Basics of Sociology
Different sociologists have classified sociological theory into different types. According to Boskoff in a volume entitled “modern sociological theory” classified into two types. Social theory and Non-social theory. Humans identify the two types of theory, The Normative Theory and Non-normative theory. Non-Normative theory is further classified into, Structural, Functional and Psychological theories
The construction and formulation of a sociological theory is very old but in past, there was no systematic and organized method for its formulation and verification. The theorists were unable to know that either their theories are valid or invalid but today there is a standard of verification of theories.
Social thought is a philosophical and intellectual ideas of a person or persons regarding to a particular time, place and about the growth, development and decay of human societies. Social thought is a current social thinking about the structure and functions of a social system.
According to Max Weber Bureaucracy Theory, all organizations have limited human freedom in order to be efficient. The organization tries to compel the members to obey the rules of the organization which results in loss of individual freedom. According to Weber, an organization has power to reward for good actions and punish for bad actions. For this purpose it will clear to know about the needs and demands of the individuals.
Max Weber’s another contribution in the field of sociology is the theory of religion. The basic theme of Weber’s sociology of religion is that there is direct link b/w the economic system and the practical ethics of community. These two are interdependent on each other. The influence of both is positive.
Social organization is the functioning view of the social institutions. It is the network of different social institutions. Max Weber define social organization in terms of social class. A social class is based on power and economic status. So, power is the capacity to achieve one’s objective with ease. He further classifies power into two types i.e. economic power and general power is based on the social status of an individual.
Max Weber has evolved the concept of “ideal-types are neither experimental mathematical models nor theories for Max Weber the ideal type contains both conceptual and observational materials. In Max Weber’s classification of action, the ideal type was purely rational action. Thus the idea of a person about an action is called ideal type.
The concept of social action is the center of all social ideas of Max Weber. According to his all social concepts joined the central conception of social action. He defines social action theory, “social action is that action of an individual which is influenced by the actions and behavior of other persons and by which its direction determined”.
Max Weber has defined sociology in his own way. Weber’s definition is found on his book, “The theory of social and economic organization”. He defined sociology as, “sociology is the science which attempts to explain social action in order to arrive at the causal explanation of its results”. In simple words sociology is that science of social action which is related to the causal explanation of human behavior”.
Max Weber was born in Erfurt, Germany, on April 21, 1864. He belonged to an ideal class family and have a great influence on his intellectual and psychological development. His father was a bureaucrat and rose to a relatively important political position. He was a part of the political establishment. At the age of eighteen, max Weber left home for a short time to attend the University of Heidelberg.