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Sociology, B.A.

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Overview

UC Merced Sociology Program

Sociology is the scientific study of society, social institutions, social structure and social relationships. A key contribution of the discipline is the insight that social factors matter; our lives are not only shaped by personal psychology, but also by our place in the social world.

Sociology's areas of inquiry range from intimate family relationships to ties between nation-states; from divisions by race, class, gender and sexuality to shared ideas of common culture; and from understanding the influence of broad-scale social movements to analyzing how adolescents become productive adults.