What Is Sociology, Anyway?
According to the The Sociology Project, a textbook compiled by none other than Cliff Broman, Sociology is "the study of societies and the social worlds that individuals inhabit within them", where sociologists "puzzle over how we are connected to each other in the world. These relationships shape not only how our individual lives unfold but also how we come to understand them" (3, 5).
Social structure is broken into social hierarchy and institutions: "A social hierarchy is a set of important social relationships that provide individuals and groups with different kinds of status, in which some individuals and groups are elevated above others. The institutions of society-those longstanding and important practices (like marriage, family, education, and economic markets) as well as the organizations that regulate those practices (such as the government, the military, schools, and religion) provide the frameworks for our daily lives ... These social structures ... are often invisible" (15). |
Sociology is A Very Broad Social Science, How Do I Conquer It?
The simple answer is, conquering sociology as a whole science is very difficult (if not impossible!). For example: one doctor cannot do everything so there are specializations, such as neurology or oncology. Sociology encompasses our whole global world, so, in order to break sociology into bite sized pieces and include our own interests, we have different areas and topics of study:
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