Sociology in simple terms. The concept of sociology

1. Sociology as a science. Object, subject, functions of sociology

Sociology is the study of society.

Science object: SOCIETY

1) Social connections

2) Social interactions

3) Social relations and the way they are organized

Science subject: SOCIAL LIFE OF THE SOCIETY

1) Man, his consciousness, his attitude to social changes

2) Human activity, through the study of which the institutional, stratification, managerial and other levels of organization of social life are revealed

3) The relationship between groups of people occupying different positions in society

4) Social structures and structural elements (personalities, social communities, social institutions):

Functions of sociology:

1) Theoretical-cognitive

2) Critical

3) Descriptive

4) Predictive

5) Transformative

6) Information

7) Worldview

2. Structure of sociology

Sociological knowledge is heterogeneous and has its own rather complex, multi-level structure, primarily due to the difference in angles and levels of study of social phenomena and processes.

Sociology studies these phenomena and processes both at the level of society as a whole, and at the level of more or less broad social communities and their interactions, and at the level of the individual and interpersonal interactions. This, in particular, provides an objective basis for subdividing sociological science into the following components:

1) general theoretical sociology as a macro sociological study aimed at clarifying the general patterns of functioning and development of society as a whole;

2) mid-level sociology as studies of a lesser degree of generality, focused on studying the patterns of action and interaction of individual structural parts of the social system, i.e. private, special sociological theories, including branches of sociology (sociology of social groups, sociology of the city, sociology of the countryside, ethnosociology, economic sociology, sociology of education, sociology of politics, sociology of law, sociology of propaganda, sociology of the family, sociology of culture, sociology of labor, etc.);

3) microsociology, which studies social phenomena and processes through the prism of the actions and interactions of people, their behavior. In such a structure of sociological knowledge, the ratio of the general, the particular and the individual finds its expression.

Depending on the level of acquired knowledge, sociological research is divided into theoretical and empirical. For theoretical sociological research, a deep generalization of the accumulated factual material in the field of social life is of decisive importance.

At the center of empirical sociological research are the accumulation itself, the collection of factual material in a specified area (based on direct observation, questioning, analysis of documents, statistical data, etc.) and its primary processing, including the initial level of generalization.

The structure of sociology is sometimes analyzed through the prism of topical issues related to various areas of public life. In the structure of sociology, one should especially distinguish between fundamental and applied sociology. The basis for this division is the differences in the goals and objectives that are set for sociological research: some of them are aimed at building and improving theory and methodology, enriching the foundations of sociological science itself, while others are aimed at studying the practical issues of transforming social life, at developing practical recommendations. Both theoretical and empirical research can be carried out in these directions. Applied sociology is looking for ways and means of practical use of the mechanisms and tendencies of social life known by fundamental sociology.

3. Applied Research Methods

1) Survey method

a) Questioning

b) Interviewing

2) Method of observation

3) Document analysis methods

4) Experimental methods

4. The role of sociology in modern society

1) Cognitive - gives new knowledge about society

2) Applied - provides specific sociological information for solving practical scientific and social problems.

3) Controlled - political parties and authorities use the possibilities of sociology to conduct a targeted policy in all spheres of public activity

4) Ideological - develops social ideals, programs for the scientific, technical, socio-economic and socio-cultural development of society

5) Prognostic - warns of deviations in the development of society, predicts and models trends in the development of society.

6) Humanistic - conducting social research, bringing their results to the public can contribute to the improvement of social relations, the development of society

5. Personality as a subject of social relations. Personality structure

The study of the structure of personality is carried out in science on two interrelated grounds: on the basis of activity and on the basis of social relations into which it enters in the course of its life activity. The first ("activity") basis of personality structuring is used mainly in philosophy and psychology, and the second ("relational") - in sociological science. Thus, we can conclude: the structure of personality, as well as its essence, is described in completely different ways in philosophy, psychology and sociology.

