Berger examines most common but inaccurate images of sociologist , which are:

  1. The Helper of People: Many students enter sociology "because I like to work with people," but Berger argues that sociology is not inherently tied to humanitarian work: "A benevolent interest in people could be the biographical starting point for sociological studies. But... a malevolent and misanthropic outlook could serve just as well."
  2. The Social Worker's Theoretician: Though historically connected, sociology is not primarily theory for social work: "Sociology is not a practice, but an attempt to understand."
  3. The Social Reformer: While sociological insights may improve social conditions, sociology itself is distinct from reform: "What is at issue here is not sociological understanding as such but certain applications of this understanding."
  4. The Statistician: Though statistics are useful in sociology, "sociology consists of statistics as little as philology consists of conjugating irregular verbs or chemistry of making nasty smells in test tubes."
  5. The Methodologist: Some sociologists become fixated on methodology, but this is a distortion: "In science as in love a concentration on technique is quite likely to lead to impotence."
  6. The Detached Manipulator: The image of sociologists as cold observers who manipulate people is "a gross distortion" that "fits very few individuals."

Berger's Vision of Sociology

Berger defines the sociologist as "someone concerned with understanding society in a disciplined way." The discipline is scientific, requiring objectivity and adherence to rules of evidence, but this doesn't mean sociology is the only valid perspective.

More personally, Berger describes the ideal sociologist as:

"A person intensively, endlessly, shamelessly interested in the doings of men... The sociologist moves through the world of men without respect for the usual lines of demarcation. Nobility and degradation, power and obscurity, intelligence and folly these are equally interesting to him."

Another Quote:

"He will find rewarding the company of priests or of prostitutes, depending not on his personal preferences but on the questions he hap­pens to be asking at the moment"

The sociologist's questions focus on "What are people doing with each other here?" "What are their relationships to each other?" "How are these relationships organized in institutions?"

The Excitement of Sociology

Berger argues that sociology offers a unique form of intellectual excitement:

"The fascination of sociology lies in the fact that its perspective makes us see in a new light the very world in which we have lived all our lives."

Unlike other disciplines where scholars can separate their subject from everyday life, sociology "is more like a passion" that transforms how we see familiar realities:

"The first wisdom of sociology is this -> things are not what they seem. This too is a deceptively simple statement. It ceases to be simple after a while. Social reality turns out to have many layers of meaning. The discovery of each new layer changes the perception of the whole."

Berger concludes with a warning that sociology is not for everyone, especially those who "like the safety of the rules and the maxims of what Alfred Schuetz has called the 'world-taken-for-granted.'" Rather, it will satisfy "only those who can think of nothing more entrancing than to watch men and to understand things human."