Sociology
- The word sociology is derived from the Latin word “societus” meaning “society” and the Greek word “logus” meaning “study” or “science “.
- The etymological meaning of “sociology ” is thus the “science of society”.
- The term sociology was coined by Auguste Comte. Sociology is the study of social life and behaviour, especially in relation to social system, how they change the consequences they produce and their complex relations to people’s lives.
Rural Sociology
- It is that branch of sociology that studies rural societies.
For further understanding different sociologist has given their views in defining it. Some of the definitions are:
According to T.L Smith: Sociological facts and principles as they are derived from the study of rural social relationship may be referred to as a rural sociology.
According to D. Sanderson: Rural sociology is the sociology of life in the rural environment
According to F.S Chapin: The sociology of rural life is a study of rural population, rural social organization and the rural social processes operating in rural society.
According to A.R Desai: The prime objective of rural sociology should be to make a scientific, systematic, and comprehensive study of rural social organization, its structure, function, objective, and tendencies of development, and on the basis of such study to discover the laws of its development.
Thus, rural sociology is the mirror of rural social life. It provides a complete and detailed media for the knowledge of different aspect of rural life, its problem, its culture, its religion, its economic as well as political life.