The structure of the personality is considered in sociology in two ways: on the one hand, as the fundamental basis of human activity, due to the state and development of society as a whole, and on the other hand, as the social structure of the individual. In the first case, it is based on the principles of philosophical analysis of personality, in the second - on its own capabilities.

The social structure of a personality characterizes both the “external” and “internal” correlation of a person with society: “external” correlation is expressed in a system of social statuses (as an objective position of a person in society) and models of role behavior (as a dynamic side of statuses); "internal" correlation is represented by a set of dispositions (as subjectively meaningful positions) and role expectations (as the dynamic side of dispositions).

Man, being a social being, interacts with various social groups, participates in cooperative, joint actions. However, there is practically no such situation when a person completely belongs to any one group. For example, a person is a member of a family as a small group, but he is also a member of an enterprise team, a public organization, and a sports society. Entering many social groups at the same time, he occupies a different position in each of them, due to the relationship with other members of the group. For example, the director of an enterprise, who occupies the highest position in this team, having come to a sports society, will be there as a beginner and incompetent, i.e. takes a low position.

6. Personality socialization

The first occurs from birth to a year

Second crisis - 1-2 years

Third crisis - 3-4 years

The fourth crisis is related to going to school

The fifth crisis occurs in adolescence and is associated with the definition of a place in life.

Sixth crisis (18-20 years old) relationship building

The seventh crisis (40 years) an approximate result of life

The Eighth Crisis (Old Age) The Final Recap of Life

7. Social statuses and roles

In modern society, each person occupies a certain position. This implies that the individual has some kind of relationship, duties assigned to him, and his rights. The totality of these personality characteristics determines its social status.

status (from lat. status- "legal status") - a system of rights and obligations of an individual in relation to other people with other statuses. Social status is intended to indicate the position of the individual and the social group to which he is a member in certain spheres of human existence, in the sphere of human relationships.

Social status is not a stable characteristic of a person. Throughout life, a person can change a huge number of social statuses.

The social status of a person is determined by the following factors:

1. marital status of the individual;

2. degree of education;

3. the age of the person;

4. profession;

5. position held;

6. nationality.

The totality of all social statuses is called statutory set. So, one and the same person can be a mother, woman, sister, wife, teacher, candidate of science, associate professor, elderly person, Russian, Orthodox, etc.

Sociology(from Greek socio - society, lat. logos - word, science) - the science of society, its functioning, system, interaction of people. Its main goal is analysis of the structure of social relations that develop in the course of social interaction.

The term was first used by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in 1840. However, even earlier, Confucius, Indian, Assyrian, and ancient Egyptian thinkers showed interest in society. Also, social ideas were traced in the works of Plato, Aristotle, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Robert Owen and others. But it was in the 19th century that it received a new development, becoming a science, giving a new understanding of the role of man, the study of the consciousness and behavior of people as active participants in economic, social, political and cultural changes.

IN difference from philosophy, sociology operates not with a high level of communication, but shows life in all its contradictions, unfolds the essence of human nature in reality. She comprehends society, public life, not as something abstract, but as a reality, trying to express this in her positions.

The specificity of sociology is that society is viewed as an ordered system of social communities, and the individual, individual action is studied against the background of the relations of social groups. That is, the individual is not an independent object, but part of a group, expressing attitudes towards other social groups.

Sociology studies how the system of order is formed and reproduced in the course of social practice, how it is fixed in the system of such social norms, roles and assimilated by individuals in such a way that it becomes socially typical and predictable.

This typicality testifies to the existence of objective social laws that sociology studies as scientific disciplines.

positivism and naturalism.
Antipositivism (understanding sociology). The basic concept is that society is different from nature, because a person acts in it, with his own values and goals.

In addition to these areas, there is also a huge system of classifications and divisions. Sociology is a complex structure.

