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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY-SOC 111

STUDY GUIDE



INTRODUCTION

TERMS:

sociology
social solidarity
social structures
microstructures
macrostructures
global structures
The Sociological Imagination
functionalism
class consciousness
symbolic interactionism
feminist theory

OBJECTIVES:

1. Explain what is unique about sociology in comparison to the other seemingly similar
humanities and social science disciplines like economics, political science, philosophy,
drama, and psychology.

2. Explain the role of social forces in opening our opportunities and constraining our freedom.

3. Explain what C. Wright Mills referred to as the “sociological imagination,” - and its origins.

4. Discuss the contribution of W.E.B. Du Bois to the study of race and ethnic relations in the United States.

5. The contribution of Harriet Martineau and feminist theory to sociology largely ignored by other pioneers of sociology. What was this contribution?


RESEARCH METHODS

TERMS:

participant observation

exploratory research
hypotheses
variables
operationalization
reliability
validity
generalizability
causality
experiment
experimental group
control group
dependent variable
independent variable
surveys
sample
population
representative sample
probability samples
statistical significance
association
control variable
spurious association

OBJECTIVES:

1. Explain the role of objectivity and subjectivity in sociology.

2. Identify and describe the steps of the research cycle.

3. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of participant observation, experiments, surveys, and the analysis of existing documents.

4. Explain the issue of causality and association in sociological research.


CULTURE

TERMS:
culture
symbols
norms
material culture
sanctions
social control
ethnocentrism
multiculturalism
cultural relativism
rites of passage
globalization
postmodernism
rationalization
consumerism

OBJECTIVES:

1. Explain the role of ethnocentrism, insider and outsider cultural perspectives on our sociological understanding of culture.

2. Contrast the notions of culture as freedom and culture as constraint.

3. Explain increasing cultural diversity in the contexts of globalization and postmodernism.

4. Explain the phenomena of rationalization and consumerism as sources of cultural constraint.

5. Describe the case of Hip-Hop as an example of a negative consequence of consumerism that limits expressions of freedom and change.


SOCIALIZATION

TERMS:


socialization
roles
self
id
superego
ego
unconscious
me & I
significant others
generalized other


primary socialization
secondary socialization
hidden curriculum
self-fulfilling prophesies
Thomas theorem
peer groups


status
gender roles
resocialization
total institutions


OBJECTIVES:

1. Compare and contrast the theoretical perspectives of Freud, Mead, and Piaget in terms of their contributions to our understanding of socialization.

2. Describe the significance of the family, schools, peer groups and the mass media as agents of socialization.

3. Discuss the contradictory lessons among the agents of socialization that make childhood and adolescence more ambivalent and stressful today.

4. Explain the process of resocialization in the context of initiation rites and total institutions.

5. Describe the social factors that contribute to the fact that people’s identities change faster, more often, and more completely, - and explain why the self has become more flexible.


SOCIAL INTERACTION

TERMS:

social interaction
primary groups
secondary groups
exchange theory
impression management
dramaturgical analysis
role distance
ethnomethodology
stereotypes
oligarchy
social network
laissez-faire leadership
authoritarian leadership
democratic leadership

OBJECTIVES:

1. Describe the manipulative aspects of social interaction in terms of impression management.

2. Describe the four major sources of bureaucratic inefficiency from a sociological perspective.

3. Explain the importance of social networks to the operation of bureaucracies.

4. Discuss three types of leadership styles in terms of their effectiveness or lack thereof for bureaucracy.
DEVIANCE AND CRIME

TERMS:

stigmatization
social constructionism
white-collar crime
victimless crimes
self-report surveys
strain theory
subcultural theory
differential association theory
labeling theory
control theory
conflict theory

OBJECTIVES:

1. Explain why definitions of crime and deviance vary across cultures, history, and social contexts.

2. Explain the social construction of crime and deviance in the context of differential social power.

3. Identify the major sociological theories of crime and deviance, their central features and key exemplars.

4. Identify and explain the major views on the function of prisons.

5. Discuss the pros and cons of alternative forms of punishment.

FAMILIES

TERMS:

nuclear family
polygamy
extended family
marriage
divorce rate
marriage rate
total fertility rate

OBJECTIVES:

1. Identify and describe prevailing forms of families in the United States.

2. Discuss the historical trends of the traditional nuclear family in the United States since the 1940s.

3. Compare and contrast functionalist, conflict and feminist perspectives on families.

4. Describe the prevailing patterns of gender housework, child care, and wife abuse in the context of gender inequality.


STRATIFICATION: UNITED STATES AND
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

TERMS:


social stratification
vertical social mobility
global inequality
ascription
achievement
castes
apartheid
class consciousness


class
status groups
parties
functional theory of stratification
intragenerational mobility
intergenerational mobility
structural mobility
OBJECTIVES:

1. Define stratification in terms of the gap between the rich and poor in the United States.

2. Describe the trends involving income and wealth inequality in the United States since the mid-1970s.

3. Explain global inequality and discuss cross-national variations in internal stratification.

4. Discuss and contrast the contribution of Karl Marx and Max Weber to the sociological understanding of inequality and stratification.

