Sociology invites a more complex view of the world, the one that involves understanding an individual experiences within the broad patterns of society. Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions. Social sciences can be used to understand particular societies and make generalizations of human societies. As well as that, they demonstrate benefits and drawbacks of a given society. This paper will review the above statements, as well as see limitations of using social sciences.
In order to understand particular society, one must first look at the individuals that are a part of a said society (Williams 262). For example, by looking at different individuals visiting a coffee shop, sociology can analyse their social and demographical factors and paint a bigger picture. Considering the fact that coffee at the coffee shop costs much more than a home made, individual’s income level could be determined, as well as a social status. With these factors, sociology can discover other factors that determine individuals who visit coffee shops, thus combining them in a group (Williams 265). If there is enough of similar groups in a country, then they can demonstrate a percentage of population that drinks coffee in coffee houses. Therefore, focusing on that percentage in global perspective, sociology can identify a country that consumes more coffee then the rest.
Moreover, that global percentage of coffee consumption can identify nations that import and export coffee the most, thus leading to global coffee value chain. Therefore, by focusing on particular society, social sciences can be used to generalize human societies. Hence, individuals in one particular coffee shop, influence the general society as a whole on a larger scale. With that said, sociology also helps to view and analyze social factors in order to see benefits and difficulties of a given society.
Sociological analysis consists of many different factors such as race, religion and income. With the help of robust intellectual tools, concepts, skills and insights, sociology helps to understand and assess contemporary world through these factors. Engaging the sociological imagination enables people to see invisible yet palpable social structures that shape everyday life (Williams 274). They could see a bigger picture behind everyday social functions, such as global economic development behind a cup of coffee, or poverty and unemployment rates after an encounter with a homeless person. Once these structures are visible, sociology then helps to expose misrepresentations, distortions and falsehoods in explanations of particular social phenomena (Williams 272).
Sociology not only helps to examine current situations but also it is a key to transform those situations in the future. Sociology compels people to fix the unjustified social situations as a society. Some problems, especially in the contemporary world, are too difficult to fix for an individual alone. However, when a society gathers and pools their resources together those problems can be easily fixed. Sociology also enables utilization and analysis of demographic information thus helping to make informed and strategic decisions that will influence a community.
However, there could be potential limitations to utilizing social sciences, since the results always depend on the quality of expertise used. If not all factors are accounted for, or wrong tools are used, the results of sociological experiments may not reflect the real situation. For example, if unemployment rates are not considered in regards to poverty, it can demonstrate an unreliable demographic picture of a society.
Overall, sociology is a complex science with a very broad perspective. It can help detecting individual patterns from a global society, as well as to track how small communities influence the general ones. While being extremely helpful in understanding social patterns and interactions, sociological results always depend on the expertise and the quality of data. Nevertheless, sociology is one of the essential science in the contemporary world.
Works Cited
Williams, Roman R. “An Invitation to Sociology.” Faith & Learning, 2012, pp. 259-284.