As practical applications of sociology today the following areas can be distinguished:

political sociology,
Measures of social order, family and society,
The study of human resources,
Education,
Applied social research (public opinion research),
Public policy,
demographic analysis.

Sociologists also work issues of gender relations, issues of environmental equity, immigration, poverty, isolation, the study of organizations, mass communications, quality of life, etc.

There is no single theory in sociology. There are many conflicting schemes and paradigms in it. This or that approach can be brought to the fore, giving a new direction for the development of this science. This is due to constant changes in the development of the consciousness of society. However, the whole set of basic theoretical approaches worked out by sociology is basically preserved and creatively developed. All of them reflect the real aspects of society, the real factors of its development, thus allowing sociology to occupy an important place in modern scientific knowledge.

The word "sociology" comes from the Latin "societas" (society) and the Greek word "hoyos" (doctrine). It follows that sociology is the study of society. We invite you to take a closer look at this interesting field of knowledge.

Briefly about the development of sociology

Mankind at all stages of its history has tried to comprehend society. Many thinkers of antiquity spoke about him (Aristotle, Plato). However, the concept of "sociology" was introduced into scientific circulation only in the 30s of the 19th century. It was introduced by Auguste Comte, a French philosopher. Sociology as an independent science was actively formed in Europe in the 19th century. Scholars writing in German, French and English have participated most intensively in its development.

Founder of sociology and his contribution to science

Auguste Comte is the man who gave birth to sociology as a science. The years of his life are 1798-1857. It was he who first spoke about the need to separate it into a separate discipline and substantiated such a need. This is how sociology was born. Briefly describing the contribution of this scientist, we note that he, in addition, for the first time defined its methods and subject. Auguste Comte is the creator of the theory of positivism. According to this theory, when studying various social phenomena, it is necessary to create an evidence base similar to that of the natural sciences. Comte believed that sociology is a science that studies society only based on scientific methods, with the help of which empirical information can be obtained. These are, for example, methods of observation, historical and comparative analysis of facts, experiment, method of using statistical data, etc.

The emergence of sociology played an important role in the study of society. The scientific approach to its comprehension proposed by Auguste Comte opposed the speculative reasoning about it, which at that time was offered by metaphysics. According to this philosophical direction, the reality in which each of us lives is a figment of our imagination. After Comte proposed his scientific approach, the foundations of sociology were laid. It immediately began to develop as an empirical science.

Rethinking the content of the subject

Until the end of the 19th century, the point of view on it, as identical to social science, dominated in scientific circles. However, in studies conducted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the theory of sociology was further developed. It began to stand out along with the legal, demographic, economic and other aspects and social. In this regard, the subject matter of the science we are interested in gradually began to change its content. It began to be reduced to the study of social development, its social aspects.

Émile Durkheim's contribution

The first scientist who defined this science as specific, different from social science, was the French thinker Emile Durkheim (life years - 1858-1917). It was thanks to him that sociology ceased to be considered as a discipline identical to social science. It became independent and joined a number of other social sciences.

Institutionalization of sociology in Russia

The foundations of sociology were laid in our country after the decision of the Council of People's Commissars was adopted in May 1918. It stated that conducting research on society is one of the main tasks of Soviet science. In Russia, a sociobiological institute was founded for this purpose. In the same year, the first sociological department in Russia was created at Petrograd University, headed by Pitirim Sorokin.

In the process of development in this science, both domestic and foreign, 2 levels were distinguished: macro- and micro-sociological.

Macro- and microsociology

Macrosociology is a science that studies social structures: educational institutions, social institutions, politics, families, economics from the point of view of their interconnection and functioning. This approach also studies people who are involved in the system of social structures.

At the level of microsociology, the interaction of individuals is considered. Its main thesis is that phenomena in society can be understood by analyzing the personality and its motives, actions, behavior, value orientations that determine interaction with others. This structure allows us to define the subject of science as the study of society, as well as its social institutions.

