"The fascination of sociology lies in the fact that its perspective makes us see in a new light the very world in which we have lived all our lives" ~ Peter Berger

Sociology

Sociologists use a very diverse tool-kit of methods to approach our research questions methodically and objectively, so we can better under the “why?” and the “how?” of the thing that interests us.

Sociologists might situate themselves in the social groups or particular situations that they are studying. They might conduct personal interviews, collect surveys, or carry out comparative-historical analysis that leads them into a dusty archive looking at documents hundreds of years old. Or they might construct huge data national sets and analyze them with sophisticated statistical techniques. Most sociologists let their research question determine the methods they use, and like an investigator they try to discover how the world really works.

But we don’t just leave it at that. Theory is just as important to sociology as methods. When a sociologist conducts research, they do it with the aim of testing a theory against the evidence. We have a lot of theories and we certainly do not all agree on any one paradigm. Our diversity in both the methods we use and the actual ways we theorize about the world is a strength.

Sociology is a lively and intellectually exciting discipline, filled with debate and constant new discovery and Marquette’s sociology faculty reflect the diversity of the discipline.

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