Introduction to Sociology: Exam practice questions PDF

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SOC101 MIDTERM 1

What is Sociology 

the systematic study of human groups and interactions

What do Sociologists do? 

Stresses the social contexts in which people live

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Forces us to go beyond ourselves or individual actions o When you do this you conclude that things aren’t always as they seem to be

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Allows us to understand how our experiences are linked to a range of social forces o How does society affect our thoughts, feelings, actions, etc

What is your “sociological imagination”? 

our perception of ourselves and others are the products of: o minority status 

gays, race, disabilities

o gender o socioeconomic status 

wealth

o family structure 

age of parents, single parents, child abuse, fighting parents

o urban-rural differences

The Origins of Sociology 

The scientific revolution (1650-1800) o Auguste Comte, the father of sociology, said that hard science should be applied to the social world

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Law of 3 stages

o Theological – religious outlook, the world is an expression of God o Metaphysical – a period of questioning and challenging o Positive – rules of observation, experimentation and logic 

The political revolution – renaissance to the enlightenment o Machiavelli – human behavior enlightened by self interest o Descartes – “I think therefore I am”, we are all masters of our own destiny o Rousseau – we can achieve more working together than we can apart o Promotion of individual rights, social responsibilities, equality of opportunities, democracy

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The industrial revolution – 1750 o Technological advancements o Profound social changes o Moved from an agricultural society o New social problems

Peter Berger 

Seeing the general in the particular is the ability to look at unique events (particular) and then recognizing the larger (general) features involved

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Think about what is familiar and see it as strange

Positivism 

A theoretical approach that considers all understanding to be based science o There exists an objective knowable reality o Singular explanation o Value-free

Anti-positivism 

A theoretical approach that considers knowledge and understanding to be the result of human subjectivity

o Rejects reach of the positivists points

Macrosociology 

Understanding society as a whole

Microsociology 

Understanding individuals or small groups

Sociology in Canada 1. Geography and Regionalism a. Ability to survive overtime b. Role of regionalism c. Linguistic, different cultures, etc 2. Political Economy a. Clement – interest in the interactions of politics, government, etc. b. We cant have interactions between all of these things all of the time but we cant ignore any of them; one affects the other. Canada was the first to start taking this approach 3. Canadianization movement a. Influenced by American sociology b. Took American studies and did them in Canadian context to see if they were different 4. Radical Nature a. Greater focus on macrosociology and feminism b. Critical, analyze everything, influenced by feminism

Sociology in global perspective 

Globalization is a worldwide process involving the production and distribution of goods

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Capitalism is a defining feature of the global economy

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Connecting local realities to global realities

Theory 

An explanation of a social phenomenon

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Its wisdom we have gained over time

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Every phenomenon needs an explanation

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Something may seem self evident, but nothing actually is

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Formal theory o Different schools of thought (Marxism, feminism, functionalism) o Each has a set of common premises and a address key sociological issues

Social order or conflict? 

Social order: the battle against chaos o Functionalism 

We have a role to play; if we don’t play that role than chaos starts

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People accept society if it favors them; puts them in power

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This is good even for the lower class because seeing people higher than you motivates you to do better

o Society regulates peoples self interests o Society restrains the beast making social order possible o Social order is necessary to combat brutality o How is it achieved? 

Shared norms and values, self regulation

o Functionalist theorists 

Herbert Spencer 

Survival of the fittest

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Natural selection

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Laissez-faire approach (don’t interfere with natural processes)

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Emile Durkheim

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Founder of functionalism

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How order is maintained in different societies

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Different labor gives different solidarity

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Human action originates in collective behavior; driven by conscience

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Social facts are cultural norms

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Lack of norms or clear goals is called anomie

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Anomie causes suicide; not individual behavior

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Traditional societies o Small, simple, non-industrial o Mechanical solidarity o Everyone is similar o People have same beliefs, values, experiences

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Modern societies o Complex, industrial o Organic solidarity o Complex division of labor o Mutual dependence o Stronger than mechanical solidarity o If someone starts to act out of their role they are severally sanctioned

