Sociology

Sociology is a social science on the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies, sometimes defined as the study of social interactions. It is a relatively new academic discipline that evolved in the early 19th century. It concerns itself with the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, and institutions. Sociology is interested in our behavior as social beings; thus the sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. In a broad sense, sociology is the scientific study of social groups, the entities through which humans move throughout their lives. There is a current trend in sociology to make it a more applied discipline for people who want to work in an applied setting like non-profits.

External links

• American Religion Data Archive
• American Sociological Association
• Analysing and Overcoming the Sociological Fragmentation in Europe: European Virtual Library of Sociology
• A Century of Sociology at University of Kansas, by Alan Sica (Adobe Acrobat PDF file)
• International Sociological Association
• Resources for methods in social research
• SocioSite - Social Sciences Information System
• Social theories and theorists
• The Sociolog. Comprehensive Guide to Sociology
• Theory.org.uk - idiosyncratic but content-rich social theory site by David Gauntlett
• A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy