Sociology is the study of society. The meaning of the word comes from the suffix "-ology" which means "study of" and the stem "soci-" which refers to society. It is a social science involving the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies, sometimes defined as the study of social interactions. It is a relatively new academic discipline which evolved in the early 19th century. It usually concerns itself with the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, and institutions. Sociology is interested in our behavior as social beings; thus the sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. Most sociologists work in one or more specialties or subfields (listed below). In a broad sense, sociology is the scientific study of social aggregations (from a dyad to the world), the entities through which humans move throughout their lives. A related trend in the discipline, emerging since the late 1970s, attempts to make it a more "applied" discipline, applicable in areas such as non-profit organizations and nursing homes. The results of sociological research aid educators, lawmakers, administrators, and others interested in resolving social problems and formulating public policy, through subdisciplinary areas such as survey research, evaluation research, methodological assessment, and public sociology. Sociological methods, theories, and concepts compel the sociologist to explore levels of reality that go beyond the commonly accepted rules governing human behavior. This specific approach to reality is known as the sociological perspective. What is Sociology? Sociology is a relatively new academic discipline among other social sciences including economics, political science, anthropology, history, and psychology. The ideas behind it, however, have a long history and can trace their origins to a mixture of common human knowledge and philosophy. Sociology as a scientific discipline emerged in the early 19th century as an academic response to the challenge of modernity: as the world was becoming smaller and more integrated, people's experience of the world was increasingly atomized and dispersed. Sociologists hoped not only to understand what held social groups together, but also to develop an antidote to social disintegration. Auguste Comte, who coined the term sociologyThe term "sociology" was coined by Auguste Comte in 1838 from Latin socius (companion, associate) and Greek logia (study of, speech). Comte hoped to unify all studies of humankind--including history, psychology and economics. His own sociological scheme was typical of the 19th 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. Sociology was to be the 'queen of sciences'. The first book with the term 'sociology' in its title was written in the mid-19th century by the English philosopher Herbert Spencer. In the United States, the discipline was taught by its name for the first time at the University of Kansas, Lawrence in 1890 under the course title Elements of Sociology (the oldest continuing sociology course in America and the Department of History and Sociology was established in 1891 ) and the first full fledged independent university department of sociology in the United States was established in 1892 at the University of Chicago by Albion W. Small, who in 1895 founded the American Journal of Sociology . The first European department of sociology was founded in 1895 at the University of Bordeaux by Émile Durkheim, founder of L'Année Sociologique (1896). The first sociology department to be established in the United Kingdom was at the London School of Economics and Political Science (home of the British Journal of Sociology) in 1904. In 1919 a sociology department was established in Germany at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich by Max Weber and in 1920 in Poland by Florian Znaniecki. Max WeberInternational cooperation in sociology began in 1893 when René Worms founded the small Institut International de Sociologie that was eclipsed by the much larger International Sociologist Association starting in 1949 (ISA). In 1905 the American Sociological Association, the world's largest association of professional sociologists, was founded. Other "classical" theorists of sociology from the late 19th and early 20th centuries include Karl Marx, Ferdinand Toennies, Émile Durkheim, Vilfredo Pareto, and Max Weber. Like Comte, these figures did not consider themselves only "sociologists". Their works addressed religion, education, economics, psychology, ethics, philosophy, and theology, and their theories have been applied in a variety of academic diciplines. Their most enduring influence, however, has been on sociology, (with the exception of Marx, who is a central figure in the field of economics as well) and it is in this field that their theories are still considered most applicable. Karl MarxOne shift in the discipline away from scientific explanation had philosophical roots. Early theorists' approach to sociology, led by Comte, was to treat it in the same manner as natural science, applying the same methods and methodology used in the natural sciences to study social phenomena. The emphasis on empiricism and the scientific method sought to provide an incontestable foundation for any sociological claims or findings, and to distinguish sociology from less empirical fields like philosophy. This methodological