Marxist-Leninist approach

In the Marxist-Leninist concept, a different approach arose in understanding the discipline that interests us. The model of sociology in it is three-level: special theories and historical materialism. This approach is characterized by the desire to fit science into the structure of the Marxist worldview, to create links between historical materialism (social philosophy) and specific sociological phenomena. The subject of discipline in this case becomes philosophical. That is, sociology and philosophy have one subject. It is clear that this is the wrong position. This approach isolated from the world process of development of knowledge about society.

The science that interests us cannot be reduced to social philosophy, since the peculiarity of its approach is manifested in other concepts and categories that are correlated with the empirical facts being verified. First of all, its peculiarity as a science lies in the possibility of considering the social organizations, relations and institutions existing in society as being subject to study with the help of empirical data.

Approaches of other sciences in sociology

Note that O. Comte pointed out 2 features of this science:

1) the need to apply scientific methods to the study of society;

2) use of the obtained data in practice.

Sociology in the analysis of society uses the approaches of some other sciences. Thus, the application of the demographic approach makes it possible to study the population and the activities of people associated with it. The psychological one explains the behavior of individuals with the help of social attitudes and motives. The group or community approach is associated with the study of the collective behavior of groups, communities and organizations. Culturological studies human behavior through social values, rules, norms.

The structure of sociology today determines the presence in it of many theories and concepts related to the study of individual subject areas: religion, family, human interactions, culture, etc.

Approaches at the level of macrosociology

In understanding society as a system, that is, at the macrosociological level, two main approaches can be distinguished. It is about conflictological and functional.

Functionalism

Functional theories first appeared in the 19th century. The idea of the approach itself belonged (pictured above), who compared human society with a living organism. Like him, it consists of many parts - political, economic, military, medical, etc. At the same time, each of them performs a specific function. Sociology has its own special task related to the study of these functions. By the way, the very name of the theory (functionalism) is from here.

Emile Durkheim proposed a detailed concept within the framework of this approach. It was continued to develop by R. Merton, T. Parsons. The main ideas of functionalism are as follows: society in it is understood as a system of integrated parts, in which there are mechanisms that maintain its stability. In addition, the necessity of evolutionary transformations in society is substantiated. Its stability and integrity are formed on the basis of all these qualities.

Conflict theories

Marxism can also be considered as a functional theory (with certain reservations). However, it is analyzed in Western sociology from a different point of view. Since Marx (his photo is presented above) considered the conflict between classes to be the main source of the development of society and carried out his idea of its functioning and development on this basis, approaches of this kind received a special name in Western sociology - the theory of conflicts. From Marx's point of view, class conflict and its resolution is the driving force of history. From this followed the need to reorganize society through revolution.

Among the supporters of the approach to considering society from the point of view of conflict, one can note such German scientists as R. Dahrendorf and the Last believed that conflicts arise due to the existence of an instinct of hostility, which is aggravated when there is a clash of interests. R. Dahrendorf argued that their main source is the power of some over others. Conflict arises between those who have power and those who do not.

Approaches at the level of microsociology

The second level, microsociological, developed in the so-called theories of interactionism (the word "interaction" is translated as "interaction"). An important role in its development was played by C. H. Cooley, W. James, J. G. Mead, J. Dewey, G. Garfinkel. Those who developed interactionist theories believed that interactions between people could be understood in terms of rewards and punishments, because that is what defines human behavior.

The theory of roles occupies a special place in microsociology. What characterizes this direction? Sociology is a science in which the theory of roles was developed by such scientists as R. K. Merton, J. L. Moreno, R. Linton. From the point of view of this direction, the social world is a network of social statuses (positions) interconnected. They are the ones who explain human behavior.

Foundations of classification, coexistence of theories and schools

Scientific sociology, considering the processes taking place in society, classifies it on various grounds. For example, studying the stages of its development, one can take the development of technologies and productive forces as a basis (J. Galbraith). In the tradition of Marxism, classification is based on the idea of formation. Society can also be classified on the basis of the dominant language, religion, etc. The meaning of any such division is the need to understand what it represents in our time.

