"It can be said that the first wisdom of
sociology is this—things
are not what they seem"
~Peter L. Berger
"I had always looked down on sociology as
this arriviste discipline. It didn't have the noble history of English
and history as a subject. But once I had a little exposure to it, I
said, 'Hey, here's the key. Here's the key to understanding life and all
its forms.'" ~Tom Wolfe
For many
sociologists the goal is to conduct research
which may be applied directly to social
policy and welfare, while others focus
primarily on refining the theoretical
understanding of social processes. Subject
matter ranges from the micro level of
individual agency and interaction to the
macro level of systems and the social
structure.
Sociology is the
scientific study of society--two or more
people interacting with one another in the world around them. It is a social
science which uses various methods of
empirical investigation and critical
analysis to develop a body of knowledge
about human social activity.
