Sociology
Sociology 1301 Semester Final Exam
2025
Sociology - -the systematic study of society and social interaction
Three things that led to the rise in sociological thought? - -
1. Industry (industrial revolution, centralized large populations)
2. Urbanization (large populations of diversity cohabiting)
3. Political change (from god/king to self/family)
Durkheim's study on suicide - -his study determined that the greatest risk for suicide
was social isolation (lack of social integration)
Social marginality - -being excluded from social activity as an "outsider"
Sociological imagination - -term coined by c. Wright mills which describes the
relationship between self and society.
The capacity to think about how many things we experience as personal problems are
really social issues that are widely shared by others born in a similar time and social
location as us
Global perspective - -a philosophy or way to think about the world that includes the
beliefs that the world is all connected and what we do affects others. It involves the
attitude to accept others, a value system of morals and ethics, and a process and
approach to go about making changes to improve the world we live in. It is not a one-
time thing.
Auguste comte - -considered the father of sociology. Coined the term positivism in
1838, which he defined as the way of understanding societies based on science. He
was considered an armchair philosopher
Positivism - -term coined by august comte defined as the scientific study of social
patterns.
Who coined the term sociology? When? Where? - -the term sociology was first coined
in 1780 by the french essayist emmanual-joseph sieyes in an unpublished manuscript.
In 1838 the term was reinvented by auguste comte.
Web dubois - -spent his lifetime studying relations between african americans and
whites. Combined the role of academic sociologist with that of social reformer.
Sociology
,Sociology
Theory - -a proposed explanation about social interactions or society
Structural functional paradigm - -complex system whose parts work together to build
solidarity & stability (order), macro level approac
Key terms: parts of the whole, function, structure, solidarity, order, stability, manifest,
latent, dysfuction, system, equilibrium.
Key people: derkheim (suicide study), spencer (like the human body, society works in
coordination with all parts of the whole), merton (manifest, latent, dysfunction)
Social conflict paradigm - -conflict/inequality/competition between social classes drives
social change, macro level approach
Key terms: class, injustice
Key people: weber, marx, glumpowicz, simmel, dubois
Creator of the social conflict theory - -karl marx
Symbolic interaction paradigm - -theory that focuses on the relationships among
individuals within a society.
Society is the product of everyday interactions between individuals. Micro level
perspective
Key terms: product, society, interactions, individuals, symbols, constructivism, meanings
Key people:
Mead (founder) - significant others & generalized others, blumer, cooley, goffman
Difference between macro & micro perspective - -macro level theories relate to large-
scale issues and large groups of people, while micro-level theories look at very specific
relationships between individuals or small groups.
Robert merton (3 functions) - -manifest function
Latent function
Dysfunction
Herbert spencer related society to the ? - -human body
Mean, median, mode - -descriptive statistcs, used to state what is average for a large
group.
Mean - classical use of the term "average". Add all parts of the whole and divide but the
number of inputs
Sociology
, Sociology
Median - the number in the middle in a list of numbers
Mode - what appears most often in a list
Empirical evidence - -evidence that comes from direct experience, scientifically
gathered data, or experimentation
Operationalization - -defining variables into measurable factors. Specific explanations of
abstract concepts that a researcher plans to study.
Concept - -mental construct that represents some part of the world in a simplified form.
Variable - -a concept which changes from case to case
Reliability - -consistency in measurement. A measure of a study's consistency that
considers how likely results are to be replicated if a study is reproduced.
So, can the results of the study be reproduced reliably
Validity - -the degree to which a sociological measure accurately reflects the topic of
study.
Hypotheses - -a testable educated guess about predicted outcomes between two or
more variables
Correlation - -when a change in one variable coincides with a change in another
variable, but does not necessarily indicate causation.
Independent variable - -a variable that causes a change in a dependent variable
Dependent variable - -a variable changed by other variables
Population - -a defined group serving as the subject of a study
Sample - -a small, manageable number of subjects that represent the population
Asa's ethical guidelines for research - -first and foremost guarantee the safety of their
participants, ensure that they have been fully informed before consenting to be a part of
a study. They address conducting studies, properly using existing sources, accepting
funding, and publishing results. Participant safety must also be considered and research
should stop immediately should safety be in question. Required to protect the privacy of
research participants whenever possible as well, even if pressured by authorities.