Modern sociology is built in such a way that different theories and schools exist on an equal footing. In other words, the idea of a universal theory is denied. Scientists began to come to the conclusion that there are no hard methods in this science. However, the adequacy of the reflection of the processes taking place in society depends on their quality. The meaning of these methods is that the phenomenon itself, and not the causes that gave rise to it, is given the main importance.

economic sociology

This is a direction in the study of society, which involves analysis from the standpoint of the social theory of economic activity. Its representatives are M. Weber, K. Marx, W. Sombart, J. Schumpeter and others. Economic sociology is a science that studies the totality of social socio-economic processes. They can concern both the state or markets, as well as individuals or households. In this case, various methods of data collection and analysis are used, including sociological ones. Economic sociology within the framework of the positivist approach is understood as a science that studies the behavior of any large social groups. At the same time, she is not interested in any behavior, but related to the use and receipt of money and other assets.

Institute of Sociology (RAS)

Today in Russia there is an important institution related to the Russian Academy of Sciences. This is the Institute of Sociology. Its main goal is to carry out fundamental research in the field of sociology, as well as applied developments in this area. The Institute was founded in 1968. Since that time, it has been the main institution of our country in such a branch of knowledge as sociology. His research is of great importance. Since 2010, he has been publishing the Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology, a scientific electronic journal. The total number of employees is about 400 people, of which about 300 are researchers. Various seminars, conferences, readings are held.

In addition, on the basis of this institute, the GAUGN Faculty of Sociology operates. Although only about 20 students per year are enrolled in this faculty, it is worth considering for those who have chosen the direction of "sociology".

The field of research in sociology is incredibly broad. Therefore, in the sociological literature, several levels of sociological knowledge are distinguished, i.e. determined structure of sociology .

The structure of sociology can be represented by 4 main blocks mi:

I. Theoretical and methodological foundations of sociology.

The study of a social phenomenon involves identifying the essence and nature of this phenomenon, its historical specifics, and its relationship with the economic and political aspects of life. This stage of cognition is the fundamental theoretical basis for the study of any social phenomenon. First of all, this general sociological theory , within which the methodological and theoretical foundations of this science are substantiated, attention is focused on the study of basic, fundamental problems of social cognition. Without this fundamental theoretical knowledge, it is impossible to study a social phenomenon.

II. A huge number of social theories, i.e. all the problems ka.

Sociology deals with individual social phenomena.
Two points stand out in their study:

1). Knowledge of the nature of a particular social phenomenon (personality, labor collective, self-expression of the subject through any activity, manifestation of the subject's social position in relation to something or opinion). It is systematized in special sociological theories, reveals the essence of a particular phenomenon, the specifics of the expression of the social in it. These theories are called: middle-level theories.

concept "Theories of the middle level" was introduced into sociology by the American sociologist R. Merton, who believed that it was necessary to develop a sociological theory located in the space between “particular working hypotheses” and “basic conceptual schemes”. Theories of the middle level or special sociological theories in contrast to general sociological theory, they operate with categories of a less general order - they consider social processes and phenomena, forms and types of social existence and social consciousness at the level of specific social institutions and social subsystems. This includes such sectoral sociological theories as, for example, the sociology of politics, economic sociology, the sociology of labor, and so on.

2). Knowledge of the nature of the very state of a social phenomenon as a moment and limit in its development. That is, what, for example, is the essence of the economy as such and what is its impact on society.

III. Methods of sociological research, i.e. empirical and methodological arsenal of science.

The specificity of cognitive activity, indicated in this block - the theory and methods of sociological research, methods of collecting, processing, analyzing primary information about the state of a social phenomenon - acts as an important independent part of sociology.

