To summarise this section we can note the following key ideas:

1. Sociology is a social science concerned with the study of human social relationships and the various ways these relationships are patterned in terms of social groups, organisations, cultures and societies.

2. A major focus of attention for sociologists is on the way people form relationships and how these relationships, considered in their totality, are represented by the concept of a "society".

3. In their study of human relationships, sociologists try to produce objective knowledge about the social world. In order to do this they use systematic methods of investigation. These involve trying to identity patterns of behaviour, the development of theories to explain these patterns and the testing of these theories using evidence produced by social research.

4. In their work, sociologists attempt to distinguish between knowledge based on facts and knowledge based on opinions. The former type of knowledge is generally considered to have greater validity than the latter.

5. In A-level Sociology, every Exam Board demands a student demonstrates their ability to use the skills of:

• Knowledge.
• Understanding.
• Interpretation.
• Application.
• Evaluation.

6. The general sociological perspective is one that stresses the idea that human social behaviour is learned, not instinctive. In order to understand human social behaviour we have to focus our attention on the groups to which people belong and, in this respect, Sociology is a perspective that looks at the totality of relationships in an individual’s life.

7. Sociological knowledge is different from Naturalistic or Common-sense forms of knowledge. Sociological knowledge has been tested in some way to determine its reliability and validity, whereas common-sense forms of knowledge are simply those things that are assumed to be true. In this respect we can note that:

a. The purpose of sociology is to add to the sum total of human knowledge about our behaviour.

b. Knowledge that is produced through testing and examination helps us to explain more than knowledge that is simply based on faith, assertion or opinion.

c. Knowledge that "everyone knows" is not by definition false. The objective of all social science is to produce valid knowledge - knowledge that paints an accurate picture of human behaviour, meanings and motives (thereby adding to the sum total of what "everyone knows" to be true in a society).

In the next section of the Pathway we can develop some of the ideas discussed in this section. In particular, we can develop the idea of a sociological perspective in more depth, concentrating on the way sociologists have developed an understanding of how human societies are organised.

This will involve a discussion of the concept of "society", as well as concepts such as culture, social groups, social structure and social organisation.