The Subject Matter of Sociology.

Sociology is, in very basic terms, the "Study of human societies" and, in this respect, it's usually classed as one of the social sciences (along with subjects like psychology). It was originally established as a subject in the middle of the 18th century (through the work of people like the French writer Auguste Comte).

However, the subject has only really gained acceptance as an academic subject in the 20^th century through the work of writers such as Emile Durkheim, Max Weber (in Europe) and Talcott Parsons (in America). Although these names probably mean very little to you at the moment, they - and many of their ideas, will become very familiar to you as your course develops.

One name that you may have heard of - Karl Marx (the founder of modern Communism) - has probably done more to stimulate people’s interest in the subject than anyone else (at least in Europe), even though he lived and wrote (1818 - 1884) in a period before Sociology became fully established as an academic discipline.

Sociology, therefore, has a reasonably long history of development (150 - 200 years), although in Britain it has only been in the last 30 - 40 years that Sociology as an examined subject in the education system has achieved a level of prominence equivalent to or above most of the other subjects it is possible to study. At present, approximately 25 - 30,000 students sit an A-level Sociology exam each year, making it one of the most popular A-levels in our society.