IV. Social technologies, i.e. knowledge on the organization and activities of social development services, on the role of sociology in the national economy and management.

This includes the organization and activities of social development services, revealing the functions and role of the sociologist. This is a tool for transforming practice, which is owned by the head of any enterprise and employees of sociological services, power structures.

Besides different levels of sociological knowledge, there are also different levels of sociological research. Sociologists study society at two levels: Micro and macro level.

Microsociology studies the interaction of people in everyday life. Researchers working in this vein believe that social phenomena can only be understood on the basis of an analysis of the meanings that people attach to these phenomena when interacting with each other. The main theme of their research is the behavior of individuals, their actions, motives, meanings that determine the interaction between people, which, in turn, affects the stability of society or the changes taking place in it.

Macrosociology focuses on behavior patterns that help to understand the essence of any society. These patterns, which we otherwise call structures, include social institutions such as the family, education, religion, and political and economic order. Macrosociologists focus on studying the interactions between different parts of society, seeking to identify how these relationships change.

Sociologist - profession XXI century

I think I won’t be too mistaken if I say that many people today associate the word “sociology” mainly with television programs, newspaper pages or Internet sites that report the results of sociological surveys conducted on various problems. Survey topics can be very diverse - from the rating of politicians to the degree of satisfaction with the work of urban transport - but, the sociologist appears, first of all, as a person with a questionnaire in his hands, who approaches you on the street or calls your apartment with the words: "Hello! We we are conducting a sociological survey on the topic ... "

Well, opinion polls are indeed part of sociology. More precisely, this is one of the ways of obtaining sociological knowledge. However, sociology as a science is by no means limited to them.
What is modern sociology and what does it do? By definition, sociology is the science of society. But to say just this is not enough: after all, society is also studied by other sciences - history, jurisprudence, demography, etc. In contrast to them, sociology considers society as an integral system of the functioning of social communities (these include, for example, the family, the population of the city, youth, humanity, etc.), studies the relationships that exist between these communities, and also investigates and explains the behavior of people in society. Sociology studies social norms, values, roles, statuses, preferences, public opinion and many other phenomena that make up what we call "social life".

Is it interesting to work as a sociologist? Yes and yes again! After all, a sociologist has a completely unique opportunity to receive information, so to speak, first-hand. In the course of the research, the sociologist communicates directly with people, collects and summarizes the data obtained. Based on these data, the sociologist receives new knowledge. Imagine that you are the only owner of this new knowledge, which will then be communicated to other people - through articles, books, media and communications.

Is it promising today to get an education in sociology? I am sure that in the 21st century sociology will occupy a special place among other social and humanitarian disciplines. The fact is that modern society is becoming more and more complex system. Our world is global and interconnected. We have witnessed many times how events that happen in one part of the world affect what happens in another. Only science that has a holistic, integrative view of it can explain and understand modern society. That is what sociology is. A society cannot be indifferent to the science that this society studies and which serves as its "mirror" so to speak. Sociology today has a special mission - on the one hand, to help society ... on the other hand, to help a person more successfully adapt to this complex and constantly changing world.

What is "sociology"

Khokhlova A.M., Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology of Culture and Communication, St. Petersburg State University, Supervisor of the Master's Program "International Sociology"

The term “sociology” has been on the radar in recent decades: politicians, journalists and businessmen refer to the research of sociologists; Sociologists are the main experts in the study of public opinion. So what do sociologists really do and what is the specificity of their profession?

The most general definition is that sociology is the science of society. Society, on the other hand, is understood not simply as a mechanical sum of people who do not interact with each other, but as a form of association of people, suggesting that they have common interests and values. Moreover, society defines and reflects our life experience - especially the experience of communicating with the people around us. Society manifests itself in the decisions we make and the choices we make, in our actions and inactions, in the rules that govern our behavior at school and at home, at work and at play. We speak the language of society when we discuss the terrorist attacks in France and the F on the exam, when we argue with friends or confess our love. Of course, we live in a society, but at the same time society lives in us in the form of ideas about how everyday life works, what a fair social order is, how to relate to inequalities. It lives in our minds in the form of expectations about how others around us (parents, friends, teachers, passers-by on the street and hotel roommates on vacation) will behave and in the form of our own supposed reactions to their behavior.

