Introduction to Sociology

Abstract

Common sense is what people develop through everyday life experiences. In a very real sense, it is the set of expectations about society and people’s behavior that guides our own behavior. Unfortunately, these expectations are not always reliable or accurate because without further investigation, we tend to believe what we want to believe, to see what we want to see, and to accept as fact whatever appears to be logical. Whereas common sense is often vague, oversimplified, and frequently contradictory, sociology as a science attempts to be specific, to qualify its statements, and to prove its assertions.