Sociology in the system of social sciences occupies a separate place. This is due primarily to the fact that she studies social relations, patterns of functioning and mechanisms of development of social communities. In addition, it acts as a methodology and theory for most humanitarian disciplines. A variety of processes and phenomena occurring in public life, led to the need to consider social reality as a multi-level system. Therefore, we can say that the structure of sociology is multi-stage.
It must be understood that the structure of sociological knowledge is the ordering of knowledge about society as a dynamically developing system that includes interconnected ideas, views about the processes taking place in it. That is why the subject and structure of sociology are closely intertwined. The subject of sociology is society as a single system with properties and connections in the structure of social relations.
Currently, there are different approaches that allow you to determine the number of levels of sociology. For example, with the simplest approach, science is divided into fundamental and applied. According to other theories, the structure of sociology is determined by seven levels. These include: theories and methodological foundations, specialized knowledge, the applied level and related to socioengineering, sociological research, methods aimed at obtaining sociological information, as well as knowledge about the organization of specialized services.
However, the three-level structure of sociology in the current period is the most relevant. It provides for such levels as theoretical, special, empirical.
The theoretical level includes sociology, which is aimed at an objective scientific study of your subject in order to obtain theoretical knowledge about it. At this level, a causal explanation of the facts by the laws of society, as well as forecasting of the possible outcome of events, takes place. The knowledge gained allows us to establish a connection between individual social subsystems. The structure of sociology at this level has the following components:
- A system of general and specialized laws that display typical, stable ties in society and its institutions.
- The system of certain axioms and postulates about the social side of society.
- The logic of evidence and related findings, which are used to justify forecasts and trends.
- Justification of approaches regarding the subject and subject of science.
- A system of methods and procedures of cognition, with the help of which the completeness of descriptions and predictions of social phenomena is ensured.
The intermediate level of special sociology determines its scientific functions. It is based on the categorical apparatus, as well as the principles that determine the holistic direction of science, at the same time they acquire standard methods of obtaining knowledge, a special theory. This is a transition from
theoretical foundations to empirical research, respectively, there is a synthesis of two levels of cognition. So, for example, if at the first level a person is a totality of social relations, then in a special theory this concept is detailed and refined. Accordingly, a person begins to be seen as a carrier of social roles, which determine its place in the system of social relations.
The structure of sociology at the third level allows us to establish the relationship between a large number of dependent variables. Variables are understood to be phenomena, processes that can be represented as a variable. Empirical sociology aims to conduct research using methods, techniques and special methods. With its help, it becomes possible to give a more complete description of the facts collected.