Sociology : A – Experimental Science
Pareto’s main effort in his scientific studies was to find the means by which irrational grounds affecting human behavior could be discussed from a logical point of view. Pareto never agreed with Weblin and other scholars who wanted to analyze human behavior on the basis of economic principles. opposite of this , Pareto believed that economic theories themselves should be discussed on the basis of sociological concepts. Through this approach, those characteristics related to human behavior can be understood correctly, in the discussion of which economic analysis and many other abstract theories have been proved. In this context, Pareto made it clear that the development of sociological theories must be based on such a rationale which can give the right direction to economic and political thought.
What can be the form of sociology? Clarifying this, Pareto wrote that sociology is that social science whose main function is to obtain a logical-experimental basis for analyzing the irrational actions of individuals. From this point of view, sociology should study those motivations which influence the irrational actions of people as a means of social life. Sociology is that social science whose main function is to obtain a logical-experimental basis for analyzing the irrational actions of individuals. From this point of view, sociology should study those motivations which influence the irrational actions of people as a means of social life. Sociology is that social science whose main function is to obtain a logical-experimental basis for analyzing the irrational actions of individuals. From this point of view, sociology should study those motivations which influence the irrational actions of people as a means of social life.
This is the reason that many scholars have addressed Pareto’s sociology as ‘Psychological Sociology’. The reality is that the concepts with the help of which Pareto tried to give a new form to socio-classical thinking, there must be some degree of psychological elements in them, but basically his sociology is called ‘coordinating sociology’. The same can be said. This science is synergistic from the point of view that only through this the bases affecting human behavior can be understood which are not possible to study by other social sciences. Even after this, various social sciences are related to sociology because they can help sociology to know the effect of various factors through their studies and can also benefit from sociological concepts themselves. Thus Pareto wanted to develop a science in the form of sociology in which logical theories could be developed on the basis of similarities of different types of social phenomena.
Thus Pareto named his sociology as ‘Logical Experimental Science’. The reason for this is that as a science it can be developed only with the help of logical experimental method.
Logico – Experimental Method
Being primarily a graduate of science, Pareto believed that sociology could be developed as a science only if it had a scientific method of its own. Before Pareto, many scholars had emphasized on adopting the method of physical sciences for socio-classical studies, but Pareto in his book ‘Treatments on General Sociology’ called the methods described by Kaut, Spencer and many other scholars as ‘false scientism’ ( Opposed them, giving the name of Pseudo-Scientism. Pareto was of the clear opinion that the methods by which the subject matter of physical sciences are studied are not suitable for sociological studies. The method which is needed for scientific sociology is observation. It should be related to objective experiences and reasoned conclusions drawn from them. In fact, sociology is a syncretic science, so the study related to it should be based on observation and testing. Pareto named this method of study as ‘Taqik experimental method’. The Italian word ‘Experienza’ used by Pareto refers not to experiments to be done purely, but to observation and, when necessary, that controlled observation with the help of which the results obtained can be substantiated.
Thus, logical-experimental is that method which gives importance to the experiments based on observation and has the ability to prove the results obtained from them by reasoning. According to Pareto, the meaning of logic is that the correlation between different events is found on the basis of observation, The results obtained from it should be presented authentically. The word experimental includes the characteristics of both observation and experiment. Natural sciences are experimental because the concepts related to them can be developed only through experiments, unlike them, for sociological studies, controlled observation can be considered as a supplement to the experiment.
From this point of view, for Sociology, the experimental method is a method by which empirical similarities or regular relations living between different facts can be found. On the above basis, Pareto clarified that sociology can be developed as a science only when various social phenomena are studied on the basis of experience, facts are examined by observation and experiment and found between different facts. Logical rules should be made on the basis of the observed similarities. In other words, it can be said that facts or phenomena which cannot be studied on the basis of observation and examination, should be kept separate from sociological study. It is possible that the results obtained by this method are contrary to common beliefs, but the purpose of science is to present the real laws, Not satisfying people’s feelings. The characteristics on the basis of which Pareto clarified the nature of the Takik-experimental method can be briefly understood as follows:
(1) Emperical – According to Pareto, the logical-experimental method is concerned with presenting only true facts. True facts are only those which are obtained by observation or examination and so that their truth can be proved. Thus, by this method those facts which are outside the scope of observation, examination and reasoning cannot be studied.
(2) Emotion – Inferiority (Non-Ethical) – There is no place for personal feelings or emotions in the practical method. The reason for this is that the facts obtained from observation or experiments can be explained only on the basis of logic and not on the basis of emotion. This means that this method is not concerned with any imaginary idea or misconception of ‘what should be’ but emphasizes on presenting facts ‘as-is’. Pareto accepted that this is possible due to the predominance of observation or observation in this method. That various arguments should be presented on the basis of the personal feelings of the student, that is why he suggests that it is very important for the studyer to avoid any such fault.
(3) Simplicity – According to Pareto, simplicity is an essential quality of science. This means that the results obtained by this method
They should be discussed in a simple manner. Logical-experimental method is related to presenting facts in a simple way in the same way as this work is done in natural sciences. Simplicity is mainly related to orderliness, succinct presentation and clarity of thought.
(4) Study of Unknown Facts – Pareto. It holds that “the scientific method of study is to interpret unknown facts by means of known facts.” Let it be explained. In other words it can be said that it is a wrong way to understand the characteristics of the present society on the basis of the characteristics of the past. If we know what are the characteristics of the present society, then on the basis of this we can understand our past also in a more authentic way. Thus Pareto said that by understanding the known facts of present society through logical-experimental method, we can also understand those facts of the past which have remained unknown till now.
(5) Search of Dependable Factors According to Pareto, no single factor is responsible for social events. Every event in society is related to many other events. Thus it cannot be accepted that any social phenomenon is the result of any one factor. The logical-experimental method is concerned with the search for factors that can be considered more dependable or reliable for analysis and analysis. Referring to this feature, Pareto suggested that dependent factors can be discovered only through experiments done by controlled observation.
(6) Quantitative Analysis – From his early life, Pareto considered mathematics as the language of science. From this point of view, he considered the use of mathematics necessary under the practical method. This means that Pareto was not in favor of qualitative study of society, rather he gave more importance to the computational or statistical analysis of social facts under this method. From the nature of sociology as a logical-experimental science presented by Pareto, it is clear that you are not ready to accept any such theory, fact or rule under sociology which cannot be proved by experimental method. Can it In other words, individualistic Emotion-oriented and highly ethical facts are outside the subject matter of sociology. Pareto accepted that some facts which are outside the logical-experimental method can sometimes be useful for social life but they cannot be called true or real. Thus whatever is useful, even if it is true, it is not necessary. On this basis Pareto concluded that sociology can be made scientific only on the basis of logical-experimental method.