Jenna Radley
For individual use only: redistribution prohibited
SOC 110 STUDY NOTES
Disclaimer & Usage Terms
These notes are for personal use only. Please do not share, copy, or redistribute them.
Jenna Academic Notes – Study smarter
1
, Jenna Radley
For individual use only: redistribution prohibited
Sociology Study Notes
Themes 1 - 12
Race | Modernity | Class
Disclaimer & Usage Terms
These notes are for personal academic use only. Redistribution, resale, sharing, uploading, or
reproduction in any format is prohibited.
2
, Jenna Radley
For individual use only: redistribution prohibited
Theme 1: Studying Society: Agency and
Structure
1. Introduction & Essential Academic Skills
Sociology requires developing transferable academic skills -> not relying on
personal opinions.
• Reading academic texts critically
• Identifying underlying arguments instead of just compiling information
• Writing clearly and analytically
• Using academic concepts rather than personal opinions
2. Two Ways of Explaining Life Outcomes
Agency vs. Structure
Sociology asks uncomfortable questions about why patterns of poverty, violence,
and gender inequality repeat over generations, and whether our choices are truly
free.
Dimension Individual Agency Social Structure
Definition The capacity to act Enduring, patterned social
independently, interpret, arrangements and forces that
respond, and make free choices. shape and constrain behaviour.
Common "I worked hard"; personal Unequal access, historical and
responsibility and individual social context, and systemic
Phrasing freedom. constraint.
Examples The choices and trajectories of a Institutions like a university,
teacher or a student. family, education systems, and
the economy.
Life Chances: A person's likelihood of being healthy, wealthy, or well-educated
is heavily influenced by their social location -> race, class, gender, and
place/time of birth.
Social Facts (Durkheim): Laws, customs, and religious beliefs exist externally
to the individual and exert coercive power over our behaviour.
Reflexivity: Individuals can examine their social position, question it, and
consciously act to change it. Collective agency can reshape larger structural
forces.
3. Structuration Theory -> Anthony Giddens
3
, Jenna Radley
For individual use only: redistribution prohibited
❖ Giddens argues that structure and agency are not separate -> they are two sides
of the same coin.
Duality of Structure: Individuals are continuously shaped by social structures, yet
those structures only exist because individuals choose to follow and reproduce them
daily. Human interaction is dynamic.
4
For individual use only: redistribution prohibited
SOC 110 STUDY NOTES
Disclaimer & Usage Terms
These notes are for personal use only. Please do not share, copy, or redistribute them.
Jenna Academic Notes – Study smarter
1
, Jenna Radley
For individual use only: redistribution prohibited
Sociology Study Notes
Themes 1 - 12
Race | Modernity | Class
Disclaimer & Usage Terms
These notes are for personal academic use only. Redistribution, resale, sharing, uploading, or
reproduction in any format is prohibited.
2
, Jenna Radley
For individual use only: redistribution prohibited
Theme 1: Studying Society: Agency and
Structure
1. Introduction & Essential Academic Skills
Sociology requires developing transferable academic skills -> not relying on
personal opinions.
• Reading academic texts critically
• Identifying underlying arguments instead of just compiling information
• Writing clearly and analytically
• Using academic concepts rather than personal opinions
2. Two Ways of Explaining Life Outcomes
Agency vs. Structure
Sociology asks uncomfortable questions about why patterns of poverty, violence,
and gender inequality repeat over generations, and whether our choices are truly
free.
Dimension Individual Agency Social Structure
Definition The capacity to act Enduring, patterned social
independently, interpret, arrangements and forces that
respond, and make free choices. shape and constrain behaviour.
Common "I worked hard"; personal Unequal access, historical and
responsibility and individual social context, and systemic
Phrasing freedom. constraint.
Examples The choices and trajectories of a Institutions like a university,
teacher or a student. family, education systems, and
the economy.
Life Chances: A person's likelihood of being healthy, wealthy, or well-educated
is heavily influenced by their social location -> race, class, gender, and
place/time of birth.
Social Facts (Durkheim): Laws, customs, and religious beliefs exist externally
to the individual and exert coercive power over our behaviour.
Reflexivity: Individuals can examine their social position, question it, and
consciously act to change it. Collective agency can reshape larger structural
forces.
3. Structuration Theory -> Anthony Giddens
3
, Jenna Radley
For individual use only: redistribution prohibited
❖ Giddens argues that structure and agency are not separate -> they are two sides
of the same coin.
Duality of Structure: Individuals are continuously shaped by social structures, yet
those structures only exist because individuals choose to follow and reproduce them
daily. Human interaction is dynamic.
4
