sociology

American  

[soh-see-ol-uh-jee, soh-shee-] / ˌsoʊ siˈɒl ə dʒi, ˌsoʊ ʃi- /

noun

1. the science or study of the origin, development, organization, and functioning of human society; the science of the fundamental laws of social relations, institutions, etc.

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sociology British  

/ ˌsəʊsɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl, ˌsəʊsɪˈɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. the study of the development, organization, functioning, and classification of human societies

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sociology Scientific  

/ sō′sē-ŏl′ə-jē /

1. The scientific study of human social behavior and its origins, development, organizations, and institutions.

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sociology Cultural  

1. The systematic study of human society, especially present-day societies. Sociologists study the organization, institutions, and development of societies, with a particular interest in identifying causes of the changing relationships among individuals and groups. (See social science.)

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Usage

What is sociology? Sociology is the study of human society and the social interactions and behavior of humans.Sociology is, generally speaking, the study of human interaction. How do people socialize? What happens when people live together? How are members of a group influencing each other? Why does someone become a king and someone else lives their whole life as a peasant? These are the kinds of questions a sociologist is interested in.Sociology is an incredibly broad science and often overlaps with other fields of study, such as psychology or economics. A sociologist may look at social groups on a large (macro) scale, such as studying the different societies of Asia, or may look at groups on a small (micro) scale, such as studying Brazilian teenagers or even a single town.As far as a sociologist is concerned, no person ever makes a decision without some influence from society or their social groups. Sociology isn’t just the study of people but more specifically the study of what happens when people are around each other.

Other Word Forms

• sociological adjective
• sociologically adverb
• sociologist noun

Etymology

Origin of sociology

From the French word sociologie, dating back to 1835–45. See socio-, -logy

Example Sentences

Mr. Dhume holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Delhi, a master’s degree in international relations from Princeton University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

From The Wall Street Journal

In sociology, there’s a term to describe this phenomenon: “bounded solidarity.”

From Salon

Amira earned a bachelor's in sociology from Columbia University, where she served as city news editor for the student-run newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator.

From The Wall Street Journal

Such friction has been exacerbated by social media, where "multiple generations mix within the same space", says Lee Jae-in, a sociology professor at Korea University's Sejong campus.

From BBC

The associate professor of sociology and faculty director of the UC Merced labor center based his analysis on U.S. census data from those months and published his findings over the summer.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• folklore