While it is certainly true that publishing books or articles is the foremost route to job security and promotion and salary increases in most universities, this requirement applies more in settings where original scholarship is highly prized and supported. Many institutions, however, put varying degrees of emphasis on research or teaching as the primary route to advancement. Some are self-employed, and head their own research or consulting firms. It should be emphasized, however, that given the usefulness of their methods and perspectives, sociologists have helped develop and have branched out into many fields and career paths that utilize research but go well beyond the research function. These career activities are known collectively as sociological practice.
Applied sociology is knowledge directed to understanding immediate problems and their solutions.
Clinical sociology, also concerned with the application of sociological knowledge, extends into involvement in the world by intervening in social settings using a wide range of techniques to help guide the process of change. These approaches all have one thing in common they help citizens, groups, organizations or government to identify problems and their deeper causes and to suggest possible strategies for solutions. There are a number of options for sociological practice.