Chapter 1

Question 1

What is social imagination and who coined the term?

Answer 1

-Society is the primary focus
-Allows us to understand an individual’s circumstances shaped by social forces and connections between politics and the person.
-Coined by C. Wright Mills

Question 2

Who was the first person to carry out a systematic study of sociological subjects?

Answer 2

Arab scholar named Ibn Khaldun, developed a systematic approach to studying various types of societies and their histories, cultures and economies

Question 3

Who is Max Weber and what is he known for?

Answer 3

-A German founder of modern sociology (Primarily macrosociology)
-Explored how a set of values embodied in early Protestantism (protestant work ethic) led to the development of modern capitalism

Question 4

Who is John Porter and what is he known for?

Answer 4

-He examined the relationship between social class and ethnicity
-Coined the term vertical mosaic
-Found that anglo-saxon protestants occupied the top of hierarchy, followed by french-canadians while racially marginalized groups concentrated at the bottom of hierarchy

Question 5

What does vertical mosaic mean?

Answer 5

Describes hierarchical stratification of racial, ethnic and religious groups due to systemic discrimination

Question 6

Who was Annie Marion MacLean and what did she do?

Answer 6

-First Canadian woman to obtain PhD in sociology (University of Chicago)
-Pioneered the sociological study of working women (outside of the home)

Question 7

Who was Aileen Ross and what did she do?

Answer 7

-First woman hired as a sociologist at a Canadian university (University of Toronto)
-Completed the first study of homeless women in Canada

Question 8

Who was Helen C. Bell and what did she do?

Answer 8

Founder of rural sociology in Canada

Question 9

What are the five basic sociological theories?

Answer 9

-Structural Functionalism
-Conflict (Critical) Theory
-Symbolic Interactionism
-Feminist Theory
-Postmodern Theory

Question 10

What is macrosociology and the types of sociological theories used to research it?

Answer 10

-Focuses on the “big picture” of society and institutions
-Uses include structural functionalism, conflict theory, feminist theory and postmodern theory

Question 11

What is microsociology and the types of sociological theories used to research it?

Answer 11

-Focuses on plans, motivations and actions of individuals and small groups
-Uses include symbolic interactionism

Question 12

What is structural functionalism?

Key representatives: Emile Durkeheim, Robert Merton and Talcott Parsons

Answer 12

-Identifies various structures of society (e.g., family) and describes their functions to maintain the social system and produce social cohesion
-Focuses on the system’s contributing functions during conflict/social change
-Used to instill harmony and balance among social structures (lack of this is a threat to the functionality of society)

Question 13

What is the social contract?

Answer 13

-An implicit agreement between government and people to agree to do their respective roles to maintain the functionality of society
-Compliment one another, help each other to progress

Question 14

Define the term social fact.

Answer 14

-Patterned ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside of individuals but exert social control over people
-Allow sociologists to examine larger social forms

Question 15

What are the three essential characteristics of every social fact?

Answer 15

1. It was developed prior to and separate from you as an individual
2. It can be seen as a characteristic of a particular group
3. It involves a constraining or coercing force that pushes individuals into acting in a particular way

Question 16

Define the term anomie.

Answer 16

Durkeheim’s term for a societal state of breakdown/confusion or an individual’s lack of connection or contact with society

Question 17

Who was Robert K. Merton?

Answer 17

-Major contributor to functionalist thinking (Primarily macrosociology)
-Identified Manifest functions, Latent functions and Latent Dysfunctions

Question 18

What is a manifest function? Give an example

Answer 18

-The intended and readily recognized function of a societal structure
-Ex. Postsecondary education provides students with skills and knowledge to find a career

Question 19

What is a latent function? Give an example.

Answer 19

-A function of a societal structure that is largely unintended and unrecognized
-Ex. Religion creates a social support network and marriage market

Question 20

What is a latent dysfunction? Give an example.

Answer 20

-An unintended function of a societal structure that produces socially negative consequences
-Ex. doughnut shops provide late-night venues for drug dealing

Question 21

Who was Emile Durkheim and what was he known for?

Answer 21

-One of the founders of sociology (primarily macrosociologist)
-Key contributor to functionalist thinking
-Coined the terms “social fact” and “anomie”
-These early concepts were important in understanding social forms and how different parts of society function

Question 22

What is Conflict (Critical) Theory?

Answer 22

-Opposes structural functionalism
-Based on the idea that conflict exists in all large societies due to class division and is the reason for socio-historical (cultural) change
-The four “C’s”
-Holds that social order is maintained by domination and power rather than consensus and conformity

Question 23

What are the four “C’s” that make up Conflict (Critical) Theory?

Answer 23

-Conflict: exists in all large societies
-Class: has existed in every society
-Contestation: functions can be contested by asking “What group does this function best serve?”
-Change: society either will or should be changed

Question 24

Who is Karl Marx and what is he known for?

