Performs work requiring a professional knowledge of sociology and sociological methods specifically related to the establishment, validation, interpretation, and application of knowledge about social processes. Studies specialized areas such as: changes in the character, size, distribution, and composition of the population; social mechanisms for enforcing compliance with widely accepted norms and for controlling deviance; social phenomena having to do with human health and disease; structure and operation of organizations; and complex interrelationship of the individual and society. Some sociologists perform sociological research, others apply sociological principles and findings, and some perform a combination of both kinds of work.