Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 28

This chapter is the first of a block of three which, taken together, provide a broad introduction to the discipline of sociology: what it is, how it developed over time, how sociologists go about their work, and what kinds of explanations they use. It provides a brief introduction to what sociology is, how and why it came into existence and what it is used for. Chapter 2 then looks at the practice of sociology: how sociologists actually study their subject. It describes the questions they ask, the wide range of research methods they use to address those questions, and how they evaluate their findings. It also tackles the thorny issue of whether sociology can or should be considered ‘scientific’.

Chapter 3 looks at sociological theories. Theories are an essential part of all scientific subjects because they provide explanations rather than descriptions that simply list relevant facts. For example, we might find that the proportion of married women in Australia who are in work today is higher than it was in the 1950s. Such bald statistics are certainly useful, but they are crying out for an explanation – why are more married women working today than in the past? Good theories provide explanations. They tell us why something has happened or changed and in that way they broaden our knowledge. In chapter 3 we introduce some important sociological theories including Marxism, feminism, functionalism, structuration theory, postcolonialism, postmodernism and more. You should not be put off by these labels, which are just shorthand ways of describing different groups of sociologists who interpret and aim to understand the social world.

In the rest of this chapter we first discuss sociology as a way of thinking about the world which, once you have mastered it, becomes very difficult to avoid. In short, once a sociologist, always a sociologist! World events, political debates, personal relationships, family life: you will see all of these and many more in a different light once you have developed a sociological way of seeing and thinking.

Second, we introduce the ideas of some of the sociological thinkers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who established the subject as an academic discipline. We connect these thinkers to the times they lived through to illustrate the emerging social problems they tried to solve and how they went about it. We then discuss some of the approaches to sociology that came afterwards. However, this is not a comprehensive list, and you will need to read chapter 3, on ‘Theories and Perspectives’, for more recent theories.

Third, we look at some of the uses of sociology. Many students are attracted to sociology because they have a desire to help others and want a suitable ‘people-centred’ career. Some sociology graduates find careers in the caring professions, social work, teaching or the criminal justice system. Others use their research skills and knowledge to good effect in business management, market research, local and national government administration or research consultancy. Still others (after more study) become professional sociologists themselves working in universities and colleges. While studying sociology can be the first step on the path to a rewarding and satisfying career, some individuals study sociology simply because they want to understand better the world we live in. This is sociology as personal enlightenment relatively unconnected to a specific career path.

Some sociologists use their training and skills in very practical ways to try and improve the conditions of life for people by intervening to change an existing situation. This branch of the discipline is known as ‘applied sociology’, where many studies of homelessness, poverty, unemployment, drug addiction, self-harm, and so on, lead to interventions. Based on their research findings, applied researchers may try out potential solutions on a small scale or make recommendations for changes to government policy or service provision.

The chapter ends with recent ideas of the need for sociologists to engage more with the general public and the media if sociology is to have a greater impact on society. We have become used to seeing psychologists, historians and political scientists as experts on radio, on television news and in documentaries, but rarely do we see sociologists. This section discusses why this is so and what sociologists can and should do about it. However, we begin by outlining what it means to ‘think sociologically’ – a basic prerequisite to the practice of ‘doing sociology’.