Relationship between Sociology and History

Relationship between Sociology and History

As a mother of social sciences, sociology has close and intimate relationship with all other social sciences. It has close relationship with history, because present society bears symbols of past. Relationship between the two is so close and intimate that scholars like G. Von Bulow have refused to acknowledge sociology as a science distinct from history.

Similarities:

1. Both sociology and history study the same human society.
2. Both sociology and history are social science disciplines.
3. Sociology and history both are concerned with human activities and events.
4. History helps and enriches Sociology. History is the store house of knowledge from which Sociology gained a lot. History provides materials sociologists use. History is a record of past social matters, social customs and information about different stages of life. Sociology uses this information.
5. Similarly Sociology also provides help to history and enriches it. A historian greatly benefited from the research conducted by Sociologists. Historians now study caste, class and family by using sociological data. Sociology provides the background for the study of history.
6. Now history is being studied from Sociological angle. Every historical event has a social cause or social background. To understand that historical event history need the help from Sociology and Sociology helps history in this respect. Sociology provides facts on which historians rely on.
7. Apart from philosophy today the historian is considerably depending upon sociological concepts and narrations. Modern historiography and modern sociology have been influenced by each other.

Thus history and Sociology are mutually dependent on each other. History is now being studied from Sociological angle and Sociology also now studied from historical point of view. Historical sociology now became a new branch of Sociology which depends on history. Similarly Sociological history is another specialized subject which based on both the Sciences.

Differences:

The two social sciences History and Sociology are different. The points of difference between the two may be noted.

1. Sociology is a science of society and is concerned with the present society. But history deals with the past events and studies the past society.
2. Sociology is a modern or new subject whereas history is an older social science.
3. Sociology is abstract whereas history is concrete in nature.
4. The scope of Sociology is very wide whereas the scope of history is limed. Sociology includes history within its scope.
5. Sociology is an analytical science whereas history is a descriptive science.
6. Attitude of sociology and history differ from each other. Sociology studies a particular event as a social phenomenon whereas history studies a particular event in it’s entirely.
7. Sociology is a general science whereas history is a special science.