Study guide Exam One
Thursday, June 29, 2011
6:00 PM
Chapter One
Sociology as an empirical discipline
Sociological Imagination (Mills)
Structuration; Globalization
Leading Figures and their contributions
Comte, Durkheim, Weber, Marx, Du Bois, Martineau
Social facts, Suicide, Role of capitalism/religion
Functionalism, Conflict theory, Symbolic Interactionism
Feminist theory; Postmodern theory
Four types of research questions; Seven steps of sociological research
Ethnography; Surveys; Comparative/Historical methods
Researcher ethics; Industrial Revolution
Chapter Two
Culture; Material/Non-material
Values; Norms; Society; Subcultures
Informal and formal social control
Conformity and Social control mechanisms
Interaction of nature and nurture
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
Melting pot/Salad bowl metaphor; Assimilation; Multiculturalism
Symbols; Importance of language
Equality and inequality as a function of society
Types of societies and change over time
Industrialization and its effects on society
Chapter Three
Socialization; Social reproduction
Feral children; twin studies
Primary/secondary socialization
Agents of socialization; Peer groups;
Mead (I, Me, Significant Others, Generalized Others)
Piaget (Four stages of cognitive development)
Social roles; Social Identity; Self Identity
Cooley (Looking Glass Self); Status; Power
Gender socialization; socially constructed life stages
Life course perspective; Social gerontology
Ageism; Disengagement theory; Activity theory
Chapter Four
Macro-/Micro-Sociology (Three reasons why it matters)
Goffman’s Dramaturgy; Front/Backstage
Impression Management; Focused and Non-focused interactions
Interactional vandalism; Audience segregation
Importance of context in social interaction
Garfinkel-Ethnomethodology; Breeching experiments
Background expectancies; Conversation analysis
Importance of time and space in social interactions
Chapter Five
Social groups; Aggregate; Dyad; Triad
Simmel-Importance of group size; Primary/secondary groups
Transformational/transactional leaders
Conformity studies-Asch; Milgram; Janis (Groupthink)
Organizations; formal organizations; Weber-bureaucracy; Ideal type
Informal relations; social networking
Merton-Dysfunctions of bureaucracy
Michels-Iron Law of Oligarchy; Social Capital
Ritzer-McDonalidization; Feminist Approaches
Possible Short-Answer Essay Questions
1. Is it ever appropriate for a sociologist to conduct research
without the knowledge of the subjects being studied? Explain.
2. Do you agree or disagree with the text’s assertion that “most
pupils in the United States would be outraged to find another
student cheating on an exam”? Discuss this question in terms
of your perception of American values and norms.
3. Is the Internet an agent of socialization? If yes, how? If no, why
not?
4. Erving Goffman gave three reasons why studying what appear
to be insignificant forms of social interaction is important for
sociology. Explain the reasons.
5. The Internet can be both an advantage and a disadvantage to
social relationships. Explain.