Sociology is the study that focuses on investigating and studying the social behavior of human beings, the different groups and organizations that make up society.
Sociology aims to study human society, the behaviors that exist at a social level, how organizations are structured, the most common human behaviors, as well as the social and group structures that exist.
Social theories go back to Aristotle’s time in works like The Republic. The investigation of society, as well as its analysis, began to become apparent in Ancient Greece, through philosophers like the one previously mentioned, and Plato, among others.
Karl Marx was another author who contributed theories and extensive research to the field of sociology in the 19th century. His thought was later studied, and taken into account by other contemporary researchers.
In 1883, Augusto Comte was the first to give meaning to the concept of sociology as we know it. He stressed that it is a science that would discover the laws of society, the behavior of human beings and would be studied by carrying out methods such as those used in the physical sciences.
Characteristics of sociology
These are the most prominent:
- Empirical science. Through observation and the vision of reality, sociology studies and theories emerge.
- Creation of theories. Once the pertinent observations of the phenomenon to be studied are carried out, the theories are promulgated that try to explain these visions of social reality, or the human behavior that takes place in certain social aspects and situations, for example.
- Critical view. The sociologist must have a realistic and critical vision of society, and of what he is studying. You must judge with consistency and truthfulness everything you observe.
- In the theories associated with sociology, opinions, feelings or personal interpretations should not be mixed. If it is a scientific study, all this type of judgment associated with a more personal terrain or criterion must be dispensed with.
Areas of study of sociology
These are the most prominent:
- Sociology of Education. The educationalaspects , the programs, the environment, the way in which education is administered are the objectives of interest in this particular branch.
- S ociology in the political aspect. It focuses on investigating the political sphere and the social relationship linked to it. Its main objective is to determine and investigate how politics affects socially.
- Urban sociology. In this branch, social aspects, processes and behaviors that are manifested in a specific space are valued.
- Labor sociology. It affects everything related to work. How companies are organized, how workers are paid, the conflicts that occur in companies, the solutions given to this type of confrontation. In short, all the social aspects that are related to the field of work.
- Rural sociology. Its objective is to know how the most rural places are structured, explain their structure, how the groups living in these rural areas and their social classes are related.
