific Method

Scientific Method

Like the social science, Sociologists also use scientific method to extract necessary information about the Society. Scientific method is a structured process through which scientific knowledge is formed and this method includes thorough observation and obviously verification. Now we will see the steps of scientific method used in Sociology or even in any field discussed below-

·         First you have to select a problem which is to be resolved

·       After choosing the problem, 2^nd step would be making thorough observation and gathering related data

·       After successfully collecting data, a researcher has to make the classification of the data as a next step in the scientific method.

·         Creating an effective hypothesis is the next step

·  After having done with all the above steps, a researcher has to make generalization of the whole research

·         As a last step of scientific method one will be doing the verification process of the findings.

There above mentioned steps are inevitable for a scientific method which also can be used in any psychology research as well.

Is sociology a science?

Now that we have known what science is, we are going to discuss whether sociology is a science or not. Sociology is concerned with scientific method and actually it’s based on scientific method. It is not only ideas but also mostly factual. The facts revealed by sociology can be regarded as used as universal without any hesitation. The principles of sociology can be verifiable at any time regardless of place as well and the result should    hold true for every case. Like science, Sociologists also discuss about the cause-effect relationship regarding any social terms in the culture. Sociologist can make prediction through a thorough observation. So far whatever we have mentioned are the criteria for being science and we have seen all of the criteria are visible in sociology. So therefore under the circumstances it is clearly can be stated that sociology is a science and this is certainly inevitable to know.     

What is science?

Science

Defining science is an important issue because it is a part of Social Science. Science can be defined as a structured knowledge which is gathered through systematic observation and a systematic approach. Knowledge is constructed by a proper investigation and this proper way of investigation can be regarded as science. It is important in every sphere of life. In culture, sociology, social science or we better say in every field of our life, science is playing a crucial role. Science deals with the factual issues not the imaginary thing and this is one of the characteristics of science. It can be verified in any place of the world. One scientific method got approved in one place; it doesn’t mean that that method cannot be verified in other place. So science is universal. Science also deals with the cause-effect relationship where causes and effects are analyzed scientifically. At the end of this discussion we can conclude that sociologist should not neglect science rather consider making social change scientifically.       

Karl Marx: A legend

karl marx

Discussion about sociology cannot be completed without mentioning a name “Karl Marx”. Here we will try to discuss something at least some important issues about Karl Marx. We all know Karl Marx as a GREAT philosopher but his identity is not limited to as philosopher. Along with being a philosopher he was an economist, sociologist, socialist and journalist. Today’s modern world can be regarded as a contribution of Karl Marx. Full name of Karl Marx is Karl Heinrich Marx. He was born in 1818 in Trier, Prussia, Germany. During his lifetime he was not that famous, even got ignored by many scholars of that time. He got the utmost fame after his death and will be remembered forever. He introduced many theories in his lifetime. Karl Marx’s theories have contributed a lot in the field of economics, sociology, philosophy, law and many more. Karl Marx was a gift for the whole humankind.          

Cutural lag

Cultural lag is an important theory introduced by Ogburn, a famous sociologist. Ogburn proposed culture as having two parts, one is material and other is non-material culture. All material substances are regarded as material culture such as computer, factory and machine etc. on the other hand all adaptive culture is non-material culture such as education, customs, ritual and morals etc. According to Ogburn people are more interested toward the change in material culture compared to the change in non-material culture. And that’s why material culture usually changes more rapidly than the non-material culture. it is believed that the change in material culture has to be balanced with the perspective change in the non-material culture, otherwise the society will face severe imbalance due to that gap. This gap is known as cultural lag. So it would be best to try to minimize the cultural lag. The more a society can minimize the cultural lag, more the society is developed.

