Sociology studies the social rules and processes that
bind -- and separate -- people not only as individuals, but as members
of associations, groups, and institutions.
Sociology emerged in the 19th century as an academic response to
one of the greatest paradoxes of
modernity: as the world is becoming smaller and more integrated,
people's experience of the world is increasingly atomized and
dispersed. Sociologists hoped not only to understand what held social
groups together, but also to develop an "antidote" to social
disintegration.
Today sociologists research macro-structures that organize society,
such as
race or
ethnicity,
class and
gender, and institutions such as the
family; social processes that represent deviation from, or the
breakdown of, these structures, including
crime and
divorce; and micro-processes such as interpersonal interactions.
Sociologists often rely on quantitative methods to describe large
patterns in social relationships, and in order to develop models that
can help predict social change and how people will respond to social
change. Other branches of sociology believe that qualitative methods
-- such as focussed interviews, group discussions and ethnographic
methods -- allow for a better understanding of social processes.
Sociology is a relatively new study among other social science
disciplines including
economics,
political science,
anthropology,
psychology
The term was coined by
Auguste Comte, who hoped to unify all studies of
humankind--including history, psychology and economics. His own
sociological scheme was typical of the
18th century; he believed all human life had passed through the
same distinct historical stages and that, if one could grasp this
progress, one could prescribe the remedies for social ills.
In the end, Sociology did not replace the other social sciences,
but came to be another of them, with its own particular emphases in
terms of subject matter and methods. Today, Sociology studies
humankind's organizations and social institutions, largely by a
comparative method. It has concentrated particularly on the
organization of complex
industrial societies.
Methods:
quantitative method[?],
qualitative method[?],
ethnography
List of sociologists
In the early 20th century, sociologists and psychologists who
conducted research in non-industrial societies contributed to the
development of
anthropology. It should be noted, however, that anthropologists
also conducted research in industrial societies. Today sociology and
anthropology are better contrasted according to different theoretical
concerns and methods rather than objects of study.
A distinction should be made between these and forensic studies
within these disciplines, particularly where anatomy is involved.
These latter studies might be better named as
Forensic psychology[?].
See also:
criminology,
disabilities,
education,
gender & sexuality,
Marxism,
mass media,
media studies,
Milgram experiment,
revolution,
social engineering,
sociologist,
political economy,
race & ethnicity[?],social
change[?],
social control,
social movements[?],
tautology,
teleology,
theory,
sociological imagination[?],
socioeconomic systems[?],
racism,
social order[?],
social structure[?],
social issue
