Oxford Sociology is at the forefront of ground-breaking empirical research which spans the full spectrum of the social world. We apply a diverse range of rigorous methods to real-world issues in order to answer the most pressing societal challenges of our times.

Our commitment to collaborative research ensures that our researchers have the freedom to transcend disciplinary boundaries, foster international partnerships, and explore innovative research. Some of the themes that our researchers are currently working on include social inequality, demography, political sociology, gender and the family, cybercrime and justice, computational social science, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are currently home to the Extra-Legal Governance Institute, an interdisciplinary research network investigating organised crime, cyber-crime, paramilitary, insurgents, and traffickers.

Beyond academia, our research is used in public policymaking to improve the wellbeing of the wider public and reduce social inequalities in the UK and across the world.