Answer 24

-German sociologist (primarily macrosociology), founder of Conflict (Critical) Theory
-Stated that society is a hierarchy and each group’s position is determined by their role in the production of wealth
-Saw conflict between the bourgeoisie (the capitalists) and the proletariat (workers) which could initiate a socialist revolution that would produce an egalitarian (classless) society
- His insight spread to feminist sociology, queer theory, anti-colonialism and other sociological approaches
-Suggested that society is in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources

Question 25

What is Symbolic Interactionism?

Researched by George Herbert Mead, Herbert Blumer and Erving Goffman

Answer 25

-The approach that looks at the meaning or symbolisms of our daily social interactions with individuals and small groups, along with the judgments associated with them
-I.e. white wedding dress shows feminine purity, larger diamond on ring symbolizes higher class/status

Question 26

Who was George Herbert Mead and what was he known for?

Answer 26

-American social psychologist, pioneered the symbolic-interactionist method
-Examined socialization, the development of the self, and social roles in the context of human interaction

Question 27

Who was Herbert Blumer and what was he known for?

Answer 27

-Coined the term symbolic interactionism
-Stated that individuals and groups create and maintain social systems as a by-product of their daily interactions

Question 28

Who was Erving Goffman and what was he known for?

Answer 28

-Canadian sociologist
-Coined the term “total institution”
-Stressed the importance of learning the subjectivity of people

Question 29

What are total institutions and their purpose?

Answer 29

-Prisons, boarding schools, concentration camps, mental hospitals, etc.
-Seek to regulate, control and manipulate its residents by cutting off or limiting interactions with others and complying with their rules

Question 30

What is Feminist Theory?

Important people: Mary Wollstone, Harriet Martineau and Dorothy Smith

Answer 30

-Rooted in Conflict Theory
-Adresses issues of systematic discrimination against women that took place over centuries due to patriarchy (powerful social organization that consisted of men)
-Five waves of Feminism

Question 31

What are the five waves of feminism?

Answer 31

-First: campaign for civil and political rights (vote and hold political office in 1918)
-Second: Focus on public and private rights (equality in the home and workplace, 1960’s)
-Third: inclusion of LGBTI and racialized individuals (1980’s)
-Fourth: feminist movement around 2012, characterized by a focus on the empowerment of women. Seeks greater gender equality by focusing on gendered norms and marginalization of women in society
-Fifth: no clear definition, involves multiplicity of gendered issues on the full spectrum of LGBTQ+, goes beyond binary orientations that concerns everyone and not just females

Question 32

What is standpoint theory?

Answer 32

-Developed by Dorothy Smith out of her own discrimination in the academic community
-Challenges objective analysis
-Knowledge developes from a standpoint or lived experience, female perspective was largely ignored

Question 33

What is professional sociology? Who is the audience?

Answer 33

-Research designed to generate highly specific information, often with the aim of applying it to a particular problem or intellectual question
-Written in highly technical and specialized language for academic and professional readers

Question 33

What is critical sociology? Who is the audience?

Answer 33

-Considered by Burawoy to be the “conscious of professional sociology”
-Aims to make sure that professional sociologists do not get lost in esoterical debates and lose sight of sociological inquiry
-Bring about meaningful social change (Michel Foucault and Dorothy Smith)
-Targeted towards academic and professional readers

Question 33

What is postmodern theory?

Answer 33

-Seeks to include a diversity of voices, especially ones overlooked by powerful voices of dominant groups (white, straight, middle/upper-class men)
-Michel Foucault was a leading figure (totalitarian discourse)

Question 34

What is Michel Foucault known for?

Answer 34

-Leading figure in postmodern theory
-Speaks upon totalitarian discourse and his concerns of people in power using it to shape beliefs and ultimately control the people

Question 35

What is policy sociology? Who is the audience?

Answer 35

-Generates sociological data to be used in the development of social policies, laws, rules or plans
-Mainly serves education, health and social welfare (but not exclusively)
-Aimed towards government and corporations/institutions

Question 36

What is public sociology? Who is the audience?

Answer 36

-Public sociologists make sociology accessible to the public with jargon-free language (C. Wright Mills)
-Meant for those outside of the discipline and political establishments

Question 37

When, where, and why did sociology emerge as an area of academic interest?

Answer 37

-Emerged in the 19th century in France, Germany and Britain
-Developed as a response to Industrialization, Urbanization, Population increase, and Revolution

Question 38

Describe the spread of sociology to North America.

Answer 38

-Emerged in late 19th/early 20th century
-Sought to understand rapid social changes linked to European migration to the Americas
-Sociology overlooks the notion that Indigenous peoples were already here which created mixed views of the sociological policy that was founded

Question 39

Where was the first sociology department founded in North America? Who were the key figures to come out?

Answer 39

-Founded in Chicago in 1892
-Robert Park, Ernest Burgess, Everett C. Hughes, George Herbert Mead, Edwin Sutherland, and Jane Addams

Question 40

Who founded the first Canadian sociology department? And when?

Answer 40

-Founded by Carl Addington Dawson in 1922 at McGill University
-Harold Innis also pioneered the sociological tradition of political economy at the University of Toronto