Soci Review

Introduction to Sociology Review for Exam 1
Chapter 1- Discovering Sociology
Sociology, Social Imperative, Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills on the sociological imagination (connection between history and biography- meaning of each), Personal troubles vs. Social issues, Generalizations and Stereotypes, Critical thinking, Early history of understanding life and society, Roots of social theorizing (places), Most important historical event that created sociological thought and practice, Focus of early sociology, Importance of the “Age of Reason” & “The Enlightenment Period”, Auguste Comte/Importance to sociology, Positivism, Social statics/dynamics, Harriet Martineau and sociology, Herbert Spencer and sociology- The Organic Analogy- Social Darwinism, Karl Marx and the nature of society and action, Emile Durkheim and Social Order, Social Solidarity/Social integration, Mechanical and Organic Solidarity, Importance of the study on Suicide (findings), Max Weber’s ideas on social thought, The value free approach, Versthen, Ideal types, The rise of American Sociology, Lester Ward, The focus of Pure Sociology vs. Applied Sociology, Jane Adams contributions, Margret Sanger and Feminist Sociological thought, W.E.B Dubois a and social research, Relevance of the University of Chicago, Activist-Reformist Approach, Theory vs. Paradigm, (3) dominant theoretical perspectives, Symbolic Interactionism (major tenets), Microanalysis, the meaning of symbols, defining situations, the looking glass self, Dramaturgy, Labeling, Macroanalysis and Functionalism and Conflict theory, Functionalism, social structure, social equilibrium, manifest and latent functions, dysfunctions, Conflict theory and Karl Marx, Neo-conflict theory, C. Wright Mills and “The Power Elite”, Feminist/Integrated theory.

Chapter 2- Doing Sociology
Types of Knowledge-Experience, Cultural tradition, Faith, Authority, Science, focus of science, Social sciences vs. Natural sciences, Sociobiology, Theory building, Inductive vs. Deductive reasoning, Concepts, Conceptual definitions, Operational definitions, Validity and Reliability, Variables, Propositional statements, Correlation vs. Causation, criteria for causation, Spurrious relationships, Stages in the scientific methodresearch, Hypothesis/Research Objectives, Cross-sectional vs. longitudinal research, Quantitative vs. Qualitative research, (4) broad types of research-exploratory-descriptive-explanatory-evaluation, Secondary analysis, True experiments vs. Quasi experiments, Independent-Dependent-Intervening variables, Experimental groups vs. Control groups, Hawthorne effect, Surveys, Open ended vs. Closed ended questions, Research Sample, Availability sample, Random sample, Stratified random sample, Generalization in research, Qualitative research, Ethnographic research, Participant observation (full and limited) Case study, Triangulation.

Chapter 3- Culture and Society
Society, Socio-cultural evolution, (6) dominant societal forms, Hunting and Gathering, Pastoral, Horticultural, Agrarian, Industrial, Post-Industrial, Culture, Material and Non-Material culture, Symbols, Language-Importance, Beliefs, Values, Norms- Folkways-Mores-Laws-Taboos, Importance of sanctions, Culture Shock, Ethnocentrism, Cultural relativity, Relativist Fallacy, Subcultures, Countercultures, Multiculturalism, High Culture, Folk Culture, Popular Culture, Ideal culture vs. Real culture, Culture Lag, Functionalism on culture- ecological approach, cultural integration, Conflict theory on culture- hegemony, symbolic Interactionism on culture.