Profession sociologist

Sociologists focus their research on explaining social behaviour and the way people have organised themselves as a society. They research and explain the way societies have evolved by describing their legal, political, and economic systems and their cultural expressions.

Personality Type

• Investigative / Artistic

Knowledge

• Sociology

  The group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

• Scientific research methodology

  The theoretical methodology used in scientific research involving doing background research, constructing an hypothesis, testing it, analysing data and concluding the results.

• Statistics

  The study of statistical theory, methods and practices such as collection, organisation, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data. It deals with all aspects of data including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments in order to forecast and plan work-related activities.

Skills

• Perform scientific research

  Gain, correct or improve knowledge about phenomena by using scientific methods and techniques, based on empirical or measurable observations.

• Conduct qualitative research

  Gather relevant information by applying systematic methods, such as interviews, focus groups, text analysis, observations and case studies.

• Apply statistical analysis techniques

  Use models (descriptive or inferential statistics) and techniques (data mining or machine learning) for statistical analysis and ICT tools to analyse data, uncover correlations and forecast trends.

• Apply scientific methods

  Apply scientific methods and techniques to investigate phenomena, by acquiring new knowledge or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.

• Apply knowledge of human behaviour

  Practice principles related to group behaviour, trends in society, and influence of societal dynamics.

• Interpret current data

  Analyse data gathered from sources such as market data, scientific papers, customer requirements and questionnaires which are current and up-to-date in order to assess development and innovation in areas of expertise.

• Conduct quantitative research

  Execute a systematic empirical investigation of observable phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques.

• Monitor sociological trends

  Identify and investigate sociological trends and movements in society.

• Observe human behaviour

  Make detailed notes while observing how humans interact with and react to each other, objects, concepts, ideas, beliefs, and systems in order to uncover patterns and trends.

• Study human societies

  Gather and analyse data in order to examine how humans respond to change, how power systems come into place, how cultural movements arise, etc.

• Gather data

  Extract exportable data from multiple sources.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB