Final Exam

Question 1

What type of societies are there? And what defines them?

Answer 1

Hunting and gathering=self-explanatory
Horticultural and pastoral=horticultural was using hand tools to cultivate plants and pastoral was technology based on the domestication of animals
Agrarian=More advanced technology that made large-scale farming possible-irrigation, the wheel, the plow, use of money and trading increased food production dramatically
Industrial=Sophisticated machinery which made factories and mass production possible. They relied on wind & water power, electricity, transportation, nuclear power, health related technology–this all lead to a huge increase in life expectancy
Post industrial/modern=post-industrialism refers to computer-linked technology that supports an information based economy. The emergence of this society changes the society’s occupational structure + extension of the process of globalization. The society can be called postmodern (Postmodernism= the ways of thinking which stress a plurality of perspectives as opposed to a unified, single core).

Question 2

What is the difference between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat?

Answer 2

Bourgeoisie=middle class/own property

Proletariat=lower class/own little or no property

Question 3

What is social cohesion? And what is Durkheim’s take on it?

Answer 3

The bonds that maintain stability in society. Durkheim proposed that religion has three major functions in society: it provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society, and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions
Religion, he argued, was an expression of social cohesion
In one sense, this still fits the structural-functional approach as it provides social cohesion among the members of one party in a conflict

Question 4

What is the difference between mechanical and organic solidarity?

Answer 4

Mechanical solidarity is found in less socially complex societies and organic solidarity emerges in industrialized societies. In mechanical solidarity social cohesion and integration comes from the homogeneity of individuals: People feel connected through similar work, educational and religious training, and lifestyle, which is often based on the kinship ties of familial networks.
Organic solidarity is social cohesion based upon the dependence individuals have on each other in more advanced societies. It comes from the interdependence that arises from specialization of work and the complementarities between people.
The two types of solidarity can be distinguished by morphological and demographic features, type of norms in existence, and the intensity and content of the conscience collective.

Question 5

What is group conformity and what would Asch, Milgram and Zimbardo say about the idea?

Answer 5

Group conformity is the idea of matching attitudes, beliefs and behaviors to group norms.
Asch would have said that group conformity very apparent in society. During Asch’s line experiment, he proved that 1/3 of the participants would change their answer to the incorrect and popular answer to avoid the discomfort of being different from others, even from people they do not know.
Milgram would have also agreed in the theory of

Question 6

What is hegemony?

Answer 6

in marxist philosophy it is when one class dominates a diverse society and manipulates the social culture so that the subordinate and lower classes are convinced that working in the system is actually in their self interest when really it only benefits the ruling class
Tom Sawyer convinces friends to paint fence example

Question 7

What is the looking glass self theory? Who developed it? And what are the two components?

Answer 7

Cooley in 1900 (Cooley looks Cool in the Looking Glass)

I (action) Me (adjustment of self)

Question 8

What is the difference between mechanical and organic societies?

Answer 8

(Durkheim’s Division of Labor) a mechanical society-people are extremely dependent on each other because they all share the same values and moral standards. There is very little division of labor.
Whereas in a organic society-the economy is more industrialized thus there exists a division and specialization of labor. There tends to be less shared values and more independent thinking. Social relationships are controlled by the legal system

Question 9

What is the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis?

Answer 9

One that states the language people speak affects how they conceptualize the world. People with a different language think in a different way.

Question 10

What is the critical theory? And who developed it?

Answer 10

The tradition of critical theory was developed by the Frankfurt school in the 1930s. Theodore Adorno suggested that mass culture/pop culture and the media weakened critical consciousness and manipulated the working masses.

Question 11

What is false consciousness

Answer 11

Marx says the proletariat accept the idea of liberalism untill they realize the unfair situation and the liberal ideology is a deception (class consiousness). This will lead to a violent revolution. At the end Marx says there will be a classless society (the bourgeoisie would be repressed and then disappear).

Question 12

Weber

Answer 12

Web=like an iron cage
Web=elective affinity-one line in the web needs to the next/everything’s connected

elective affinity=protestant work ethic and capitalism
refers to the increased rationalization inherent in social life, particularly in Western capitalist societies. The “iron cage” thus traps individuals in systems based purely on teleological efficiency, rational calculation and control.

