SOCI 1301 Chapters 1-3 Review Exam
UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Auguste Comte - CORRECT ANSWER Founder of Sociology. Coined the term
'sociology' and established the philosophical approach for the scientific study of social
patterns.
Positivism - CORRECT ANSWER Comte: The scientific study of social patterns using
the methods of natural sciences. Believed laws governing society could be identified.
Émile Durkheim - CORRECT ANSWER Established sociology as a formal academic
discipline. Focused on social cohesion and the pathology of norm breakdown.
Anomie - CORRECT ANSWER Durkheim: A state where social norms are absent or
break down, leading to social pathology (e.g. high suicide rates).
Social Facts - CORRECT ANSWER Durkheim: The laws, morals, values, and cultural
rules that govern social life.
Max Weber - CORRECT ANSWER Emphasized the role of culture and subjective
understanding in social action.
Verstehen - CORRECT ANSWER Weber: (To understand in a deep way) The
methodological need to understand social worlds from an insider's point of view.
Value Neutrality - CORRECT ANSWER Weber: The ethical practice of remaining
impartial and objective when conducting and reporting on research, without personal bias or
judgement
Forms of Solidarity - CORRECT ANSWER The social ties that bind a group of people
together, reflecting how societies transform and hold together over time.
, Mechanical Solidarity - CORRECT ANSWER Social cohesion based on shared
values/similarities, beliefs, and practices—a 'collective conscience.' Type of society:
traditional, low division of labor. Macro level.
Organic Solidarity - CORRECT ANSWER Social cohesion based on mutual
independence and specialization that comes from a complex division of labor. Type of
society: modern, high division of labor. Macro level.
Anomie - CORRECT ANSWER A condition where society experiences a breakdown
in social norms and a disconnect between the individual and society. Type of society:
pathological, unhealthy/unstable.
Sociological Imagination - CORRECT ANSWER The capacity to connect individual
experience (biography) with larger social forces (history/social structure).
Sig: Necessary to transform personal troubles (e.g., one person unemployed) into public
issues (e.g.,mass unemployment).
Ex: If 15 million people are unemployed in a nation of 50 million employees, the problem is
defined as a public issue of social structure.
The Debunking Motif - CORRECT ANSWER The inherent drive to question, unmask,
and look beyond the surface (the official story) to reveal the hidden social structures that
govern behavior.
Sig: Enables the sociologist to see the "strange in the familiar."
Social Construction - CORRECT ANSWER The idea that 'reality' is a product of
cultural definitions and shared human interpretation, not an inherent universal truth.
Sig: underpins the study of moral panics and how symbolic meaning is created.
Reification - CORRECT ANSWER The error of treating an abstract concept (like
'culture') as though it has a real, material existence.
Sig: an individual choice (like marriage) is shaped by cultural patterns, social forces, and
influences.
UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Auguste Comte - CORRECT ANSWER Founder of Sociology. Coined the term
'sociology' and established the philosophical approach for the scientific study of social
patterns.
Positivism - CORRECT ANSWER Comte: The scientific study of social patterns using
the methods of natural sciences. Believed laws governing society could be identified.
Émile Durkheim - CORRECT ANSWER Established sociology as a formal academic
discipline. Focused on social cohesion and the pathology of norm breakdown.
Anomie - CORRECT ANSWER Durkheim: A state where social norms are absent or
break down, leading to social pathology (e.g. high suicide rates).
Social Facts - CORRECT ANSWER Durkheim: The laws, morals, values, and cultural
rules that govern social life.
Max Weber - CORRECT ANSWER Emphasized the role of culture and subjective
understanding in social action.
Verstehen - CORRECT ANSWER Weber: (To understand in a deep way) The
methodological need to understand social worlds from an insider's point of view.
Value Neutrality - CORRECT ANSWER Weber: The ethical practice of remaining
impartial and objective when conducting and reporting on research, without personal bias or
judgement
Forms of Solidarity - CORRECT ANSWER The social ties that bind a group of people
together, reflecting how societies transform and hold together over time.
, Mechanical Solidarity - CORRECT ANSWER Social cohesion based on shared
values/similarities, beliefs, and practices—a 'collective conscience.' Type of society:
traditional, low division of labor. Macro level.
Organic Solidarity - CORRECT ANSWER Social cohesion based on mutual
independence and specialization that comes from a complex division of labor. Type of
society: modern, high division of labor. Macro level.
Anomie - CORRECT ANSWER A condition where society experiences a breakdown
in social norms and a disconnect between the individual and society. Type of society:
pathological, unhealthy/unstable.
Sociological Imagination - CORRECT ANSWER The capacity to connect individual
experience (biography) with larger social forces (history/social structure).
Sig: Necessary to transform personal troubles (e.g., one person unemployed) into public
issues (e.g.,mass unemployment).
Ex: If 15 million people are unemployed in a nation of 50 million employees, the problem is
defined as a public issue of social structure.
The Debunking Motif - CORRECT ANSWER The inherent drive to question, unmask,
and look beyond the surface (the official story) to reveal the hidden social structures that
govern behavior.
Sig: Enables the sociologist to see the "strange in the familiar."
Social Construction - CORRECT ANSWER The idea that 'reality' is a product of
cultural definitions and shared human interpretation, not an inherent universal truth.
Sig: underpins the study of moral panics and how symbolic meaning is created.
Reification - CORRECT ANSWER The error of treating an abstract concept (like
'culture') as though it has a real, material existence.
Sig: an individual choice (like marriage) is shaped by cultural patterns, social forces, and
influences.
