Sociology

‘Everything was better in the old days!’ is a saying that is used so often... But what does ‘everything’ actually mean? And was everything really ‘better’? The world and its societies are constantly changing; with them, the rules of the game, i.e. values and norms, sometimes change silently and insidiously. Sociology wants to explore the reasons and causes and asks precisely how and why.

Where one generation still held certain values, the next generation usually stands for completely different things. Example: Through ‘Fridays for Future’, pupils quickly brought the climate crisis back to the centre of social discussion all over Europe. Sociology does not only examine such phenomena that also include racism and migration, but also studies the formation of classes and strata or complex group processes.

In the first semesters, you will learn the essential theories and approaches of sociology. In addition, the focus is also on the following central questions of the subject:

• Why is work becoming more and more important?
• What changes are currently taking place in family structures?
• Why do we want to appear young, fit and agile even in old age?
• And how much involvement of the state does society actually need?

You can find answers to such questions if you enjoy the written word, have a good dose of curiosity and, of course, use suitable methods. Sociology uses empirical social research—especially statistical, qualitative (e.g. individual interviews) and quantitative methods (e.g. questionnaires).