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Question 1

Agency

Answer 1

An individual’s ability to think and act independently of society. Very similar to the concept of free will.

Question 2

Causal Explanations

Answer 2

An explanation that focuses on what caused something to occur.

Question 3

Cultural Explanations of Social Phenomena

Answer 3

Explanations that argue that social phenomena are caused by the values they have been taught to believe in and/or by limiting the universe of possible thought, discourse, and action.

Question 4

Cultural Tool-Kit

Answer 4

The collection of symbols, rituals, skills, and ways of thinking (i.e. ideologies), which we use in varying configurations to construct strategies of action that we use every day to solve problems and get through our day. People from similar social locations tend to develop similar cultural tool-kits.

Question 5

Culture

Answer 5

• Culture is a system of meanings and symbols which are expressed in both material and non-material ways and used by people to communicate, interact, and coordinate their actions with others.

Question 6

Ideologies

Answer 6

A system of shared beliefs, values, and attitudes that help us make sense of the world. A culture’s set of ideologies explain & justify the status quo (i.e., “the way things are”).

Question 7

Individual Explanations of Social Phenomena

Answer 7

Explanations that argue that social phenomena are caused by the personal choices and/or characteristics of the individuals involved with the social phenomena.

Question 8

Language

Answer 8

A comprehensive system of symbols (i.e., letters, words, images) that are used to communicate.

Question 9

Norms

Answer 9

Are rules that tell us how to behave in a particular situation.

Question 10

Path Dependency

Answer 10

How the actions and outcomes of the past influence people and organizations today by making it harder/illogical to do some things and easier/logical to do others.

Question 11

Public Policy

Answer 11

All of the laws, policies, and regulations that are created and enforced by social institutions and every other type of social organization.

Question 12

Rituals

Answer 12

A ritual is a formalized sequence of behaviors or activities. Some rituals are sacred (e.g., taking communion in the Catholic church), but many others are not (e.g., when I wave my hand at you to say hi, you wave your hand back at me).

Question 13

Roles

Answer 13

The behavioral expectations that society associates with a status.

Question 14

Social Hierarchies

Answer 14

Are rank ordered networks of relationships where individuals or groups at the top of the hierarchy command the most status, power, and resources while those at the bottom command the least.

Question 15

Social Phenomena

Answer 15

A social phenomenon is an observable action, event, or outcome that is caused by social (and therefore supra-individual) factors. Social phenomena cannot be created, caused, or controlled by any single individual.

Question 16

Social Structure

Answer 16

Social structures are durable forms of organization and networks of social relations that create patterns of human behavior by constraining some actions and enabling others.

Question 17

Society

Answer 17

A group of people who share a social structure, culture, and territory.

Question 18

Statuses

Answer 18

A title or position within a social hierarchy (e.g., mother, doctor, college student).

Question 19

Structural Explanations of Social Phenomena

Answer 19

Explanations that argue that social phenomena are caused by how society is organized.

Question 20

Symbols

Answer 20

Symbols are stand-ins for other things. Symbols are inherently empty or meaningless until the people within a culture socially construct a meaning for them

Question 21

The Sociological Imagination

Answer 21

The ability to think simultaneously analyze individual, societal, and historical factors surrounding any social phenomena.

Question 22

The Universe of Possible Thought, Discourse, and Action

Answer 22

Everything that can be thought, said, or done.

Question 23

Values

Answer 23

Tell us how things ought to be.