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sociologist

/soʊʃiˈɑlədʒɪst/
/səʊʃiˈɒlədʒɪst/
IPA guide

Other forms: sociologists

A sociologist studies how people act within societies and other groups. If you're interested in issues like gender roles, crime, or the way families interact, you might want to be a sociologist.

Sociology is a social science that examines the way people work in groups, and sociologists are scientists who practice sociology. Any topic that's connected to society falls under a sociologist's expertise, including social class, family structures, religious customs, war and conflict, and much more. The word sociologist comes from sociology and its Latin root socius, "associate."

Definitions of sociologist
  1. noun
    a social scientist who studies the institutions and development of human society
    see moresee less
    examples:
    Emile Durkheim
    French sociologist and first professor of sociology at the Sorbonne (1858-1917)
    Francois Marie Charles Fourier
    French sociologist and reformer who hoped to achieve universal harmony by reorganizing society (1772-1837)
    Robert King Merton
    United States sociologist (1910-2003)
    Vilfredo Pareto
    Italian sociologist and economist whose theories influenced the development of fascism in Italy (1848-1923)
    Talcott Parsons
    United States sociologist (1902-1979)
    David Riesman Jr.
    United States sociologist (1909-2002)
    Herbert Spencer
    English philosopher and sociologist who applied the theory of natural selection to human societies (1820-1903)
    William Graham Sumner
    United States sociologist (1840-1910)
    First Baron Passfield
    English sociologist and economist and a central member of the Fabian Society (1859-1947)
    Max Weber
    German sociologist and pioneer of the analytic method in sociology (1864-1920)
    types:
    demographer, demographist, population scientist
    a scientist who studies the growth and density of populations and their vital statistics
    psephologist
    a sociologist who studies election trends
    type of:
    social scientist
    someone expert in the study of human society and its personal relationships
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