Sociologists

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Demographer, Medical Sociologist, Social Scientist, Sociologist

What they do:
Study human society and social behavior by examining the groups and social institutions that people form, as well as various social, religious, political, and business organizations. May study the behavior and interaction of groups, trace their origin and growth, and analyze the influence of group activities on individual members.
On the job, you would:
  • Analyze and interpret data to increase the understanding of human social behavior.
  • Prepare publications and reports containing research findings.
  • Develop, implement, and evaluate methods of data collection, such as questionnaires or interviews.

Knowledge

Math and Science

  • sociology and anthropology
  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Arts and Humanities

  • English language
  • history and archeology

Education and Training

  • teaching and course design

Engineering and Technology

  • computers and electronics

Skills

Basic Skills

  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • talking to others

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Abilities

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

They do well at jobs that need:

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Initiative
  • Persistence
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Independence
  • Integrity

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Analytical or scientific software

  • IBM SPSS Statistics Hot Technology
  • SAS Hot Technology

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint Hot Technology

Data base user interface and query software

  • Microsoft Access Hot Technology
  • QSR International NVivo

Education

doctoral degree or
master's degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

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Job Outlook

Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.

Salary:

$101,770
$59,960
$165,280
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