The discipline of sociology is founded on a trinity of three main pillars: social structure, social research methods and social theory. You may like to think of the discipline of sociology as a traditional African stool that stands on three legs: social structure, social research methods and social theory. Having been introduced to the discipline of sociology last semester, this course exposes you to the first pillar: social structure. As you go on with your courses in sociology you will encounter the other two pillars: social research methods and social theory. To put them in perspective: Social theory attempts to explain why things happen and how they happen. It also attempts to predict social phenomena. Social research methods deal with how sociologists come to know what they know about society and the tools that they use to test the validity of some of the predictions made by theory. Social structure attempts to explain and describe the reality of how society is constructed.