Introduction to Sociology

Question 1

Define Sociology

Answer 1

The study of society

Question 2

“Seeing the ______ in the ______”

“the first wisdom of sociology is this- things are not what they seem…social reality turns out the have many layers…the discovery of each new layer changes the perception of the whole.” - who said it

Answer 2

“Seeing the strange in the familiar.”

PETER BERGER.

Question 3

Large scale phenomena/patterns

Answer 3

MACRO

Question 4

Example of “Macro” question

Answer 4

what are the social causes that render people without homes?

Question 5

smale scale phenomena/patters

Answer 5

MICRO

Question 6

example of a “micro” question

Answer 6

how do houseless persons survive?

Question 7

Who came up with the concept of social imagination?

Answer 7

C. Wright Mills

Question 8

Sociology lies at the intersection of

Answer 8

History and biography

Sociology challenges conventional wisdom and thinking critically about the world around you.

Question 9

“framework of society that exists above the level of individuals and provides the social setting in which individuals interact with one another to form relationships

Answer 9

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Question 10

For arenas of social structure:

Answer 10

INSTITUTIONS
ORGANIZATIONS
GROUPS
STATUSES/ROLES

Question 11

“Position a person occupies in a social structure”

Answer 11

SOCIAL STATUS

Question 12

examples of family, occupational and social class status

Answer 12

• MOTHER, CHILD, etc.
• LAWYER, CMT, FIREFIGHTER, etc.
• UPPER, WORKING, etc.

Question 13

“Sum of total expectations about the behavior attached to a particular social status.”

Answer 13

ROLES

Question 14

“culturally defined rules of conduct”

• specify what people should do and how they should pursue their values
• prescribe “proper or necessary behavior within particualr roles, groups, organizations and institutions

Answer 14

NORMS

Question 15

“if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”

Answer 15

THOMAS THEOREM

William Isaac Thomas

Question 16

3 Perspectives on social order

Answer 16

STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

Question 17

“social institutions are structured to maintain stability and order in society.”

Answer 17

STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE

• society as complex system composed of various parts
• critiques for expressing EXPLOITATION/OPPRESSION
• sees institutions as mechanisms for fostering order

EMILE DURKHEIM

Question 18

views structure of society as a source of inequality that always benefits some groups at the expense of others.

Answer 18

CONFLIT PERSPECTIVE
KARL MARX

• arena of HAVE/HAVE NOTS
• institutions as means to foster and legitimate the power of some at the expense of others
• critiqued for ignoring shared elements of society

Question 19

explains society and social structure through an examination of microlevel, personal day-to-day exchanges of people

Answer 19

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
MAX WEBER

• society is produced and reproduced by agreements of symbolic systems
• institutions as agreed upon contracts
• critiqued by ignoring larger social patterns that set the stage for peoples interactions