Sociology 101
A group of people who live together in a shared space and culture.
What is a society?
This micro level theory is a theoretical perspective that focuses on symbols and everyday interactions.
What is symbolic interactionism?
Established, written rules
What are formal norms?
Gestures or objects that have meanings associated with them that are recognized by people who share a culture
What are symbols?
The evaluation and judgment of another culture based on one’s own cultural norms
What is ethnocentrism?
The study of society and social interaction.
What is sociology?
This macro level theoretical perspective that sees society as a system where all parts work together.
What is functionalism?
These are norms without any moral underpinnings.
What are folkways.
A way to encourage conformity to cultural norms
What are social controls?
Patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies.
What are cultural universals?
This man is known as the "father of sociology".
Who is Auguste Comte?
A theoretical perspective that focuses on inequality, power, and competition.
What is conflict theory?
Casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to. People learn these by observation, imitation, and general socialization. Some informal norms are taught directly— “Kiss your Aunt Edna” or “Use your napkin"; others are learned by observation, including understanding consequences when someone else violates a norm.
What is an informal norm?
A way to authorize or formally disapprove of certain behaviors, can be positive or negative.
What are sanctions?
This part of culture consists of the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society. These are things you cannot touch.
What is nonmaterial culture?
This thinker's ideas about class struggle, inequality, power, and competition over resources directly inspired what later sociologists called Conflict Theory.
Who is Karl Marx?
A sociologist using this perspective would argue that school uniforms help maintain order and reduce conflict between students of different backgrounds.
What is a functionalist?
A student cheats on a test. Which type of norm does this violate?
What is a more?
also acceptable: what is a formal norm?
The standards a society would like to embrace and live up to.
What is ideal culture?
Excerpt from Born a Crime: Like indigenous peoples around the world, black South Africans adopted the religion of our colonizers. By "adopt" I mean it was forced on us.
The deliberate imposition of one’s own cultural values on another culture.
What is cultural imperialism?
Dipping into psychology, this theory argues that human development can only be understood by examining how a person interacts with the different environments and relationships surrounding them, rather than focusing on individual traits alone.
What is Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory?
A school removes all grades. Which of the sociological perspectives would look at how daily interactions and meaning of “success” change?
What is symbolic interactionism?
a quick note - the other two perspectives would look at:
Functionalist: How the change impacts stability, motivation, and roles.
Conflict theorist: Who gains/loses power; how inequality shifts.
A culture expects people to stand in line politely at a food stall, but there is no written rule or serious punishment for breaking this expectation—most people simply give disapproving looks. What type of norm is this?
What is a folkway (an informal norm)?
A culture has no word for “privacy,” and people rarely spend time alone. Which concept/hypothesis might explain how language limits or shapes their ideas?
What is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?
This perspective challenges people to temporarily set aside their own cultural norms when analyzing unfamiliar practices—asking not whether the practice is “right” or “wrong,” but what function it serves within its society. What is this mindset called?
What is cultural relativism?