The Study of Sociology: Sociology as a Discipline and Sociological Theory

Question 1

What is the Sociological imagination?

Answer 1

– it is to pay attention to the intersection of the individual level and contextual level

Question 2

What are the two points of focus of the sociological imagination?

Answer 2

– personal troubles: which is the extension of individual biology

– social issues: which is the extension of structural context

Question 3

What is an example of personal troubles for someone who doesn’t have a job?

Answer 3

– they may be “lazy” or lack of knowledge, carelessness, not turning in resumes

Question 4

What is an example of structural context for someone who doesn’t have a job?

Answer 4

– lack of jobs, unemployment rate; if there are lack of jobs it doesn’t matter what one does individually

Question 5

What is Constrained Choice Theory ?

Answer 5

• • our choices are constrained
• • doesn’t mean we don’t have choices
• • means the number and which choices are not limitless
• • level of constraints varies on societal level
• • not all choices are good and not all of them are available to us

Question 6

What are the 3 big questions?

Answer 6

– What is the nature of the structure?

• -> have to know/understand the context
• -> we look at how people interact w/ one another (not at the individual level)

What is the relative position of the structure/context?

–> comparison of other structures
Ex: how someone’s individual health varies with other people

Who has the power?

• -> Who are the influencers?
• -> Who gets to say what is good?
• -> Who gets to say what is bad?
• -> Who gets to say what’s real or not?

Question 7

T or F, personal troubles are the same as the micro level

Answer 7

• False, they are not

Question 8

T or F, no personal trouble is devoid of context

Answer 8

True

Question 9

T or F, personal troubles can be a result of larger social issue/ society and vice versa

Answer 9

True

Question 10

What is the definition of constructed?

Answer 10

– something that has been made up but has reality because its been made real

Ex: currency –> isn’t natural, constructed but has reality bc its been made real

Question 11

What is the definition of social constructed?

Answer 11

• • knowing people are a product of their time
• • change over time and differences between groups
• • doesn’t have to have these two in order to be socially constructed

Question 12

T or F, in sociology we tend to focus on macro, micro and mezo

Answer 12

True

Question 13

What are the 4 diff theories?

Answer 13

• • The Conflict Approach
• • Functionalism
• • Social Exchange Theory
• • Symbolic Interactionism

Question 14

Who are the 3 thinkers?

Answer 14

• • Emile Durkheim
• • Karl Marx
• • Max Webber

Question 15

What were Durkheim’s key ideas ?

Answer 15

– often linked to functionalism even though he wasn’t a functionalist

– social fact

– Anomie

– Specialization

Question 16

What is social fact and what thinker is this linked to ?

Answer 16

– facts or realities in the social world that are just there; doesn’t matter if you don’t agree w/ it or not

– Durkheim

Question 17

What is anomie? Who is this linked to?

Answer 17

– a sense of normlessness disconnected from the expectations of your community/society; lack of sense of belonging

– Durkheim

Question 18

What is specialization? And who is this linked to ?

Answer 18

– creates more interdependence; need a lot of different people to get something, if everyone needs everybody –> this division of labor promotes interdependence –> which then promotes integration –> which leads to stability

–> this is basically the backbone of functionalism even though Durkheim wasn’t a functionalist

– Durkheim heavily focused on specialization

Question 19

What were Karl Marx’s key ideas?

Answer 19

– critical of capitalism bc he saw it as centered around exploiting workers’ labor

– saw class inequalities as unbalanced, sees it as unnatural

Question 20

What were Max Webber’s key ideas?

Answer 20

– German sociologist

• • Ideal Type
• • Value Free sociology

Question 21

What is the Ideal Type, and which thinker is this idea associated with?

Answer 21

– Webber talks about how we should measure social world; a broad tool to measure the world; gives us a working definition

– sort of measuring stick that captures the most rational and most essential components of any social thing

Question 22

What is value free sociology?

Answer 22

– we should be disimpassioned when we study something, we have to remove personal biases

– in other words don’t impose your own definition, ideas, understanding on the interpretation of the people we’re studying

Question 23

What is Functionalism?

Answer 23

– it is the idea that social groups are like organisms that are made up of interdependent parts that compliment each other, which leads to integration which leads to stability –> notice how this sounds similar to Durkheim

– aka people doing what they’re supposed to do to achieve social stability

Question 24

What are the sub groups under the Conflict Approach?

Answer 24

• Marxist Economic Class Theory
• Feminist Theory
• Critical Race Theory

Question 25

What is the Conflict Approach?

Answer 25

– focus isn’t social stability rather it’s the social inequality with the idea that social change is possible

• • focus is on things like:
• —–> power/resources
• —–> inequality
• —–> social change

–> once surplus is introduced we are dealing w/ inequality –> quickly there’s a response that leads to inequality –> meaning its basis is not this villainous evil idea

–> conflict focuses on inequality that is the result of social construction (doesn’t mean social construction strictly belongs to conflict)

Question 26

What is the Marxist Conflict Approach?

Answer 26

– focuses on social class inequality

Question 27

What is Feminist Theory?

Answer 27

– focuses on the structural and cultural disadvantage that falls on female people

– gives us attention on micro and macro levels of inequality

– things that happen on the macro level also connect to what happens on micro –> whereas conflict is more of a macro level of thinking

Question 28

What is Critical Race Theory?

Answer 28

• • focuses on the lines of that which points to racial inequality
• • this is where social construction comes in
• • here we’re introduced to the idea of intersectionality in response to white, middle class way of thinking of feminism

Question 29

What is Intersectionality?

Answer 29

• • paying attention to the intersection of all of these positions and how they all interact w/ one a other
• • not that easy methodically

Question 30

Define the Social Exchange Theory.

Answer 30

– the idea that we are rational beings, we do a set of calculations to see what we should do

– calculations:

• -> cost?
• -> reward?
• -> what are my other options?

– this is difficult bc the more alternatives that also happen to have more reward with less cost means there’s more options to consider

– another difficult is that other’s decisions play a role as well

Question 31

What is the Principle of Least Interest?

Answer 31

• • apart of social exchange

- - people who care less in social exchange have more power

Question 32

What is Symbolic Interactionism?

Answer 32

• • a very micro theory
• • the way in which we create a shared sense of reality and meaning
• —> we use symbols and language in doing so we create a shared sense of reality (social script)

—-> not just language but is also the same w/ rules

Ex: raising your hand; somewhere along the way this was made up

Question 33

Describe language and symbols.

Answer 33

– these show you where you’re coming from, what group you identify with and what ideas you believe in

Ex: differences in what people called u.S. invovlement in Iraq

Question 34

What is the importance of rules?

Answer 34

– we almost never come into situations w/o rules

– most rules we’re not aware of and we don’t think about them until someone breaks them