Characteristics of Culture

culture

Knowing the characteristics of culture is quite necessary as being the part of culture. In this segment we will be discussing about some characteristics of culture. When we born in a specific culture then we don’t perceive all the issues of culture at a time. We learn about the culture gradually. It’s a gradual learning process. Usually culture differs from nation to nation. You are living in a specific society having a distinct culture. If you move to a different society, you will find a complete different culture prevailing there. This variability is a characteristic of culture. In that different society you star to live in. After a period of time you find yourself getting involved with their culture and this is nothing but the adaptive nature of culture. Everything surrounding us is changing, so does the culture. Even culture can be changed by modern technology, globalization, developed communication and Internet. Whatever we have discussed so far are some of the most important characteristics of Culture.   

Culture: defined precisely

Bangladesh culture, pahela baisha

We all belong to culture. Culture is something which is irresistible even if you claim you are not part of any culture. Think wisely, somehow you ‘are’ a part of a culture. You are leading your own life; you do not take care of anything else even you do not need help of any other person. In this situation you are part of a culture where people love in being individual. Other hand you love to share things, love to be with others then definitely you are part of a culture. So end of the day certainly you are part of a culture doesn’t matter whether you want to or not. So in this section we will look forward to discussing about culture a little bit.

Definition of culture

According to John Dewey “culture means at least something cultivated, something ripened; it is oppose to raw and crude”. Culture can be regarded as a set of beliefs, rituals, norms and styles followed by certain group of people in certain environment. The word Culture actually came from latin word and the latin word is ‘colore’ which means to cultivate. For the convenience let’s put culture into some points.

a)    Peoples’ way of acting, feeling is influenced through culture.

b)    Culture is complex, meaningful and dynamic.

c)    It is generally learned through generation and is transmitted from people to people.

d)    Through culture people may share their ideas and feelings.

e)    It has certain meaning to our lives

Therefore we can conclude that this is the process how people 

react to certain matter of their lives and learn to adapt to certain circumstances.

Types of society

types of society

Normally classification can be done through two basic view points.

       a) Non-Marxist view
b) Marxist View 
We will discuss about Non-Marxist first, then Marxist view
Non-Marxist view

In non-marxist way society can be classified as five ways, all of them are discussed below-

a)    Hunting and gathering stage: Millions years ago people used to live in certain clan without having any fire, cloth. Concept of gender developed long after that society

b)    Horticulture society: Agriculture started for the first time. There male used to take care of children and hunting, other hand female did the agricultural job

c)    Pastorals: Man learned raising animals could be beneficial

d)    Agricultural society: Agriculture started in the full form

e)    Industrial : The society within which we are living right now. If major portion of income comes from industry then it would be called industrial society.

Maxist View

The classifications under this view are described below-

a)    Primitive communism: There would be no leader, the wealth will be distributed equally

b)    Pastoral society: Similar to non-marxist viewpoint. Benefit of fostering animals.

c)    Agricultural: It is also similar to non-marxist

d)    Slave society: Around 7-8 thousand year ago slave society was quite predominant.

e)    Feudal: Here king is the ultimate ruler, as a tenants of the king you got to pay tax

f)     Capitalist: Here the theory is that government intervention should be restricted and there has to have a market featuring free flow of goods and services.

g) Communism: Common ownership is the main basement here.

Characteristics of society

It’s important to have the idea about the characteristics of society. Therefore some important characteristics are listed below-

• Usually society depends on the likeness
• Participants are normally integrated
• It can be regarded as social attachment linked with web
• Awareness and interaction are mutual
• It’s not something temporary rather eternal organization
• It is dynamic 
• Besides likeness, differences can be seen within society
• There are certain divisions for labor and cooperation
• Surely it is changeable
• Consists of people
• Interdependence can be an important issue
• Definitely it is wider 
• It is abstract

Society: concisely described

Society

We have been talking about the term society a lot, in fact we are a part of it, so defining society and some several issues  is inevitable. First let’s define society. According to the oxford dictionary when people in a community living together sharing common values, customs and norms then it is said a society. Indeed it is the congregation of people having certain similar principles. Moreover when a group of people join together for a specific goal even then it also would be a society. First principle is that the participants of a society would be sharing a common norm or even custom. There can be a separate society within a society as a subculture. Here we have to keep in mind that society does not only result of human association; it can be visible in insects like ant society where ants follow their rules of society rigidly. Even society can be formed through animals; therefore wherever participants are following a certain trends, subject to certain leadership or even geographical area then it is called a Society.    

