CHAPTER 2
Sociology’s Family Tree: Theories and Theorists
CONCEPT MAP
I. What Is Theory?
II. Sociology’s Family Tree
A. Sociology’s Roots
i. Auguste Comte
ii. Harriet Martineau
iii. Herbert Spencer
B. Classical Sociological Theory
i. Emile Durkheim
ii. Karl Marx
iii. Max Weber
iv. Sigmund Freud
C. Eurocentrism
D. W. E. B. Du Bois
E. Jane Addams
III. Modern Sociological Theory
A. Structural Functionalism
B. Conflict Theory
C. Symbolic Interactionism
D. Analyzing Mass Media
IV. New Theoretical Approaches
A. Feminist Theory
B. Queer Theory
C. Postmodern Theory
TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
1. The poem “The Blind Men and the Elephant” suggests that there is only one correct approach
to understanding social life.
ANS: F NOT: Applied
DIF: Medium REF: Page 34
OBJ: What Is Theory? (I)
2. A hundred years from now, our descendents will probably consider our contemporary
treatments for mental illnesses to be just as useless and inhuman as we now consider
treatments from the past.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 35
OBJ: What Is Theory? (I)
, 3. There is only one correct theoretical explanation for any particular social phenomenon.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Pages 35–36
OBJ: Modern Sociological Theory (III)
Figure 2.1 Sociology’s Family Tree
4. Social theory is Eurocentric and privileges Western thought.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 38
OBJ: Eurocentrism (II.C)
5. When the earliest social theorists established that society was an appropriate object of
scientific scrutiny, it was thought of as revolutionary.
, ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 36
OBJ: Sociology’s Roots (II.A)
6. The writings of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber were deeply influenced by their
life experiences.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 39
OBJ: Classical Sociological Theory (II.B)
7. Emile Durkheim believed that even the most individualistic actions had social origins.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 40
OBJ: Emile Durkheim (II.B.i)
8. Emile Durkheims’s pioneering work, Suicide, used data gleaned from government records to
help look for correlations between demographic variables and suicide. This made his work
compatible with Auguste Comte’s ideas about how society should be studied.
ANS: T NOT: Applied
DIF: Medium REF: Pages 36, 40
OBJ: Emile Durkheim (II.B.i)
9. According to Emile Durkheim, traditional religious beliefs are the only source of social
stability.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 40
OBJ: Emile Durkheim (II.B.i)
10. Like most social psychologists, Sigmund Freud was interested in the development of the self,
but, because he was a psychologist, he did not see this development as the result of social
processes.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 43
OBJ: Sigmund Freud (II.B.iv)
11. Functionalism argues that only dysfunction can create social change.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 44
OBJ: Structural Functionalism (III.A)
12. Conflict theory uses a dynamic model of historical change that presents change as constant,
ongoing, and inevitable.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 47
OBJ: Conflict Theory (III.B)
13. According to conflict theory, most major social institutions are separate from the economy and
therefore do not reinforce the class structure.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 47
OBJ: Conflict Theory (III.B)
14. According to Erving Goffman, a person’s sense of self is constant and stable over time.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
Sociology’s Family Tree: Theories and Theorists
CONCEPT MAP
I. What Is Theory?
II. Sociology’s Family Tree
A. Sociology’s Roots
i. Auguste Comte
ii. Harriet Martineau
iii. Herbert Spencer
B. Classical Sociological Theory
i. Emile Durkheim
ii. Karl Marx
iii. Max Weber
iv. Sigmund Freud
C. Eurocentrism
D. W. E. B. Du Bois
E. Jane Addams
III. Modern Sociological Theory
A. Structural Functionalism
B. Conflict Theory
C. Symbolic Interactionism
D. Analyzing Mass Media
IV. New Theoretical Approaches
A. Feminist Theory
B. Queer Theory
C. Postmodern Theory
TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
1. The poem “The Blind Men and the Elephant” suggests that there is only one correct approach
to understanding social life.
ANS: F NOT: Applied
DIF: Medium REF: Page 34
OBJ: What Is Theory? (I)
2. A hundred years from now, our descendents will probably consider our contemporary
treatments for mental illnesses to be just as useless and inhuman as we now consider
treatments from the past.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 35
OBJ: What Is Theory? (I)
, 3. There is only one correct theoretical explanation for any particular social phenomenon.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Pages 35–36
OBJ: Modern Sociological Theory (III)
Figure 2.1 Sociology’s Family Tree
4. Social theory is Eurocentric and privileges Western thought.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 38
OBJ: Eurocentrism (II.C)
5. When the earliest social theorists established that society was an appropriate object of
scientific scrutiny, it was thought of as revolutionary.
, ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 36
OBJ: Sociology’s Roots (II.A)
6. The writings of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber were deeply influenced by their
life experiences.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 39
OBJ: Classical Sociological Theory (II.B)
7. Emile Durkheim believed that even the most individualistic actions had social origins.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 40
OBJ: Emile Durkheim (II.B.i)
8. Emile Durkheims’s pioneering work, Suicide, used data gleaned from government records to
help look for correlations between demographic variables and suicide. This made his work
compatible with Auguste Comte’s ideas about how society should be studied.
ANS: T NOT: Applied
DIF: Medium REF: Pages 36, 40
OBJ: Emile Durkheim (II.B.i)
9. According to Emile Durkheim, traditional religious beliefs are the only source of social
stability.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 40
OBJ: Emile Durkheim (II.B.i)
10. Like most social psychologists, Sigmund Freud was interested in the development of the self,
but, because he was a psychologist, he did not see this development as the result of social
processes.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 43
OBJ: Sigmund Freud (II.B.iv)
11. Functionalism argues that only dysfunction can create social change.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 44
OBJ: Structural Functionalism (III.A)
12. Conflict theory uses a dynamic model of historical change that presents change as constant,
ongoing, and inevitable.
ANS: T NOT: Factual
DIF: Medium REF: Page 47
OBJ: Conflict Theory (III.B)
13. According to conflict theory, most major social institutions are separate from the economy and
therefore do not reinforce the class structure.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
DIF: Easy REF: Page 47
OBJ: Conflict Theory (III.B)
14. According to Erving Goffman, a person’s sense of self is constant and stable over time.
ANS: F NOT: Factual
