Custom «Introduction to Sociology» Essay Paper

Sociology is the scientific study of the society (Comte, 2005). In this study, a number of concepts and methods are put into place to ensure that the required data is obtained. The outcome of the sociological study assists different stakeholders in making crucial decisions that affect the whole society. Sociology has a wide scope, but the main thing that it tackles is the manner in which the society is organized, and the experiences that different individuals of the society have in their lives. Other areas which sociology deals with include: culture, religion, the social stratification, social class, and law. It should be known that the interaction of these factors plays a major role in the determination of the society’s stability (Bongaarts, 1994). In the recent past, social scientists have been able to apply qualitative and quantitative analysis in their researches. This has led to the use of more accurate mathematical, analytical and computational techniques to come up with sociological data.

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There are a number of concepts that are used in the sociological analysis. Demography deals with the dynamics of human population. This is the study that explores more into how different populations are structured, their size, and distribution. It also analyzes how changes occur in different populations as a result of new births, deaths, aging, and even migration from one place to another. Demographic analysis can be applied on small societies as well as larger ones. This study is vital for making important decisions, especially when it comes to resource allocation. Demographic data becomes the main source of information when different agencies need to make important decisions.

Social sociology deals with how interactions exist within the society. This analysis helps to understand the socio-cultural changes that occur over time. It works to bring the understanding of the causes of group conflicts that are being experienced in different societies. Another important aspect of this analysis is the understanding of the social inequality within different societies. Data used in this analysis can be acquired through a number of methods that include: field observations, field experiments and field surveys. At the same time, sociology can also be viewed from the psychological perspective. This is the study that focuses on the mind and personality interaction in the society. Different members of the society have different views on various issues. Such views play a major role in determining the final interactions of the society as a whole. The collection of such data can be done through controlled experiments and field surveys.

The behaviors of different members of a society play an important role in studying sociology. In every society, there exist certain ethics and code of conduct that every member is expected to follow. Failure to do this always results in what is known as deviance. Deviance is any behavior that goes against the norms of a given society. It should be noted that this will differ across societies. What is considered to be deviant in one society may not be so in another society. Therefore, this is a major aspect in the sociological studies, as it can define the general behavioral changes that take place within a society with time (Smith, Louis & Schultz, 2011).

Demographic analysis is the recent method that is majorly used in the sociological studies. Most importantly, demographical data on the technological use between the young and the old has revealed a certain trend. The coming of computers has brought a lot of changes in the way things are done. Most Americans have now embraced technology in order to ease their work. Most notably, the present young Americans are far more advanced in embracing technology. The older generation has not been able to catch with them, and can only admire them.

The research done by the Barna Group Limited in 2007 and 2008 indicates that the use of technology is the main reason for the growing generation gap in the world, especially in case of the United States. The study shows that whereas Americans have all adopted technology; the ability to embrace the new emerging digital technologies is developed more in the younger generations than the older ones. People who are less than 25 years old now are more technologically oriented than the older ones. According to the findings, the young adults aged between 18 and 24 admit to own one of the latest technological gadgets. This group, representing 22% of the total respondents, considers such gadgets to be more important in life than other things, unlike the 9% older respondents who considered the latest technological gadgets very important.

According to the research, internet is one of the mainstream technologies that are most often used by this younger generation. It is clear that 50% of all the generations use the internet search and the e-mails at least on a daily basis. What amazes is the fact that the younger generation goes beyond the use of the gadgets. The respondents aged between 25 and 40 were found to major on four mainstream technologies. These are: internet search, e-mail, personal website hosting (like Facebook and MySpace), and text messaging. The younger generation between the ages of 18 and 24 had more mainstream technologies, double those possessed by the former generation.

The technological activities of these groups included e-mailing, text messaging, hosting personal websites like Facebook and MySpace, commenting on the blogs, legal and illegal online music downloading, and watching online videos. Interestingly, there were very critical spiritual elements found out during the research. As much as these younger generations heavily use technology, majority of them had not visited their religious website for the past one year. This was an indication of the reluctance on the clergies’ part in encouraging the members to actively participate in the lives of websites. It is a well-known fact that the younger generation is more technologically oriented than the older one. This is the main cause for the division that exists between them. These younger generations mostly rely on the technology to gain more knowledge in different issues and also to stay connected (McLeod & Kathryn, 2003).

The findings by the Barna Group Limited clearly indicate what the demographic analysis can produce. The analyzed information has clearly determined the trends in the digital technological use by different generations. It goes further into details to reveal more information on the subject matter. Using demographic methods is important for the advertisers. Business people need this information to decide on how to promote their products. Companies that are responsible for the manufacturing of digital products like smart phones and computers are able to use such information to come up with more ways to attract the younger generations.

To conclude, the importance of sociology can never be underestimated. The information that comes from the study of sociology is important in almost all the areas of the economy. According to the research above, manufacturers are able to make decisions on which group to target with their products. This is also important in improving the features of the products. Moreover, the analysis determines the trends in the behaviors and in the usage of emerging technological products. The economists also need demographical data to appropriately allocate resources, in which is very important for the equitable development of a nation.