Sociology is the systematic study of social behavior and human groups. This chapter presented a brief history of the discipline and introduced the concept of the sociological imagination. It surveyed sociological theory, including contemporary perspectives, and suggested some practical uses for theory. This chapter also presented the principles of the scientific method and showed how sociologists use them in their research.

1. The sociological imagination is an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. It is based on an ability to view society as an outsider might, rather than from the perspective of an insider.

2. Sociologists employ theory to explain problems, actions, or behavior. Nineteenth-century thinkers who contributed to the development of sociological theory include Émile Durkheim, who pioneered work on suicide; Max Weber, a German thinker who taught the need for Verstehen, or "insight," in intellectual work; and Karl Marx, a German intellectual who emphasized the importance of class conflict.

3. Today, several theoretical perspectives guide sociological research. The functionalist perspective holds that society is structured in ways that maintain social stability, so that social change tends to be slow and evolutionary.

4. The conflict perspective, on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of conflict between competing social groups, so that social change tends to be swift and revolutionary. A related perspective, the feminist perspective, stresses conflict based on gender inequality.

5. The interactionist perspective is concerned primarily with the everyday ways in which individuals shape their society and are shaped by it. Interactionists see social change as an ongoing and very personal process.

6. The feminist perspective stresses gender as the key to understanding social interactions. Feminist sociologists charge that too often, scholars concentrate on male social roles, ignoring male-female differences in behavior.

7. The scientific method includes five steps: defining the problem; reviewing the literature; formulating the hypothesis; selecting the research design and collecting and analyzing data; and developing the conclusion. The hypothesis states a possible relationship between two or more variables, usually one independent variable and a dependent variable that is thought to be related to it.

8. To avoid having to test everyone in a population, sociologists use a sample that is representative of the general population. Using a representative sample lends validity and reliability to the results of scientific research.

9. Sociologists use four major research designs in their work: surveys of the population; personal observation of behaviors and communities; experiments that test hypothetical cause-and-effect relationships; and analysis of existing sources.

10. Applied sociology--the practical application of the discipline to problems in human behavior and organizations--is a growing field that includes community research, environmental sociology, and clinical sociology.