Sociology

/ˌsoʊsiˈɑːlədʒi/ noun

Definition

The academic study of human society, social groups, culture, and how people interact with each other.

Etymology

From Latin 'socius' (companion, ally) + Greek '-logia' (study of). Coined in the 1830s by Auguste Comte to describe the new science of society.

Kelly Says

Sociology is surprisingly young—it was invented as a discipline in the 1830s because society was changing so fast (industrialization, cities growing). Before that, people studied philosophy; now we have data.

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