Contents

Outline of sociology

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Key themes Society Globalization Human behavior Human environmental impact Identity Industrial revolutions 3 / 4 / 5 Social complexity Social construct Social environment Social equality Social equity Social power Social stratification Social structure
Perspectives Conflict theory Critical theory Structural functionalism Positivism Social constructionism Symbolic interactionism
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Major theorists 1700s: Comte · Sieyès 1800s: Martineau · Tocqueville · Marx · Spencer · Le Bon · Pareto · Tönnies · Veblen · Simmel · Durkheim · Addams · Mead · Weber · Du Bois · Mannheim · Elias 1900s: Fromm · Adorno · Gehlen · Aron · Merton · Nisbet · Mills · Bell · Schoeck · Goffman · Bauman · Foucault · Luhmann · Habermas · Baudrillard · Bourdieu · Giddens
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the discipline of sociology:

Sociology – the study of society^[1] using various methods of empirical investigation^[2] and critical analysis^[3] to understand human social activity, from the micro level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and social structure.^[4]

Nature of sociology[edit]

Definition[edit]

Sociology can be described as all of the following:

• The study of society.
• Academic discipline – body of knowledge given to - or received by - a disciple (student); a branch or sphere of knowledge, or field of study, that an individual has chosen to specialise in.
• Field of science – widely recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer reviewed research is published. There are many sociology-related scientific journals.
  • Social science – field of academic scholarship that explores aspects of human society.

Essence of sociology[edit]

Overall[edit]

Sociology

Key themes across sociological research[edit]

• Society

Branches of sociology[edit]

Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary fields involving sociology[edit]

History of sociology[edit]

• History of sociology
• Timeline of sociology

Theoretical perspectives in sociology[edit]

Approaches[edit]

Positivism[edit]

• Positivism (Empirical sociology)

Critical realist[edit]

• Critical realism

Structural[edit]

• Structuralism

Challenging structure[edit]

Social interactions[edit]

Behavioural[edit]

• Psychoanalytic sociology

Social justice[edit]

• Critical theory

Applied[edit]

• Pure sociology

Ecological[edit]

• Human ecology

Levels of analysis[edit]

Methodology and methods in sociology[edit]

General sociology concepts[edit]

Sociology by location[edit]

Sociologists[edit]

• List of sociologists

Sociological publications[edit]

Sociology journals
Magazines

Sociology books

Sociological associations[edit]

Sociological associations

Academies[edit]

Related fields[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• SocioSite, a directory of sociology resources
• SectionsofAmerican Sociological Association
• Research Committees and ThemesofInternational Sociological Association, AIS
• (in French) Comités de Recherche de l'Association internationale des sociologues de langue française, AISLF
• (in French) Liste des réseaux thématiques de l'Association Française de Sociologie, AFS

• Definitions from Wiktionary
• Media from Commons
• News from Wikinews
• Quotations from Wikiquote
• Texts from Wikisource
• Textbooks from Wikibooks
• Resources from Wikiversity
• Data from Wikidata