The sociologist moves in the common world of men, close to what most of them would call real. As a result, there is a deceptive simplicity and obviousness about some sociological investigations. This is the point at which one begins to sense the excitement of sociology . . . This too is a deceptively simple statement. It ceases to be simple after a while.
Social reality turns out to have many layers of meaning.
The discovery of each new layer changes the perception of the whole . . . to be sure, sociology is an individual pastime in the sense that it interests some men and bores others. Some like to observe human beings, others to experiment with mice. The world is big enough to hold all kinds and there is no logical priority for one interest as against another. Sociology is more like a passion. The sociological perspective is more like a demon that possesses one, that drives one compellingly, again and again, to the questions that are its own.