I think first of all it's important to think about why you would choose to study any subject, as prioritising your criteria can be really helpful. Here are some examples, but you will likely have your own too:
it leads to a high paying job
it's interesting / you enjoy or will enjoy studying it
you have to study it to get the job you want (high paying or not)
you have the pre-requisites (unfortunately sometimes this will rule out a subject)
Now that you've ranked these let's walk through them.
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｡･ﾟﾟ･Can sociology lead to a high paying job?･ﾟﾟ･｡
It depends! Sorry! Sociology is quite broad which means it can be applied to other fields that aren't directly sociological. For example, having a good knowledge of people and how they interact can be helpful in jobs such as a consultant or PR manager, but you don't need a sociology degree to do these.
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｡･ﾟﾟ･Will you enjoy studying sociology?･ﾟﾟ･｡
Of course as a second year sociology student I'll say yes but this is up to you! Our classes cover literally anything (one of my highest grading essays talked about kpop and stan culture) so you can really tailor your classes and assignments to what interests you, since absolutely anything involving people can be related to sociology. This means that class discussions get really interesting since people bring all sorts of examples and case studies to the table. An added bonus: if you're shy or not a lover of group discussions, you'll definitely have something to say in sociology since you're a part of what is being studied - you can just relate your own experiences or observations to the class material! You're like a walking textbook!
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｡･ﾟﾟ･Do any jobs require sociology?･ﾟﾟ･｡
The most obvious one is a sociologist but other jobs list sociology as part of potential entry requirements, such as social worker or teacher. To be honest, a lot of jobs just require you to have a degree (other than lawyers, doctors etc, but you can always to conversion courses or postgrad to do that, and having a sociological background will help with that!). It's all about transferrable skills. As you're studying such a wide scope of things, you will likely discover a certain area that you're super interested in (such as me with criminology and internet culture).
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｡･ﾟﾟ･Are there any other reasons to study sociology?･ﾟﾟ･｡
Most people probably say this about their subject, but I do genuinely think it should be a requirement to take at least a few sociology classes. There's been so many times when people have said something that they would have a completely different view of if they had studied sociology; it completely changed my whole perspective of things.
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Welcome back to the second lesson! Now what we have established what sociology is, it's important to have an understanding of where it came from. The founding of sociology has important context that we need to think critically about!
｡･ﾟﾟ･Who was the first sociologist?･ﾟﾟ･｡
This is difficult to say for sure, since there are many people across history who can be ascribed to have been doing sociology since before it had been clearly defined as a discipline.
The first person to use the term 'sociology' was Auguste Comte in 1838, however before him there have been activities similar to what we now define as sociology in societies such as Ancient Greece, Medieaval England, and China.
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｡･ﾟﾟ･Why are the origins of sociology problematic?･ﾟﾟ･｡
Like almost everything, the origins of sociology are rooted in racism. One of the most popular early theories was Social Darwinism which compared societies to Darwin's theory of evolution. In this, they would rank societies from 'primitive' to 'civilised' ... unsurprisingly ranking their own white Euro-American societies as the most civilised... What a coincidence.... In contrast to this, today many sociologists study structural racism and work towards reversing the effects of it. Still, it is important to recognise this, and to think critically when exploring many of the early 'classic' sociological texts.
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｡･ﾟﾟ･How has sociology changed since its conception?･ﾟﾟ･｡
When it first originated, early sociologists were preoccupied with it becoming a recognised and respected science. Because of this, they wanted to study society in a way that as comparable to maths or physics - as in a study that would result in data that could be tested and as repeatable by other researchers. Now, there is more of a focus on the qualitative, on the things that aren't as easily turned into statistics, such as interviews, participant observation, and ultimately ethnography. Early sociology was positivist, whereas now it is more antinaturalist.
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｡･ﾟﾟ･What will the sociology of the future look like?･ﾟﾟ･｡
Like many other fields, the future of sociology looks very exciting! New technology has created both new things to study, and new ways to study them. My area of interest - the internet and social media - didn't even exist until relatively recently, and there are many other things that we will study in the future that don't exist yet. As long as there are people, there will always be things for sociologists to study. :)
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AKA a masterlist of all of my sociology revision posts! I've turned it into something Chilton (Gilmore Girls) themed, in which you can earn Luke's coffee cups to exchange for rewards (bc reduce, reuse, recycle people!).
For more information on what this is, please see this post.
