ABSTRACT
Modern society is generating a great demand for all kinds of social scientists to put their knowledge and skills at the service of society. One area of the discipline which illustrates this developing confidence is the sociology of education. During the last decade in Britain the sociologist has begun to play a part in the statutory administrative system as consultant, administrator and researcher. The chapter offers a set of conceptual models based upon the sociological perspective. Taylor (1967) has suggested that separate use of two terms, 'educational sociology' and 'the sociology of education' might be maintained in order to preserve the distinction between an emphasis upon educational or social problems and an emphasis upon sociological problems. The development of the discipline follows from a mutually stimulating relationship between theorising and information-gathering each of which is dependent upon the other for its meaning. The theories, concepts and research methods of sociology offer one set of tools for thinking about education.
