SYG 2000 MIDTERM REVIEW QUESTIONS
Sociological Perspective - Answers - -Understanding human behavior by placing it
within its broader social context.
-Individual and society are inseparable. It is impossible to study one without the other.
Society - Answers - A group of people who live in a defined geographical area who
interact with one another and who share a common culture.
Social Location - Answers - When sociologists' group people into categories based on
their age, gender, educational level, job, and income, they are trying to determine
________.
Sociological Imagination - Answers - C. Wright Mills described as an awareness of the
relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the wider culture that
shaped the person's choices and perceptions.
Sociology - Answers - The study of groups and group interactions, societies and social
interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups.
Social Sciences - Answers - A group of academic disciplines that study human aspects
of the world. They diverge from the arts and humanities in that the socials sciences tend
to emphasize the use of the scientific method in the study of humanity, including
quantitative and qualitative methods.
Figuration - Answers - German sociologist Norbert Elias called the process of
SIMULTANEOUSLY analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes
that behavior.
Generalization - Answers - A conclusion drawn from specific information that is used to
make a broad statement about a topic or person.
Auguste Comte - Answers - The father of Sociology.
Positivism - Answers - -The scientific study of social patterns
-Applying the scientific method to the social world, philosophy suggested by Auguste
Comte
Comte's Sociology - Answers - Comte coined the term sociology, and argued that
sociologists (and other scholars), through theory, speculation, and empirical research,
could create a realist science that would accurately "copy" or represent the way things
actually are in the world.
, Class Conflict - Answers - Marx's idea that society is made up of two classes- capitalist
class and working class- and that they are natural enemies (Bourgeois v. Proletariat).
Burgeois - Answers - -Term for growing middle class (Factory owners, lawyers,
doctors).
-Karl Marx considers the most responsible class for capitalist exploitation.
Proletariat - Answers - Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do
not own the means of production.
Social Integration - Answers - Durkheim's believes that the strength of ties that people
have to their social groups, is a key factor in social life.
-The degree to which members of a group or a society feel united by shared values and
other social bonds; also known as social cohesion.
Changes in Religion - Capitalism - Answers - Some believe that Weber argued that the
beliefs of many Protestants, especially Calvinists, led to the creation of capitalism.
Others interpret it as simply claiming that the ideologies of capitalism and Protestantism
are complementary.
Theoretical Perspectives Theory - Answers - -A set of assumptions accepted as true.
-The study social events, interactions, and patterns, and they develop a theory in an
attempt to explain why things work as they do.
Symbolic Interactionism - Answers - -A theoretical perspective in which society is
viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their
views of the world, and communicate with one another.
Symbols - Answers - -Gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words that help people
understand their surrounding world.
Dramaturgical Analysis - Answers - -Goffman's term for the study of social interaction
that compares everyday life to a theatrical presentation.
-Because it can be unclear what part a person may play in a given situation, he or she
has to improvise his or her role as the situation unfolds.
Functional Analysis - Answers - -A theoretical approach that sees society as a structure
with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals
that make up that society the organized and generalized attitude of a social group; also
known as functionalism and structural functionalism.
Manifest Functions - Answers - According to Robert Merton, ________ ________ are
the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated.
Latent Functions - Answers - -According to Robert Merton, ________ ________ are the
unsought consequences of a social process.
Sociological Perspective - Answers - -Understanding human behavior by placing it
within its broader social context.
-Individual and society are inseparable. It is impossible to study one without the other.
Society - Answers - A group of people who live in a defined geographical area who
interact with one another and who share a common culture.
Social Location - Answers - When sociologists' group people into categories based on
their age, gender, educational level, job, and income, they are trying to determine
________.
Sociological Imagination - Answers - C. Wright Mills described as an awareness of the
relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the wider culture that
shaped the person's choices and perceptions.
Sociology - Answers - The study of groups and group interactions, societies and social
interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups.
Social Sciences - Answers - A group of academic disciplines that study human aspects
of the world. They diverge from the arts and humanities in that the socials sciences tend
to emphasize the use of the scientific method in the study of humanity, including
quantitative and qualitative methods.
Figuration - Answers - German sociologist Norbert Elias called the process of
SIMULTANEOUSLY analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes
that behavior.
Generalization - Answers - A conclusion drawn from specific information that is used to
make a broad statement about a topic or person.
Auguste Comte - Answers - The father of Sociology.
Positivism - Answers - -The scientific study of social patterns
-Applying the scientific method to the social world, philosophy suggested by Auguste
Comte
Comte's Sociology - Answers - Comte coined the term sociology, and argued that
sociologists (and other scholars), through theory, speculation, and empirical research,
could create a realist science that would accurately "copy" or represent the way things
actually are in the world.
, Class Conflict - Answers - Marx's idea that society is made up of two classes- capitalist
class and working class- and that they are natural enemies (Bourgeois v. Proletariat).
Burgeois - Answers - -Term for growing middle class (Factory owners, lawyers,
doctors).
-Karl Marx considers the most responsible class for capitalist exploitation.
Proletariat - Answers - Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do
not own the means of production.
Social Integration - Answers - Durkheim's believes that the strength of ties that people
have to their social groups, is a key factor in social life.
-The degree to which members of a group or a society feel united by shared values and
other social bonds; also known as social cohesion.
Changes in Religion - Capitalism - Answers - Some believe that Weber argued that the
beliefs of many Protestants, especially Calvinists, led to the creation of capitalism.
Others interpret it as simply claiming that the ideologies of capitalism and Protestantism
are complementary.
Theoretical Perspectives Theory - Answers - -A set of assumptions accepted as true.
-The study social events, interactions, and patterns, and they develop a theory in an
attempt to explain why things work as they do.
Symbolic Interactionism - Answers - -A theoretical perspective in which society is
viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their
views of the world, and communicate with one another.
Symbols - Answers - -Gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words that help people
understand their surrounding world.
Dramaturgical Analysis - Answers - -Goffman's term for the study of social interaction
that compares everyday life to a theatrical presentation.
-Because it can be unclear what part a person may play in a given situation, he or she
has to improvise his or her role as the situation unfolds.
Functional Analysis - Answers - -A theoretical approach that sees society as a structure
with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals
that make up that society the organized and generalized attitude of a social group; also
known as functionalism and structural functionalism.
Manifest Functions - Answers - According to Robert Merton, ________ ________ are
the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated.
Latent Functions - Answers - -According to Robert Merton, ________ ________ are the
unsought consequences of a social process.
