Section 1.1

Question 1

What is Sociology?

Answer 1

The scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions.

Question 2

What is a Society?

Answer 2

A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture.

Question 3

Micro-level vs. Macro Level

Answer 3

micro-level study small groups and individual interactions. How we interact and make sense of the world.

macro-level analysis look at trends among and between large groups and societies. Religion, family, economy, government, education, and media.

Question 4

What is Culture?

Answer 4

A group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs.

Question 5

What is Sociological Imagination?

Answer 5

By studying people, we can learn about the lived experiences of others. The individual experience vs. the larger society.

Betty is unemployed and blames her choices and bad luck. What is really going on?

Question 6

Do personal decisions an individual makes exist in a vacuum?

Answer 6

To a sociologist, the personal decisions an individual makes do not exist in a vacuum.

Question 7

What are the different types of family?

Answer 7

The “typical” family in past decades consisted of married parents living in a home with their unmarried children. Today, the percent of unmarried couples, same-sex couples, single-parent and single-adult households is increasing, as well as is the number of expanded households, in which extended family members such as grandparents, cousins, or adult children live together in the family home.

Question 8

What is a social institution?

Answer 8

A complex group of interdependent positions (different offices do the work for the institution) that perform a social role and meet societal needs.