Chapter 1. Sociological questions
Science starts with curiosity, with raising questions about what’s happening and why. Questions are at the very beginning of any research, and the kind of questions scientists ask more or less defines their discipline. There are many different scientific disciplines, however, such as physics, biology, psychology, anthropology and sociology. So what sort of questions, then, do sociologists ask? We therefore begin this course with sociological questions: what they are, what makes good questions and how they differ from questions in other disciplines.
Videos
| Content | Title | English | Dutch |
| Ch. 1 | |||
| Ch. 1.1 | What is the Sociological Perspective? |  | |
| Ch. 1.5 | The art of asking (good) sociological questions |
Power Point slides
- Chapter 1 lecture slides
Glossary
- Chapter 1 definitions of key concepts
Test your knowledge
- Chapter 1 Multiple Choice quiz (link to Routledge companion website).
- Chapter 1 Assignments (& Answers).
Further reading
- Chapter 1 suggestions for further reading.
Additional chapter resources
- Sociological perspective on obesity: why is it so easy to be thin in Japan (and so hard in the US)? Check this video.
- Social problems: what are the major social problems in the world? What are the developments in poverty, obesity, human rights, violence? Check Our World in Data, an outstanding source of information on these issues.
- Sociology and common sense thinking: how accurate is your knowledge of the world? Take the test here!