What is Sociology?
Sociology is a social science, which studies societies, social institutions, and social influences on behavior by utilizing scientific methodology and reasoning. Through studying sociology, students develop knowledge about the organization and functioning of societies and cultures, and their linkages to patterns of individual and group action.
Research Training
Sociology is both a theoretical discipline and a research science. In the area of quantitative research training, the department offers students many opportunities to learn basic analytic techniques and principles of research design, as well as skills in more advanced research and statistical analysis. Students in Society, Culture and the Individual (Soc. 102), learn to design and carry out to completion individually conducted research; and in Research Design and Statistical Analysis (Soc. 265) they develop the ability to do more sophisticated statistical analysis and manage complex data sets.
In the area of qualitative research, the department also provides many opportunities to learn ethnographic methods, interviewing and analysis of qualitative data. In U.S. Social Structure students engage in qualitative research projects, which teach them how to design and conduct interviews and develop analytical principles for explaining these data in reference to specific social and historical contexts; in Urban Fieldwork they develop more extensive ethnographic research skills including participant observation, note taking, and analytical synthesis; and in the Sociology of Culture, they learn how to analyze qualitative data found in newspapers, advertising, movies, television shows, and literary texts and to explain these data from theoretical perspectives.
What can you do with Sociological Training?
Because sociology has relevance to every sphere of human social life, undergraduate training in sociology provides an excellent background and preparation for a variety of careers. Examples of professions in which former majors are employed include: university professors at such institutions as the University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, and Harvard Medical School, physicians in diverse specialties, journalists in electronic and print media, business executives and business entrepreneurs, financial analysts in investment firms and corporations, lawyers in public interest, corporate, and government organizations, social workers in clinical and case work practices, college administrators in colleges and universities, school teachers in public and private institutions, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists - as well as several more exotic careers such as certified hypnotherapist and certified massage therapist.
