What is sociology?

Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions. Sociology’s subject matter
is diverse, ranging from crime to religion, from the family to the state, from the divisions of race
and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture, and from social stability to radical
change in whole societies. Unifying the study of these diverse subjects of study is sociology’s
purpose of understanding how human action and consciousness both shape and are shaped by
surrounding cultural and social structures.
Sociology is an exciting and illuminating field of study that analyzes and explains important
matters in our personal lives, our communities, and the world. At the personal level, sociology
investigates the social causes and consequences of such things as romantic love, racial and
gender identity, family conflict, deviant behavior, aging, and religious faith. At the societal level,
sociology examines and explains matters like crime and law, poverty and wealth, prejudice and
discrimination, schools and education, business firms, urban community, and social
movements. At the global level, sociology studies such phenomena as population growth and
migration, war and peace, and economic development.
Sociologists emphasize the careful gathering and analysis of evidence about social life to
develop and enrich our understanding of key social processes. The research methods
sociologists use are varied. Sociologists observe the everyday life of groups, conduct large-
scale surveys, interpret historical documents, analyze census data, study video-taped
interactions, interview participants of groups, and conduct laboratory experiments. The research
methods and theories of sociology yield powerful insights into the social processes shaping
human lives and social problems and prospects in the contemporary world. By better
understanding those social processes, we also come to understand more clearly the forces
shaping the personal experiences and outcomes of our own lives. The ability to see and
understand this connection between broad social forces and personal experiences — what C.
Wright Mills called “the sociological imagination” — is extremely valuable academic preparation
for living effective and rewarding personal and professional lives in a changing and complex
society.
Students who have been well trained in sociology know how to think critically about human
social life, and how to ask important research questions. They know how to design good social
research projects, carefully collect and analyze empirical data, and formulate and present their
research findings. Students trained in sociology also know how to help others understand the
way the social world works and how it might be changed for the better. Most generally, they
have learned how to think, evaluate, and communicate clearly, creatively, and effectively. These
are all abilities of tremendous value in a wide variety of vocational callings and professions.
Sociology offers a distinctive and enlightening way of seeing and understanding the social world
in which we live and which shapes our lives. Sociology looks beyond normal, taken-for-granted
views of reality, to provide deeper, more illuminating and challenging understandings of social
life. Through its particular analytical perspective, social theories, and research methods,
sociology is a discipline that expands our awareness and analysis of the human social
relationships, cultures, and institutions that profoundly shape both our lives and human history.
Where is the word sociology derived from?
Sociology is the study of society, patterns of social relationships, social
interaction and culture of everyday life using the principles
of psychology neuroscience and network science.[1][2][3][4] It is a social science that uses various
methods of empirical investigation[5] and critical analysis[6] to develop a body of knowledge
about social order, acceptance, and change or social evolution. While some sociologists
conduct research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, others focus primarily
on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes. Subject matter ranges from
the micro-sociology level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and
the social structure.

What is sociology according to sociologists?

Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions. Sociology’s subject matter
is diverse, ranging from crime to religion, from the family to the state, from the divisions of race
and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture, and from social stability to radical
change in whole societies. Unifying the study of these diverse subjects of study is sociology’s
purpose of understanding how human action and consciousness both shape and are shaped by
surrounding cultural and social structures.\

What is society?
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social
group sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the
same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by
patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a
distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such
relationships among its constituent of members. In the social sciences, a larger society often
exhibits stratification or dominance patterns in subgroups.
Societies construct patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or speech as acceptable or
unacceptable. These patterns of behavior within a given society are known as societal norms.
Societies, and their norms, undergo gradual and perpetual changes.
Insofar as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would not
otherwise be possible on an individual basis; both individual and social (common) benefits can
thus be distinguished, or in many cases found to overlap. A society can also consist of like-
minded people governed by their own norms and values within a dominant, larger society. This
is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term used extensively within criminology.
More broadly, and especially within structuralist thought, a society may be illustrated as
an economic, social, industrial or cultural infrastructure, made up of, yet distinct from, a varied
collection of individuals. In this regard society can mean the objective relationships people have
with the material world and with other people, rather than "other people" beyond the individual
and their familiar social environment.

What is culture?
Culture is the patterns of learned and shared behavior and beliefs of a particular social, ethnic,
or age group. It can also be described as the complex whole of collective human beliefs with a
structured stage of civilization that can be specific to a nation or time period. Humans in turn use
culture to adapt and transform the world they live in.

What is Sociological Perspective?

Adapted from I. Robertson, Sociology, NY: Worth Pub. 1981)

The basic insight of sociology is that human behavior is shaped by the groups to which people
belong and by the social interaction that takes place within those groups. We are who we are
and we behave the way we do because we happen to live in a particular society at a particular
point in space and time. People tend to accept their social world unquestioningly, as something
"natural." But the sociological perspective enables us to see society as a temporary social
product, created by human beings and capable of being changed by them as well.

The sociological perspective invites us to look at our familiar surroundings in a fresh way. It
encourages us to take a new look at the world we have always taken for granted, to examine
our social environment with the same curiosity that we might bring to an exotic foreign culture.

The study of sociology leads us into areas of society that we might otherwise have ignored or
misunderstood. Since our world view is shaped by our personal experience and since people
with different social experiences have different definitions of social reality, sociology helps us to
appreciate viewpoints other than our own and to understand how these viewpoints came into
being.

Sociology also helps us understand ourselves better. Without the sociological perspective
(which has been called the "sociological imagination"), people see the world through their
limited experience of a small orbit of family, friends, co-workers. The sociological imagination
allows us to stand apart mentally from our limited experience and see the link between private
concerns and social issues. It permits us to trace the connection between the patterns and
events of our own and the patterns and events of our society.