SOCI 1301 CHAPTERS 1-3 REVIEW
Auguste Comte - Answers -Founder of Sociology. Coined the term 'sociology' and
established the philosophical approach for the scientific study of social patterns.
Positivism - Answers -Comte: The scientific study of social patterns using the methods
of natural sciences. Believed laws governing society could be identified.
Émile Durkheim - Answers -Established sociology as a formal academic discipline.
Focused on social cohesion and the pathology of norm breakdown.
Anomie - Answers -Durkheim: A state where social norms are absent or break down,
leading to social pathology (e.g. high suicide rates).
Social Facts - Answers -Durkheim: The laws, morals, values, and cultural rules that
govern social life.
Max Weber - Answers -Emphasized the role of culture and subjective understanding in
social action.
Verstehen - Answers -Weber: (To understand in a deep way) The methodological need
to understand social worlds from an insider's point of view.
Value Neutrality - Answers -Weber: The ethical practice of remaining impartial and
objective when conducting and reporting on research, without personal bias or
judgement
Forms of Solidarity - Answers -The social ties that bind a group of people together,
reflecting how societies transform and hold together over time.
Mechanical Solidarity - Answers -Social cohesion based on shared values/similarities,
beliefs, and practices—a 'collective conscience.' Type of society: traditional, low division
of labor. Macro level.
Organic Solidarity - Answers -Social cohesion based on mutual independence and
specialization that comes from a complex division of labor. Type of society: modern,
high division of labor. Macro level.
Anomie - Answers -A condition where society experiences a breakdown in social norms
and a disconnect between the individual and society. Type of society: pathological,
unhealthy/unstable.
Sociological Imagination - Answers -The capacity to connect individual experience
(biography) with larger social forces (history/social structure).
, Sig: Necessary to transform personal troubles (e.g., one person unemployed) into public
issues (e.g.,mass unemployment).
Ex: If 15 million people are unemployed in a nation of 50 million employees, the problem
is defined as a public issue of social structure.
The Debunking Motif - Answers -The inherent drive to question, unmask, and look
beyond the surface (the official story) to reveal the hidden social structures that govern
behavior.
Sig: Enables the sociologist to see the "strange in the familiar."
Social Construction - Answers -The idea that 'reality' is a product of cultural definitions
and shared human interpretation, not an inherent universal truth.
Sig: underpins the study of moral panics and how symbolic meaning is created.
Reification - Answers -The error of treating an abstract concept (like 'culture') as though
it has a real, material existence.
Sig: an individual choice (like marriage) is shaped by cultural patterns, social forces,
and influences.
Elements of Culture - Answers -Language, norms, arts, artifacts.
Culture - Answers -The learned practices, beliefs, values, rules for proper conduct, and
material objects that are shared by members of a society.
Ex: Language, norms, arts, artifacts.
Material Culture - Answers -The physical or tangible objects that members of a society
make, use, and share.
Ex: Clothing, cars, money, buildings.
Non-Material Culture - Answers -The abstract or intangible human creations of society
that influence people's behavior.
Ex: Values, beliefs, and norms. (American Dream)
Mores (Mor-ays) - Answers -Norms that embody the moral views and principles of a
group. Violation is seen as shameful and often results in legal sanction.
Ex: Laws against murder; sanctions against plagiarism.
Folkways - Answers -Norms for routine, casual interaction (traditions) without moral
significance.
Ex: Shaking hands, holding the door open.
Cultural Universals - Answers -Patterns or traits that are globally common to all
societies.
Ex: The family unit, funeral rites, humor.
Auguste Comte - Answers -Founder of Sociology. Coined the term 'sociology' and
established the philosophical approach for the scientific study of social patterns.
Positivism - Answers -Comte: The scientific study of social patterns using the methods
of natural sciences. Believed laws governing society could be identified.
Émile Durkheim - Answers -Established sociology as a formal academic discipline.
Focused on social cohesion and the pathology of norm breakdown.
Anomie - Answers -Durkheim: A state where social norms are absent or break down,
leading to social pathology (e.g. high suicide rates).
Social Facts - Answers -Durkheim: The laws, morals, values, and cultural rules that
govern social life.
Max Weber - Answers -Emphasized the role of culture and subjective understanding in
social action.
Verstehen - Answers -Weber: (To understand in a deep way) The methodological need
to understand social worlds from an insider's point of view.
Value Neutrality - Answers -Weber: The ethical practice of remaining impartial and
objective when conducting and reporting on research, without personal bias or
judgement
Forms of Solidarity - Answers -The social ties that bind a group of people together,
reflecting how societies transform and hold together over time.
Mechanical Solidarity - Answers -Social cohesion based on shared values/similarities,
beliefs, and practices—a 'collective conscience.' Type of society: traditional, low division
of labor. Macro level.
Organic Solidarity - Answers -Social cohesion based on mutual independence and
specialization that comes from a complex division of labor. Type of society: modern,
high division of labor. Macro level.
Anomie - Answers -A condition where society experiences a breakdown in social norms
and a disconnect between the individual and society. Type of society: pathological,
unhealthy/unstable.
Sociological Imagination - Answers -The capacity to connect individual experience
(biography) with larger social forces (history/social structure).
, Sig: Necessary to transform personal troubles (e.g., one person unemployed) into public
issues (e.g.,mass unemployment).
Ex: If 15 million people are unemployed in a nation of 50 million employees, the problem
is defined as a public issue of social structure.
The Debunking Motif - Answers -The inherent drive to question, unmask, and look
beyond the surface (the official story) to reveal the hidden social structures that govern
behavior.
Sig: Enables the sociologist to see the "strange in the familiar."
Social Construction - Answers -The idea that 'reality' is a product of cultural definitions
and shared human interpretation, not an inherent universal truth.
Sig: underpins the study of moral panics and how symbolic meaning is created.
Reification - Answers -The error of treating an abstract concept (like 'culture') as though
it has a real, material existence.
Sig: an individual choice (like marriage) is shaped by cultural patterns, social forces,
and influences.
Elements of Culture - Answers -Language, norms, arts, artifacts.
Culture - Answers -The learned practices, beliefs, values, rules for proper conduct, and
material objects that are shared by members of a society.
Ex: Language, norms, arts, artifacts.
Material Culture - Answers -The physical or tangible objects that members of a society
make, use, and share.
Ex: Clothing, cars, money, buildings.
Non-Material Culture - Answers -The abstract or intangible human creations of society
that influence people's behavior.
Ex: Values, beliefs, and norms. (American Dream)
Mores (Mor-ays) - Answers -Norms that embody the moral views and principles of a
group. Violation is seen as shameful and often results in legal sanction.
Ex: Laws against murder; sanctions against plagiarism.
Folkways - Answers -Norms for routine, casual interaction (traditions) without moral
significance.
Ex: Shaking hands, holding the door open.
Cultural Universals - Answers -Patterns or traits that are globally common to all
societies.
Ex: The family unit, funeral rites, humor.
