What is Sociology? | College Majors | College Degrees | Study Hall

french philosopher isadora auguste marie freso xavier compt is considered by many to be a father of modern sociology and the person who coined the term with a name that long you're bound to question the social structures that committed you to a lifetime of hand cramps when filling out paperwork but actually born into the tumultuous end of the french revolution comp suggested that social interactions could be studied in the same way that we study the laws of physics or other scientific phenomena like any field of knowledge sociology as a whole was built up by many other

folks over the years including karl marx emile durkheim and w.e.b dubois and today sociology is a broad diverse and dynamic discipline that makes use of both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand human culture communication criminal justice economics education conflict religion and more sociologists study everything from where revolutions come from to how individual people get swayed by group values to when the internet changed how we communicate intrigued then you've come to the right place hi i'm erica brazovsky and welcome to fast guides a study hall series presented in partnership with arizona state university and crash course

in this episode we'll be talking about sociology [Music] the word sociology comes from the latin sokius meaning comrade or ally in the greek logia meaning the study of so really sociology is a study of people and how individuals and groups of all sizes interact and try to behave collectively so in sociology you might study something as everyday is the small talk between two strangers in a grocery store as huge as the behavior of different countries during a global conflict or anything in between sociology is just one of many related disciplines under the umbrella of social

sciences including anthropology economics linguistics political science and history and research in the social sciences often relies on survey data interviews and other qualitative measures so sociology can be seen as more subjective than disciplines like physics or biology but sociology research is rigorous too it's just tricky to gather objective data on human subjects to think and interact in so many complex ways you can't measure someone's mood as precisely as you can measure the temperature of a chemical solution so you have to get creative maybe you want to explore how social media is changing how we interact

or the pros and cons of online dating or maybe you're curious about another facet of culture whether it's the trends that come from the fashion industry or the different linguistic dialects people use to talk to each other or maybe you just want to know why we care so much about sports sociology touches on so many aspects of how we relate to each other at an interpersonal and global level and it's become a vital discipline in today's world so coursework for sociology majors gives you a taste of the humanities and the sciences you'll likely start off

with introductory courses in sociology where you'll tackle topics like race gender and modern social problems alongside your general education requirements like intra-courses to english or college math later in your studies you might delve into research methods and a few statistics courses because to be a good sociologist you need to know how to create surveys develop observation methods perform analyses and conduct careful research along this journey you can figure out what kinds of human interactions interest you the most because like a lot of researchers sociologists often specialize rather than trying to tackle every single question out

there for example there are electives like feminist criminal industrial and environmental sociology or you might want to go broader with classes like social inequality or critical inquiry some sociology programs may even let you declare a specific concentration to help you learn more deeply with other students and teachers who share your interests so if you really find your niche and how people interact with legal systems you can focus on the sociology of law or if you're more interested in how people live in different societies and cultures you might focus on social anthropology many schools offer both

a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science in sociology and the differences can be subtle so don't stress too much over which type of degree is for you in general the ba degree typically focuses more heavily on liberal arts it's often a good fit for those who want to understand people better and apply that knowledge to their future careers in all kinds of industries and the bs degree is often more focused on research and methodology and is usually ideal for those who want to pursue more advanced degrees or be involved in sociology research but

no matter what courses you take studying sociology will help you learn valuable skills that apply within and outside of the discipline like the ability to ask deep questions and develop explanations analyze and interpret data and design and conduct research you'll hone your communication and presentation skills and maybe you'll feel a little more equipped to be a human who has to navigate complex interactions every single day it's not easy with or without a degree and if you're thinking about majoring in sociology you're in good company famous sociology majors include former first lady michelle obama author saul

bello and even the sex educator dr ruth westheimer really sociology is a great major for those who are fascinated by human behavior or have the curiosity to ask a lot of questions about the world instead of passively living in it so sociology also pairs well as a double major or minor with fields like social policy public service or community advocacy that also deal heavily with people but there are plenty of other subjects with shared course requirements or overlapping elective options like political science anthropology or education to name a few now sociology is often thought of

