Actually
Sociology: The term has two stems- the latin socius (companion) and the Greek logos (study of)- and litterally means the study of the processes of companionship. In these terms, sociology may be defined as the study of the bases of social membership. More technically, sociology is the analysis of the structure of social relationships as constituted by social interaction, but no definition is entirely satisfactory because of the diversity of perspectives which is characterstic of the modern discipline. SO ACTUALLY- Sociology is the study of SOCIAL INTERACTION (not just within groups but within people can we say Social Psychology?) It is the study of society- all aspects and facets.
And that last sentence tells you that there is NO specific definition of sociology because the disipline has changed so much over the past years.
Finally, while there is diagreement about the nature of sociology, there is some agreement about its importance. In defence of the discipline 1. It has contributed in detail, through numerous empirical studies, to the knowledge and understanding of modern societies; 2. It raises important questions about the nature of individual responsibility to law and morality by studying the social context of action; 3.It has contributed significantly to developments in other disciplines, especially history, philosophy, and economics; 4. It can be regarded as a new form of consciousness, particularly sensitive to the dilemmas of a secular, industrial civilization.
In order to really understand sociology as a whole you need to read up on some of the most predomiante sociologists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (and maybe a few contemporaries)
People like:
Karl Marx "Capital" and "Communist Manifesto"
Emile Durkheim "Suicide"
Max Weber "Protestant Ethic and the Spirt of Capitalism" also "Economy and Society" (idea of Bureaucracy introduced)
Erving Goffman "Interaction Ritual"
C. Wright Mills "Power Elite" and "The Sociological Imagination"
Michel Foucault "History of Sexuality" and "Two Lectures" (anything actually "Madness and Civilization" "Discipline and Punish" "The order of things" etc)
T. Parsons "The structure of social action" "The social stystem"
Well that should give you a good start to understanding the nature of sociology as a discipline. =P
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"The causes we know everything about depend on the causes we know nothing about, which depend on the causes we know absolutely nothing about."- Tom Stoppard
