Introduction

Abstract

Sociology is the most ambitious of all the social sciences. It is concerned with all that happens to people in terms of their relations with each other and the scope of its inquiries can range from things such as the mass movement of populations over centuries to two commuters catching each other’s eye on the morning train to work The key idea of sociology is that the lives of individuals cannot be understood apart from the social contexts in which they live. This chapter aims to introduce readers to the idea of ‘sociological thinking’, Illustrate the importance of theory for all sociological research and outline the key areas of applied sociological research around which this book is organized. it should help you understand:

• The key questions sociologists ask about human societies

• Why all social research is theory dependent

• What the central areas of applied sociological research are

• The relationship of sociology to modernity