Q.3. What is the reason and how did Industrial sociology develop in our country. (AKTU. 2011 - 12)
Ans. The relations which exist within the field of management, the relations between managers and owners, and the relations between managers of different industrial concerns and between owners of different industrial concerns-all are of great importance and deserve more than the meager study that is being devoted to them today. Industrial managements require that sociological and psychological research yield a set of management and supervisory techniques which could be used to prevent workplace conflict and raise productivity. Interest in Industrial Sociology got crystallized in the seventies. Though its potential applications still impinge on the subject, interests in industrial work situations, and related concerns has increased the chances of the subject being given more importance than was given earlier.
A great deal of research in the subject has been about factory workers and factory work situations. These findings need to be generalized in order to be applied to non-factory work as well. The causal effects of workplace factors have been over-emphasized, especially technology and production methods, on worker and management behavior both inside and outside the plant. The emphasis on technology and methods of work organization has provided an important rationale for describing studies of non-factory work as industrial sociology.
In recent years, the need for industrial sociologists to begin their inquiries outside the factory gates has been emphasized by a disparate range of studies which suggest that the effect of technology, work organization, and other workplace variables, is also culturally and socially specific.
Comparative surveys have examined factories with identical technologies, in different nations and cultures. The findings show that it is these factors (especially politics and the industrial relations system) rather than technology or organization, which exert the primary influence on behavior, even within the plants themselves. Other comparative research has suggested that labor-management practices, job structures, training, skills, and supervision are all profoundly affected by the complex of political, legal, and educational regulation in a society, even to the extent of shaping overall national economic performance. Again, industrial sociology as such tends to be absorbed, this time into historical and comparative research on patterns of industrial culture.
Applications of Industrial Sociology include
1. Industrial Sociology can be used to conduct studies on Trade Unions.
2. Industrial Sociology can be used to conduct studies in Industrial Relations.
3. Industrial Sociology can be taught as a Subject at the post-graduate level.
4. It can be used in Training of manpower in order to staff the upcoming Institutes of Sociology.
5.Knowledge of Industrial Sociology can create trained staff to conduct research and training for collecting information about the impact of the various community Development Programmes, Parichayati Raj etc.
Q.4. How does sociology differs from psychology and anthropology. (AKTU. 2009 - 10)
Related Questions -
Q. Differentiate between Sociology and Anthropology. (AKTU. 2010 - 11)
Ans. Sociology is related with other disciplines that also deal with the study of society. The fields of economics, psychology, and anthropology have influenced and have been influenced by sociology and these fields share a great amount of history and common research interests. Unlike sociology, psychology and anthropology have forensic components within these disciplines that deal with anatomy and other types of laboratory research. Sociobiology is the study of how social behavior and organization has been influenced by evolution and other biological processes. The field blends sociology with a number of other sciences, such as anthropology, biology, zoology, and others. Sociology is also widely used in management science, especially in the field of organizational behavior.
The field of social anthropology has been historically quite close to sociology. Until about the first quarter of the 20th century, the two subjects were usually combined in one department. Anthropology and Sociology both deal with society but the only difference is that Social Anthropology mainly considers small states and their culture, but their area of studies is basically the same.
Industrial psychology, is a branch of psychology which studies human behaviour in industrial firms. Psychology is a normative science of behaviour which can be observed in the social, economic, educational and other spheres. Over the years, different branches of psychology have developed during the study of human behaviour in these various fields. In the present age of industrial progress, industries cannot be made to function without human beings, because individuals are required in the capacity of managers, administrators, programmers, workers, etc. And, wherever there are human beings, their behaviour will be influenced by their relationships. If, in the industrial field, human relations deteriorate, then the result is strikes and lockouts which have a widespread impact upon the economy of the nation. Since the future of every nation depends upon its industrial development and progress, this particular field of human behaviour becomes extremely important. It is the aim of industrial psychology to study the principles governing human behaviour in the organisational setting.
Industrial sociology studies problems concerning human relations in industry from the sociological point of view. There is a close relationship between industrial sociology and industrial psychology. Even when working in an industry, the individual is never alone because he constantly comes into contact with other workers, supervisors, managers and industrialists. In business, the worker has to deal with all kinds of people. For this reason it also becomes necessary to study the social foundations of industrial psychology. Efforts are being made to bring industrial organisation to a scientific level. The more progressive countries try to improve the social life of the workers by organising various kinds of social programmes. The following sociology and industrial psychology:
