College Sociology
Name ____________________
Sociology Final Review
Chapter 1- The sociological perspective and research process
1. Define sociology and examine the components of the sociological perspective.
2. Understand the distinction between cause-and-effect relationship and a correlational relationship.
3. Summarize each of the following Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives
a. Functionalist Perspectives
b. Conflict Perspectives
c. Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives
Chapter 2- Culture
3. What part does culture play in shaping people and the social relations in which they participate?
4. What are the essential components of culture?
5. To what degree are we shaped by popular culture?
6. How do subcultures and countercultures reflect diversity within a society?
Chapter 3- Socialization
7. What happens when children do not have an environment that supports positive socialization?
8. What purpose does socialization serve?
9. How do individuals develop a sense of self?
10. How does socialization occur?
11. Who experiences resocialization?
12. Explain Freud and the Psychoanalytic Perspective-
13. Explain Cooley and the Looking-Glass Self-
Chapter 4- Social Structure & Interaction in Everyday Life
14. Explain the components of social structure
a. Status
b. Role
c. Groups
d. Social Institutions
15. Explain the different methods and their view on changes in Social Structure
a. Durkheim: Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
b. Tönnies: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
c. Industrial and Postindustrial Societies
Chapter 5- Groups and Organizations
16. What constitutes a social group?
17. How are groups and their members shaped by group size, leadership style, and pressures to
conform?
18. What is the relationship between information and social organizations in societies such as ours?
19. What purposes does bureaucracy serve?
20. What alternative forms of organization exist as compared with the most widespread forms today?
Chapter 6- Deviance and Crime
21. What is deviant behavior?
22. When is deviant behavior considered a crime?
23. Explain the Functionalist Perspectives on Deviance
a. Why is it Functional for Society?
b. Strain Theory: Goals and Means to Achieve Them
c. Opportunity Theory: Access to Illegitimate Opportunities
24. Explain the Conflict Perspectives on Deviance
a. How are deviance and capitalism linked to one another?
b. What is the feminist approach to deviance?
25. Explain the Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives on Deviance
a. Differential Association Theory and Differential Reinforcement Theory
b. Control Theory: Social Bonding
c. Labeling Theory
Chapter 7- Class and Stratification in the United States
26. How is the American Dream influenced by social stratification?
27. How do prestige, power, and wealth determine social class?
28. What role does occupational structure play in a functionalist perspective on class structure?
29. What role does ownership of resources play in a conflict perspective on class structure?
30. How are social stratification and poverty linked?
Chapter 8- Global Stratification31. How are global stratification and gender linked?
32. Explain each of the following views on poverty Absolute, Relative, and Subjective Poverty
33. What is global stratification, and how does it contribute to economic inequality?
34. Explain the following theories concerning poverty
a. Development and Modernization Theory
b. Dependency Theory
c. World System Theory
35. How do conflict theorists explain patterns of global stratification?
Chapter 9- Race and Ethnicity
36. How do race and ethnicity differ?
37. How do discrimination and prejudice differ?
38. How are racial and ethnic relations analyzed according to the following sociological perspectives?
a. Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives
b. Functionalist Perspectives
c. Conflict Perspectives
d. An Alternative Perspective: Critical Race Theory
Chapter 10- Sex and Gender
39. How do expectations about female and male appearance, and especially weight, reflect gender
inequality?
40. How do a society's resources and economic structure influence gender stratification?
41. Explain how the primary agents of gender socialization work
a. Parents and Gender Socialization
b. Peers and Gender Socialization
c. Teachers, Schools and Gender Socialization
d. Sports and Gender Socialization
e. Mass Media and Gender Socialization
42. How does the contemporary workplace reflect gender stratification?
43. How do functionalist, conflict, and feminist perspectives on gender stratification differ?
44. Explain the biological aspect of sex concerning the Intersexed and Transgendered Persons
45. Define Sexual Orientation, and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
Chapter 11- Families and Intimate Relationships
46. Why are many family-related concerns—such as divorce and child care—viewed primarily as
personal problems rather than as social concerns requiring macrolevel solutions?
47. Why is it difficult to define family?
48. How do marriage patterns vary around the world?
49. What are the key assumptions of functionalist, conflict/feminist, and symbolic interactionist
perspectives on families?
50. What trends of descent exist amongst families?
Chapter 12- Religion and education51. Why are education and religion powerful and influential forces in contemporary society?
52. How might education become a self-fulfilling prophecy for some people?
53. What unique functions might religion serve that no other institution can fulfill?
54. How do religious groups differ in organizational structure?
Chapter 16- Collective behavior
55. What are some causes of collective behavior and some common forms of collective behavior?
56. What draws people into social movements?
57. What factors contribute to social change?
Essay topics1. Distinguish between folkways, mores, and taboos and describe them as informal or formal.
Discuss the types of sanctions that each involves, and give examples.
2. Discuss the difference between psychological and sociological perspectives on human
development, using the work of Freud, Piaget, Cooley, and Mead as examples. Be sure to
emphasize the significant differences between these types of approaches.
3. Describe the research of Stanley Milgram and explain its contributions to our understanding of
obedience to authority. Compare his study to that of Solomon Asch and his contributions to our
understanding of group conformity.
4. Thoroughly outline the four major goals of punishment: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and
rehabilitation. How effective are each of the goals and how do institutions enact each of these
goals. List the institutions responsible for each of the goals.
5. You have recently been appointed to the United States Commission Against Poverty. Discuss
what specific reforms and strategies (assume that you have a blank check at your disposal) you
would attempt to implement in order to reduce or alleviate poverty in America. Explain the
reasons for the strategies that you suggest. Support your ideas with relevant sociological
concepts that we have studied from throughout the year.
6. Define and explain the concept of racial formation in the creation of unequal racial and ethnic
relations. Give several specific examples from throughout U.S. History and contemporary times to
illustrate racial formation.
7. Discuss the issue of gender bias in the U.S. education system. Include general information about
the relative educational attainment levels for males and females, and how sociological
investigation into gender bias has shifted over time. Describe the different types of institutions
that provide educational opportunities within the U.S. Discuss current trends and challenges for
colleges and universities.
8. Discuss the dynamics of collective behavior; that is, when are people most likely to act
collectively, how do attitudes and behavior correlate with each other, and why might some people
be more likely to act in a group than alone?
9. Summarize the key features of these four explanations of collective behavior: contagion theory,
social unrest and circular reaction, convergence theory, and emergent norm theory. Highlight the
differences among these types of explanation.
10. Contrast the five major types of social movements in terms of the types and extent of change
each seeks to produce. The five types are reform movements, revolutionary movements, religious
movements, alternative movements, and resistance movements.