# Sociology |  | **Sociology** is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. More simply put, sociology is the scientific study of society. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order and social change. While some sociologists conduct research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, others focus primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes and phenomenological method. Subject matter can range from micro-level analyses of society to macro-level analyses. | |-|-| | | wikipedia:: [Sociology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology) | > [!summary]- Wikipedia Synopsis > **Sociology** is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. More simply put, sociology is the scientific study of society. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis: 3–5  to develop a body of knowledge about social order and social change.: 32–40  While some sociologists conduct research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, others focus primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes and phenomenological method. Subject matter can range from micro-level analyses of society (i.e. of individual interaction and agency) to macro-level analyses (i.e. of social systems and social structure).Traditional focuses of sociology include social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality, gender, and deviance. As all spheres of human activity are affected by the interplay between social structure and individual agency, sociology has gradually expanded its focus to other subjects and institutions, such as health and the institution of medicine; economy; military; punishment and systems of control; the Internet; sociology of education; social capital; and the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge. > > The range of social scientific methods has also expanded, as social researchers draw upon a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The linguistic and cultural turns of the mid-20th century, especially, have led to increasingly interpretative, hermeneutic, and philosophical approaches towards the analysis of society. Conversely, the turn of the 21st century has seen the rise of new analytically, mathematically, and computationally rigorous techniques, such as agent-based modelling and social network analysis.Social research has influence throughout various industries and sectors of life, such as among politicians, policy makers, and legislators; educators; planners; administrators; developers; business magnates and managers; social workers; non-governmental organizations; and non-profit organizations, as well as individuals interested in resolving social issues in general. As such, there is often a great deal of crossover between social research, market research, and other statistical fields. ## Meta ### Related - [[Cultural psychology]] - [[Cultural Capital]] ## Areas - [[Peace and conflict studies]] - [[Conflict resolution]] - [[International Relations]] - [[Justice]] - [[Social Justice]] - [[Criminology]] - [[Social network analysis]] ## Concepts - [[Culture]] - [[Individualism]] & [[Collectivism]] - [[Community]] - [[The relational self]] - [[Symbolic interactionism]] - [[Social Choice Theory]] - [[Rational Choice Theory]] - [[Social exchange theory]] - [[Marxism]] - [[Social Constructivism]] - [[Reflexivity (social theory)]] - [[Organizational Theory]] - [[Moral Panic]] - [[Door-in-the-face technique]] - [[Groupthink]] - study that showed just a few people saying something causes people to agree with insane things - [[Diffusion of responsibility]] - [[Philanthropy|Charity]] - [[Authority]] - [[Conformity]][[Sycophancy]] - [[Kiss Up Kick Down]] - [[Institution]] - [[Dramaturgy (sociology)]] ### Central theoretical problems > Overall, there is a strong consensus regarding the central problems of sociological theory, which are largely inherited from the classical theoretical traditions. This consensus is: how to link, transcend or cope with the following "big three" dichotomies: > > subjectivity and objectivity, which deal with knowledge; > structure and agency, which deal with action; > and synchrony and diachrony, which deal with time. > Lastly, sociological theory often grapples with the problem of integrating or transcending the divide between micro, meso, and macro-scale social phenomena, which is a subset of all three central problems. ## People - [[Pierre Bourdieu]] - [[Theodor Adorno]] - [[Emile Durkheim]] - [[Karl Marx]] - [[Antonio Gramsci]] ## [[Critical Theory]] ### [[Critical Race Theory (CRT)]] ## Inbox - [[Intelligentsia]] - [[Codex/Academia/Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences/Sociology/Intellectual]] - Interpersonal - [[Entitativity]] - [[World-systems theory]]