Definition : Sociology

Sociology is the study of human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society. It studies individuals, but not in isolation, instead, the impact of social forces on the behavior of the individual.

Sociology also has its theories of its own. These theories are essential tools used by scholars in the analysis of society. Through the use of theoretical frameworks social structures and phenomena are analyzed and placed in context within a particular school of thought. There are three theories of sociology, and these are: Functionalism, Conflict and Symbolic interaction.
Functionalism interprets all social groups of whatever size, from a family to a whole society, as systems whose parts are interdependent so that a change in one element necessarily leads to change in every element. Conflict views society as an arena in which different individuals and groups struggle with each other in order to obtain scarce and valued resources, especially property, prestige, power. And lastly Symbolic interaction studies specific cases of how individual people behave in particular face to face settings.

Sociology also has ten investigative steps or guidelines in conducting your sociological investigations. The first is what is your topic? You should start your investigative approach with topic. The second step is what have others already learned? This is connected to the first step which is your topic. This is to know who already investigated your topic. The third step is what exactly are your questions? Because, these questions will help you find the answers about your topic. The fourth step is what will you need to carry out your research? The fifth step is, are there any ethical concerns involve? i asks are there any values, culture or lifestyle involve in the investigation? The next step is how will you record your data? The eighth step is what do the data tell you? The next step is what are your conclusions? What have you learned about your investigation? The last step is how can you share what have you learned?