approach, called positivism, became a source of contention between sociologists and other scientists, and eventually a point of divergence within the field itself. Thus, while most sciences evolved from deterministic, Newtonian models to probabilistic models which accept and even incorporate uncertainty, sociology began to cleave into those who believed in a deterministic approach (attributing variation to structure, interactions, or other forces) and those who rejected the very possibility of explanation and prediction. A second push away from scientific explanation was cultural, even sociological, itself. As early as the 19th century, positivist and naturalist approaches to studying social life were questioned by scientists like Wilhelm Dilthey and Heinrich Rickert, who argued that the natural world differs from the social world due to unique aspects of human society such as meanings, symbols, rules, norms, and values. These elements of society both result in and generate human cultures. This view was further developed by Max Weber, who introduced antipositivism (humanistic sociology). According to this view, which is closely related to antinaturalism, sociological research must concentrate on humans' cultural values. This has led to some controversy on how one can draw the line between subjective and objective research and has also influenced hermeneutical studies. Similar disputes, especially in the era of the Internet, have led to variations in sociology such as public sociology, which emphasizes the usefulness of sociological expertise to abstracted audiences. History of Sociology Sociologists study society and social behaviour by examining the groups and social institutions people form, as well as various social, religious, political, and business organizations. They also study the behaviour of, and social interaction among, groups, trace their origin and growth, and analyze the influence of group activities on individual members. Sociologists are concerned with the characteristics of social groups, organizations, and institutions; the ways individuals are affected by each other and by the groups to which they belong; and the effect of social traits such as sex, age, or race on a person’s daily life. The results of sociological research aid educators, lawmakers, administrators, and others interested in resolving social problems and formulating public policy. Most sociologists work in one or more specialties, such as social organization, social stratification, and social mobility; racial and ethnic relations; education; family; social psychology; urban, rural, political, and comparative sociology; sex roles and relationships; demography; gerontology; criminology; and sociological practice. Although sociology emerged in large part from Comte's conviction that sociology eventually would subsume all other areas of scientific inquiry, in the end, sociology did not replace the other sciences. Instead, sociology came to be identified with the other social sciences (psychology, economics, etc.). Today, sociology studies humankind's organizations, social institutions and their social interactions, largely employing a comparative method. The discipline has concentrated particularly on the organization of complex industrial societies. Recent sociologists, taking cues from anthropologists, have noted the "Western emphasis" of the field. In response, many sociology departments around the world are encouraging multi-cultural and multi-national studies. Today, sociologists research micro-structures that organize society, such as race or ethnicity, social class, gender roles, 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 and the socialization of individuals. Sociologists often rely on quantitative methods of social research to describe large patterns in social relationships and in order to develop models that can help predict social change. Other branches of sociology believe that qualitative methods - such as focused interviews, group discussions and ethnographic methods - allow for a better understanding of social processes. Some sociologists argue for a middle ground that sees quantitative and qualitative approaches as complementary. Results from one approach can fill gaps in the other approach. For example, quantitative methods could describe large or general patterns while qualitative approaches could help to understand how individuals understand those patterns. Social theory Social theory refers to the use of abstract and often complex theoretical frameworks to explain and analyze social patterns and macro social structures in social life, rather than explaining patterns of social life. Social theory always had an uneasy relationship to the more classic academic disciplines; many of its key thinkers never held a university position. While social theory is sometimes considered a branch of sociology, it is inherently interdisciplinary, as it deals with multiple fields including anthropology, economics, theology, history, philosophy, and many others. First social theories developed almost simultaneously with the birth of the sociology science itself. Auguste Comte, known as 'father of sociology', also laid the groundwork for one of the first social theories - social evolutionism. In the 19th century three great, classical theories of social and historical change were created: the social evolutionism theory (of