Sociology

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Sociology is a study of human beings in their social aspect. The term was coined by Auguste Comte, who conceived of a unification of all studies of mankind--history, psychology, economics, and so forth. His own sociological scheme was typical of the 18th century; he believed that all human life had passed through the same distinct historical stages and that, in understanding this progress, one could prescribe the remedies for social ills.

Sociology, as currently understood, is not so grand. It is the study of social institutions largely by a comparative method. It has largely concentrated on the organization of complex industrial societies, where anthropology has studied simpler and more static ones, although there is no intrinsic reason for dividing the subject that way.

See also sociologist?, Milgram experiment, disabilities, media studies

Influential sociologists: [Auguste Comte]?, [Emile Durkheim]?, Max Weber, [Talcott Parsons]?, [Robert K. Merton]?, [Erving Goffman]?

Influences on sociology: Karl Marx, [Georg Simmel]?, [George Herbert Mead]?, [Ferdinand Saussure]?, [Alfred Schutz]?, [Claude Levi-Strauss]?

Branches of sociology: Sociology of Religion