Some sociologists are interested in the general laws governing the formation and change of human societies. They believe that the focus of sociology should be the social order that organizes and coordinates the life of all members of society without exception. Other sociologists, on the contrary, proceed from the fact that each member of society is unique, and ask how, despite deep personal differences, people are still able to understand each other. In their research, they focus on what meanings people ascribe to the social world in which they live: how they interpret the actions of others and their own behavior, and how, by obeying or resisting the social order, they serve to reproduce or change this order.

What unites both sociologists is their sensitivity to social change. Sociologists are the first to react to social upheavals and crises: they are the ones who point out new global risks and think about the consequences of large-scale migrations; analyze interethnic conflicts and try to predict the consequences of political reforms. In doing so, they are guided by two main principles. First, in the language of the eminent American sociologist Peter Berger, they seek to discover the general in the particular. For example, they are well aware that in the situation of a particular resident of the Trans-Urals, who lives from paycheck to paycheck and is not able to afford not only a vacation abroad, but also meat for dinner, most likely, not only the negligence and laziness of this Russian, but also the general the structure of social inequalities that has developed in society. Perhaps the reason for the poverty of this resident, like thousands of others, was the poverty of the family in which he was born, and hence the limited access to high-quality education, the need to enter the labor market early, low qualifications and modest incomes. Second, as John Macionis notes, sociologists learn to look for the unusual in the banal. So, they believe that any form of behavior of people and groups can be of scientific interest: from armed interethnic conflicts to the peaceful management of a pensioner at their summer cottage, from the fateful decision of a high school student where to go after graduation, to what qualities we attribute to “real men "and" real women ". Indeed, in every routine, in every habit, in every "for granted" reaction of the interlocutor, there are traces of a social structure that teaches us how to O to act, think and feel.

Sociology is rich in theoretical reflection, but at the same time it is fundamentally an empirical science. Learning sociological analysis solely from books, without interacting with people, is like being a music critic without ever listening to a symphony. At the same time, the repertoire of methods available to sociologists is very wide. In addition to public opinion polls, which are primarily associated with sociological research among the population, scientists use the possibilities of in-depth interviews, which involve a free confidential conversation with representatives of certain categories of people; participant observation, in which researchers strive to get involved as much as possible in the group of interest to them, to look at it “from the inside”; visual methods related to the collection and analysis of photo and video materials; quantitative and qualitative analysis of texts (from media publications to diary entries; from letters to public in social networks) and many others. others

Employment opportunities for professional sociologists are also varied. They may choose an academic career, or they may prefer to work in public organizations and private companies, government agencies or NGOs. In any case, they will need such qualities and skills that are integral to the profession of a sociologist, such as sensitivity to changes in people's behavior and opinions, the ability to establish a dialogue with representatives of various social classes and subcultures, and the willingness, if necessary, to become their “mouthpiece”, conveying their needs and troubles to authorities and social services, the ability to collect and analyze information using various methods and techniques, predict conflicts in time and deal with urgent social problems. A sociologist is an excellent profession for a creative and caring person who has a keen interest in the unique life experiences of people, who knows how to listen to the opinions of others, who is ready to travel from one social world to another and is not afraid of the difficulties of field work.

Anthony Giddens, Sociology, "Introduction to Sociology"

"The book is written with the belief that sociology has a key role to play in modern intellectual culture and to occupy a central place among the social sciences. ...

Sociology offers a distinct and extremely vivid perspective on understanding human behavior.

