Sociology is a science of society that studies human behavior in groups. Anthropology is a science of man and studies human behavior in social surroundings. Thus it is clear that the subject matter of sociology and social anthropology is common to a great extent. Sociology and anthropology have highly influenced each other. Hoebel states that sociology and social anthropology in their broadest senses are one and the same. Evans Pritchard takes social anthropology as a branch of sociological studies that devotes to primitive societies. Radcliffe-Brown suggests that anthropology be renamed Comparative Sociology. Concerning the tendency in the United States, Levi-Strauss wants to regard sociology as a special form of anthropology.
Even though social anthropology and sociology share an interest in social relations, organization and behavior, there are important differences between these two disciplines. John Beattie (1964: 29) points out the difference in the area of study. He writes, " ...sociology is by definition concerned with the investigation and understanding of social relations, and with other data only in so far as they further this understanding, social anthropologists, although as we have seen they share this concern with sociologists, are interested also in other matters, such as people's beliefs and values, even where these cannot be shown to be directly connected with social behavior. In brief, social anthropologists are cultural anthropologists as well For example, people's religious and cosmological ideas do not necessarily reflect their social system, though it has sometimes been assumed that they do. And even where such relationships can be established, the anthropologist's interest in people's ideas is by no means exhausted when these connections have been pointed out. He is interested in their ideas and beliefs as well as in their social relationships, and in recent years many social anthropologists have studied other people's belief systems not simply from a sociological point of view, but also as being worthy of investigation in their own right."
Initially sociologists focus on industrial West; anthropologists, on non-industrial societies. Social systems studied by anthropologists are usually face-to-face in relation. It is true that a great deal of sociological research has been done in small groups, but these have usually been small groups in larger societies and not groups which are more or less coterminous with the whole society. This concern with social systems that are small in scale has led to a particular concern by social anthropologists with the idea of totality, the notion that societies are wholes, or at least can be studied as if they were.
Different methods of data collection and analysis emerged to deal with those different kinds of societies. To study large scale complex societies, sociologists use questionnaires and other means of gathering masses of quantifiable data. Sampling and statistical techniques have been basic to sociology. Traditional ethnographers studied small-scale societies without written records. One of their key methods is participant observation - taking part in events one is observing, describing and analyzing. In addition, social anthropologists have mostly worked in unfamiliar cultures. That is why in anthropological field work, a sound knowledge of the language of the community being studied is indispensible for a people's categories of thought and the forms of their language are inextricably bound together. Sociologists usually suggest means for improvement along with its study. In comparison, the study of anthropology is more neutral and the anthropologists do not offer suggestion.
Interdisciplinary collaboration is a hallmark of academic life today with ready borrowing of ideas and methods between disciplines. Among contemporary societies which are neither primitive or industrially advanced, of which India may be taken as an example, distinction between the two disciplines has little meaning. Both carried out studies on caste system, village communities, industrialization, globalization, inter-city life, etc. Again, anthropologists and sociologists share an interest in issues of race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and power relations in modern nations including the United States and Canada.
Source: http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/Anthropology/notes/relationships-with-other-disciplines.html
Even though social anthropology and sociology share an interest in social relations, organization and behavior, there are important differences between these two disciplines. John Beattie (1964: 29) points out the difference in the area of study. He writes, " ...sociology is by definition concerned with the investigation and understanding of social relations, and with other data only in so far as they further this understanding, social anthropologists, although as we have seen they share this concern with sociologists, are interested also in other matters, such as people's beliefs and values, even where these cannot be shown to be directly connected with social behavior. In brief, social anthropologists are cultural anthropologists as well For example, people's religious and cosmological ideas do not necessarily reflect their social system, though it has sometimes been assumed that they do. And even where such relationships can be established, the anthropologist's interest in people's ideas is by no means exhausted when these connections have been pointed out. He is interested in their ideas and beliefs as well as in their social relationships, and in recent years many social anthropologists have studied other people's belief systems not simply from a sociological point of view, but also as being worthy of investigation in their own right."
Initially sociologists focus on industrial West; anthropologists, on non-industrial societies. Social systems studied by anthropologists are usually face-to-face in relation. It is true that a great deal of sociological research has been done in small groups, but these have usually been small groups in larger societies and not groups which are more or less coterminous with the whole society. This concern with social systems that are small in scale has led to a particular concern by social anthropologists with the idea of totality, the notion that societies are wholes, or at least can be studied as if they were.
Different methods of data collection and analysis emerged to deal with those different kinds of societies. To study large scale complex societies, sociologists use questionnaires and other means of gathering masses of quantifiable data. Sampling and statistical techniques have been basic to sociology. Traditional ethnographers studied small-scale societies without written records. One of their key methods is participant observation - taking part in events one is observing, describing and analyzing. In addition, social anthropologists have mostly worked in unfamiliar cultures. That is why in anthropological field work, a sound knowledge of the language of the community being studied is indispensible for a people's categories of thought and the forms of their language are inextricably bound together. Sociologists usually suggest means for improvement along with its study. In comparison, the study of anthropology is more neutral and the anthropologists do not offer suggestion.
Interdisciplinary collaboration is a hallmark of academic life today with ready borrowing of ideas and methods between disciplines. Among contemporary societies which are neither primitive or industrially advanced, of which India may be taken as an example, distinction between the two disciplines has little meaning. Both carried out studies on caste system, village communities, industrialization, globalization, inter-city life, etc. Again, anthropologists and sociologists share an interest in issues of race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and power relations in modern nations including the United States and Canada.
Source: http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/Anthropology/notes/relationships-with-other-disciplines.html
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