Is Sociology a legitimate science?
>>8294234
medicine can be used by an individual to treat disease
physics and computer science can be used by an individual to create devices that organize matter or information
sociology has been used by universities to get funding when the vast majority of problems encountered in both primitive and modern life are the result of people who had babies they couldn't provide for without heightened interaction with other people or tribes
name some societal accomplishments by someone who called themselves a sociologist
>>8294234
as much as is economics
>>8294266
More effective advertising, better political control.
You may not like them but they are real effects of sociology.
>>8294266
Criminal Justice as a sidebranch of sociology can, combined with statistics, be used to hem in anti-social behavior and establish control over the populace. Higher education can use similar methods to increase learning effectiveness.
>>8294234
No. I once dated a very nice young man who had a degree in Social Sciences and is a Social Scientist. He could not find work anywhere but at a Forever 21 location that was 2 hours away from his home. This was before I myself enrolled into a university to find out that Social Science is a major for lazy fucks who want to take as few classes as possible. The counselor even joked a out how many students changed their major to Social Sciences because they were failing all the classes in whatever major they had before
t. UCSB student
>>8294278
>More effective advertising, better political control.
you
>>8294284
>effects of sociology
fairly certain the people that implement those things don't call themselves sociologists
>you may not like them...effects
accomplishments are enjoyed, effects are just that
>>8294284
the science part of criminal justice is psychology, the rest is statistics
still no answer to
>name some societal accomplishments by someone who called themselves a sociologist
>>8294234
What is sociology? It's some mix of psychology, anthropology, statistics, ethnology, yet it has nothing of its own.
>>8294287
>I once dated a very nice young man
ok gramma
also, was it that Forever 21 at the El Tejon Outlets?
well, it has some useful uses. so yes.
i mean, thats what makes a science a science right?
>>8294302
Wait, so were you going to respond to their statements unironically? Or just embarrass yourself.
>>8294308
It was a Forever 21 in Fashion Island, Newport Beach CA. My nice young man lived in Oceanside, CA
>>8294266
name some societal accomplishments by biological determinists
I'm still waiting for the alcoholism vaccine
>>8294234
sociologist here
In its own field, yes. It's a social science, so don't expect it to have the same criteria than "natural" ones (which also don't gather into a single united epistemology). They're nonetheless mostly aligned with the same peer-review scheme (that isn't really what makes it "science" for me, however)
Though, don't ask me to defend this status of "science", because I don't even bother about it.
For me the important thing is to make another person deeply discover a world which one would not have investigated. I'm rather on qualitative than quantitative, in what I read the "science" question is a trust-ability one, how can I know that such or such researcher is telling me bullshit or isn't, does he or she gives me enough clues, does the world appear, etc.
Then in quantitative, besides relevance of hypothesis, the bias and political blind points (problem there being the "blind point" rather than "political"), you've got the question of the good usage of statistics. Generally people don't fool around too much with it.
>>8294953
what should I read before reading Mauss?
>>8294972
You can read him right now because he's really good.
The classic Durkheim and Weber are always a good idea, though you might prefer Weber when you didn't read anything first thing.
What are your interests?
>>8294234
is this a troll
>>8294991
I wanted to learn some Sociology and Anthropology, but I don't know where should I start (with Weber, Mauss, Levi-Strauss, etc). 'The Gift' seems to be interesting. Do you know any good intro text?
>>8295136
Go for The Gift if you feel you can, it's a very good one and is very important nowadays.
By Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, The Three Types of Legitimate Rule, The Objectivity of the Sociological and Social-Political Knowledge (this one is very interesting concerning epistemology of the social sciences)
I find Durkheim to be more "harsh" to read, but if you want a grasp on the different ways you're obliged to read him too. By him, Division of Labour in Society, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life are a little easier than Rules of the Sociological Method.
It's not a bad thing to read Durkheim and Weber before Lévi-Strauss, but you can all the same read Tristes Tropiques as of now, it's a classical. The Jealous Potter also. Race and History is easy to read, very accessible. The raw and the cooked, Anthropologie Structurale (I and II) may be harder, but it's up to you.
It's kind of hard for me to advise things out of the blue besides the classics which were taught me, I could be more of a good advice if you told me what kind of things interest you.
>>8295247
And I forgot the intro one : Invitation to Sociology, by Peter L. Berger. This is one of the first book they give you first year.
If you want more recent authors, Becker and Goffman are marvelous, you can also try Bourdieu (The Inheritors and The Reproduction, but it's a little harder than Goffman)
