Hello people!

I think this website is great! I'm applying for universtities but I'm torn between studying anthropology or sociology and I don't quite get the difference. Anyone else in the same situation?

   Hey I'm not sure if you managed to have your question answered but if not, here goes:

   While I think there is a lot of overlap between the two disciplines, one difference is the type of methodologies used in research to produce data. Anthropologists tend (though certainly not always) to use more qualitative techniques (e.g. interviews with open ended questions and experiential 'participatory observation' from within a community) while sociologists tend to gravitate more towards quantitative techniques (statistics, numbers, forms and charts).

   Another difference is that sociology tends to focus upon the politics of urban life in modern industrial cities while anthropology tends to focus upon the comparative study of what it means to be human from within different cultures and histories globally and in less urban settings (e.g. in developing countries, rural communities, different cultural backgrounds etc...). While sociology tends to focus upon 'societies' (in the modern urban sense), anthropology focuses upon 'cultures' and the experiences and behaviours of individuals being affected by 'cultural' factors which can profoundly affect cosmological world views.

   Not sure if that helps. There is a lot more to it but, I guess that's the bare minimum of an explanation.