sociological

American  

[soh-see-uh-loj-i-kuhl, soh-shee-] / ˌsoʊ si əˈlɒdʒ ɪ kəl, ˌsoʊ ʃi- /

Also sociologic

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of sociology and its methodology.

2. dealing with social questions or problems, especially focusing on cultural and environmental factors rather than on psychological or personal characteristics.

   a sociological approach to art.

3. organized into a society; social.

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Other Word Forms

• nonsociological adjective
• sociologically adverb
• unsociological adjective
• unsociologically adverb

Etymology

Origin of sociological

First recorded in 1835–45; sociolog(y) + -ic + -al ¹

Explanation

Anything sociological has to do with how society works. Sociological research — like, say, a sociological study that looks at economic inequality in a country — focuses on what people are doing not as individuals but as a group, Sociology is the study of how societies function—the way they form, what rules they follow, the way change affects them, and so on. Things that are related to sociology are sociological, and people who are particularly interested in sociological things are sociologists. They study things like the effects of technology or the role of art in a society. The Latin root of sociological is socius, "associate."

Example Sentences

Mr. Grace’s institutional history is itself a sociological study.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

If his sociological role is symbolic, his psychology adds depth.

From BBC • Sep. 24, 2025

This is a blinkered and shallow understanding of religion that crumbles under historical or sociological scrutiny.

From Slate • Jul. 9, 2025

My years in the animal care industry were a sociological study that gave me a peek at our culture’s real monsters.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2025

There may be no technological or sociological explanation for the decline in belief in witchcraft in the early eighteenth century, but there is an alternative explanation ready to hand.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton