University of New Brunswick

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

COURSE OUTLINE
F-01-SOC-00
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

Sociologists examine how social arrangements shape human experience and how
people create order and conflict. This introduction to sociology offers students
foundational understandings of central sociological approaches, including
terminology, theory, and methods that sociologists use to understand life worlds,
social order, social conflict, and social change. The goal of this course is to open
students to an awareness of the sociological insights that transcend individualistic
explanations of social behavior and organization (i.e. crime is not simply caused by
bad people). When students leave this course, they will have a general
understanding of what sociologists do, the methodologies of examining social
issues, and how to view the world through sociological perspectives.

B. COURSE OBJECTIVES

The primary objectives of this course are to:

● Develop an understanding of human behavior from a sociological perspective
● Make sense of the course material in the context of everyday life
● Promote a critical thinking mindset.

Your active participation in course discussions and activities is essential if we are to

accomplish these objectives. This participation requires that you arrive to class on
time, stay for the entire class, turn off and put away your cell phone before class
begins, and refrain from otherwise disruptive behavior.

After successful completion of this course the student should:

 ● Be able to identify and employ various research designs and their
appropriate application to the study of social life.
● Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the major theoretical
perspectives employed in the discipline.
● Be able to demonstrate an understanding of how social class affects
individual life chances.
● Be able to demonstrate an understanding of social structure and how it
shapes and influences social interactions.
● Be able to demonstrate an understanding of cross-cultural differences and an
understanding of the importance of cultural context.
● Be familiar with the concepts of culture and its components (e.g., norms,
values) and to identify and understand differences and commonalties within
diverse cultures.
● Be able to describe various levels of social organization including groups,
formal organizations and bureaucracy, and larger forms of organization like
community, society, and the world-system.
● Be familiar with the "nature vs. nurture debate," the impact of learning on the
human condition, and important agents of socialization.
● Be able to describe various explanations for deviance.
● Be familiar with types of crime, explanations for crime, and trends in crime
rates.
● Be familiar with major issues related to inequality (e.g., social class, race &
ethnicity, and gender.
● Become familiar with the role the economy plays in our lives.
● Be familiar with social change in various contexts like gender, bureaucracy,
urbanization, population, and global development (to mention a few).

C. ASSURANCE OF LEARNING

Graduates that master the following objectives:

1. Knowledge
1.1. Understand concepts, models and tools of sociology
1.2. Understand general sociology issues

2. Analysis and Problem solving

2.1. Apply quantitative models, characteristics and tools
2.2. Utilize information sources
2.3. Identify solution criteria

3. Critical and creative thinking

3.1. Recognize issues and relationships
3.2. Generate viable ideas and concepts
3.3. Identify and compare alternatives

4. Sensitivity to business context

4.1. Understand human behaviour from a sociological perspective
4.3. Understand sociology in a diverse, complex and inter-related environment.

5. Communication
5.1. Provide effective written communication
5.2. Provide effective verbal communication

D. COURSE MATERIALS
Required Text:

Stark, Rodney. 2004. Sociology 9th edition. Wadsworth; Belmont CA. ISBN 0-534-
60939-2
Sweet, Stephen. 2001. College and Society: An Introduction to the Sociological
Imagination. Allyn and Bacon; Boston. ISBN 0-205-30556-3

E. EVALUATION COMPONENTS AND WEIGHTS

i. Components

List of Components Percent of Total Grade

Attendance 10
Midterm Examination 30
Final Examination 60
TOTAL OF ALL COMPONENTS 100

ii. Grade Determination

Grade cutoffs will be assigned based on the following scale:

A+ 95 – 100 B+ 80 – 84 C+ 65 – 69 F 0 – 49
A 90 –94 B 75 – 79 C 50 – 64
A- 85 – 89 B- 70 –74

F. COURSE UNDERSTANDINGS

● Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the University’s policy

on plagiarism and other academic offences as outlined in the University
Undergraduate Calendar. Students should be aware that these policies apply
to both individual and group work. Should a violation occur, all group
 members will be held accountable unless the violation can be attributed to a
particular individual(s). Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
● Students are responsible for ensuring the activation and maintenance of their
UNB e-mail account and should check it regularly for messages to ensure
important information is not missed.
● Unless authorized by the instructor, all electronic devices must be turned off
for the duration of the class. This includes, but is not limited to, cellular
phones, blackberries, and laptop computers.
● Proficiency in the English language is presumed. Therefore, use of
dictionaries, translation aids, or a thesaurus will not be allowed when taking
any examination.
● Written reports must be provided to the instructor in hard copy. No
electronic submissions will be accepted.
● Deadlines are firm. No extensions will be granted unless there are
extenuating circumstances. If the instructor deems such circumstances exist,
a reasonable effort will be made to accommodate your situation.

G. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The University places a high value on academic integrity and has a policy on
plagiarism as well as cheating and other academic offences. Plagiarism includes:

1. Quoting verbatim or almost verbatim from any source, including all electronic
sources, without acknowledgement;
2. Adopting someone else's line of thought, argument, arrangement, or supporting
evidence without acknowledgment;
3. Submitting someone else's work, in whatever form, without acknowledgment;
4. Knowingly representing as one's own work any idea of another.

Examples of other academic offences include:

1. Cheating on exams, tests, assignments or reports;
2. Impersonating somebody at a test or exam;
3. Obtaining an exam, test or other course materials through theft, bribery,
collusion, purchase or other improper manner;
4. Submitting coursework that is identical or substantially similar to work that has
been submitted for another course;
5. And more as set out in the academic regulations of the Undergraduate and School
of Graduate Studies Calendars.

Penalties for plagiarism and other offences range from a minimum of F (zero) in the
assignment, exam or test to suspension or expulsion from the University, plus a
notation of the academic offence on the student's transcript.
H. COURSE SCHEDULE

Week Topic Chapter(s) Assessment

1. Sociology as a Discipline and Perspective
1.1. College, Society and the Sociological
Imagination
1 1, 2
1.2. Concepts for Social and Cultural
Theories

2. Culture and Society

2 2.1. Fraternity Hazing 2, 6
2.2. Socialization and Social Roles
3. Socialization and Microsociology
3 3.1. Microsociology 4

Section 2: Social Control and Inequality

4
4. Studying College and Society 6
5. Deviance and Social Control
5 5.1. Crime and Deviance 7, 8
5.2. Social Control
6. Stratification
6.1. Concepts and Theories of Stratification
6 9, 5
6.2. College Athletics, Cohesion, and
Exploitation
Midterm
7
Examination
7. Racial and Class Inequality
8 11
7.1. Racial and Ethnic Inequality
8. Gender Inequality
9 8.1. Gender and Inequality 12, 3
8.2. Gender, Inequality, and College Society
9. Inequality in the World System
10 9.1. Social Change: Development and Global 17
Inequality
11 10. Section 3: Institutions and Organizations
11. The Family and Religion
12 11.1. The Family 13, 14
11.2. Religion
12. Organization
13 4
12.1. The Janus Face of College Bureaucracy
13. Living Sociology
14 13.1. The Organization Age 20
13.2. Epilogue: Becoming a Sociologist
Final
15
Examination