Sociology is the study of human societies, social relationships, and the processes that shape social life. Sociologists examine how people interact, how institutions and cultures influence behaviour, and how social structures change over time.
Sociology encourages us to question what is often taken for granted. By challenging dominant norms and expectations, it opens up new understandings of what it is like for individuals and groups to live in the world.
Sociologically insight is central to the development of ethical practice as it exposes power imbalances and the assumptions that underpin them. This creates space for alternative, more inclusive, more care-full, more holistic approaches.
In this way, Sociology provides a framework for reflecting on the whole story of health, fitness, and exercise; for both professionals and clients
Why Sociology?
Bringing it all Together
Sociology, auto/biography and critical and creative storytelling runs through all that we do.
In drawing on sociological, and other social, health and sport science, research and theory, we lift the conversation around ethics in research, education and practice. In centring the stories of professionals and their clients we offer richer, more situated understandings of how ethics is lived, negotiated and felt in everyday practice.
The Ethical Exercise Lab is part of the critical turn in the sociology of sport committed to practice and making exercise an ethical, care-full and positive experience for all concerned.
See about the resources we provide and opportunities for collaboration here
Auto/Biography
Sociological auto/biography is a way of studying lives that shows how our stories are shaped by social forces and are always politically situated. It challenges the idea that a life is a single, self-contained narrative. We are always in relation with others, and the forward slash signals this by unsettling the boundary between self and other.
Auto/Biography values both individual and collective stories. It helps us notice patterns of similarity and difference across people’s experiences and makes space for alternative narratives alongside more dominant and commonplace ones.
This approach is a powerful tool for ethical, reflective practice because it supports practitioners in recognising how their own histories intersect with the histories of clients or communities, and how both are embedded in wider social conditions.
Storytelling and Listening
We all tell stories about ourselves all the time, and the stories we choose to share shift depending on our audience, our concerns, and what matters to us in the moment. Stories are powerful. Through storytelling we make sense of our own and others’ experiences, identities, and ways of being in the world.
In practice and in research, storytelling and attentive listening centre the experiences and concerns of the storyteller. This disrupts the traditional power imbalance between professional and client, or researcher and researched, and often brings forward alternative accounts that challenge the taken for granted.
Social scientists are increasingly using fiction, poetry, song, visual art, and other creative forms to share research‑informed stories of everyday life, expanding how knowledge is communicated and who feels invited into it.