Introducing Sociology

Concept First

Sociology is not the first discipline to think about society — philosophers, religious teachers and legislators have always reflected on human groups. What makes sociology different is not its subject matter but its method: it studies society the way a scientist studies nature, through rules of evidence that anyone can check. That is the core idea of this section.

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Introducing Sociology

You have already met the sociological imagination and the central concern of sociology: to study society as an interconnected whole. The discussion on individual choices and the job market showed how economic, political, familial, cultural and educational institutions are woven together. The individual is both constrained by this web and yet can change it to an extent. The chapters that follow will elaborate on different institutions, on culture, and on key terms and concepts that will help you understand society.

Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. Its subject matter is our own behaviour as social beings. But sociology is not the first subject to do this. People have always observed and reflected upon the societies and groups in which they live. This is evident in the writings of philosophers, religious teachers and legislators of all civilisations and epochs. And this human trait — thinking about our lives and about society — is by no means confined to philosophers and social thinkers. All of us have ideas about our own society.

The Sociologist as a Spy

Peter Berger offers a striking analogy. In any political or military conflict, it is an advantage to capture the intelligence used by the opposing side. But this works only because good intelligence consists of information free of bias. If a spy reports in terms of the ideology and ambitions of his or her superiors, the reports are useless — not only to the enemy if they capture them, but also to the spy's own side.

The sociologist is a spy in very much the same way. The job is to report as accurately as possible about a certain terrain. This does not mean the sociologist has no social responsibility to ask about the goals of the study or the uses to which the findings will be put. He or she has such a responsibility, just like any other citizen. But this asking is not sociological asking. It is like the biologist whose knowledge can be employed to heal or to kill. The biologist is not free of responsibility as to which use he or she serves — but that is not a biological question.

Sociology as a Science

Sociology has, from its beginnings, understood itself as a science. Unlike commonsensical observations, philosophical reflections or theological commentaries, sociology is bound by scientific canons of procedure. This means that the statements the sociologist arrives at must be reached through the observation of certain rules of evidence — rules that allow others to check, repeat or develop the findings further.

There has been considerable debate within sociology about the differences between natural science and human science, and between quantitative and qualitative research. We need not enter that debate here. What is relevant is that sociology, in its observation and analysis, must follow certain rules that can be checked upon by others.

Why Compare Sociology with Common Sense …