Question 13

Davis Moore thesis

Answer 13

Dr Davis deserves MORE

the idea that social stratification is a universal pattern because it has beneficial consequences on the operation of society (Mac & Plummer glossary) ex. Doctor needs to earn more money because his work is harder and more important than a street worker. If everyone received equal rewards people would become lazy.

Question 14

Blumer

Answer 14

symbolic interactionism is a framework that envisions society as the product of everyday interactions of people doing things together.
hree basic premises of the perspective:
“Humans act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things.”
“The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and the society.”
“These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the things he/she encounters.”

Question 15

Mead

Answer 15

people are social products

Question 16

what is the dramaturgical perspective

Answer 16

Goffman like coffin–viewing yourself from above– perspective of the director viewing himself and co actors

Question 17

Comte

Answer 17

Comte=sociology must have scientific proof and have a positivist base
combination of all sciences
sociology could bring about positive CHANGE

19th century, father of sociology Auguste Comte was one of the founders of sociology and coined the term sociology.
Comte believed sociology could unite all sciences and improve society.
Comte was a positivist who argued that sociology must have a scientific base and be objective.
Comte theorized a three-stage development of society.
In sociology, scientific methods may include quantitative surveys or qualitative cultural and historical analysis.

Question 18

Durkheim

Answer 18

• Established methodological rules based on Comte (positive)
• Focused on social problems: Suicide and crime
• Made the difference between mechanical and social solidarity
• Researched traditional and modern society

Question 19

Parsons

Answer 19

(Persons are agile) Parsons extended Durkheims theory by considering the different functions that need to be fulfilled in a society in order for the survival of the system and the individual members of the society. These functions are known as AGIL.

Question 20

AGIL theory

Answer 20

Adaptation
Goal attainment
Integration
Latency

Question 21

what is an ideology

Answer 21

cultural interests that serve to legitimatize key interests of a particular group or organizations

Question 22

what is Habitualization?

Answer 22

one of Bourdieus central ideas. Bourdieu argued that people in each class transmit a distinctive ‘habius’ (classifications, perceptions, ways of talking, moving, and generally carrying ones self) down generations) and that habitus are the socialized norms and tendiences that guide behavior and thinking

Question 23

what is commodification?

Answer 23

the idea that aspects of life are turned into commodities for sale

For example music-not just concerts and CDs but posters, and books

Question 24

What is the AGIL system and who thought of it?

Answer 24

Parsons said in order to survive a system must perform 4 functions:
Adaptation to environment
Goal Attainment
Integration
Latency (pattern maintenance) 
and he linked these four functional imperatives to four action systems 
1) behavioral 
2)personality
3) social 
4) cultural

Question 25

Besides Parsons who else commented on structural functionalism?

Answer 25

Robert Merton (who lived at around the same time) attempted to rectify some of the weaknesses within structural functionalism

Question 26

Who was Bauman and what did he think?

Answer 26

(Bauman—Break it down)) Polish and fled to England because of anti semitism…He concluded that there is no real world, that we need to deconstruct our world and deconstruct sociology because we are living in a simulation. He explored post modernity and consumerism..He said that in the late 20th century modern society had changed from a society of producers to a society of consumers. He believed sociology was about defamilirazing the familiar.

Question 27

Besides habitus, and social capital, what else did

Answer 27

Bourdieu believes society says there is a “legitimate culture” thus it is a perpetual struggle and competition. He believes poor people are poor because of symbolic violence, socialization and our education system, other types of capital, and class habitus (you want to stay in your own stream because you want a partner with similar interests so you have things to talk about, etc.)

Question 28

Who was Goffman and what were his main theories?

Answer 28

Goffman was a leading 20th century sociologist who commented on society and the act everyone puts on…they envision themselves as perf
He tried to answer the questions of Durkheim-what makes society possible?
He believes the answer doesn’t lie at a macrosociological structural level but an interactional level–He thought that the interactional order was largely invisible and unspoken. He used the metaphor of theater to analyze social life as dramaturgy.

Question 29

What are Goffmans front region, back region, use of space, demeanour

Answer 29

The front region is what is in front of the actor (what the audience sees-carefully choregraphed), the back region backstage where less standards