Sociological Terms and Concepts

Abstract

The word ‘sociology’ was used first by a Frenchman, Auguste Comte, in 1838 to describe what he called ‘the science of the associated life of humanity’. Many people before Comte had studied aspects of society in a systematic way but Comte sought to establish Sociology as a distinct discipline; in fact he regarded it as the most important science, at the top of a hierarchy of science of increasing complexity. On the other hand some people do not regard Sociology as a science at all, but as a way of wrapping up the obvious in complex terms.