as one of those majors that some students choose because they aren't sure what else to do or they think it sounds easy and in those cases those students might struggle when they encounter statistics research methods and the need to hone serious critical thinking skills so if you choose to major in sociology or any major really it's good to know what you're getting into sociology has lots of interesting applications in the modern world that can lead you down a rewarding career path and help you become an informed citizen but the rigor may take you by surprise

if you're unprepared some sociology majors will pursue careers as analysts teachers statisticians or public policy analysts because of this it may be helpful to choose a part of sociology to concentrate on like i mentioned before or even a second major or minor but this kind of focus can also mean being prepared for a larger workload and more courses overall one of the nice things about a bachelor's degree in sociology is that you learn a broad set of analytic and communication skills that connect to many different fields and roles so if you find yourself part way

through your sociology studies and wanting to change majors you may be able to easily pivot and apply many of your skills and credits to psychology political science anthropology or other social science fields but if you do stick with sociology you'll also have many different career possibilities open to you like paralegals and legal assistants who support lawyers by organizing files conducting legal research drafting documents and scheduling interviews meetings and depositions your understanding of people and relationships will come in handy as you deal with sensitive materials and conflict paralegals and legal assistance may work for corporate lawyers

or personal attorneys and talking about salaries is hard because so much can change year to year and it depends on what location you're in as of 2021 they earn an average of about 53 000 per year or you might explore becoming a market research analyst and study market conditions in various industries attempting to identify business opportunities for sales and services sociology majors can be great in this field due to their skills in understanding people's motivations and habits they often work for companies that rely on sociology-related research for product development and growth like corporations or public

health organizations and as of 2021 the median annual salary for market researchers is about sixty six thousand dollars per year or public relations specialists help many companies and organizations maintain a positive public image by creating campaigns delivering speeches or making press releases and they earn an average of almost 63 thousand dollars per year and diversity equity and inclusion specialists have been increasingly huge priority in recent years and are responsible for ensuring equitable practices within organizations their jobs may include creating programs to help existing employees deconstruct biases making workplaces less toxic for non-dominant groups or instituting

programs to help a wider variety of people access careers that historically shut them out the average diversity officer earns around 74 000 per year or human resource specialists are responsible for planning coordinating and directing various administrative functions within an organization after all human is writing the job title and they need to understand social behaviors in order to support a bunch of human employees though you might need specific human resources training human resource specialists may help recruit interview and onboard new employees handle compensation and benefits and manage employee disputes the median human resources specialist earns around

63 000 per year also sociology and social work are often lumped together in people's minds and becoming a social worker is something people with sociology degrees can consider social workers help protect vulnerable individuals and families that need help with things like finding housing accessing community services or treating behavioral and emotional health issues but you're not a social worker after graduating with a sociology degree and you'll probably need additional education to truly be a social worker that said it's often hard work but can be very rewarding to assist folks who can be marginalized by dominant societal

structures the median social worker earns around 52 000 per year and if you do want to have the more specific and a little more rare job title of sociologists you'll probably be conducting research for universities or political organizations but you'll need to do more than earning your bachelor's degree you should plan on going to graduate school in general after earning a bachelor's degree in sociology you may also want to continue your studies in a master's or phd graduate program besides straight up sociology you could also explore other paths like a master of social work education

urban planning or even law school you may also take online classes and certificate programs or you might join a professional organization such as the american sociological association or the international sociological association to stay in the loop on new developments in the field of sociology no matter what career you choose sociology can be incredibly rewarding and you'll make old isidor august marie francois xavier compt proud by carrying on this legacy i mean probably he's been dead a long time but sociology is still thriving today people and all the ways we talk and work together and create

culture and just live are fascinating during my degree i specialize in sociolinguistics because i wanted to study the sociological parts of language for that very reason so if you too are fascinated by humans and everything that we do sociology might be the major for you thanks for watching and if you want to look beyond sociology for a possible major check out our other videos to look into more majors to find the one that's right for you this series is part of the study hall program a partnership between arizona state university and crash course if you

like this video or found it helpful give it a like and comment and let us know how you chose your degree or how you're struggling to choose a degree or what you wish you'd known before you started your degree