which social darwinism is a part of), the social cycle theory and the Marxist historical materialism theory. Although the majority of 19th century social theories are now considered obsolete they have spawned new, modern social theories. Modern social theories represent some advanced version of the classical theories, like Multilineal theories of evolution (neoevolutionism, sociobiology, theory of modernisation, theory of post-industrial society) or the general historical sociology and the theory of subjectivity and creation of the society. Unlike disciplines within the natural sciences -- such as physics or chemistry -- social theorists may be less committed to use the scientific method to vindicate their theories. Instead, they tackle very large-scale social trends and structures using hypotheses that cannot be easily proved, except by historical and psychological interpretation, which is often the basis of criticism from opponents of social theories. Extremely critical theorists, such as deconstructionists or postmodernists, may argue that any systematic type of research or method is inherently flawed. Many times, however, "social theory" is defined without reference to science because the social reality it describes is so overarching as to be unprovable. The social theories of modernity or anarchy might be two examples of this. However, social theories are a major part of the science of sociology. Objective science-based research can often provide support for explanations given by social theorists. Statistical research grounded in the scientific method, for instance, that finds a severe income disparity between women and men performing the same occupation can complement the underlying premise of the complex social theories of feminism or patriarchy. In general, and particularly among adherents to pure sociology, social theory has an appeal because it takes the focus away from the individual (which is how most humans look at the world) and focuses it on the society itself and the social forces which control our lives. This sociological insight (or sociological imagination) has through the years appealed to students and others dissatisfied with the status quo because it carries the assumption that societal structures and patterns are either random, arbitrary or controlled by specific powerful groups -- thus implying the possibility of change. This has a particular appeal to champions of the underdog, the dispossesed, and/or those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder because it implies that their position in society is undeserved and/or the result of oppression. Social research methods There are several main methods that sociologists use to gather empirical evidence, which include questionnaires, interviews, participant observation, and statistical research. The problem with all of these approaches is that they are all based on what theoretical position the researcher adopts to explain and understand the society the researcher sees in front of themselves. If one is a functionalist like Émile Durkheim, one is likely to interpret everything in terms of large-scale social structures. A symbolic interactionist is likely to concentrate on the way people understand one another. A researcher who is a Marxist or a neo-Marxist is likely to interpret everything through the grid of class struggle and economics. Phenomenologists tend to think that there is only the way in which people construct their meanings of reality, and nothing else. One of the real problems is that many sociologists argue that only one theoretical approach is the "right" one, and it is theirs. In practice, sociologists often tend to mix and match different approaches and methods, since each method produces particular types of data. The Internet is of interest for sociologists in three ways: as a tool for research, for example, in using online questionnaires instead of paper ones, as a discussion platform, and as a research topic. Sociology of the Internet in the last sense includes analysis of online communities (e.g. as found in newsgroups), virtual communities and virtual worlds, organisational change catalysed through new media like the Internet, and societal change at-large in the transformation from industrial to informational society (or to information society). Sociology and other social sciences In the early 20th century, sociologists and psychologists who conducted research in 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. Sociobiology is a relatively new field to branch from both the sociology and biology disciplines. Although the field once rapidly gained acceptance, it has remained highly controversial as it attempts to find ways in which social behavior and structures can be explained by evolutionary and biological processes. Sociobiologists are often criticized by sociologists for depending too greatly on the effects of genes in defining behavior. Sociobiologists often respond, however, by citing a complex relationship between nature and nurture. In this regard, sociobiology is closely related to anthropology, zoology, evolutionary psychology, human behavioral ecology, and dual inheritance theory. Nonetheless, for most in the discipline, its ideas are unacceptable. Some sociobiologists, such as Richard Machalek, call for the field of sociology to encompass the study of non-human societies along with human beings. Sociology has some links with social psychology, but the former is more interested in social structures and the latter in social behaviors. 