Sociology can be defined as "The systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions" (Ferris & Stein, 2014: p. 9). Sociologists seek to look through a sociological perspective. Bernard McGrane uses the term 'beginner's mind' or approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things in a new way. C. Wright Mills uses the term 'sociological imagination' or the ability to look at issues from a sociological perspective. The three main theoretical perspectives sociologists use are structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Structural functionalism is a macro-level theory, one that studies large-scale…show more content… Culture “Is the entire way of life of a group of people” (Ferris & Stein, 2014: p. 77). This term is very important to keep in mind, because there isn’t one culture that is better than the other. Gender role socialization is “The subtle, pervasive process of becoming masculine or feminine- begins early and continues throughout our lives” (p. 248). The four major agents of socialization are family, schools, peers, and the media. Families influence gender before birth, by referring to the fetus as a boy or girl. Schools influence gender by assigning the children gender-stereotyped tasks, including playing with dolls or trucks. Peers influence gender by choosing same sex playmates. Lastly, the media influences gender by how the television and Internet portray what is normal and how to be accepted. This term is important because it is hard to interact with people without first determining their gender. Social stratification is “The division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy” (p. 184). In our capitalist society we use social class to rank people according to their wealth, property, power and prestige. As interactionists argue that we can make judgments about a person’s social status by looking at their
