Why is sociology important?

This essay won third place in a global essay contest on many perspectives on the importance of sociology.

The Importance of Sociology’s Many Perspectives, Abiodun Abidoye

Delving into the world of socio-sciences, correct sociology is a science, as the biggest and most fascinating disciplines in social science. Sociology does not entail the use of test tubes, microscopes, Bunsen burners, flasks petri dishes and all given to natural sciences; sociology is a social science as sociologists seek to learn and understand the complexities of human society through observation and analysis creating theories as a backup to new findings, learning and evaluating them with systematic observation and analysis.

What makes sociology so intriguing and challenging at the same time is its subject matter of the evolving social world, the enormity of society, and its high level of complexity. As my lecturers say, “there is no wrong or right answer in the field of sociology; just your justification of your opinion or response will determine how wrong or right your answer will be.” Sociology is about putting questions or interrogating society, not just to understand it, which is why we look through social stratification and the distribution of unequal resources, powers and positions in society, which prompts sociologists to challenge the status quo in society. Taking inequality (income) as an example, functionalist theory may postulate that stratification in society serves a specific purpose, where higher income earners are rewarded according to their contribution to society, while conflict theory posits that this hierarchical system is an advantage to the well off and a disadvantage to the marginalized. These disparities were brought to light through sociological research by providing esteemed insight into social movements and instigating evolutionary change in society.

Sociologists are different in thinking and acting because sociologists have a shift or different angles from which they view things in society. As the study of society, sociologists do not just study how complex society is and how its body (institutions) functions, but to analyze how these structures function can perpetuate inequality in society. We study the interaction and relationship between individuals or groups. The reason is we humans are made of blood and flesh; we are emotional beings, and sometimes too many times our emotions get the better of us. These are the things sociologists put into consideration while dealing with human beings. Because you cannot see a sociologist acting impulsively, anywhere you meet with a sociologist, there is always a difference in their intervention, speaking, thinking, acting, or even in their observations.

E.g., if there happen to be a disagreement or conflict in a room and a sociologist happens to be there, if others are reacting in the same manner a sociologist is seated there viewing from another angle on why this person acted up this way to the matter, what was the person thinking before the word spoken hit him/her? Was the person sick? Etc. All these attributes contribute to the differences and uniqueness of how important sociology is, not just to an individual, but to society. Sociology is correlated with other sciences, e.g., psychology, archeology, political science, international relations, economics, and history. As no social science can be studied in full isolation from the other, they are interrelated in learning.

Examples of Sociological Perspectives

According to C. Wright Mills, argues in his book The Sociological Imagination, developing a quality mind, “What people need is a quality of mind that will help them to use information and to develop reason to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening within themselves.” The context of Wright's thought is to help individuals cope with the social world by enabling them to step outside their own, personal, self-centered view of the world; to make individuals perceive, from an objective perspective, events and social structures that may influence behavior, attitudes, and culture.

Max Weber and Wilhelm Dilthey, on the other hand, introduced the idea of verstehen, which refers to an attempt to understand and interpret all meanings of action behind social behavior from the actor’s view in the sense of interpretive or participatory examination of social phenomena. The goal of verstehen is less to predict behavior than it is to understand behavior. What Max and Dilthey were after here is a meaningful social action, and not a statistical or mathematical knowledge of society. This means that one can not simply understand how the society or interaction works through the use and counting of numbers, but rather by participating in the social phenomena to have a taste of what others are feeling or experiencing and to be able to tell the story like the owner or explain and express social phenomena.

Third place in the global essay writing contest 2024

Sociological theories furnish frameworks for understanding social change, functionalism accentuates on how social institutions assert social stability, while conflict, on the other hand, emphasizes how social change can become apparent through resource scarcity and power struggles between individuals or groups or classes (i.e., bourgeoisie and the proletariat). With an understanding of social movements, sociologists could assess the way communal action can create disorder within the existing societal structure and advocate for changes.

Sociology is important for the following reasons:

• It helps us to understand the root causes of social phenomena.

• It helps us to understand tensions in society.

• Sociology helps us to understand interactions and relationships between humans to provide solutions to individuals, groups, communities, and societal problems at large.

• The process of studying sociology or applying the thought of sociology in our everyday life breeds good citizenry.

• Sociology is important in the aspect of analysis, e.g., analyzing problems facing a society.