5. Explain stratification and mobility according to the functionalist perspective.

6. Explain the impact of government policy initiatives on poverty rates and perceptions of poverty.
RACE AND ETHNICITY

TERMS:

prejudice
discrimination
race
scapegoats
ethnic group
minority group
segregation
assimilation
internal colonialism
expulsion
genocide
affirmative action
pluralism

OBJECTIVES:

1. Describe the emergence of “race” in the United States as a supposed biological fact, and its inherent fallacy.

2. Identify social conditions involving prejudice and discrimination that lead certain racial groups into particular life chances.

3. Explain the notion of race and ethnicity as socially constructed ideas. How are these terms used to distinguish and categorize people based on perceived physical and cultural differences that have profound consequences for their lives?

4. Discuss how the identification with a racial or ethnic group can be economically, politically, and emotionally advantageous. What role does racial and ethnic identification play in ethnic community formation?

5. Describe the historical experiences of Native Americans, Chicanos and African Americans in terms of internal colonialism.
SEXUALITY AND GENDER

TERMS:

sex
gender
gender identity
gender role
social constructionism
glass ceiling
homosexuals
gender discrimination
female-male earning ratio
hostile environment harassment
affirmative action

OBJECTIVES:

1. Explain the differences and connections between sex and gender.

2. Describe social constructionist theories of gender differences.

3. Explain the role of gender socialization and the mass media in constructing our ideas of masculinity and femininity.

4. Discuss the patterns of male-female interaction in terms of gender socialization, especially in the family, schools, and the workplace.

5. Identify and describe the main factors that account for the earnings gap between men and women in the United States today.

6. Explain the social forces and sources of rape and sexual harassment of women by men.

7. Identify and explain the major currents of the modernist feminist movement.


WORK AND THE ECONOMY

TERMS:

economy
division of labor
primary labor market
secondary labor market
human relations school of management
capitalism
communism
oligopolies
interlocking directorates

OBJECTIVES:

1. Discuss the significance of worker resistance and labor unions to the organization and operation of work in a comparative context.

2. Describe current conditions of work in general in terms of the time-crunch, and explain the main reasons for the frantic pace of work and social life in the United States.

3. Describe and explain the problem of social inequality in the labor market in general, and in terms of corporate control and globalization.

4. Explain the impact of globalization on American workers and less developed countries.

5. Describe the working conditions of workers in multinational corporations in less developed countries.


POLITICS

TERMS:

power
authority
legitimate authority
traditional authority
legal-rational authority
charismatic authority
totalitarian state
democracy
elitist theorists
ruling class

OBJECTIVES:

1. Identify and define the three bases of authority according to Weber.

2. Explain the role of elites in the decision-making processes that govern society according to C. Wright Mills’ elite theory.

3. Explain why the American political system is ironically less responsive to the needs of the disadvantaged, in spite of its promotion of democracy.

4. Discuss the future prospects for democracy in light of electronic and Internet technology.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

OBJECTIVES:

1. Compare and contrast Durkheimian, Marxist, and Weberian approaches to religion.

2. Explain the role of religion in justifying inequality and promoting conflict.

3. Explain the connection between the rise of Protestantism and capitalist development.

4. Explain the contemporary dynamics of credential inflation and professionalization.

5. Identify and describe the manifest and latent functions of schools today.

6. Explain how education reproduces the existing social stratification system.

7. Critically discuss pressing educational issues in terms of schools standards, educational attainment, and inequality.


POPULATION, URBANIZATION, AND DEVELOPMENT

TERMS:

Malthusian trap
demographic transition theory
crude death rate
crude birth rate
total fertility rate
replacement level
human ecology
urbanism
modernization theory
dependency theory
core
peripheral
semiperipheral

OBJECTIVES:

1. Describe historical trends and explanations of population growth.

2. Explain the relationship between population growth and social inequality.


3. Explain the concept of “development” in the context of global inequality.

4. Contrast modernization theory and dependency theory as explanations of global inequality, development, and underdevelopment.

5. Explain Immanuel Wallerstein’s “world system” approach to capitalist development and global inequality.

6. Identify and describe the three types of countries according to world system theory.

7. Explain the disparities and differences between semiperipheral and peripheral countries.

COLLECTIVE ACTION AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

TERMS:

relative deprivation
absolute deprivation
contagion
strain
resource mobilization


OBJECTIVES:

1. Identify the social conditions under which people act collectively to change, or resist change,

TECHNOLOGY AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

TERMS:

technological determinism
greenhouse effect
global warming
acid rain
ozone layer
social constructionism

OBJECTIVES:

1. Explain the idea that technology and people make history by describing major historical technological breakthroughs in the context of social conditions.

2. Identify and describe the major forms and sources of environmental degradation.

3. Explain environmental problems from a social constructionist perspective.

4. Discuss the social distribution of environmental risk in the context of social class inequality and racism.

5. Identify the major controversies and engage the contested debate over what is to be done about environmental degradation in the near future.