An Empirical Study on Why Sociological Research and Theory Focus on Essay

An Empirical Study on Why Sociological Research and Theory Focus on Issues of Identity - Essay Example Vander Zanden (1990a) presented this as both tackling a problem, is faced with initial perplexity and assumptions, then comes the search for evidence, perceptive reasoning, false leads and eventually, or ideally really, the final sense of victory. In contrast yet the justification as well, Zanden continued, (1990b), "detectives undertake to identify and locate criminals and collect evidence to convict them in a court of law. Sociologists develop concepts and theories to explain people's behavior. Even though their goals may differ, detectives and sociologists attempt to answer two types of question: "Why did something happen" and "Under what circumstances is it likely to happen again" In brief, both attempt to explain and predict." In grasping both comes thereafter the issue of identity issues. Simply put, one needs to know the proper approach and yet even before that, how to do it, when to do it right and why it is best to do it right. The late Professor C. Wright Mills (1959a) aptly addressed this when he said, "Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both. The history that now affects every man is world history." Very true. Identity issues do confront every single citizen of this world no matter the creed, race or religion. From social identity issues, to political and gender issues, all these help shape and unshape a nation and the many communities, societies in it. For anybody and everybody to achieve triumph or come close to overcoming these issues hounding the world and its populace, imperative then to understand how these personal battles have become public issues. Sociological imagination as Mills labeled it (Mills 1959b) and explained as the ability to see our lives, concerns, problems and hopes entwined within the largest social and historical context in which we live. (Zanden 1990c, p.7) And from thereon comes government policies, formulated and designed to address the specific public issues that have become more than social issues. Ours is a "human-made world," as yet another renowned sociologists Zygmunt Bauman and Tim May pointed out in their joint