By studying sociology, we rise above our own interpretation of the world to look at the social influences that shape our lives. At the same time, sociology does not reject or diminish the importance of individual experience. On the contrary, we learn to better understand ourselves and other people, thereby developing in ourselves the ability to perceive the cosmos of social activity in which we are involved.

From the annotation of the Olympiad for schoolchildren of St. Petersburg State University in the profile "Sociology"

Sociology is a tool for effective activity and behavior in modern life; allows you to analyze and understand how the surrounding social world works in order to act in it as efficiently as possible. “To see the world around us in the focus of sociology” means not only to fix the facts, but also to be able to apply them to the analysis of social phenomena and processes.
The sociological view of the world is different from conventional ideas. This, above all, is the ability to notice the general in the particular. Sociological thinking arises when we begin to understand how general categories affect our private life, "to see the unusual in the banal." This approach can be called sociological imagination - the ability to abstract from one's experience of everyday life.

On sociology and modern society

Savin S.D., PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology of Political and Social Processes, St. Petersburg State University

To understand what sociology is and what it does, we must first say a few words about what society is.

Without delving into the philosophical questions of the essence of society, into the disputes of nominalists and realists about whether society exists at all or whether there are only our ideas about it, let us take as a basis the scientific point of view that society is a complex self-organizing system with a huge number of properties and characteristics. This system is more complex than a biological organism or any technical system and you can't drive it like a car. Nevertheless, the better we know these systemic properties and characteristics of society, social ties and interactions, the more effective is the development of society itself.

Each science of society has its own objective view of this complex object. Each studies its part, an element of social life or specific social relations: economic, political, legal, international. And for a professional in each of these areas, society is, as it were, refracted through his objective view. For an economist, the whole world is, first of all, the economy; for a political scientist, it is politics, and so on. Often this does not make it possible to comprehensively understand any social problem, leading to a one-sided view. Roughly speaking, a lawyer wants to limit everything by law, and he is sincerely surprised when his good legal measures do not work. Smoking, drinking, and swearing were banned, but still, for some reason, many people smoke, drink, and swear. So this is not enough to solve the problem. It is necessary to include knowledge from the field of sociology of law and other areas of sociological knowledge.

The sociological view of society and its problems is broader and at the same time quite specific.
First, sociology answers the question, what is modern society, what type of society do we live in. The answer to this question depends on the understanding of certain social problems, the algorithms for their solutions.
To what type, for example, is modern Russian society classified? Are we still living in an industrial or already in a post-industrial society, or some kind of transition? What is modernization for Russia, which many people talk about, but put different meanings into it? Taking society as a system of different spheres of social life, understanding its structure, sociology gives answers about the ways and directions of its development.

Secondly, sociology studies social structure: connections, interactions between elements of a social system. How are politics and economics, spiritual and social spheres interconnected, how do authorities interact with civil society, how do labor relations affect economic development? Realizing that each element of society has a certain function in it, that they all interact, influence each other, we eliminate the risk of succumbing to the temptation and jumping to the conclusion that everything depends only on economics or only on politics.

There are different types of social structures: institutional, social-class, socio-stratification, socio-demographic, socio-territorial, socio-professional, ethnic, etc. Each individual has a certain social role and social status in these structures. Sociology studies, on the one hand, how these social structures determine the living conditions of people, the specifics of social problems, and on the other hand, how people behave in order to realize their goals, interests, and needs. She analyzes social behavior. What motives drive people, what values shape our personality, what are interest groups , their clashes, conflicts? All this together we call the study of social processes.
And the sociologist reveals such patterns in the economic sphere, and in the political and spiritual (cultural) spheres. Sociological knowledge implies knowledge of the foundations of politics, law, economics, management, and culture. A sociologist specializes in the field of economic sociology, sociology of law, sociology of international relations, etc. Through the prism of sociological knowledge, each phenomenon in the life of these spheres is considered not in isolation, but in interconnection with other phenomena, in a variety of factors that affect them, the functions that social actors perform .