Garrod J

Garrod J What is Sociology? Sociology Review

Defining sociology is a complex issue. It is neither social work nor social policy, yet it informs these disciplines and can be used to make the world a better place. Essentially, it is the academic study of how individuals and groups live within society; raising questions about how we shape society and in turn, how it shapes us. Contemplating these questions can be both uncomfortable and intellectually challenging.
Highly respected, with a long academic tradition, sociology is a dual stranded discipline of the theoretical and empirical, often with conflicting views.
Some theories are based on the   assumption that people live   under an umbrella of   mutual cooperation and benefit, whilst there are those that believe that contemporary society is based on the conflict between the imbalances of power within society ; the haves and have- nots. Others focus on the relationships of power between the genders in a patriarchal world. More recently, it has been contested that no one view of how society operates can provide all the answers and that we are moving to an era where these ideas and assumptions are being increasingly challenged.
It is one thing to have ideas or theories, but in order to find out whether or not these are actually borne out in practice, the empirical approach applies. Through the process of research, empirical sociology looks at what actually happens in society, past and present. Describing a wide range of social patterns and events it attempts to explain and make sense of them.
Sociology enables critical analysis of situations to reveal underlying meanings and encourages us to view society in a different way, showing that some long held assumptions are not always supported by evidence.