Why is Sociology always looked upon as a waste?

<p>Its seen as a waste because as of 2011, unless you know some high up people, to get a high paying job in it you need at least a Masters. Thats how it is for the Social Sciences now. Theres nothing wrong with it though, just be aware of the situation when you decide to major in it. If you’re like me and most of my friends and you do the neccesarry research and understand that you should go to graduate school then you won’t have a problem.</p>

<p>On a thread about financial aid, one poster commented that anyone who got financial aid to study a major other than business and I think engineering was an idiot. idk people are really judgmental sometimes about others doing what they like to do instead of focusing solely on monetary benefits…</p>

<p>It depends on what you mean. Intellectually, sociology is viewed as a waste because it has no rigor to it at all. It’s just storytelling, and because of the moral relativism of the left - sociology is mind-numbingly left-wing - any person’s story is held to be “just as good as” any other person’s. No testable hypotheses emerge from sociological “theory.”</p>

<p>It may not be viewed as a total waste from a career standpoint if you want to pursue a career in left-wing political advocacy. In fact, as long as your politics is relentlessly left-wing, sociology may be a good major for pursuing a career as an advocate/activist. At the very least, you’ll have a very good grasp of all the BS left-wing terminology.</p>

<p>Bold choice, building one’s soap box atop a more than two year old thread.</p>

<p>Two year old thread or not, sociology is a field that does not have enough decent paying jobs for all who want them. It’s a challenge finding a job in that field that will pay a living wage.</p>

<p>I agree with Euler321. Students will always say something negative about another’s chosen field of study. Don’t let that bother you. It’s your choice and your life. If you have doubts just do the research online.</p>

<p>Hello all. </p>

<p>As a Sociology, Criminology specialization, grad I can say that I was very happy with my choice and was never without a job. </p>

<p>About one month after I graduated, I was hired as a Business Researcher for a business school at a Technical Institute studying investment patterns of “business angels” (Think shark tank). Just want to remind you that I graduated with an arts degree and not a business degree despite every other applicant having a business degree. The pay was OK, however, I got to enhance my statistical skillsets and was able to get proficient at SQL, MS Access, market analysis, and Structural Equation modelling and apply it in studying the social world. After my contract expired I was hired as a Criminal Intelligence Analyst. There I was able to apply some of the theories of crime I learned while at school and was able to apply research and statistical techniques to both analyze crime patterns in the city and predict when and where crime was going to occur next and continually inform police officers about new gangs, latest drugs on the street, latest research, etc. </p>

<p>While at school, my coursework focus was on quantitative and qualitative research methodologies (You wouldn’t believe how many companies don’t know how to effectively read and understand survey data), as well as completing a research project that analyzed six years of sexual assault data for my local police department and essentially told them who the main victims and offenders of sexual assaults are and where police resources could be used more efficiently to help reduce sexual assaults in the future. </p>

<p>A degree doesn’t get you hired after graduation, rather it’s what you do with your degree while you are in school that will determine where you will go next.</p>