SOC201 Lecture-wise Notes Lectures 1-13

SOC 201 - Lecture notes 1-13

elements of sociology (Federal University Oye-Ekiti)

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SOC 201 - Lecture notes 1-13

elements of sociology (Federal University Oye-Ekiti)

Scan to open on Studocu

Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university

SOC 201

IS SOCIOLOGY A SCIENCE?

What is Science?

Science (from Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge") is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

1. Ely Chinoy (1967) in his book titled, “Society” sees science as anybody of knowledge based upon reliable observations and organized into a system of general propositions or laws. It can also be defined as the methods by which systematic and accurate knowledge about the “real” world is acquired (Chinoy, 1967:4). The advanced Learner’s Oxford Dictionary defined science as the study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world and society especially through observation and experiment. Science, according to social science Encyclopedia is said to be concerned with observation, description, definition, classification, measurement, experimentation, generalization, explanation, prediction, evaluation and control of the world ( :84 ).
2. Mark (1993) in his book Foundations of Social Science Researches argued that careful observation, hypothesis formulation, experimentation, verification and theory formulation as characteristics of science.
3. The Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, defines science as knowledge attained through study or practice," or "knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, especially as obtained and tested through scientific method and concerned with the physical world. This definition makes science to look passive as if all scientific discovery, fact or ideas have been completely exhausted and there is nothing new to learnagain but certainly this is not what science is, rather itis adynamic activity that is ever expanding, where new discovery are made every day and new facts are emerging to enrich what we have already known. There are other definitions of science and this will be explained as follows:
4. Science can be defined as a method of quantifying the world by applying the principles of the scientific method, which consist of making empirical observations, proposing hypotheses to explain those observations, and testing those hypotheses in valid and reliable ways. Furthermore science is the study of the material universe or physical reality in order to understand it. This is done by making observations and collecting data about natural events and conditions, then organizing and explaining them with hypotheses, theories, models, laws, and principles. Also science can be the study of a particular branch of either the process of study or the body of knowledge, such as astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and physics. Etc.
5. Sciencecan be defined as systematic pursuit of knowledge following careful rules of research, going on to be faithful to facts and cautious of conclusions. (Baines 1974, Aluko, 2014) asserted that science is the most elaborate and systematic of all forms of knowledge and the least anthropomorphic, in many ways it is the easiest of all forms of knowledge, and it is assessable and far most unconstrained by norms of secrecy or restricted access.

The Webster’s 1913 Dictionary defined science with this parenthesis:

•  Science is knowledge; knowledge of principles and causes; ascertained truth of facts.
•  Science is the accumulated and established knowledge, which has been systematized and formulated with reference to the discovery of general truths or the operation of general laws; knowledge classified and made available in work, life, or the search for truth; comprehensive, profound, or philosophical knowledge. Especially, such knowledge when it relates to the physical world and its phenomena, the nature, constitution, and forces of matter, the qualities and functions of living tissues, etc.; -- called also {natural science}, and {physical science}.
•  Science is any branch or department of systematized knowledge considered as a distinct field of investigation or object of study; as, the science of astronomy, of chemistry, or of mind. Studies have shown that the ancient’s reckoned seven sciences, namely, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy; -- the first three being included in the Trivium, the remaining four in the Quadrivium.