Chapter 1 Study Guide
*Directions: To get the best use of this study guide, study for personal understanding instead of simple memorization. Your tests will have scenarios on them and simple recall questions. In scenarios, one must apply what is known; therefore, if you just memorize and do not understand what you have memorized, you will not succeed.
*The questions below are not the questions that are on the test; however, the topics they include will be on the test:
Chapter 1
Define the following terms:
Sociology
Sociological imagination
Social structure
Social institutions
Debunking
Diversity
Alexis De Tocqueville
Harriet Martineau
Emile Durkheim
Karl Marx
Max Weber
Jane Addams
W.E.B. Dubois
Answer the following questions:
1. What is Sociology?
2. What is the Sociological Perspective?
3. What did August Comte believe about sociology and what is he known for?
4. What are the basic dimensions of society according to Max Weber?
5. Explain what W.E.B. DuBois was most interested in.
6. What do Durkheim, Marx, and Weber have in common?
7. Describe Emile Durkheim’s work in laying the foundation for functionalism.
8. Compare and contrast the following theoretical perspectives and who is associated with each:
a. Conflict theory
b. Symbolic interactionism
c. Functionalism
d. Feminism
9. What has sociological research on education found?
10. Compare and contrast “troubles” and “issues”.
11. How does diversity play a role in sociology and what is the significance too?
Chapter 2
Define the following terms:
Culture
Symbols
Sapir-Worf hypothesis
Folkways
Mores
Dominant Culture
Subculture
Cultural relativism
Mass media
Popular culture
Reflection hypothesis
Culture lag
Cultural diffusion
Answer the following questions:
1. What is the relationship between biology and culture in shaping human behavior?
2. List some examples of both material and nonmaterial culture.
3. Describe, in detail, each element of culture.
4. How does language influence patterns of social inequality?
5. Why are norms such an important element of culture?
6. What have sociologists learned through ethnomethodological research?
7. What is the difference between subcultures and countercultures?
8. What are the main characteristics of an ethnocentric person?
9. What are some influences of the mass media?
10. Sociological research on the impact of media images has found what?
11. What are some examples of cultural innovation?
12. Define and describe the characteristics of culture