Unit 1: Introduction to SociologyThe Sociological Imagination

Topic 1.1: Introduction to Sociological Perspectives and

Theories
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Textbook: Chapter 1 An Introduction to Sociology

Activity 1.1a: Introduction to Sociological Theories and Perspectives

What is sociology? What is the social? What is the nature of sociological explanation?

What is a level of analysis? What is the distinction between the micro, macro, and global levels of
analysis in sociology? How do the three levels of social structure (micro, macro, and global) apply to
personal experience? Apply these concepts to an example of your own personal experience.

What is the sociological imagination? What is the relationship between private troubles of milieu and
public issues of social structure? How would sociologists use the sociological imagination to understand
the problem of obesity?

How does sociology frame the relationship between the individual and society? Use the example of
aboriginal gang members to illustrate this relationship.

What are the scientific, democratic, and industrial revolutions? When did they occur and what is their
connection to the emergence of sociology in the work of Comte, Marx, Martineau, Durkheim, Weber, and
Simmel?

How would you categorize the different visions of sociology in Comte, Marx, Martineau, Durkheim, Weber,
and Simmel?

What is Durkheims sociological explanation of suicide? Why is it a sociological, not a psychological

theory? How does it apply to the difference in the rates of suicide in youth and married people?

Distinguish between a theory and a paradigm.

Define how science is understood in Chapter 1. How did science unite the different philosophical traditions
of rationalism and empiricism?

What is the difference between positivism, interpretative sociology, and critical sociology? What are their
strengths and weaknesses? How do the three different types of knowledge they generate serve three
distinct practical purposes or social goals in society?

Outline the distinctions between the theoretical paradigms described in your textbook: quantitative
sociology, structural functionalism, historical materialism, feminism, and symbolic interactionism. How do
these paradigms line up with the division within modern knowledge more generally (i.e., positivism,
hermeneutics, critique)?

Chapter 1 describes how structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and critical sociology might
apply to the problem of food production. How do you understand your own relationship to food? Does the
discussion about the sociological approaches to food provide any useful insights into your own

experience? Why or why not? What does sociological theory get right or wrong?

Activity 1.1b: Understanding Micro and Macro in Sociology

How does the lecture distinguish between macrosociology and microsociology?

What does sociology look for at the macro-level of analysis? How does the macro-level of analysis affect
the type of research and the nature of explanations sought by sociologists?

What examples of macrosociology does the lecture provide? Why are they macro-level examples exactly?

Why are functionalism and conflict theory (i.e., critical sociology) macro-level theories?

What does sociology look for at the micro-level of analysis? How does the micro-level of analysis affect the
type of research and the nature of explanations sought by sociologists?

What examples of microsociology does the lecture provide? Why are they micro-level examples exactly?

Why is symbolic interactionism a micro-level theory?

Activity 1.1c: Comparing Different Sociological Perspectives on Medicine

In the textbook, review the differences between functionalism (i.e., structural functionalism), conflict theory
(i.e., critical sociology), feminism, social constructivism (i.e., interpretive sociology), and symbolic
interactionism.

Describe the difference between functionalist, conflict/critical, interpretive/constructivist, symbolic

interactionist, and feminist perspectives on health, illness, and medicine.

Think about a specific situation in which you were involved with issues of health, illness, and medical
institutions. Which of the perspectives discussed is best suited to describing the situation? Why?

Topic 1.2: Introduction to Sociological Research

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Textbook: Chapter 2 Sociological Research

 Unit 1: Introduction to SociologyThe Sociological Imagination

Topic 1.1: Introduction to Sociological Perspectives and Theories
o

Textbook: Chapter 1 An Introduction to Sociology

Sociology
Social
Society vs. culture
Micro-level sociology, macro-level sociology, and global-level
sociology
Sociological imagination
Rationalism / empiricism
Multi-perspectival science
Theory / paradigm
Science
Positivism, hermeneutics, critique
Quantitative sociology, structural functionalism, historical materialism,
feminism, and symbolic interactionism
Structures vs. functions
Labelling
Mode of production
Dialectics
Patriarchy

Topic 1.2: Introduction to Sociological Research

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Textbook: Chapter 2 Sociological Research

Scientific method
CUDOS
Reliability / validity
Falsifiability
Independent / dependent variables
Operationalization
Correlation vs. causation
Qualitative vs. quantitative data
Hypothetico-deductive vs. inductive approaches
Survey, experimental, field, and secondary data / textual research
Participant observation, ethnography, case study
Institutional ethnography

Unit 2: The Social and Cultural Dimensions of Human Experience

Topic 2.1: Culture

Textbook: Chapter 3 Culture

Culture vs. society

Ethnosphere
Biological determinism, geneticism, and sociobiology
Eugenics vs. new eugenics
Cultural universalism
Ethnocentrism vs. androcentrism
Cultural relativism
Multiculturalism
Norms vs. values
Folkways, mores, taboos
Breaching experiments
Symbol
High culture vs. popular culture
Modernism / Postmodernism
Subculture vs. counterculture
Globalization vs. diffusion of culture
Hybridity
Rationalization
Consumerism

Topic 2.2: Socialization

Textbook: Chapter 5 Socialization

Socialization
Role
Self
Looking glass self
I / me
Four stages of child socialization
Gender schema
Nature vs. nurture
Hidden curriculum
Adolescence
Rite of passage
Anticipatory socialization
Flexible identity
Resocialization
Total institution
Moral career

Topic 2.3: The Mass Media

Brym, R., Roberts, L. W., Lie, J., & Rytina, S. (2013). The mass media. Sociology: Your
compass for a new world (4th Canadian ed.) (Chapter 18, pp. 454475). Toronto, ON:
Nelson Education.