Berry 1

Devin Berry

Introduction to Sociology

Dr. S. Willoughby

What is Sociology?

The American Sociological Association defines sociology, as

“Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social

causes and consequences of human behavior”1 In the most simple

definition, sociology is the study of society. The study of sociology is

one that can be traced back to the early 1800s. Through sociology,

sociologists are able to study and classify different type of human

societies. It covers an extensive assortment of topics and specialties. It

is a discipline and a science that is interwoven with our every day lives.

There is much debate on when the study of sociology truly

emerged. Some maintain that the discipline materialized out of the

Enlightenment era, following the French Revolution. The discipline was

established as a response to challenge of modernity. “The roots of

modern sociology can be found in the works of the philosopher and

scientists of the Great Enlightenment, which had its origins in the

scientific discoveries of the seventeenth century.”2 Others believe that

1
“What is Sociology?” Cornell University Department of Sociology. Available
from http://www.soc.cornell.edu/undergrad/what_is_sociology.html
2
Kornblum, William. Sociology in a Changing World. Canada: Thomson
Wadsworth, 2008.
 Berry 2

sociology in fact appeared during the 15th century when slavery and

it’s effects on the societies it existed in.

The term sociology came into existence in 1838. It was first

coined by the French Philosopher Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier

Comte (better known as Auguste Comte). Its origin is “from Latin

socius (companion, associate) and Greek logia (study of, speech).”3

There are three men that are credited with being the founding

fathers of the field of sociology. The first of these is Karl Marx, the

German philosopher who believed that social change was needed in

order to better a society and social change came as a result of class

conflict. Second was Émile Durkheim. Durkheim was the founder of

scientific sociology and pioneered the use of comparative data in order

to determine trends and patterns without groups and group behavior.

Finally, there was Max Weber, who compared different groups and

societies with emphasis on the authority exiting within groups.

Unlike other social sciences, sociology combines the past,

present, and the future. Through the examination of the past

sociologists are able to see social patterns and trends. By looking at

our present cultural events, and by observing the media, with

emphasis on the news, we are able to examine the present affairs of

out societies. Using what we have gathered through examination of

3
"History of Sociology." Nation Master. Available from
http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/History-of-sociology.
 Berry 3

the past and observation of the present, we are able to look forward to

and project future societal trends and occurrences.

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher

was once quoted, while speaking with the United Kingdom’s Women’s

Own Magazine (October 31 1987) as saying “And, you know, there is

no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and

their are families.” Sociologists would beg to differ with Prime Minister

Thatcher. They believe that society encompasses men, women and

their families. Society is comprised of the interactions of those men,

women, and families with the people and things surrounding them.

Sociologists employ multiple methods in an effort to research

social events and patterns. Sociological research is based upon the

empirical method. The empirical method takes facts that we observe

and verify through our sense and it forms concepts and theories to

test. Sociologists also utilize surveys, interviews, experiments, field

research, as well as research with historical documents. “Most

sociologist see research as not only personally valuable but central to

improving human knowledge and understanding. However, as

consumers of this research, we must always ask, how accurate is this

information? Sometimes it is difficult to interpret we come across in

scholarly articles.”4 Sociological research follows an eight step

research model: select a topic, define the problem, review the

4
Newman, David M.. Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life .
Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2008.
 Berry 4

literature, formulate a hypothesis, choose a research method (survey,

documents, experiments, participant observation, secondary analysis,

unobtrusive measures), collect the data, analyze the results and lastly

share the results. This model is circular.

Sociology studies a vast range of topics and subtopics. Culture,

criminality and deviance, the environment, economy, family,

education, childhood, gender and sexuality, health and illness, the

media, the military, race and ethnicity, and religion, are all topics that

fall under the field of sociology. People who decide to make a career

out of sociology stick to one topic under the field of Sociology.

Culture is one of the areas of sociology that receives the most

attention. We are constantly surrounded by culture, “the language,

beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that are

passed form one generation to the next.”5 Try as we may, we cannot

escape culture. The hairstyles we have and the clothing and jewelry we

wear all reflect our culture. Simultaneously, the way we think, the

values we hold, our assumptions about the world, and our behaviors,

though subconscious are also a part of our culture. When we learn

about a culture, we are learning about the values (the way that

members of a culture define what is good and bad, beautiful or ugly,

etc.) of the culture.

5
Henslin, James M. . Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston: Pearson,
2009.
 Berry 5

Within each culture there lies particular subcultures. A subculture

can be summed up as being “a world within the larger world of the

dominant culture.”6 Subcultures exist within a culture when members

of the larger culture share similar ideals, behaviors or beliefs that

distinguish or separate them in some way from the larger, or main,

culture. It is believed that the Society of the United States of American

contains approximately tens of thousands of subcultures. Some ethnic

groups can be considered subcultures because their particular norms

set them apart. Subcultures can be formed because of interests or

participation in certain activities. Like cultures, subcultures have

established values and norms that the members of the subculture

share. There are subcultures that center around tattooing. This

subculture used to be on the fringe of society, but is now being

accepted more and more. Some subcultures are very large and have

many members like the subculure of basketball fans while others are

much smaller like those that raise championship rams. There are no

definitions of how big or small a subculture can be, it just needs to

have members that share similar intrests or ideals.

Sociology is essentially the study of the world around us. By its

definition it is the study of society. Day after day we are surrounded

by society and the culture, groups, values and norms that comprise our

6
Henslin, James M. . Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston: Pearson,
2009.
 Berry 6

societies. Sociology is a social science that examines many topics in

an effort to learn more about human behavior.