Unit 1

Question 1

What is sociology?

Answer 1

The study of human social behaviour
Investigation of the origins, classifications, institutions and development of human society

Question 2

What does sociology look at or examine?

Answer 2

Social interactions between humans, groups and societies
The way that social structures, power relations and institutions enable and constrain individuals and groups (nous permet ou nous prévient de faire des choses. Ex: rules to follow)

Question 3

Why are social interactions very important?

Answer 3

Because interactions make us who we are (sports, school, etc)

Question 4

What are examples of power relations?

Answer 4

White vs Black, poor vs rich, men vs woman

Question 5

What is sociology of sport?

Answer 5

Research concerned with relationships between sport and society

Question 6

What do we look at in sociology of sport?

Answer 6

The role of sport in social and cultural life
The role of sociology in sport

Question 7

What is studied in sociology of sport?

Answer 7

Social agents
Institutions and social structures
Processes that occur within sport

Question 8

What are examples of social agents in sociology of sport?

Answer 8

Coaches, athletes, fans, refs, parents, sponcers, etc

Question 9

What are examples of institutions and social structures in sociology of sport?

Answer 9

Education, media, economics, politics, religion

Question 10

What are examples of processes that occur within sport in sociology of sport?

Answer 10

Inequality, violence or deviance, racism, sexism, class structures, power relations

Question 11

Instead of thinking that sport is a reflection of society, think that_______?

Answer 11

Sport is a world in its own rights with its own life, contradictions and own rules.
Sport is shaped by the social world around us but it also actively shapes the social world. Sport greately impacts society (ex: olympics)

Question 12

Instead of looking at a problem on a personal level (ex: why athletes use drugs) what does sociology look at?

Answer 12

Looks at the impact of the environment on the athlete
- Structural issues with the sport itself
- Higher demands on high-performance sports
- Higher financial rewards
Ex: olympics -> winning for your country

Question 13

What are the sociological variables?

Answer 13

Gender, race, age, social class, education levels, geographic locations, socioeconomic status

Question 14

What is sport?

Answer 14

A physical activity that can be competitive yet fun, practiced towards a specific goal which follows rules and a sporting spirit defined around the idea of equity, loyalty and the desire to win

Question 15

What is equity?

Answer 15

Recognize that everyone has different capabilities or a different situation and allocates the necessary ressources and opportunities to reach an equal outcome

Evaluating everyone’s needs to make it fair for everyone

Question 16

What are the 7 characteristics in modern sport?

Answer 16

Secularism
Equality
Specialization
Rationalization
Bureaucratization
Quantification
Records

Question 17

What is an institutionalized sport?

Answer 17

When one way of playing becomes the way of playing

Question 18

What is secularism?

Answer 18

When it’s not tied to religion
Not bound to religious ceremonies or cantered around religious organizations. Not played in honour of God

Question 19

What is equality?

Answer 19

Participation for all

Question 20

What’s specialization?

Answer 20

Athletes are specialized
Ex: American football -> players play a position for what they train for specifically

Question 21

What’s rationalization?

Answer 21

Scientific method
Athletes are trained using scientific methods and follow prescribed diets and routines

Question 22

What is bureaucratization?

Answer 22

Part of a large structure
Governing bodies make rules, set games, keep records

Question 23

What is quantification?

Answer 23

Everything is measured and tracked

Question 24

What are records?

Answer 24

Being the best
Ex: medal count

Question 25

What are the 4 categories that sport is divided into?

Answer 25

Sport-Education Sport-Participation Elite Sport Sport-Spectacle

Question 26

What is Sport-Education?

Answer 26

Gym class Sport in the education system Usually from ages 6 to the end of high school In this case: sport is mandatory

Question 27

What is Sport-Participation?

Answer 27

Defined by a sense of free-play Playing in the streets Linked to the idea of health and personal entertainment

Question 28

What is elite sport?

Answer 28

Restricted to a minority who have mastered specific techniques related to their sport of choice. Oriented towards the training champions via sport federations, sporting clubs, competitions, organizing committees Based on money, coaches, sport Ex: NBA, NHL, NFL

Question 29

What is sport spectacle?

Answer 29

Assisting to a spectacle but not participating Focused on consumption in order to make a profit Fans, attendees, media, sponsors

Question 30

Why is sport important?

Answer 30

Sport is omnipresent (media, on our phones, etc) Sport defines us (victory for a Canadian is victory for Canada) Sport unites us (we are all team Canada) Sport divides us (fights and brawl) We watch sport, we play sport, we discuss sport, we fantasize sport We learn through sport and we teach through sport Sport has been around for a long time Sport teaches us about politics, geography, sociology, medicine, psychology Sport is shaped by external issues which allows us to learn about those issues (BLM, LGBTQ)

Question 31

What is the sociological imagination?

Answer 31

The ability to grasp history (the social) and biography (the personal) and the relations between the 2 within society Yourself vs the system

Question 32

What is personal troubles of milieu?

Answer 32

Our personal troubles Ex: hectic schedules, finances They can usually be solved in our own personal milieu

Question 33

What are the public issues or social structure?

Answer 33

Pertain to the organization and larger structures Cannot be resolved by simply making changes in your personal life Ex: a global economic crash

Question 34

What are the 3 sensivities of the social imagination?

Answer 34

Historical sensitivity Comparative sensitivity Critical sensitivity

Question 35

What is historical sensitivity?

Answer 35

Personal experience must be understood in larger frames of history and historical change To understand the sporting present, you must understand the past

Question 36

What is comparative sensitivity?

Answer 36

Understanding that society and sport have been socially construed according to different meanings and forms in various cultures We see that sport isn’t the same everywhere and that’s ok

Question 37

What is critical sensitivity?

Answer 37

To think critically about relationships of power and social changes

Question 38

What is social structure?

Answer 38

Patterned relationships that connect different parts of society to one another Decides what we do or how we act We don’t have total control because of obligations, external factors, responsibilities Everything in society that structures it. Something that tells us what to do

Question 39

What is an agency?

Answer 39

Ability of individuals and groups to act in a goal-oriented manner and to pursue their own free choices to both act and shape society (Dans le but de rendre la vie plus facile mais le font avec leurs propres moyens)

Question 40

What are ressources?

Answer 40

The capacities that enable individuals or groups to engage in various practices Basically what you have (financial, material, staff)

Question 41

What is power?

Answer 41

The capacity of a person or group to employ resources of different types in order to secure outcomes, even against oppositions

Question 42

With power, what can someone do?

Answer 42

- structure sport in preferred ways and institutionalize these preferences in sport rules and organizations - establish selective sports traditions Define the range of legitimate practices and meanings associated with dominant sports practices (determine what you can or can’t do)