Results must be made available to other sociologists, sources of financial support must
be made public, and funding must not be accepted from any organization that might
cause a conflict of interest or seek to influence the research results for its own
purposes. Researchers must establish value neutrality (practice of remaining impartial,
without bias or judgment, during the course of a study)
Sociology
Sociology 1301 Semester Final Exam
2025
Sociology - -the systematic study of society and social interaction
Three things that led to the rise in sociological thought? - -
1. Industry (industrial revolution, centralized large populations)
2. Urbanization (large populations of diversity cohabiting)
3. Political change (from god/king to self/family)
Durkheim's study on suicide - -his study determined that the greatest risk for suicide
was social isolation (lack of social integration)
Social marginality - -being excluded from social activity as an "outsider"
Sociological imagination - -term coined by c. Wright mills which describes the
relationship between self and society.
The capacity to think about how many things we experience as personal problems are
really social issues that are widely shared by others born in a similar time and social
location as us
Global perspective - -a philosophy or way to think about the world that includes the
beliefs that the world is all connected and what we do affects others. It involves the
attitude to accept others, a value system of morals and ethics, and a process and
approach to go about making changes to improve the world we live in. It is not a one-
time thing.
Auguste comte - -considered the father of sociology. Coined the term positivism in
1838, which he defined as the way of understanding societies based on science. He
was considered an armchair philosopher
Positivism - -term coined by august comte defined as the scientific study of social
patterns.
Who coined the term sociology? When? Where? - -the term sociology was first coined
in 1780 by the french essayist emmanual-joseph sieyes in an unpublished manuscript.
In 1838 the term was reinvented by auguste comte.
Web dubois - -spent his lifetime studying relations between african americans and
whites. Combined the role of academic sociologist with that of social reformer.
Sociology
,Sociology
Theory - -a proposed explanation about social interactions or society
Structural functional paradigm - -complex system whose parts work together to build
solidarity & stability (order), macro level approac
Key terms: parts of the whole, function, structure, solidarity, order, stability, manifest,
latent, dysfuction, system, equilibrium.
Key people: derkheim (suicide study), spencer (like the human body, society works in
coordination with all parts of the whole), merton (manifest, latent, dysfunction)
Social conflict paradigm - -conflict/inequality/competition between social classes drives
social change, macro level approach
Key terms: class, injustice
Key people: weber, marx, glumpowicz, simmel, dubois
Creator of the social conflict theory - -karl marx
Symbolic interaction paradigm - -theory that focuses on the relationships among
individuals within a society.
Society is the product of everyday interactions between individuals. Micro level
perspective
Key terms: product, society, interactions, individuals, symbols, constructivism, meanings
Key people:
Mead (founder) - significant others & generalized others, blumer, cooley, goffman
Difference between macro & micro perspective - -macro level theories relate to large-
scale issues and large groups of people, while micro-level theories look at very specific
relationships between individuals or small groups.
Robert merton (3 functions) - -manifest function
Latent function
Dysfunction
Herbert spencer related society to the ? - -human body
Mean, median, mode - -descriptive statistcs, used to state what is average for a large
group.
Mean - classical use of the term "average". Add all parts of the whole and divide but the
number of inputs
Sociology
, Sociology
Median - the number in the middle in a list of numbers
Mode - what appears most often in a list
Empirical evidence - -evidence that comes from direct experience, scientifically
gathered data, or experimentation
Operationalization - -defining variables into measurable factors. Specific explanations of
abstract concepts that a researcher plans to study.
Concept - -mental construct that represents some part of the world in a simplified form.
Variable - -a concept which changes from case to case
Reliability - -consistency in measurement. A measure of a study's consistency that
considers how likely results are to be replicated if a study is reproduced.
So, can the results of the study be reproduced reliably
Validity - -the degree to which a sociological measure accurately reflects the topic of
study.
Hypotheses - -a testable educated guess about predicted outcomes between two or
more variables
Correlation - -when a change in one variable coincides with a change in another
variable, but does not necessarily indicate causation.
Independent variable - -a variable that causes a change in a dependent variable
Dependent variable - -a variable changed by other variables
Population - -a defined group serving as the subject of a study
Sample - -a small, manageable number of subjects that represent the population
Asa's ethical guidelines for research - -first and foremost guarantee the safety of their
participants, ensure that they have been fully informed before consenting to be a part of
a study. They address conducting studies, properly using existing sources, accepting
funding, and publishing results. Participant safety must also be considered and research
should stop immediately should safety be in question. Required to protect the privacy of
research participants whenever possible as well, even if pressured by authorities.
Results must be made available to other sociologists, sources of financial support must
be made public, and funding must not be accepted from any organization that might
cause a conflict of interest or seek to influence the research results for its own
purposes. Researchers must establish value neutrality (practice of remaining impartial,
without bias or judgment, during the course of a study)
Sociology
