Sociological Insights

Question 1

Define sociology:

Answer 1

The study of how society works

Question 2

According to O’Donnell, how can sociology be understood?

Answer 2

As a series of questions

Question 3

According to Mills, how can we understand social life?

Answer 3

we must understand the

intersection between biography and history

Question 4

What are the Three most significant types of differentiation?

Answer 4

• social stratification
• gender differentiation
• racial differentiation

Question 5

What is stratification?

Answer 5

Stratification involves social ranking of people by:
• Economic position
• Prestige
• Power

Question 6

Define social class:

Answer 6

a category of people who share a common social position, economic situation and cultural attitudes.

Question 7

List the classes in the Marxist approach:

Answer 7

• Capitalist class – ownership or control of capital (particularly
factories) ‐ “Bourgeoisie”
• Working class – has to sell his labour to survive – “Proletariat”

Question 8

Define GDP:

Answer 8

The monetary value of all finished goods and services within a country within a specific period

Question 9

What are the Pros of GDP?

Answer 9

• Measures the success or failure of economic policy
• Useful measure of progress of a country
• Useful measure of market size
• Useful as an input into more nuanced calculations
• GDP per Capita ( GDP with Population)
• Productivity

Question 10

What are the cons of GDP?

Answer 10

•Ignores the wealth distribution
•Ignores how expensive it is to live in a country
• PPP – Purchasing Power Parity
• price of Apple iPhone X- 64GB in SA vs USA ( R16 to $1???)
• Ignores population size
• Only accounts for social progress ( no environmental
consideration)

Question 11

What is GDP per capita? List the Pros and Cons

Answer 11

GDP divided by the population size

PROS
• Useful for comparing countries of different size to each
• Measure of relative wealth of country
• Measure of relative performance of each country
• Measure of productivity of country’s people

CONS
• Still ignores wealth distribution
• Ignores number of hours worked by population
• Ignores the economic might of a country

Question 12

What does a Gini Coefficient of 1 mean?

Answer 12

Total Inequality

Question 13

List the Pros and Cons of the Gini Effect:

Answer 13

PROS
• Gives an indication of the distribution of income in a country
• Relatively simple measure

CONS
• Gini coefficient is a measure of relative wealth, not absolute wealth
• E.g. Bangladesh and Netherlands have similar Gini coefficients

Question 14

What are the reasons for the gender gap?

Answer 14

• Discrimination
• If women were indeed cheaper, economics suggests companies
would thus be incentivised to hire them
• Professions that women choose
• Social Expectation or Women’s choice?
• Decisions to raise children and thus impede career

Question 15

What does GDP measure?

Answer 15

• A measure of the size of a country’s economy
• A measure of a country’s standard of living
• A measure of progress or decline
• Measures the value added, not total value
• Measure the value added by car manufacturing compared to the raw
materials
• Not the total value of the car produced