Sociology is a study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society. A society is a community of people living in a country or region that have shared customs, laws and organizations. Sociologists seek to understand and explain how society shapes, determines, and influences people. It is a discipline that focuses on both the Micro, Macro, and the Meso levels of society or structuring agency.

Sociology uses a scientific approach for human society. Sociology depends on research to make its claims. It differs from the natural sciences in important ways, but still relies on research to understand society. Sociologists study societies to understand how societies influence individuals, and how individuals influence societies.

Sociologists are interested in understanding how the social structure of a society influences us. Individuals are born into a society comprised of established values, beliefs, and cultural patterns, all of which converge to form the social structure of a society. We are born into a social position that predate our existence. Think of all the fundamental elements that constitute not only your personal identity, but also how you interact, relate, and communicate with others in your society, the wealthy and poor, men and women, place of origin, racial identity, educational status, career path, manner of dress, and sexuality.

The natural sciences seek to explain phenomena occurring in our natural environment. Sociology, on the other hand, falls within the realm of social sciences, which are concerned with explaining the social world and human relations. As a science, sociology employs scientific methods to understand the social world. To maintain the integrity of scientific method within the discipline, sociology dispenses with positing conclusions based on personal experience or popular beliefs. Sociology prefers the use of established data collecting protocols, and methods of evaluating and analyzing that data.

Objectivity, or personal neutrality is imperative. Ideally, the data speaks for itself, and it's not influenced by the personal values and biases of the researcher. The reality, however, is that researchers are never entirely value-free. Sociologists address this reality then when doing research, by identifying any potential biases to better evaluate their data.

Following the tradition of scientific method, sociologists often begin by identifying general patterns occurring in society. The sociological perspective then seeks to analyze and explain through data collection, such as statistics, interviews, surveys, participant observation, or analysis of written sources how these general patterns have shaped the behavior, attitudes, choices, and experiences of individuals living within society at large. It often helps sociologists to track how certain patterns change over time.