Noun

Singular sociology

Plural sociologies

sociology (plural sociologies)

1. The study of society, human social interaction, and the rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, and institutions

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social activity, often with the goal of applying such knowledge to the pursuit of social welfare. Subject matter ranges from the micro level of agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and social structures.

Sociology is both topically and methodologically a very broad discipline. Its traditional focuses have included social stratification (i.e., "class"), social mobility, religion, secularization, law, and deviance, while approaches have included both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. As all spheres of human activity are sculpted by social structure and individual agency, sociology has gradually expanded its focus to further subjects, such as medical, military and penal institutions, the Internet, and even the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge. The range of social scientific methods has also broadly expanded. The linguistic and cultural turns of the mid-twentieth century led to increasingly interpretative, hermeneutic, and philosophic approaches to the analysis of society. Conversely, recent decades have seen the rise of new mathematically and computationally rigorous techniques, such as agent-based modelling and social network analysis.

Sociology

Quotes by Famous Sociologists

• Obviously something is wrong with the entire argument of "obviousness".
  • Paul Lazarsfeld, 1949, about the interpretation of results in social science as obvious.
  • "The American Soldier — An Expository Review", Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 377-404, 380
• "Myth does not set out to give lessons in natural science any more than in morals or sociology."
  • François-Bernard Mâche (1983, 1992). Music, Myth and Nature, or The Dolphins of Arion (Musique, mythe, nature, ou les Dauphins d'Arion, trans. Susan Delaney). Harwood Academic Publishers. ISBN 3718653214
• "Men were often called "breadwinners" because their income put food on the table... Although women were not usually called "breadservers," that was their role."
  • Leonard Beeghley paraphrasing Max Weber. Page 70 in The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States. 2008. ISBN: 978-0-205-53052-6 (not necessarily a famous sociologist, but a good quote)

Favorable views of Sociology

• The social sciences are granted eternal youth because findings must be revisited.
  • Leonard Beeghley paraphrasing Max Weber. Page 12 in The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States. 2008. ISBN: 978-0-205-53052-6