Module 1 - What Is Sociology?

Question 1

Why did sociology emerge?

Answer 1

Due to decline of the feudal social order and rise of a new social order, feudal philanthropy and bourgeois philanthropy began to fight. As well, statistics began to be gathered on lower class households which showed how unhappy people really were. As well, study of culture, and history emerged, leading to increased autonomy of thought and perspective. Positivism and the scientific method progresses.

Question 2

How did Émile Durkheim further the study of the Sociological Method?

Answer 2

He thought sociology should focus on discovering and interpreting what is external to the individual. Therefore, the sociological method must be empirical, represent positive science, and have nothing to do with “philosophy.” In general, the sociological method must be objective.

Question 3

Who was Isidore Auguste Marie Francois Xavier Comte (1798–1875)?

Answer 3

She was one of the individuals who claimed to have coined the term “sociologie.” She also prompted the idea of positivism, and believed society existed as an organism; a whole with parts.

Question 4

Social Facts:

Answer 4

“Things” that are external to the individual and capable of exercising coercive power over him or her, independent of, and resistant to, the will of any given individual. All social facts consist of representations of “supra-individual” social phenomena.

Question 5

What is the difference between suicide in psychology and sociology?

Answer 5

In psychology, suicide is a mental illness, part of a personal character, whereas through a social lense, it’s social rate follows patterns of social relations (forces). The social rates of suicide are social facts.

Question 6

How is social order possible?

Answer 6

Through social solidarity, integration and regulation.

Question 7

Who was Karl Marx?

Answer 7

Marx was known as a philosopher and political economist who contributed to sociology through the materialist conception of history with emphasis on the dynamics of change in human societies. He drew attention to how people are classified and how different classes relate to each other.

Question 8

What was the superstructure and infrastructure of a materialist conception of history?

Answer 8

Superstructure: Religion, family, education, politics, law
Infrastructure: Relations of production (equal, unequal, exploitative, cooperative, etc.), material productive forces

Question 9

What was the superstructure and infrastructure of a hunter-gatherer society

Answer 9

Superstructure: Natural religions, extended families, education, politics, law
Infrastructure: Relations of production (cooperative, simple division of labour), material productive forces (hunters and gatherers working together), low technology, subsistence, living off nature

Question 10

What was the superstructure and infrastructure of a feudal society?

Answer 10

Superstructure: Christianity, monarchy, aristocracy, traditions, limited literacy, charity, patriarchy
Infrastructure: Relations of production (inequality, serfdom, obligations, duties), material productive forces (land, simple agricultural tools & techniques, peasants)

Question 11

What was the superstructure and infrastructure of a capitalist society?

Answer 11

Superstructure: Small families, law, autonomy, consumerism, increased education
Infrastructure: Relations of production (wage gaps, occupations, employees vs employer, economical classes), material productive forces (private and public ownership)

Question 12

What was a materialist society like?

Answer 12

Private property and class inequality.

Question 13

What is the highly debated capitalist mode of production?

Answer 13

It’s argued to be broken into social classes of the bourgeoisie, proletariat, and petite bourgeoisie.

Question 14

The bourgeoisie:

Answer 14

Owners of the means of production.

Question 15

The proletariat:

Answer 15

Workers or wage labourers.

Question 16

The petite bourgeoisie:

Answer 16

Small and independent owners e.g., farmers, small business owners

Question 17

Wage Labour:

Answer 17

The physical or mental capacity sold for a wage.

Question 18

Capitalist Alienation:

Answer 18

A loss of control over the product or the process of making it during commodity production.

Question 19

Who was Max Weber?

Answer 19

He believed in interpreting subjective meanings in social action and creating ideal types.

Question 20

Action:

Answer 20

A deliberate choice to do - or not do - something.

Question 21

Social Action:

Answer 21

A deliberate act which takes into account the actions and reactions of individuals.

Question 22

Ideal Types of Social Action:

Answer 22

Traditional, Affectual, Value-Rational, Instrumentally Rational

Question 23

Social Reality:

Answer 23

The accepted social tenets of a community, involving thereby relatively stable laws and social representations.

Question 24

First Order Social Construction:

Answer 24

Externalization of concepts or things created through social relations. Ie. money, the state, mortality, religion, marriage, jobs.

Question 25

Second Order Social Construction:

Answer 25

Objectification of concepts or things created through social relations. Ie. Natural objects and phenomena (sun, moon, earth and thunder), race and ethnicity, attractiveness, sexual relations, the body, childhood.

Question 26

Controversy around Social Construction:

Answer 26

It questions our taken-for-granted assumptions about our own ways of doing things and often has political implications.

Question 27

Personal vs Public Issues:

Answer 27

The facts of contemporary history are also facts about the success and the failure of individual men and women. Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.

Question 28

Inverted Quarantine:

Answer 28

Isolating one’s healthy self from the general sick public.

Question 29

Quarantine:

Answer 29

Isolating the sick person from the general healthy public.