Sociology is the study of people as they are shaped in their identity by the groups to which they belong. A starting premise of sociology is that as human beings we are members of, as well as products of, groups throughout our lives that shape who we are even as we in turn shape those groups.
As a discipline, sociology is meant to be an ongoing effort to understand human behavior through research that is guided by the scientific ideals of research-objectivity, cultural relativism (as a method), and an openness to future critical analysis of past research.
A favorite way to characterize the spirit of the discipline has been the concept of the "sociological imagination," as developed by sociologist C. Wright Mills: "{which is}...the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of individuals and society, of biography and history, of self and world"; ...the ability to relate one's personal experience ('biography') to the broader structures, systems, and transformations of one's point in history.