Difference between social science and sociology

These two terms can be seemed contradictory to many people. That’s why let’s talk about the differences. Social science in essence is broader field where sociology is a part. Sociology considers the whole affair of interaction of human along with the society, where social science is a bit broader issue which covers each and every area of society. It covers field of anthropology, economics. Let’s put the distinct points below-

•   Social science is a broader issue which includes many fields.
•  Social science goes beyond the study of social interaction between humankind.
•  Social science covers the study of earth, pollution, economics, crime and so many.
•  The scope of it is generally huge than the other :)
•   Need more technology to understand it in 'full' length.   
•   It is more complex
• As a whole social science requires more resources   

What is social science? Direct answer

Social science can be described as a field which study society. Hence some people may say that sociology is the term which study society then how come social science doing the same thing and still termed as separately. We will discuss about the distinction later, for the time being we better know that sociology is one of disciplines of social science. Therefore social science is the broader issue which covers huge scope of society. Economics, linguistics or even law falls under social science. According to the oxford dictionary Social science is the study of people in society moreover it covers geography, economics, and crime etc. Therefore definition of social science can be summarized as follows-

·    Scientifically approved discipline which deals with different study such as economics, anthropology, history and so many.

·         Complete scientific study of society

Differences between Psychology and Sociology

differences between psychology and sociology

The Key differences between Psychology and Sociology are follows-

Ø  Sociology deals with the study of whole society where Psychology deals with the study of individual human characteristics, mind.

Ø  Practitioner of sociology is called sociologists and psychologists are referred for the professionals of psychology

Ø  Research area of sociology is far greater than the research area of psychology

Ø  Sociology is broad focused study, whereas psychology is narrow focused study

Ø  Society is the unit of sociology, on the other side psychology’s unit is individual.

Ø  Methods used are different

What is Psychology?

psychology

Psychology can be described as the science which deals with the behavior of individual. Psychology also analyzes the mental processes of individual. Demonstration of psychology is important because some people mix sociology with psychology. Psychology deals with nature of individual whereas other term deals with the nature of society. Psychology renders benefits to the society by making several researches on particular cases. These cases are done for the purpose of understanding individuals and groups. Those who are professional in this field are generally called psychologists, could also be named as cognitive scientists, social scientists. Let’s say some few words about the history of psychology. Psychology originated from Greece, Egypt, and Persia. Basically those countries ancient civilization contributed a lot in the study of psychology. Plato, Aristotle are the first dominant legends in the study of psychology. As a main difference between sociology and psychology is that psychology deals with human nature, how they are working, cause and effect, on the other hand sociology deals with the whole society. Key similarity is that both of those are science of attitude, behavior.

Sociologists

Some Sociologists

Sociologists are the persons who usually study behaviors of human and the trends, norms, customs, rituals of the Society. Before talking about Sociologists, it would be rude if some famous names of Sociologists are not mentioned. There are many who have significant impact on the field of sociology, among them Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, George Simmel, Auguste Comte (father of Sociology), Karl Marx are the most powerful contributors. Along these Sociologists, many other sociologists have contributed and still contributing to the field of Sociology. According to Oxford Dictionary “Sociologist is a person who studies sociology”. Sociology covers everything in a society, in a word everything. Sociology deals with war, education, marriage, population, social class and on and on. Therefore different sociologists have interest in different sectors. Certain sociologists emphasizes on his/her respective sector. They observe satiations in different way than any normal person. They try to go to as depth as possible into the subject matter. Their research is also very important for society as well as for the people of the society. In their research they find cause, effect, classification, feasibility and many more aspects of the subjects. We could know about our ancient history, development, different class, race, norms of various regions by the blessing of the research done by many hard working Sociologists. Numbers of sociologists are increasing day by day. Even now in many rural areas around the world, people are thriving to protect their own inherited culture. As different culture prevails in different soil, people think differently, demand for Sociologists is inevitable.