The four dimensions of sociology according to auguste comte
Answers
Hi dear user@Shivam1214
He advocated four methods in the new science of social physics:
(1) observation, (2) experimentation, (3) comparison, and (4) historical
analysis.
1.Observation
For Comte, positivism was based on use of the senses to observe
social facts —a term that the next great French theorist, Émile
Durkheim, made the center of his sociology. Much of Comte’s
discussion of observation involves arguments for the “subordination
of Observation to the statical and dynamical laws of phenomena”
13 rather than a statement on the procedures by which unbiased
observations should be conducted. He argued that observation of
empirical facts, when unguided by theory, will prove useless in the
development of science. He must be given credit, however, for firmly
establishing sociology as a science of social facts, thereby liberating
thought from the debilitating realm of morals and metaphysical
speculation.
2.Experimentation
Comte recognized that artificial experimentation with whole
societies, and other social phenomena, was impractical and often
impossible. But, he noted, natural experimentation frequently
“takes place whenever the regular course of the phenomenon is
interfered with in any determinate manner.” 14 In particular, he
thought that, much as is the case in biology, pathological events
allowed “the true equivalent of pure experimentation” in that they
introduced an artificial condition and allowed investigators to see
normal processes reassert themselves in the face of the pathological
condition. Much as the biologist can learn about normal bodily
functioning from the study of disease, so also social physicists
can learn about the normal processes of society from the study
of pathological cases. Thus, although Comte’s view of “natural
experimentation” was certainly deficient in the logic of the experimental
method, it nonetheless fascinated subsequent generations
of scholars.
3. Comparison
Just as comparative analysis had been useful in biology, comparison
of social forms with those of lower animals, with coexisting
states, and with past systems could also generate considerable insight
into the operation of the social universe. By comparing elements that
are present and absent, and similar or dissimilar, knowledge about
the fundamental properties of the social world can be achieved.
4.Historical Analysis
Comte originally classified historical analysis as a variation of the
comparative method (i.e., comparing the present with the past).
But his “law of the three stages” emphasized that the laws of social
dynamics could ultimately be developed only with careful observations
of the historical movement of societies.
In sum, then, Comte saw these four basic methods as appropriate to
sociological analysis. His formulation of the methods is quite deficient
by modern standards, but we should recognize that before Comte,
little attention had been paid to how social facts were to be collected.
Thus, although the specifics of Comte’s methodological proposals are
not always useful, their spirit and intent are important. Social physics
was, in his vision, to be a theoretical science capable of formulating
and testing the laws of social organization and change. His formulation
of sociology’s methods added increased credibility to this claim.
Hope this helps u.
pls note: IF U R NOT SATISFIED BY THIS ANS FEEL FREE TO REPORT IT PLS SO THAT THIS ANS WILL BE DELETED BY SOME MODERATORS.
TYSM.