Basics of sociology

Question 1

What is marxism and who thought of the theory?

Answer 1

Karl Marx is the theorist and believes that capitalism oppresses the working class and that there needs to be a revolution to make everyone equal.

Question 2

What is the functionalism and who is the theorist?

Answer 2

Emile Durkheim theory was that society was made from different institutions each with its own function to work in harmony to create stable society.

Question 3

What did Max Weber believe?

Answer 3

Max believed that sociologists should study both structures and action to fully understand society.

Question 4

What is Interactionism?

Answer 4

Also known as interpretivists that think functionalists don’t focus enough on the individual.

Question 5

What are Norms?

Answer 5

Norms are behaviours and views that society sees as normal. (E.g. Cleaning yourself daily)

Question 6

What are Values?

Answer 6

Values are beliefs and ideas about what is right and wrong. (To not steal, and to be caring)

Question 7

What is a culture?

Answer 7

Culture is a way people live, their language, beliefs and values. Which vary place to place E.g. British culture is very different to Chinese culture.

Question 8

What is a Sub-culture?

Answer 8

A sub-culture is a culture within a larger culture E.g. hippies, Goths, Emo’s etc.

Question 9

How is culture passed on?

Answer 9

Culture is passed on via socialisation from school and family who teach you about your culture and its past.

Question 10

What is globalisation?

Answer 10

Globalisation is the idea that the world is becoming more connected. This happens because of new technology that helps communication and increases transnational corporations.

Question 11

What is Social differentiation?

Answer 11

When society is divided into different groups. Based off age, gender, culture, class etc.

Question 12

What is social Stratification

Answer 12

When society is split into groups where the rich and powerful are at the top and the powerless and poor are at the bottom.

Question 13

What is power?

Answer 13

Power is the ability to do something you wouldn’t normally do. It can either be a balance or imbalance of power.

Question 14

What are the different types of research sociologists do?

Answer 14

They do:
- Interviews
- Questionnaires
- Observations
- Documents
- Government Statistics
- Experiments

Question 15

What are the main theories in sociology?

Answer 15

The main theories are: Functionalism, Marxism, interactionism, feminism and postmodernism. There are subcategories such as neo-marxism and radical feminism.

Question 16

what is a functionalist structural theory examples?

Answer 16

The Family - has the function of socialising children.
Education - has the function of preparing the young people for adult society.
Religion - has the function of uniting society through shared beliefs.

Question 17

What were societies two split groups that Marxists believe in?

Answer 17

The Bourgeoisie were the ruling class - they where the minority but had all the money and power.

The proletariat were the working class - they formed majority of society but had little money or no power.

Question 18

Who didn’t agree with Marx?

Answer 18

The people who didn’t agree with Karl Marx included functionalists, interactionists and postmodernists.

Question 19

What are feminist beliefs?

Answer 19

Feminist beliefs are that society is patriarchal and that it is run by men, and that things are done in mens best interest.

Question 20

What is Liberal Feminism?

Answer 20

Liberal Feminists want equal rights and opportunities for women as they believe men have more rights than them.

Question 21

What is Radical Feminism?

Answer 21

Radical Feminists believe that society is structured to oppress women and that it needs a change for women to be in control.

Question 22

What is Marxist Feminism?

Answer 22

Marxist Feminists combine the belief of Marxism and feminism - they believe women are exploited by the capitalist society.

Question 23

Why do Radical Feminists not agree with Liberal Feminists?

Answer 23

Radical Feminists criticise Liberal Feminists for not acknowledging that its more than institutions that are patriarchal - its all relationships for example families have a Male-dominated structure.

Question 24

What is the New Right?

Answer 24

The New Right is similar to functionalism and is a from of consensus structuralism. They also view that society needs its values and institutions to maintain social order.

Question 25

Why Do feminists Disagree with the New Right theory?

Answer 25

Feminists disagree with the New Right as it has views of traditional families which are seen as oppressive to women and enforcing the patriarchal society.

Question 26

How did Postmodernism come around?

Answer 26

It came about from the reaction to modernism.

Question 27

What is Modernism?

Answer 27

Modernism is a period of industrialisation and urbanisation which began with the Industrial Revolution when rational, scientific thoughts where valued.

Question 28

Who disagrees with Postmodernists?

Answer 28

1) Functionalists disagree as it ignores the role of institutions.
2) Interactionists disagree as it ignores how individuals interact
3) Marxists disagree as it ignores inequalities