• It helps in the documentation of social phenomena, Sociology brings about functionality and solidarity of its body (institutions)

• It brings about togetherness of its institutions, e.g., religion, family, economic, political, education, media, health, and law, It helps with the knowledge of society.

• It is important because it helps us to drive into the actor’s world of meaning.

• It helps us relate well with people of all races, cultures, or traditions to avoid marginalization.

• It is also important as it is the only course that studies every aspect of human life. This is to mention but a few reasons for the importance of sociology and understanding what sociology is about in the modern world.

Who studies sociology?

Where are all the sociologists hiding (Nasar and Jay Gabler)? As it happens, they are hiding in plain sight; people in many different settings and organizations use sociology to understand society and help solve social problems. Some of these people call themselves sociologists, and some of them do not (depending on their jobs, they might call themselves researchers, programme officers or reporters), but they all make use of sociological findings and ideas.

Sociologists not only study social issues, but also work to find solutions to those issues. These are places where sociology is done and can be found in the higher education sector, conducting research—universities, which is where the proud, loud, and enthusiastic young minds are found. Many universities offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in sociology mostly taken by social science students in fields such as psychology, political science, anthropology, international relations, law, even some in the medical field, as it is required of them to learn social relation and interaction because they deal with people who often are not normal or tense till they get attended to. So, they need an understanding of social interactions and to deal with people.

Studying sociology at the university gives clarity in understanding some social questions and why some things are the way they are. For example, understanding of culture, religion, social networking, social stratifications, race and sex, community and belongings, religion operation, crime and deviance, inequality, social mobility, marriage and family, understand groups, conflicts, and conflict settlement, history, migration, understanding in diversities, social order, ethnicity, occupation and income, gender, age discrimination, motivation, politics, and social psychology,

Where to find a sociologist

Sociologists can be found in universities as lecturers, and professors, in a research organization as a researcher, as a social worker, in politics and government agencies permeate policy decisions, nonprofit organizations in developing programs and lectures to address social issues, journalism and reporting, business and consulting, in medical line as medical sociologist, in private industry, and more..

Sociologists could make huge and valuable differences in the above-mentioned sectors with their critical thinking, analysis, research skills, communication, empathy, interacting and understanding, proactively active, meticulous, patient, and interpersonal skills. To understand the source of social issues and develop essential interventions in society.

What value does sociology bring to the world around me, and why?

Sociology brings valuable insights to the world around me. This is because sociology brings value in social functions, structures, norms, and the institutions in the society, which helps us to understand the complexity of social issues or phenomena, such as stratification, inequality, racism, discrimination, conflicts, and social changes. Studying sociology also makes me understand that, as sociologists, we are not analytical people, but solution providers. Coming from the early sociologists, they never solved a social issue but developed diverse ways of discovering issues and providing a solution to aid social order, promote social justice, give a better understanding, and the use of empathy among groups and individuals in society. Sociology brings about policymaking, orderliness, equality, management, understanding, rationality, and development in society.

What sociological theories and research methodology help change the world around me positively?

Sociological theories and research methods can bring positive changes as they help us in understanding social phenomena, such as social change, dynamics of power, inequality, and the formation of social identities. It brings changes in identifying social issues that arise in society and helps us understand the root cause of these issues, such as racism, gender roles, inequality, poverty, and child labor. Also, changes can occur positively by developing our community in a community research giving volunteers access in collaboration and empowering and encouraging people on how they can/should address their social issues either individually or in groups and changes in education, as research in education can lead or bring about a policy educationally in practices or improvement in education sector for students in learning from a diverse background or community. All these are tools for understanding, providing, and addressing social issues by positively changing the world.

Summary

Sociology is important as it helps us understand society through a strong lens with its complexities of the world functions in orderliness, how interactions and relationships are made within ourselves, individuals, and groups, also understanding the norms, its values, the institutions, and their contributions to the growth of society. Which brings understanding of inequalities, poverty, conflicts, discrimination, and social change and provides solution to social phenomena which aids in policymaking and fostering more togetherness and solidarity in the development of the society and enables us to be able to challenge the status quo and work towards change in the society.

References

Nasar, M., PhD, and Jay G, PhD. (2011):1,5,14. Sociology for Dummies. john Wiley &Sons, Ltd, West Sussex(Eng):John Wiley & Sons.