Sociology

Sociology is the study of human society. It is a branch of the social science, perhaps a term which uses various methods of practical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social activity. For many Sociologists, the goal is to apply answers for the social wellbeing. The subject matter of Sociology ranges from the micro level of the individual agency and interaction to the macro level of the systems and groups that constitute a social structure. Sociology is both typically and methodologically a very broad discipline.

Its traditional focuses include social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, deviance, medical sociology and sociological social psychology. The range of social scientific methods has also broadly expanded according to the fast changing world. Social researchers draw upon a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques to conclude to a result. Sociology should not be confused with various general social studies courses which bear no relation to classical social theory and social science research methodology.

The concept of sociology

The father of Sociology is August Comte, a French philosopher, termed the word “Sociology” derived from the Latin word "socius" meaning "companion" and "ology" meaning the "study of" and the Greek word "logos" meaning "knowledge".

Sociology enables us to understand the organization and dynamics of society, and their complex relations to patterns of human behavior and individual life changes. It examines the ways in which the forms of social structure- groups, organizations, communities, social classes such as class, sex, age or race and various social institutions such as kinship, economic, political or religious affect human attitudes, actions and opportunities.

The Sociological Perspective

C. Wright Mills writes, "When I think of Sociological perspective, the word which comes to my mind is "Sociological Imagination" which describes a sociological mindset in regards to being able to connect individual experiences to societal relationships". Sociological perspective is generally tied to one of the Paradigms of Sociology which are Conflict, Functionalism and Symbolic Interactionalism.