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. As shown by the work of Marx and other The Science and Mathematics of Sociology Jane Addams (1860-1935), American social worker and reformer Theodor Adorno (1903-1969), German cultural sociologist (Frankfurt School) Jeffrey C. Alexander, American sociologist Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), German political theorist Raymond Aron (1905 - 1983) French philosopher and sociologist Johan Asplund (b. 1937) Swedish sociologist Gregory Bateson (1904-1980), English/American cybernetican Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929), French cultural theorist Zygmunt Bauman (b. 1925), British sociologist Ulrich Beck (1944-), German sociologist Daniel Bell (born 1919) sociologist and professor emeritus at Harvard University. Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), German cultural sociologist Peter L. Berger (b. 1929), Austro-American sociologist Henri Bergson (1859-1941), French philosopher Herbert Blumer (1900 - 1997), American sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), French sociologist Ernest Burgess (1886-1966), Canadian-born sociologist Judith Butler (b. 1956), American gender theorist Manuel Castells (b. 1942), Spanish sociologist and urban planner Nancy Chodorow (b. 1944), American sociologist and gender theorist Richard Cloward, American sociologist Ronald L. Cohen, American social psychologist James S. Coleman (1926-1995), American sociologist Auguste Comte (1798-1857), French founder of sociology Charles Cooley (1864-1929), American sociologist Stefan Czarnowski (1879-1937), Polish sociologist Robert Dahl (b.1915), American political scientist Ralf Dahrendorf (b.1929), German-British sociologist, philosopher and politician Mathieu Deflem, sociologist Gilles Deleuze (1925 - 1995), French philosopher Nancy Denton, American sociologist and demographer G. William Domhoff, American sociologist W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963), African-American civil rights leader Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), French sociologist Norbert Elias (1897-1990), German sociologist Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), German socialist philosopher Amitai Etzioni (1929 -), American sociologist Paul Fauconnet (1874-1938) French sociologist Fei Xiaotong (b.1910) Chinese sociologist and anthropologist Heinz von Foerster (1911-2002), Austrian-American cybernetican Michel Foucault (1926-1984), French sociologist Charles Fourier (1772-1837), French proto-sociologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Austrian psycho-analyst Hans Freyer (1887 - 1969) German sociologist and philosopher Erich Fromm (1900-1980), German-American psychologist Francis Galton (1822-1911), English statistican Harold Garfinkel (b.1917) Professor Emeritus in sociology at Harvard University Felix Guattari (1930 - 1992) French institutional psychotherapist, founder of schizoanalysis and ecosophy Anthony Giddens (b. 1938), English sociologist Corrado Gini (1884-1965), Italian statistician Arnold Gehlen (1904 - 1976) German philosopher and sociologist Theodor Geiger (1891-1952) German-Danish sociologist Ernest Gellner(1925 - 1995) philosopher and social anthropologist Max Gluckman (1911-1975) South African/English social anthropologist John H. Goldthorpe (b. 1935) British sociologist Erving Goffman (1922-1982), Canadian interactionistic sociologist Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), Italian Marxist Richard Grathoff (1934- ), German sociologist and phenomenologist Mark Granovetter, American sociologist Andrew M. Greeley, American sociologist, priest, author Ludwig Gumplovicz (1838-1909) Polish-Austrian sociologist, one of the founders of European sociology Jürgen Habermas (b. 1929), German social theorist Maurice Halbwachs (1877 - 1945) French philosopher and sociologist Stuart Hall (b.1932) British cultural theorist Donna Haraway (b. 1944) American gender and technology theorist David Harvey (b.1935) British geographer Georg F. Hegel (1770-1831), German philosopher Richard Hoggart (b. 1918), British sociologist (Birmingham School, culture studies) George C. Homans (1910-1989) American behavioural sociologist Max Horkheimer (1895-1973), German social philosopher (Frankfurt School) Floyd Hunter (b.1912), American sociologist Ibn Khaldun (1332/ah732 - 1406/ah808), North African historian, forerunner of modern historiography, sociology and economics Octavio Ianni (1926 - ), Brazilian sociologist Jane Jacobs (b.1916), US/Canadian writer and activist Lewis Wade Jones (1910 - 1979), African-American sociologist and educator Stephen A. Kent Canadian sociologist Karin Knorr Cetina (b.1944) Austrian-American sociologist Alfred L. Kroeber (1876–1960) American anthropologist Thomas S. Kuhn (1922-1996), American science theorist Antonina Kłoskowska (1919-2001), Polish sociologist William Labov (b.1927) American sociolinguist and dialectologist Jacques Lacan (1901-1981), French psychoanalyst Bruno Latour (1947- ) French sociologist of science Paul F. Lazarsfeld (1901-1976) Austrian-American sociologist Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931) French social psychologist and sociologist Henri Lefebvre (1901 - 1991), French Marxist philosopher Claude Lévi-Strauss (b. 1908), French anthropologist Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (1857-1939) French philosopher, sociologist and ethnographer Seymour Martin Lipset (b. 1922), American comparativist sociologist Thomas Luckmann (b. 1927), German sociologist Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998), German sociologist (systems theory) Rosa Luxemburg (1870-1919), German socialist theoretician Robert Staughton Lynd (1892 - 1970) American sociologist Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998), French philosopher Henry Maine (1822-1888), British jurist and legal historian Robert Morrison MacIver (1882-1970) Scottish-American sociologist. