Comments on: What is sociology? http://www.strangechord.com/2004/06/29/what-is-sociology/ ...reverberating Fri, 18 May 2012 07:00:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Emily http://www.strangechord.com/2004/06/29/what-is-sociology/#comment-9954 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 18:26:14 +0000 http://www.strangechord.com/2004/06/29/what-is-sociology/#comment-9954 Thanks, Katxena, for rounding out the definition - I concur. Obviously social structures would not be there if people did not create them. In fact, a lot of my sociological study has been around <i>why</i> social structures are created and maintained as they are. Thanks, Katxena, for rounding out the definition - I concur. Obviously social structures would not be there if people did not create them. In fact, a lot of my sociological study has been around why social structures are created and maintained as they are.

]]> by: Ryan http://www.strangechord.com/2004/06/29/what-is-sociology/#comment-9953 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 15:08:56 +0000 http://www.strangechord.com/2004/06/29/what-is-sociology/#comment-9953 Man, reading this just makes me want to go back to school more. Though I am an engineer by (first) training, I've always felt a need for more, and a comfortability and excitement in observing others in their habits and actions. Thanks for sharing and helping me clarify what I want a little bit. Honestly, I'm jealous of your classes sometimes. Someday... :) Man, reading this just makes me want to go back to school more. Though I am an engineer by (first) training, I’ve always felt a need for more, and a comfortability and excitement in observing others in their habits and actions. Thanks for sharing and helping me clarify what I want a little bit. Honestly, I’m jealous of your classes sometimes. Someday… :)

]]> by: Katxena http://www.strangechord.com/2004/06/29/what-is-sociology/#comment-9952 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 14:50:06 +0000 http://www.strangechord.com/2004/06/29/what-is-sociology/#comment-9952 This is a nice definition of sociology, but I think it does come up a little bit shy (with an emphasis on little). Sociology is not only the study of the impact social structures have on individuals, but also the study of how individuals create and maintain social structures. It's like that MC Escher drawing, where <a href="http://www.mcescher.nl/Shopmain/Foto/Posters/e26.jpg" rel="nofollow">one hand draws another</a> -- we create society and society creates us, in a never-ending circle of causality. This is not to say that we choose our own fate, or that we create society out of whole cloth, but we do play a role in maintaining and sometimes changing the social structures in which we are embedded. Without this added bit, great swaths of the political sociology, social movements and historical sociology subfields would be excised from the field. Which some may view as a good thing, but I (as a political sociologist), do not. On another topic: The world needs more sociologist bloggers! :) I'm glad I found your site. This is a nice definition of sociology, but I think it does come up a little bit shy (with an emphasis on little). Sociology is not only the study of the impact social structures have on individuals, but also the study of how individuals create and maintain social structures.

It’s like that MC Escher drawing, where one hand draws another — we create society and society creates us, in a never-ending circle of causality. This is not to say that we choose our own fate, or that we create society out of whole cloth, but we do play a role in maintaining and sometimes changing the social structures in which we are embedded.

Without this added bit, great swaths of the political sociology, social movements and historical sociology subfields would be excised from the field. Which some may view as a good thing, but I (as a political sociologist), do not.

On another topic: The world needs more sociologist bloggers! :) I’m glad I found your site.

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