ABOUT US

Department of Sociology was established in 1993-1994 academic year at the Faculty of Science and Literature, Mersin University. Department of Sociology has been offering education in bachelor’s and master’s degrees since its establishment.  Most of the students graduated from the department work as teachers at high schools associated with the Ministry of Education. In addition, market oriented research companies, public relations in private sector, human resources, banks and institutions such as State Planning Organization, Turkish Institution of Family Research in public sector hire sociologists. Since the year of establishment, the Department of Sociology has been trying to fulfil the duty of “making research on scientific-vocational-technic topics, publishing the research outcomes and in this way contributing to economic, social and cultural development of Mersin and Turkey” assigned by the law no: 2547 of Y.Ö.K (The Council Of Higher Education) through using all assets at hand in a rational and productive way.

To determine the basic principles and approaches that can guide the education and research activities is considered by the Department of Sociology as essential for scientific, pedagogical, cultural and intellectual foundations of the department. Making scientific research, producing knowledge and publishing the research in oral and/or written forms, informing the society, the city in which they live in and the social environment, and raise the sociologist Turkey needs with a scientific and modern education are included in the major aims of the Department of Sociology. The Department of Sociology seeks to prepare students as individuals with a critical sensibility, as persons cognizant of both local and global developments and able to pursue careers in a variety of professions. 

We shall identify how the department conceive the concept of sociology and what is sociology as a job to reach those aims above:

Sociology is a discipline which studies and analyses of human groups and social behaviour through an objective, scientific, systematic, and critical manner. Its basic topic is society and facts and events in relation with society. It provides tools to understand how and why our society functions, the impacts of social institutions on individual lives, and the challenges of social interaction between individuals and society.  All the interactions and relations organised by the cultural norms named as value, norm, rule and human behaviour and constitute a relatively stable and ordinate human (and group) relations system called as social structure. Sociology pays great attention to social structure and change and development processes related to it. Sociology studies the structure in two level; (macro) social structure, society and (micro) groups, agency.

Sociologists study, analyse and report the human's social lives, activities, behaviours, interactions, processes, and organizations within the context of larger social, political, and economic forces. They examine how these forces constitute, affect and change different individuals and groups, the ways organizations and institutions influence people's lives, and interactions among groups, organizations, institutions and nations. They look at activities in social, religious, political, economic, business and media organizations. Sociologists must be researcher and intellectual.

Sociologists research the problems of society, people, social groups and institutions. They interpret everything about society. In conducting research, sociologists draw upon data from a variety of sources on different subjects: economy, finance, demography, health, education, crime, culture, environment, agriculture, etc. This data is gathered and made available by governments, social science scholars, and students from various disciplines. Sociologist can generate original data via different research methods such as interview, survey and field study for different purposes, test the existing theories on society or create new ones, illustrate and report the findings, consult to government, business organizations, social groups and municipalities about social policy, and finally teach philosophy group units at schools.