ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Analytical sociology

Analytical sociology is basically the way of studying how people act and interact with each other in groups. We can think of groups like a class, a family, or even a society as a whole. Analytical sociology uses numbers and data to figure out why people in these groups make certain choices and how they influence each other.

To help explain, let's imagine a class of kindergarten students. One of the ways a teacher might use analytical sociology is by keeping track of how many times each student speaks during class. The teacher could use this information to figure out if there are any patterns in how students participate. Does one student always speak up first? Does another student never speak at all? These patterns could help the teacher figure out ways to encourage more participation from all students.

Analytical sociology also looks at the rules and norms that we follow when we're in a group. For example, in our imaginary kindergarten class, the teacher might notice that students tend to line up in a certain order before heading to recess. This isn't something the teacher specifically instructed them to do, but it's become a norm among the students. Analytical sociology helps us understand why we follow certain rules and norms and how they might change over time.

Overall, analytical sociology is a way of studying how groups of people behave and interact with each other. It uses data and patterns to help us understand why people make certain choices and how they influence each other.