Sociology is the scientific study of the social causes of human behavior. Sociologists begin with the fact that humans are social creatures and proceed to study the profound consequences sociability has for our lives. One product of our sociability is the emergence of concrete patterns of social relations that organize and regulate social life; these regular patterns are what sociologists mean when they refer to social structure. One of the amazing things about social structure is that while it is produced by people interacting with one another, it is often a real constraint on our own individual behavior. Thus, throughout the course we will explore how social life influences what we do and how we think.