Sociologist course

For Istat the sociologist is a scholar of social phenomena, he studies in particular the relationships between individuals, groups and organizations in relation to the reference society. It is essential to recognize the sociologist as his professional field, if he wants to continue to exist. The sociologist is a social scientist who deals with analyzing, understanding and monitoring social phenomena. On the basis of research and analysis, sociologists develop theories and models to explain the functioning of society, the relationships between the individual and the social groups to which he belongs, and propose interventions to solve social problems. Sociology is part of the social sciences (together with economics, political science, anthropology). Use the scientific method to study society, identify correlations and cause-effect links between different social phenomena and develop models to interpret and predict social changes. Sociologists use both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand social processes: for example, observations, interviews, structured questionnaires, statistical data analyzes. Based on the chosen study topic or the type of analysis commissioned by companies or organizations, the sociologist first defines the problem being researched, the methods to be used (surveys, analysis of documents, studies and official statistical data) and the sample to study (the part of the population or social group on which the research is done). He then carries out the empirical activity of data collection and finally analyzes and interprets the results of the research.