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Talcott Parsons 

Explains why people do what they do

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Social action theory separates behaviors from actions, why people do what they do

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4 functional imperatives o Adaptation  We must adapt to the environment o Goal attainment

 Someone will be in power and we must follow what they say o Integration  Ability to work together o Latency  Have to get our aggression out in legitimate ways 

Robert K Merton 

Developed functionalism with Parsons

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Social structures have many functions

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Manifest functions are the intended consequences of an action or social pattern (school)

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Latent functions are unintended consequences of social patterns (school)

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Social Conflict: Challenging Inequities o Question social order moral o Norms exist today but are often not shared o Nuclear family is best for society (father works, mother at home) but it has never been the norm in society o Govn’t wants nuclear society because its cheap o “ideal norms” only benefit certain groups o Conflict Theorists 

Society is organized by inequalities

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Powerful have privileges, the rest don’t

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Challenge the power structures of class, race, gender, and sexuality

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Karl Max 

Pioneer of social conflict theory

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Fredrick Engles  the rich are oppressing the poor

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Society is manipulated by those in power

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Saw the suffering of the working class first hand

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Said that capitalism is uneven

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Bourgeoisie are the people that own businesses

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Proletariats are the ones who compete for jobs based on skills

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Economies based on inequalities are unstable; lead towards conflict

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Believed that we have to abandon capitalism in order for society to function properly

Max Weber 

Society based on power, not solidarity

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Capitalism produces unequal class system

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Class is changed by life chances in the labor market

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Class system: o Capitalists 

Owners of land, factories, and money

o Middle classes 

Some property or skills

o Working class 

Little or no property or skills

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Split by a skill differential: trade vs no chances in the market

Symbolic Interactionism: How People interact 

Looks at things based on the meanings that people have for them

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Highlight the ways in which meanings are created, constructed, meditated, and changed by members of a group or society; the meaning that someone attaches to their behavior

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Max Weber o Verstehen – a deep understanding of subjective social meaning

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George Herbert Mead

o Mind, self, and society 

Only person to person things have meanings; not person to object

o I, the element of the self, unpredictable, impulsive o Me, controls the I, self reflective part of us, how we should behave o Significant Others, those around us from whom we want approval o Me and I often contradict each other 

Charles H. Cooley o Sympathetic introspection: putting yourself into someone else’s shoes o Looking-Glass Self: we develop our self-image through cues we receive from others o Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: become the person others see us as o If you are labeled as something you will continue to live up that expectation over and over again

Modern Social Theory 

The theme of power runs throughout this whole theory

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Western Marxism o Antonio Gramsci 

Came from marx’s analysis on classes

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Domination: physical and violent coercion 

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We follow rules cause of the fear of punishment

Hegemony: we are manipulated; we buy into things that aren’t good for us 

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Being straight its normal, wanting money is normal

Feminists o All feminism is different but they all say that women are not treated equally as men o Dorothy Smith 

The only way we look at women is through the eyes of men

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You see the world differently depending on whose eyes you are looking through

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She examines how men’s views of women are reinforced in public workplaces and in families

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We need to understand how people suppressed by power feel

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Rules are made by men in power

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We often don’t look at it this way but we must

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The same things that give men power take power away from women

o Bell Hooks 

Black feminist thoughts

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She says that there’s a lot of research on women and blacks but black women are always lumped with black men which cant be done

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She says that there is no such thing as a unified experience

Post-Structuralism o How knowledge is socially produced o Michel Foucault 

Says that there is no way to eliminate bias

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Power is created within social relationships and resides everywhere

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Knowledge is created by people with power

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Discourses tell us how to act, speak, think, etc 

Discourse created us

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Discourse is based on knowledge and becomes our knowledge

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Discipline is how we come to be motivated to produce particular realities

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Power normalizes some behaviors and promotes others

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Queer Theory o Everything in society is at one extreme or the other o Queer  anything out of the norm o Desire: experimenting o Language: all words have some sort of moral message behind them o Identity: Different personalities in front of different people

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Post-Colonial Theory o Focus on the political and cultural effects o Imperialism: what happens at home o

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Colonialism: what happens away from home

Anti-Racist Theories o...