The following

outline Outline or outlining may refer to: * Outline (list), a document summary, in hierarchical list format * Code folding, a method of hiding or collapsing code or text to see content in outline form * Outline drawing, a sketch depicting the outer edge ...

is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the discipline of sociology: Sociology – the study of society"Comte, Auguste, A Dictionary of Sociology (3rd Ed), John Scott & Gordon Marshall (eds), Oxford University Press, 2005, , using various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to understand human social activity, from the

micro Micro may refer to: Measurement * micro- (μ), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10−6 Places * Micro, North Carolina, town in U.S. People * DJ Micro, (born Michael Marsicano) an American trance DJ and producer *Chii Tomiya (都宮ちい ...

level of individual

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

and interaction to the

macro Macro (or MACRO) may refer to: Science and technology * Macroscopic, subjects visible to the eye * Macro photography, a type of close-up photography * Image macro, a picture with text superimposed * Monopole, Astrophysics and Cosmic Ray Observat ...

level of systems and social structure.Giddens, Anthony, Duneier, Mitchell, Applebaum, Richard. 2007. ''Introduction to Sociology. Sixth Edition.'' New York: W.W. Norton and Company. Chapter 1.

Nature of sociology

Definition

Sociology can be described as all of the following: * The study of society. * Academic discipline – body of knowledge given to - or received by - a disciple (student); a branch or sphere of knowledge, or field of study, that an individual has chosen to specialise in. * Field of science – widely recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer reviewed research is published. There are many sociology-related scientific journals. ** Social science – field of academic scholarship that explores aspects of human society.

Essence of sociology

Overall

Sociology

Key themes across sociological research

* Society * Globalization * Human behavior * Human environmental impact *

Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

*Industrial revolutions 3 & 4 * Social complexity * Social environment * Social equality * Social equity *

Social power In social science and politics, power is the social production of an effect that determines the capacities, actions, beliefs, or conduct of actors. Power does not exclusively refer to the threat or use of force (coercion) by one actor against ...

Social stratification Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As ...

* Social structure

Branches of sociology

Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary fields involving sociology

History of sociology

History of sociology Sociology as a scholarly discipline emerged, primarily out of Enlightenment thought, as a positivist ''science of society'' shortly after the French Revolution. Its genesis owed to various key movements in the philosophy of science and the phi ...

Timeline of sociology This is a timeline of sociology. Each entry lists important works published during that decade. * 1810s in sociology * 1820s in sociology * 1830s in sociology * 1840s in sociology * 1850s in sociology * 1860s in sociology * 1870s in sociology ...

Theoretical perspectives in sociology

Approaches

Positivism

Positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

(

Empirical sociology Empirical sociology is the study of sociology based on methodological methods and techniques for collecting, processing, and communicating primary sociological information. Describes the situation of the aspects of social life such as economy, law ...

)

Critical realist

* Critical realism

Structural

Structuralism In sociology, anthropology, archaeology, history, philosophy, and linguistics, structuralism is a general theory of culture and methodology that implies that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader ...

Challenging structure

Social interactions

Behavioural

Psychoanalytic sociology Psychoanalytic sociology is the research field that analyzes society using the same methods that psychoanalysis applied to analyze an individual. 'Psychoanalytic sociology embraces work from divergent sociological traditions and political perspecti ...

Social justice

Critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...

Applied

Pure sociology Like rational choice theory, conflict theory, or functionalism, pure sociology is a sociological paradigm — a strategy for explaining human behavior. Developed by Donald Black as an alternative to individualistic and social-psychological theo ...

Ecological

* Human ecology

Levels of analysis

Methodology and methods in sociology

General sociology concepts

Sociology by location

Sociologists

* List of sociologists

Sociological publications

Sociology journals
Magazines

Sociology books This bibliography of sociology is a list of works, organized by subdiscipline, on the subject of sociology. Some of the works are selected from general anthologies of sociology, while other works are selected because they are notable enough to b ...

Sociological associations

Academies

Related fields

References

External links

SocioSite
a directory of sociology resources
Sections
of

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

Research Committees and Themes
of International Sociological Association, AIS *
Comités de Recherche
de l'Association internationale des sociologues de langue française, AISLF *

de l'Association Française de Sociologie, AFS {{Outline footer Sociology Sociology lists Sociology