A major part of being a sociologist involves observation, research, and interaction. Collecting, analyzing and drawing conclusions from the data is mainly done by a sociologist. This sort of work is mainly done by social scientists where they venture out to interview test subjects with relevant experiences and situated in appropriate social environments. The sociologist then observes this data to find recurring patterns and the different sets of ideas available to draw inferences which are largely kept free of bias.
Sociology is the study of the society we are a part of. A person who studies the society around us, the interaction between different cultures and the people who form it is known as a sociologist. This also extends to include institutions, political organizations and parts of society that may consist of one or more different groups.
It is one of the smallest occupations in the current economy, but with the current focus on social interactions, social revolutions and the drastic change in the dynamics of interaction between two individuals sociology is becoming increasingly relevant.
Usually, one can work in the field of sociology with a bachelor’s degree but in that case, they will not be called a sociologist. One generally has to earn a Ph.D. or at the very least a master’s degree to gain prominence as a sociologist. Jobs are mainly available with the government or in certain private organizations in the researching field. Certain people also go into the teaching and become professor going as far to obtain tenure.
The increase in the number of online courses and college courses provides a good opportunity for people interested in teaching. The growing interest in offbeat careers will only serve to popularize this field further.
A notable fact about sociology is that it is the diversity it includes. People can specialize in subjects like crime, sexuality, workplace issues, harassment, general behavior and other issues that affect people and society as a whole.
People learn how to make decisions based on their surroundings. Based on the culture or place they are born into, people have different eating habits, dressing habits, accepted behavioral norms and acceptable interaction behavior. However, due to the fast pace of globalization, various cultural norms are being intertwined and integrated successfully. For example, Food common to a particular region is not only known by other groups but also forms a part of their staple diet. The newfound universal focus on health, adopting new patterns and change in culture involves the main part of any sociologist’s research.
It can be looked at as the study of trends in politics, among cultural groups or in social and educational institutions. For eg, the relationship dynamics between student and teacher has evolved during the last few decades, so has the teaching methods or interaction among student themselves. Similarly, workplace behavior has changed during the last decade or so, with increasing focus on employee satisfaction. These kinds of changing trends are studied by Sociologists.
Sociologists play a pivotal role in finding out the influence of a person’s upbringing on their personality, the influence of teacher’s, friends and other elements of society. This could be essential in promoting better lifestyle habits and choices and help us deal with various social problems. It is also a sociologists job to help in removing social problems that impact a large part of the population such as poverty and hunger. For example, if a certain group of people is prone to waste food or not optimize the resource completely, a sociologist should be able to understand that and can provide solutions on how to increase awareness among the group in a manner that will not only be acceptable but also effective.
Sociology helps in revealing the reasons behind a person’s day to day decisions, the reasons behind their reactions, behavior and personality. Sociologists and their research will go a long way in helping us understand these aspects and in improving our environment to impact each person to bring out the best of their behavior. It truly has the potential to revolutionize the way we live and the decisions we take.
By Agranee
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