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Sociologyisthestudyofsociety.[1]Itisasocialscience(withwhichitisinformallysynonymous)thatusesvariousmethodsofempiricalinvestigation[2]andcriticalanalysis[3]todevelopandrefineabodyofknowledgeabouthumansocialactivity,oftenwiththegoalofapplyingsuchknowledgetothepursuitofsocialwelfare.Subjectmatterrangesfromthemicrolevelofagencyandinteractiontothemacrolevelofsystemsandsocialstructures.[4]Sociologyisbothtopicallyandmethodologicallyaverybroaddiscipline.Itstraditionalfocuseshaveincludedsocialstratification(i.e.,classrelations),religion,secularization,modernity,cultureanddeviance,anditsapproacheshaveincludedbothqualitativeandquantitativeresearchtechniques.Asmuchofwhathumansdofitsunderthecategoryofsocialstructureandagency,sociologyhasgraduallyexpandeditsfocustofurthersubjects,suchasmedical,militaryandpenalinstitutions,theinternet,andeventheroleofsocialactivityinthedevelopmentofscientificknowledge.Therangeofsocialscientificmethodshasalsobroadlyexpanded.Thelinguisticandculturalturnsofthemid-20thcenturyledtoincreasinglyinterpretative,hermeneutic,andphilosophicapproachestotheanalysisofsociety.Conversely,recentdecadeshaveseentheriseofnewmathematicallyandcomputationallyrigoroustechniques,suchasagent-basedmodellingandsocialnetworkanalysis.