There is a cement of truth in what the critics say. Indeed, a scientific study of social phenomena is not free from difficulties. Social studies, by their very nature, cannot perhaps be as exact or natural as physical sciences.

But the critics overtook their case when they deny any possibility of becoming scientific. Perhaps they assume that exactness of conclusions and capacity to period alone makes a study scientific. This betrays a rather in adequate comprehension of the nature of science.

Meteorology falls to make accurate prediction. Shall we deny it the designation of science? In other words, universal validity of conclusions and a complete accuracy of prediction are not the criteria of science; what determines the scientific character of a discipline is its methodology, if the methods of a study are scientific, the subject deserves the rank of a science. Sociology does make use of scientific methods in the study of its subject matter and it is therefore, entitled to be called a science.

Firstly, though Sociology cannot experiment with men directly in a laboratory its social behaviorism amenable to scientific investigation as any other natural phenomenon.

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It is conducting many experiments indirect with their consent in certain specific fields, particularly, in the fields of industry. Mareo Sociology does employ scientific methods as scales of Sociometry, Schedule questionnaire. Interview and Case History which apply quantitative measurements to social phenomenon and which are, therefore” comparable to the method of experimentation, for instance

Secondly, two other basic methods of scientific investigation, observation and comparison, are readily available to the sociologist and he uses them all the time.

Thirdly, all the physical sciences do not employ laboratory experimentation. Astronomy, for exam cannot experiment with its materials. Newton and Archimides did not invent their laws in the laboratories, the obstacles placed in the way of sociologist come not from the subject-matter itself but from the limitations placed on him by his own society.

Fourthly, Sociology does frame laws and attempts to predict. It endeavours to discover laws that are generally applicable, regardless of variations in culture; for instance, the taw that the social practices of a community are considered right by the group because they are in the ‘mores’; not that the practices are in the ‘mores’ because they are right; that people always regulate marriage in such a manner as to prevent incest.

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These are the principles whose validity can be examined by anyone. They are universal. Moreover, no science can boast of making infallible predictions. Many of the theories established by the other sciences had to be modified with the change of time.

According to Cuvler, the predictive value of sociology is being improved. There is a good deal of approximate information on family relationships and the personality of children. As sociology matures and comes to understand more fully the principles underlying human behaviour it will be in a better position to make accurate prediction.

Fifthly, Sociology delineates cause-effect relationships. In its study of family it has traced the relationship between family disorganisation and divorce, between urbanisation and family disorganisation as one of the causes of divorce.

Lastly, if we accept “science” in the sense in which it has been defined by philosophers like Cuvier, Pearson, Giddings and others, it will invalidate objections to Sociology being regarded as a science.

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According to Cuvier, J. F., “The science is the method of discovery of the uniformities in the universe, through the process of observation and re-observation, the result of which eventually comes to be stated in principle and arranged and organised into the fields of knowledge.

“Sociology, then, is a scientific discipline which obeys the demands of validity Implied by the word science, “it studies its subject-matter scientifically. It tries to classify types and forms of social relationships, especially of institutions and associations.

It tries to determine the relations between different parts or factors of social life. It tries to deduce general laws from a systematic study of its material and the conclusions drawn from the study of sociological principles are applied to the solution of social problems.

Sociology is thus as much a science as social psychology, clinical psychology and other sciences concerning man. Though it has not reached perfection, the sociologist is searching for the instruments which will add to the minuteness of the study and exactness of its principles. Comte described it as Social Physics.