Sociology

Question 1

Define sociology
One question about social change

Answer 1

Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior.

How does social change come about?
Sociologists may ask questions about the behavior of individual group members. For example, they may ask what causes the young people in this particular group to act differently than the older members?” They may also want to know how the larger group’s behavior affects individuals’ behavior.

Question 2

What do Sociologists study?

Answer 2

Sociologists study society and social behavior by examining the groups, cultures, organizations, social institutions, and processes that develop when people interact and work together.
Ex: crime, religion, family relationships, racial and gender identity, communities, cultures, etc.

Question 3

Why are sociologists so strongly linked with the criminal justice system?

Answer 3

Sociologists who study deviance and crime examine cultural norms, how they change over time, how they are enforced, and what happens to individuals and societies when norms are broken.

Question 4

What are the three schools of thought in sociology

Answer 4

Structural Functionalism, Neo-Marxism,
and Symbolic Interactionism.

Question 5

Define Structural Functionalism

Answer 5

A system must have a way of fulfilling material needs, a system for socializing and educating the young, and a way of regulating human reproduction (usually marriage).
Structural-Functionalists do not concern themselves with change but instead with how society works to meet their needs.
Ex: -Puts people in stereotyped roles

Question 6

Define Neo-Marxism

Answer 6

The economic system creates a rich class of owners and a poor class of workers. They also believe that social institutions (churches, schools, prisons, etc.) have been created to perpetuate the division between the powerful and the powerless.
People should earn as they value (ex: a parent with kids working three jobs but gets less money).

Question 7

Define Symbolic Interactionism

Answer 7

This means they can interpret for themselves the stimuli they receive in their daily life and attach their own meanings to them. Eg. One person might pursue fame and fortune while a sibling might dedicate his or her life to charitable work in a developing country
Ex: People develop self-image from the way they think others see them.

Question 8

What are the four aspects of change that modern sociologists look for to try and understand
social change?

Answer 8

Direction of Change:
-Is it positive or negative, and who decides?
-Important to consider the different opinions regarding change

Rate of Change:
-Slow, moderate or fast?
-Radical change over a short period, or slow, gradual change?
-Is the rate changing?

Sources of Change:
-What factors are behind the influences of change in a society?
-Exogenous – influences from outside the society
-Endogenous – influences from inside the society

Controllability of Change:
-Can social change be engineered or controlled? Restricted or encouraged?
-Ex. Hutterite society restricts social behaviour and contact with the outside world and is therefore still very traditional.

Question 9

What are three factors that can affect social change?

Answer 9

• Geography
• Technology
• Tension and Adaptation