sociology essay format

sociology essay format

Exploring Key Concepts in Contemporary Sociology

1. Introduction to Sociology

If we were to answer the question “What is sociology?” in a word, we could answer “Everything.” When we say this, we mean that sociology is a discipline that has made it its task to understand a wide array of topics that intersect and affect our everyday lives. Sociologists investigate how societies are created and how they operate. Who has the power? How do controversial topics become commonplace? Sociologists understand social life by drawing on many methodologies and theories. The world may increasingly seem to be smaller and smaller as technology allows worldwide communication and commerce, and people and cultures become more interconnected. Town and city centers around the globe all look increasingly similar with the advent of Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Gap stores. At the same time, popular media informs us that cultures seem to be growing further and further apart. Social divisions are reinforced through differences in religious beliefs, with war and conflict in the Middle East and the exploitation of third-world countries by the industrial West providing evidence. So clearly the world is both smaller and larger, and it is for this reason that the sociological imagination, developed by C. Wright Mills, is vital in helping us understand changes in society. Our task is to see the connections between large-scale social forces, such as our current political climate or changes in global economic markets, and interpersonal issues affecting individual people, such as relationship problems or issues related to self-identity. To better understand these dynamics, sociologists apply a specific perspective, one of several different sociological approaches, to study the broader social context in which we live and which shapes the lives of individuals in the society. This chapter will introduce some significant sociological concepts and familiarize you with some of the major thinkers that have contributed to the field.

What is sociology? This chapter will introduce you to the discipline of sociology and provide you with a general introduction to key concepts and founding figures that are central to the sociological enterprise. Our approach is guided by a belief that students should engage with relevant, interesting, and topical subjects in the study of sociology. Doing so helps provide a wide array of examples to illustrate sociological applications and allows engaging, lively, and effective classroom dialogue.

2. Major Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology

Functionalism is a theoretical perspective created by Emile Durkheim and developed by other sociologists including Talcott Parsons. It is based on the idea that society is a stable, harmonious entity in which all the people agree on basic values. Conflict or difficulties are temporary glitches in the social system. Functionalists have a top-down view of society and believe that we depend on society for our survival. Functionalists think of society as a system of interrelated parts which work together to help it function harmoniously and be stable. Examples of these parts might include the family, government, economy, religion, education, and the media. Each of these parts has a specific function which helps society to survive and keep its stability; think about the way the mitochondria help the cell to survive and function. When these needs are met, they call it order and stability in society – almost like having homeostasis in our bodies. The theory believes that we are all part of this organism and each holds responsibilities for the system. If these parts were not functioning correctly, the implication would be “dysfunction” and it would lead to extinction.

One of the questions that sociologists have been asking from the very beginning is something like, “What holds society together?” How does a state or country or city or tribe cohere and how does it continue to exist across time? What are the forces that create social stability and social change?

3. Key Concepts and Terminology in Sociology

In addition to their income and wealth, class membership is generally associated with various kinds of material and social advantages. Most people occupy different socioeconomic class positions at different times of their lives, although some sociologists argue that within any given society there are relatively small groups of people who wield a disproportionate share of power and who pass this power to their children. Other researchers have emphasized the multidimensionality of social stratification – arguing that economic differences are associated not only with differences between people alongside the dimension of socioeconomic status (or class) but also are related to their social status, power, and other domains of social life.

Class, a term broadly used by sociologists in virtually every subfield, is at its most basic level a way to understand economic inequalities and their effects. It refers to a distinct social grouping based on occupation, income, and wealth, social status, or all of these, although a number of other correlates (such as gender or ethnic background) are frequently important in establishing and maintaining the group’s social identity. In capitalist societies, socioeconomic class divisions are commonly defined by reference to people’s positions in enterprises and their roles in the production of goods and services. Marxists are particularly interested in the economic exploitation and wealth inequalities that they believe to be inherent to the relationship between groups that is established by the ownership of enterprises and the hiring of labor.

4. Applications of Sociology in Real-World Contexts

The discipline of sociology is part of a recent development in the study of the physical and social world. Years ago, all scholars perceived themselves as, in an important sense, like present-day sociologists. The early philosophers, for example, assumed that they were up to the task of sharpening their powers of observation and logic until they could make sense of human behavior. They assumed that their observations of nature and society would support their faith in their natural ability to think, anticipate, control, and understand. The perceptions men and women shared did not need to be guided by any principle other than what appeared to be directly apprehended about the phenomena. Over time, the accumulated thoughtful contemplation of human societies and relationships helped to crystallize religious and philosophical discourses. While modern philosophers and authors remain interesting to read, the development of specialization in scholarship has greatly advanced the accumulation of valuable knowledge.

The world we live in is a complex and multilayered environment full of diverse peoples, practices, and problems. Several scholars have examined specific components of our reality, such as values, economies, and educational institutions. Their curiosity has led to the production of a vast body of specialized knowledge in such areas as psychology, history, physics, economics, and mechanical engineering, allowing these and other scholars to examine in detail particular aspects of the social and physical world. As useful as their efforts have been, it is important to also engage in thinking about the connections and relationships that link these separate subject areas at the level of the entire society and at the level of the global system. This level of thinking is the focus of sociology.

5. Conclusion and Future Directions in Sociological Research

As demographics continue to shift and minority race and ethnic group status increases in the structure of the social system, the shock protocol will replace the melting pot. That is to say that there will be a shifting landscape of race relations which will offer new opportunities for understanding the stability and how the existing minority group members will eventually earn their equal social status and membership rights in the United States of America or resolve potential conflicts in race and ethnic group interactions and relations. In examining the future directions for researching the relationship between race, ethnicity, and social relations, the literature analysis will provide some conclusions in this valuable and insightful concept.

The landscape of American racial and ethnic relations has undergone dramatic changes in recent years with the notable influx of immigrants and the paramount role of race in defining the social structure and social problems. Given the importance of race and ethnicity in recent developments in the social arena, topics have dominated national social science research agendas with major relevance for informing policy decisions and political elections across an array of social institutions. In the area of race relations, racial discrimination in employment, wealth inequality, racial profiling, environmental injustice, housing, education, inducement of public assistance, political power and representation, health care, and criminal justice have constituted particular areas of emphasis in the academic literature as well as in public administration and management practices.