Introduction To Sociology Exam Questions and Correct Answers Latest Update 2024 (Rated A+)
Sociological Perspective - Answers Understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social
context
Society - Answers People who share a culture and a territory
Social Location - Answers The group memberships that people have because of their location in history
and society
Science - Answers The application of systematic methods to obtain knowledge and the knowledge
obtained by those methods
Natural Sciences - Answers The intellectual and academic disciplines designed to comprehend, explain,
and predict events in our natural environments
What makes sociology different from anthropology, economists/political scientists, and psychologists? -
Answers They focus primarily on industrialized and postindustrialized societies, they do not concentrate
on a single social institution, and they stress factors external to the individual to determine what
influences people and how they adjust to life.
Generalization - Answers A statement that goes beyond the individual case and is applied to a broader
group or situation.
Common Sense - Answers Those things that "everyone knows" are true
Positivism - Answers The application of the scientific approach to the social world
Sociology - Answers The scientific study of society and human behavior
Who is credited as the founder of sociology? - Answers Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
Who is considered the second founder of sociology? - Answers Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), coined the
term "Survival of the Fittest"
Class Conflict - Answers Marx's term for the struggle between capitalists and workers
Bourgeoisie - Answers Marx's term for capitalists, those who own the means of production
Proletariat - Answers Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the
means of production
Social Integration - Answers 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
Patterns of Behavior - Answers Recurring characteristics or events
, What principle was central in Durkheim's research? - Answers "Human behavior cannot be understood
only in terms of the individual; we must always examine the social forces that affect people's lives." pg.
12
Value Free - Answers The view that a sociologist's personal values or beliefs should not influence social
research
Values - Answers The standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad,
beautiful or ugly
Objectivity - Answers Value neutrality in research
Replication - Answers The repetition of a study in order to test its findings
Verstehen - Answers A German word used by Weber that is perhaps best understood as "to have insight
into someone's situation"
Subjective Meanings - Answers The meanings that people give their own behavior
Social Facts - Answers Durkheim's term for a group's patterns of behavior
Basic/Pure Sociology - Answers Sociological research for the purpose of making discoveries about life in
human groups, not for making changes in those groups
Applied Sociology - Answers The Use of sociology to solve problems-from the micro level of classroom
interaction and family relationships to the macro level of crime and pollution
Public Sociology - Answers Applying sociology for the public good; especially the use of the sociological
perspective (how things are related to one another) to guide politicians and policy makers
Theory - Answers A general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they
work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another
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 communication
with one another
Functional Analysis - Answers A theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of
various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society's equilibrium, also known
as functionalism and structural functionalism
Functions - Answers Refer to the beneficial consequences of people's actions: Functions help keep a
group (society, social system) in balance
Dysfunctions - Answers The harmful consequences of people's actions, they undermine a system's
equilibrium
Sociological Perspective - Answers Understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social
context
Society - Answers People who share a culture and a territory
Social Location - Answers The group memberships that people have because of their location in history
and society
Science - Answers The application of systematic methods to obtain knowledge and the knowledge
obtained by those methods
Natural Sciences - Answers The intellectual and academic disciplines designed to comprehend, explain,
and predict events in our natural environments
What makes sociology different from anthropology, economists/political scientists, and psychologists? -
Answers They focus primarily on industrialized and postindustrialized societies, they do not concentrate
on a single social institution, and they stress factors external to the individual to determine what
influences people and how they adjust to life.
Generalization - Answers A statement that goes beyond the individual case and is applied to a broader
group or situation.
Common Sense - Answers Those things that "everyone knows" are true
Positivism - Answers The application of the scientific approach to the social world
Sociology - Answers The scientific study of society and human behavior
Who is credited as the founder of sociology? - Answers Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
Who is considered the second founder of sociology? - Answers Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), coined the
term "Survival of the Fittest"
Class Conflict - Answers Marx's term for the struggle between capitalists and workers
Bourgeoisie - Answers Marx's term for capitalists, those who own the means of production
Proletariat - Answers Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the
means of production
Social Integration - Answers 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
Patterns of Behavior - Answers Recurring characteristics or events
, What principle was central in Durkheim's research? - Answers "Human behavior cannot be understood
only in terms of the individual; we must always examine the social forces that affect people's lives." pg.
12
Value Free - Answers The view that a sociologist's personal values or beliefs should not influence social
research
Values - Answers The standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad,
beautiful or ugly
Objectivity - Answers Value neutrality in research
Replication - Answers The repetition of a study in order to test its findings
Verstehen - Answers A German word used by Weber that is perhaps best understood as "to have insight
into someone's situation"
Subjective Meanings - Answers The meanings that people give their own behavior
Social Facts - Answers Durkheim's term for a group's patterns of behavior
Basic/Pure Sociology - Answers Sociological research for the purpose of making discoveries about life in
human groups, not for making changes in those groups
Applied Sociology - Answers The Use of sociology to solve problems-from the micro level of classroom
interaction and family relationships to the macro level of crime and pollution
Public Sociology - Answers Applying sociology for the public good; especially the use of the sociological
perspective (how things are related to one another) to guide politicians and policy makers
Theory - Answers A general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they
work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another
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 communication
with one another
Functional Analysis - Answers A theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of
various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society's equilibrium, also known
as functionalism and structural functionalism
Functions - Answers Refer to the beneficial consequences of people's actions: Functions help keep a
group (society, social system) in balance
Dysfunctions - Answers The harmful consequences of people's actions, they undermine a system's
equilibrium
