THINGS TO REMEMBER SOCIOLOGY

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1 PREMIER CURRICULUM SERIES Based on the Sunshine State Standards for Secondary Education, established by the State of Florida, Department of Education THINGS TO REMEMBER SOCIOLOGY Copyright 2009 Revision Date:12/2009

2 Sociology Things to Remember Lesson 1 Sociology is the study of human society and social behavior. Comte was the founder of modern sociology. Economic determinism is the theory that nature of a society is based on the economy. A theory is a logical explanation of phenomena that can be tested against reality. A contribution to society which has a negative impact is called a dysfunction. Symbols stand for something else. Scientific information comes from initial data. Surveys typically involve a large group of people. A case study is a prolonged study of an individual. Variables occur in varying degrees. Lesson 2 Culture is all the material objects and patterns for thinking, feeling, and behaving that are the shared products of a group of people. A society is a group of people who share a common culture. Norms are the shared rules of society define acceptable and unacceptable actions. Cultural traits are individual acts or beliefs related to a particular need or situation. Counter-cultures deliberately and consciously oppose important features of the dominant culture. A social structure is a network of recurring social relationships in a person s life. Roles define rights and obligations of status positions. A family is an important primary group. Subsistence strategies are ways a society fulfills the need for food. Post-industrial societies employ most workers in service industries. 2

3 Lesson 3 Sociology Things to Remember Socialization is the process of learned behavior from the interaction with culture and others. Proponents of nature believe that most of what we know is inherited. The family is the most important agent of socialization. Peer groups are individuals of about the same age and social characteristics. Deviant behavior violates social norms. A stigma is a mark of social disgrace. Ranking of individuals or groups of people on the basis of scarce desirables such as wealth and power is social stratification. People who live below the poverty line are living below the minimum required to live a decent life. A race is not a group of people who supposedly share certain few biological characteristics. In a matriarchy women dominate society. Lesson 4 Social institutions satisfy the basic societal needs of an individual. The family is the basic social unit in all societies and a group of people related by marriage, blood, or adoption. Educational institutions are concerned with the transmission of roles and norms that the society considers important from one generation to the next. A meritocracy is a society in which status is based on ability and achievement not background or family status. Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred items. Sacred items are set apart and given special valuable meaning. Denominations are separate forms of established religious organizations that most members of society see as legitimate. Political systems consist of roles and norms that control exercise of power within a society. In an oligarchy, power is exercised through only a few people. An economic system controls the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. 3

4 Lesson 5 Sociology Things to Remember Collective behavior is usually spontaneous and unstructured. Crowds are temporary collections of people who share a time of interaction. A crowd will panic when it experiences something fearful. Fashions usually have widespread acceptance. Rumors are widely circulating stories that are usually false. A riot is a group of people who are concerned about an issue divided in opinion on what should be done. Social movements are a form of collective behavior. Revolutionary movements want to change society totally and radically. Utopian movements attempt to create a separate society. Reformative movements want to bring partial change to society in one social issue. Lesson 6 Social changes are alterations in society over time, which have long-term and important consequences. Inventions can mean that something existing is changed. Innovations take already existing items and create something new from them. Diffusion occurs to move an aspect of culture from another group. For the first time in world human history, rural areas almost have fewer people than urban areas. War is a violent conflict between peoples. Industrialization is a process that involves mass production of goods. Regional capacity is not the number of people and other organisms that a geographic area can sustain. Postmodernism believes that people in this post-industrial state are dominated by the media in one form or another. Pollution affects both animal(s) and plant life. 4

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6 Author: Joanne Pralle Copyright 2009 Revision Date:12/2009