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942), Polish anthropologist Thomas Malthus (1766-1834), English demographer Richard Machalek (b. 1946) American sociologist and sociobiologist Michael Mann (b. 1942) British-American sociologist Karl Mannheim (1893-1947), German-speaking sociologist Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979), German-American sociologist (Frankfurt School) Wladyslaw Markiewicz (b. 1920) Polish sociologist Karl Marx (1818-1883), German political philosopher and social theorist Douglas Massey, American sociologist Humberto Maturana(b. 1928), Chilean biologist and philosopher Marcel Mauss (1872-1950) French sociologist Dale McConkey, American sociologist Robert McKenzie(1917-1981), Canadian-born Politics professor and psephologist. George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) American philosopher and social psychologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978), American cultural anthropologist Henri Mendras (1927-2003), French sociologist, chronicler of La fin des paysans Robert K. Merton (1910-2003) American sociologist Robert Michels (1876-1936) German political sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) American sociologist J. Clyde Mitchell (1918-1995) British Social Anthropologist Oswald von Nell-Breuning (1890-1991), German Roman Catholic theologian, sociologist and social reformer Otto Neurath (1882-1945), Austrian sociologist and political economist Peter Neville (d. 2002) British further education lecturer and sociologist William F. Ogburn (1886 - 1959), American sociologist Claus Offe (1940-), German sociologist Lloyd Ohlin, American sociologist Franz Oppenheimer (1864-1943) German sociologist and political economist Stanislaw Ossowski (1897-1963), Polish sociologist Robert Owen (1771 - 1858), Welsh social reformer Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), Italian economist and sociologist Robert E. Park (1864 - 1944), American sociologist Vance Packard (1914-1996), American proto-pop-sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902-1979), American functionalist sociologist Karl Pearson (1857-1936), English statistician Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) Swiss developmental psychologist Robert Putnam (b. 1941) American political scientist Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown (1881–1955) British social anthropologist Aviad Raz (b. 1968) Israeli sociologist and anthropologist George Ritzer (b. 1940), American sociologist Terje Rød-Larsen (b. 1947) Norwegian diplomat and sociologist Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy (1888-1973) German-born social philosopher Walter Garrison Runciman, 3rd Viscount Runciman of Doxford British sociologist Harvey Sacks (d. 1975) American sociologist in the ethnomethodology tradition Henri Saint-Simon (1760 - 1825) French philosopher and social thinker Saskia Sassen, (b. 1949) American sociologist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), Swiss linguist (structuralism) Helmut Schelsky (1912-1984), German sociologist Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883 – 1950), economist Alfred Schütz (1899-1959), Austrian philosopher and sociologist (phenomenology) Richard Sennett (b. 1943) American sociologist and public figure Ali Shariati (1933-1977), Iranian sociologist Charles E. Silberman, American criminologist Albion Woodbury Small (1854-1926), American sociologist, founder of Chicago University Dept. of Sociology Georg Simmel (1858-1918), German sociologist Adam Smith(1723-1790), Scottish economist and philosopher Dorothy E. Smith (b. 1926), British-American sociologist and gender theorist Werner Sombart (1863-1941), German economist and sociologist Pitirim Sorokin (1889-1968), Russian sociologist Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), English philosopher Oswald Spengler (1880-1936), German philosopher Steven Spitzer, American sociologist M N Srinivas (1916 - 1999), Indian sociologist Anselm L. Strauss (1916 - 1996) American sociologist (sociology of medicine, qualitative methods) William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) American advocate of Social Darwinism Eilert Sundt (1817-1875), Norwegian sociologist Gerald Suttles, American social constructionist Jan Szczepański (1913-2004), Polish sociologist Gabriel Tarde (1843 - 1904), French sociologist and social psychologist W. I. Thomas (1863 - 1947), American social psychologist Alexis de Tocqueville (1805 - 1859), French essayist and political analyst Ferdinand Tönnies (1855-1936), German sociologist Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Chilean biologist and philosopher Th Sociologists