This article is designed primarily for those who are completely new to sociology and would like some help and guidance as to the exact nature of the subject. However new you are to sociology, it is probable that you have an idea, however vague, regarding what it is. It may be that you have an idea that sociology is about people - and you would be right to think so. We might start then by noting that sociology is one of the human sciences, and as such, it is a subject to be distinguished from the so-called physical sciences. Sociology is also concerned with human culture. A provisional definition of culture used by sociologists is "a way of life." Sociology has always concerned itself with the study of culture and this would fit in with what we already know about sociology; namely, it is the study of people in society.
             We can define sociology as the subject that deals with and explains social interactions. Here, sociology is characterized by the fact that it examines the informal and formal social relationships engaged by individuals. Sociologists might observe and explain the types of interactions that take place between individuals. So to include this idea of social interaction in any definition of sociology is helpful. However, the inclusion of social interaction does not establish sociology's distinctiveness when it is considered alongside, for example psychology. Psychology, just like sociology, also involves the study of human interaction.
             There may be a way of differentiating sociology. We could suggest that whereas Psychology studies human interaction of individuals; sociology studies the interaction that occurs within and between social groups. In this sense sociology would be described as a subject that places individuals in their social context as members of social groups, communities and as members of social institutions such as work or their place within a family or again their position within an educational instit...