Sociology FInal Exam Review
Sociology - answersthe scientific study of social behavior and groups. Focuses on
social relationships; how those relationships influence people's behavior; and how
societies, the sum total of how these relationships; develop and change.
Sociological Imagination (Wright Mills): - answersAwareness of the relationship between
the individual and society as a whole today and in the past. The key is to look at one's
own society as a stranger or an outsider. Focus on objectivity.
Weber - answersGerman theorist who came up with the ideas of Verstehen and Ideal
type.
Verstehen is insight and understanding which people can gain when they pay attention
to how people view and explain their own behavior.
Example: Using Verstehen to understand ranking of individuals in fraternity.
Ideal Type: A construct or model for evaluating cases or a standard for measuring.
Functionalist - answersApproach that looks at how certain aspects in society function
and maintain stability.
Latent: hidden functions
Manifest: Apparent functions
Conflict - answersThe approach that looks at how certain aspects create a power
struggle between two groups.
Interactionist - answersApproach that looks at individuals in everyday life.
Feminism - answersApproach that focuses the equality between men and women.
Culture - answersThe totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge,
material objects, and behavior. It includes the ideas, values, and artifacts (DVDs, comic
books, and birth control devices, patriotic attachment to American flag) of groups of
people. It consists of all objects and ideas within a society. Examples: slang words, ice-
cream cones, and rock and roll music.
, Society - answersLarge number of people who live in the same territory, are relatively
independent of people outside the area, and participate in a common culture.
Ethnocentrism (William Sumner) - answersThe idea that your society or culture superior
to all others.
Cultural Relativism - answersViewing people's behavior from the perspective of their
culture.
Values - answersA collected conception of what is good and desirable/or not within a
given culture. Ex: honoring parents, owning a home, health, love, democracy, property,
marriage, achievement, efficiency, material comfort, nationalism, equality, science &
reason trump faith, & privacy.
Cooley - answersLooking Glass Self; Stages of development not distinct; feelings
toward ourselves develop through interaction with others. We imagine how others see
or think of us and act accordingly.
Mead - answersThe Self & Generalized Other; 3 distinct stages of development; self
develops as children grasp roles of others in their lives. Prepatory: imitate > Play:
Pretend to be other people > Game Stage: Consider tasks and relationships
simultaneously.
Goffman - answersImpression management, dramaturgical approach, face-work; self
developed through the impression we convey to others and to groups.
Freud - answerspsychoanalysis; self influenced by parents and inborn drives.
Piaget - answersCognitive theory; four stages of cognitive development; moral
development is linked to socialization.
Age Transitions - answersTransitions between ages.
Sandwich Generation - answersGeneration of adults who simultaneously try to meet the
competing needs of their parents and children.
Social Construction of Reality - answers..., the process by which people creatively
shape reality through social interaction
Thomas Theorm - answers..., "if people define situations as real, they are real in their
consequences" If it doesn't exist then there are no consequences. Ex: If germs don't
exist then they aren't icky.
Mass Media - answersPrint and electronic form of communication that carry messages
to widespread audiences.
Ex: TV, internet, newspapers, radio, motion pictures, and advertising.
Sociology - answersthe scientific study of social behavior and groups. Focuses on
social relationships; how those relationships influence people's behavior; and how
societies, the sum total of how these relationships; develop and change.
Sociological Imagination (Wright Mills): - answersAwareness of the relationship between
the individual and society as a whole today and in the past. The key is to look at one's
own society as a stranger or an outsider. Focus on objectivity.
Weber - answersGerman theorist who came up with the ideas of Verstehen and Ideal
type.
Verstehen is insight and understanding which people can gain when they pay attention
to how people view and explain their own behavior.
Example: Using Verstehen to understand ranking of individuals in fraternity.
Ideal Type: A construct or model for evaluating cases or a standard for measuring.
Functionalist - answersApproach that looks at how certain aspects in society function
and maintain stability.
Latent: hidden functions
Manifest: Apparent functions
Conflict - answersThe approach that looks at how certain aspects create a power
struggle between two groups.
Interactionist - answersApproach that looks at individuals in everyday life.
Feminism - answersApproach that focuses the equality between men and women.
Culture - answersThe totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge,
material objects, and behavior. It includes the ideas, values, and artifacts (DVDs, comic
books, and birth control devices, patriotic attachment to American flag) of groups of
people. It consists of all objects and ideas within a society. Examples: slang words, ice-
cream cones, and rock and roll music.
, Society - answersLarge number of people who live in the same territory, are relatively
independent of people outside the area, and participate in a common culture.
Ethnocentrism (William Sumner) - answersThe idea that your society or culture superior
to all others.
Cultural Relativism - answersViewing people's behavior from the perspective of their
culture.
Values - answersA collected conception of what is good and desirable/or not within a
given culture. Ex: honoring parents, owning a home, health, love, democracy, property,
marriage, achievement, efficiency, material comfort, nationalism, equality, science &
reason trump faith, & privacy.
Cooley - answersLooking Glass Self; Stages of development not distinct; feelings
toward ourselves develop through interaction with others. We imagine how others see
or think of us and act accordingly.
Mead - answersThe Self & Generalized Other; 3 distinct stages of development; self
develops as children grasp roles of others in their lives. Prepatory: imitate > Play:
Pretend to be other people > Game Stage: Consider tasks and relationships
simultaneously.
Goffman - answersImpression management, dramaturgical approach, face-work; self
developed through the impression we convey to others and to groups.
Freud - answerspsychoanalysis; self influenced by parents and inborn drives.
Piaget - answersCognitive theory; four stages of cognitive development; moral
development is linked to socialization.
Age Transitions - answersTransitions between ages.
Sandwich Generation - answersGeneration of adults who simultaneously try to meet the
competing needs of their parents and children.
Social Construction of Reality - answers..., the process by which people creatively
shape reality through social interaction
Thomas Theorm - answers..., "if people define situations as real, they are real in their
consequences" If it doesn't exist then there are no consequences. Ex: If germs don't
exist then they aren't icky.
Mass Media - answersPrint and electronic form of communication that carry messages
to widespread audiences.
Ex: TV, internet, newspapers, radio, motion pictures, and advertising.
