Page 32 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Sociology of Kinship

Notes 3. Scattering of Documents: This is one of the defects of historical method that in this the
documents are scattered here and there and they are not available at one place.
4. Test or Repeatition of Facts or Events Impossible: Historical events are related to past
which can neither be repeated nor can be seen, they can only be understood on logical basis.
5. Calculation and Measurement not Possible: Since historical facts and events are related to
past, thus they can only be described, their measurement by statistics is not possible.
6. Lack of Uniformity: Regarding historical fact, there is no uniformity in the views of differ-
ent historians. Due to diversity in their views, it is difficult to know the actual state.
7. Unsuitable for Modern Society: By historical system we can study the societies of the past,
but several problems of modern period related to recent events, cannot be studied through
this system.
8. Vulnerability to Partiality: In studying by historical method, it is more vulnerable to per-
sonal partiality because every historian sees the events in his own view and its description
and conclusion is his own.
9. Use of Hypothetical Facts: In historical system ancient events, societies, institutions and
cultures are studied. Many times, we don’t have any evidence about its primitive state. In
such situation, a researcher can only predict about them which makes his study unscientific
and defective.
Besides, existence of above defects, this method is used in social science to join the present events
from past and to know about the origin and development of society, institution and culture.

Use of Historical Method in Sociology : Some Examples
There is a long list of scholars using historical system in sociology, but some of them are as
following—
August Comte has joined the development of society with mental development of human by
deserving the development of society on the basis of this system and said that each society pass-
es through the three stages of development-religious state, elemental state and scientific state.
Herbert Spensor has also described the development of society, difficulties in them, steps of
development and functions on the basis of historical state.
Max Waber has described the origin of modern capitalism and effect of religion on it on the
basis of cause and effect through the basis of this reason.
Wastermark has expressed the history of marriage of humans in his book ‘History of Human
Marriage’.
Openheimer in his book ‘The State’ and C. Right Mills made historical investigation of white
collar courtimind in America and Raymond Aero of struggle and war. Karl Marx has presented
the physical description of human history. His dialectical physical theory is based on this sys-
tem.

Self Assessment
Fill in the blanks :
1. Any social researcher who neglects __________ while analysing the modern period, takes a
high risk.
2. At the time of ____________ of facts, we should also consider the wealth and boundary.
3. Whitehead wrote: Its ___________ exists in each emerging character in modern period.

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