Sociology is not exclusive to humans. Animals are often studied to provide a simpler view of social interactions, and parallels can be drawn to humans.
It's a lot easier to get a study approved with animals than with humans.
Also, yeah, humans are animals too, but I'm not writing out "non-human animals" every time.
I'm no expert, but I just scrolled through the Wikipedia article for Eusociality, because I know that's a really interesting topic in the field you describe, and then picked out all the links to scientists:
And well, descriptive words that get mentioned relatively often: entomologist, biologist and sociobiologist.
Sociobiology is almost a competing theory to sociology, though, in that it tries to explain social behavior with evolution.
The Wikipedia article on sociology does say rather strongly that it is about humans.
My best guess is that while e.g. eusociality would offer a broader range to study, I guess, humanity is just not as interested in the specific details, as they are when studying humans. So, that's why sociology for animals is presumably not a field of its own, but rather lumped into entomology/biology.
Thanks for the pointers, I'll have to give'em a look! Eusociality does sound right in line with what I was wondering about, but hadn't heard of it before!
Whale biologist
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.