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Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life.
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.
This category relates to specifically sociological terms and concepts. Wider societal terms that do not have a specific sociological nature about them should be added to social concepts in keeping with the WikiProject Sociology scope for the subject.
The sociology of culture is an older concept, and considers some topics and objects as more or less "cultural" than others. By way of contrast, Jeffrey C. Alexander introduced the term cultural sociology, an approach that sees all, or most, social phenomena as inherently cultural at some level. [3]
The concepts Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft were also used by Max Weber in Economy and Society, which was first published in 1921. Weber wrote in direct response to Tönnies, [ 3 ] and argued that Gemeinschaft is rooted in a "subjective feeling" that may be "affectual or traditional".
This category relates to the wider terms and concepts for the social world and society, for specifically sociological terms and concepts see Sociological terminology Wikimedia Commons has media related to Social concepts .
Parsons organized social systems in terms of action units, where one action executed by an individual is one unit. He defines a social system as a network of interactions between actors. [ 4 ] According to Parsons, social systems rely on a system of language, and culture must exist in a society in order for it to qualify as a social system. [ 4 ]
Manifest functions are the consequences that people see, observe or even expect. It is explicitly stated and understood by the participants in the relevant action. The manifest function of a rain dance, according to Merton in his 1957 Social Theory and Social Structure, is to produce rain, and this outcome is intended and desired by people participating in the ritual.