Soci 1311 - Chapter 1 Actual set with
Questions and correct/verified Answers
Auguste Comte - ANSWER-Laws of human behavior can be learned with a scientific method rather than
through tradition, faith, or authority.
George Herbert Meade - ANSWER-Life has a "taken for granted" quality. We must examine it in order to
understand it.
Max Weber - ANSWER-The job of sociology is to pursue social justice.
Three Levels of Sociological Analysis - ANSWER-Micro, midrange, and macro levels
Micro Level - ANSWER-Sociologists study the behavior of the individual in interaction with his or her
immediate others. Social behaviors studied (interaction in small groups; self image; enactment of roles)
Macro Level - ANSWER-Social phenomena on the most abstract scale. Social behaviors studied
(revolutions, intercontinental migrations; emergence of new institutions)
Midrange Level - ANSWER-Focus on social phenomena that occur in communities or organizations (such
as businesses or volunteer groups). Social behaviors studied (relations in bureaucracies, social
movements; participation in communities; organizations; tribes)
Interactionism - ANSWER-Studies how social structures are created in the course of human interaction.
Interactionism - Rational Choice - ANSWER-They study primarily social and economic exchange, and the
choices people make because of these factors.
Interactionism - Symbolic Interactionists - ANSWER-Believe that a person's reality is built up by assigning
meanings to the objects and behaviors in the environment where such meanings are the product of
interactions with other members of one's group or society.
Adam Smith - ANSWER-Rational Choice - Smith believed that individuals always try to maximize their
pleasure and minimize their pain.
Jeremy Bentham - Utilitarianism - ANSWER-Believed that crime provided some pleasure to the offender,
so the problem was how to make the pain outweigh the pleasure.
George Herbert Mead - ANSWER-Widely acknowledged as the first great popularizer of symbolic
interactionism in American sociology.
Functionalism - ANSWER-Asks how societies carry out the functions they must perform; views the
structures of society as a system designed to carry out those functions.
Robert Merton - ANSWER-Refined the theory of structural-functionalism by dividing the functions of any
given structure into two categories: latent functions and manifest functions.
Manifest Functions - ANSWER-Conscious and intended. For example, the manifest function of welfare
institutions is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, etc.
Latent Functions - ANSWER-Are those which are normally either subconscious or unintended, or at least
remain unvoiced. For example, welfare institutions don't just help poor. They also provide jobs for large
numbers of middle-class people who might otherwise be unemployed.
Emile Durkheim - ANSWER-One of the first to point out that when enough people began to interact in
society, the total system called "society" began to take on characteristics that could not be explained
merely by looking at the behavior or attitudes of individuals.
Questions and correct/verified Answers
Auguste Comte - ANSWER-Laws of human behavior can be learned with a scientific method rather than
through tradition, faith, or authority.
George Herbert Meade - ANSWER-Life has a "taken for granted" quality. We must examine it in order to
understand it.
Max Weber - ANSWER-The job of sociology is to pursue social justice.
Three Levels of Sociological Analysis - ANSWER-Micro, midrange, and macro levels
Micro Level - ANSWER-Sociologists study the behavior of the individual in interaction with his or her
immediate others. Social behaviors studied (interaction in small groups; self image; enactment of roles)
Macro Level - ANSWER-Social phenomena on the most abstract scale. Social behaviors studied
(revolutions, intercontinental migrations; emergence of new institutions)
Midrange Level - ANSWER-Focus on social phenomena that occur in communities or organizations (such
as businesses or volunteer groups). Social behaviors studied (relations in bureaucracies, social
movements; participation in communities; organizations; tribes)
Interactionism - ANSWER-Studies how social structures are created in the course of human interaction.
Interactionism - Rational Choice - ANSWER-They study primarily social and economic exchange, and the
choices people make because of these factors.
Interactionism - Symbolic Interactionists - ANSWER-Believe that a person's reality is built up by assigning
meanings to the objects and behaviors in the environment where such meanings are the product of
interactions with other members of one's group or society.
Adam Smith - ANSWER-Rational Choice - Smith believed that individuals always try to maximize their
pleasure and minimize their pain.
Jeremy Bentham - Utilitarianism - ANSWER-Believed that crime provided some pleasure to the offender,
so the problem was how to make the pain outweigh the pleasure.
George Herbert Mead - ANSWER-Widely acknowledged as the first great popularizer of symbolic
interactionism in American sociology.
Functionalism - ANSWER-Asks how societies carry out the functions they must perform; views the
structures of society as a system designed to carry out those functions.
Robert Merton - ANSWER-Refined the theory of structural-functionalism by dividing the functions of any
given structure into two categories: latent functions and manifest functions.
Manifest Functions - ANSWER-Conscious and intended. For example, the manifest function of welfare
institutions is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, etc.
Latent Functions - ANSWER-Are those which are normally either subconscious or unintended, or at least
remain unvoiced. For example, welfare institutions don't just help poor. They also provide jobs for large
numbers of middle-class people who might otherwise be unemployed.
Emile Durkheim - ANSWER-One of the first to point out that when enough people began to interact in
society, the total system called "society" began to take on characteristics that could not be explained
merely by looking at the behavior or attitudes of individuals.
