Sociology is the study of society and human social interaction. Sociological research ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. The field focuses on how and why people are organized in society, either as individuals or as members of associations, groups, and institutions. Someone working in the field of sociology is called a sociologist. As an academic discipline, sociology is considered a social science and is relatively young compared to other disciplines, having evolved in the early 19th century. Basic topics in sociology include: This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Social contact is a pair of social actions with no further consequence - i. ... // A typical - but restrictive - definition can be taken from the International Monetary Fund, which stresses the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services, free international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. ... As commonly used, individual refers to a person or to any specific object in a collection. ... A voluntary association (also sometimes called an unincorporated association, or just an association) is a group of individuals who voluntarily enter into an agreement to form a body (or organization) to accomplish a purpose. ... In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection of humans or animals, who share certain characteristics, interact with one another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity. ... A social institution is any institution in a socity that works to socialize the groups or people in it. ... This is a list of academic disciplines (and academic fields). ... The social sciences are groups of academic disciplines that study the human aspects of the world. ...

Sociology Portal

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Nature of sociology

Main article: Sociology

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Branches of sociology

Main article: Subfields of sociology

Sociology has many subfields. ...

History of sociology

Main article: History of sociology

Sociology is a relatively new academic discipline among other social sciences including economics, political science, anthropology, and psychology. ...

Basic sociology concepts

• Social control
• Sociology of knowledge
• Social construction of reality
• Social Engineering
• Micro Sociology
• Social Development

Social control refers to social mechanisms that regulate individual and group behavior, in terms of greater sanctions and rewards. ... The sociology of knowledge is the study of the social origins of ideas, and of the effects prevailing ideas have on societies. ... Socially constructed reality forms a concept within the sociology of knowledge and the social constructionist strand of postmodernism. ... Social engineering has several meanings: Social engineering (political science) Social engineering (computer security) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Sociology scholars

Leaders in sociology

Sociology lists

Main article: List of sociology topics

This is a list of terms in sociology. ...

See also