The core business of sociology is the study of the processes of social organisation and change and their consequences in human life. Sociologists look to such things as social class, gender, ethnicity, power and culture to understand and explain the differences in how people, live, think and feel. Sociologists examine how differences in the ways societies are organised both limit and make possible other features of social life. Sociologists focus on the structures, cultures and change in industrial and post-industrial societies in their global context. The impact of culture is examined through analyses of the media, and assessment of cultural trends or perspectives such as consumerism, individualism, feminism, post-modernism, and corporatism.
Sociologists seek to describe and explain patterns of social change.
Social institutions do not stay the same which means that we need to consider changes in the mosaic of our responsibilities. For example, as a result of changes in population composition we find families, churches, universities and nations are transformed both intentionally and unintentionally creating changes in our roles as children, parents, members, citizens and students. Sociology also involves the study of social policy in an attempt to apply what is learned through research to the major issues confronting societies. For example, sociologists are currently studying the consequences of the transformation of the welfare state into the brave new world of economic rationalism. Sociology investigates social trends and seeks an historical understanding of the processes of social organisation and change in order to be able to assist in the development of sound social policy.