Unit 1: Introduction to Sociology and Sociological Research
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Define sociology and examine the components of the sociological perspective.
 Describe the historical development of sociology as a science.
 Summarize the main assumptions of the major theoretical paradigms in sociology.
 Examine the ideal of objectivity in sociological research and discuss ways that researchers can
be as objective as possible.
 Summarize the four major methods by which sociologists conduct research and discuss the
strengths and weaknesses of each method.
 Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.
Unit 2: Culture
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Provide the sociological definitions of culture, nonmaterial and material culture, and culture
shock.
 Understand the role of language in the transmission of culture.
 Distinguish between mores and folkways.
 Distinguish between real and ideal culture.
 Examine the diversity of subcultures and countercultures found in complex, modern societies.
 Summarize the contemporary debate over multiculturalism.
 Compare and contrast ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
 Apply the theoretical analyses in sociology to the study of culture.
 Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.
Unit 3: Social Structure and Group Behavior
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Define social interaction.
 Distinguish between ascribed and achieved status.
 Distinguish between role set, role strain, and role conflict.
 Discuss the extent to which reality is socially constructed.
 Distinguish between primary and secondary groups.
 Describe leadership styles in terms of decision making.
 Summarize research findings on group conformity (Asch, Milgram, Janis).
 Distinguish between ingroups and outgroups.
 List Weber’s six defining characteristics of bureaucracy.
 Apply the theoretical analyses in sociology to the study of groups.
 Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.
Unit 4: Socialization
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Define socialization.
 Summarize research findings on the effects of extreme social isolation on children.
 Identify and describe major developmental theories (Piaget, Kohlberg, Gilligan, Erikson).
 Define Mead’s theory of the social self and outline the development of the self.
 Examine the role of the family, the school, peer groups, and the mass media in the socialization
process.
 Apply the theoretical analyses in sociology to the study of socialization.
 Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.
Unit 5: Deviance and Crime
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Define deviance.
 Evaluate the general biological and psychological explanations of deviance.
 Explain Merton’s strain theory and describe the four types of deviant responses.
 Explain the labeling theory.
 Summarize Sutherland’s differential association theory.
 Identify and define the major types of crime.
 Apply the theoretical analyses in sociology to the study of deviance.
 Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.
Unit 6: Social Stratification
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Define social stratification.
 Distinguish between class and caste systems.
 Examine how stratification changes as societies pass through the stages of sociocultural
revolution (Lenskis).
 Examine the ways in which social standing is linked to health, values, politics, and family life.
 Distinguish between intergenerational and intragenerational social mobility.
 Debate the issue of whether poverty is a result of individual or social factors.
 Apply the theoretical analyses in sociology to the study of stratification.
 Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.
Unit 8: Media and Technology
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Understand technological inequality and issues related to unequal access to technology.
 Describe the role of planned obsolescence in technological development.
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Demonstrate awareness of the social homogenization and social fragmentation that are
occurring via modern society’s use of technology and media.
Apply the theoretical analyses in sociology to the study of media and technology.
Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.
Unit 7: Inequalities in Society – Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Age
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Define race, ethnicity, minority.
 Define the concepts of prejudice and discrimination and discuss how they are related to each
other.
 Identify and describe patterns of minority-majority interaction.
 Make global comparisons with regard to “masculinity” and “femininity.”
 Discuss the role of the family, school, peer groups, and the mass media in the socialization of
gender roles.
 Describe Intersectionality and the implications on the study of inequalities.
 Describe the role of cultural factors in determining how aging is defined in any given society.
 Apply the theoretical analyses in sociology to the study of minority groups.
 Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.
Unit 10: Education and Religion
Performance Objectives
Students are able to:
 Identify the major social functions of schooling.
 Define the concept of the hidden curriculum.
 Outline the major problems in U.S. schooling, including discipline and violence, student
passivity, dropping out, declining academic achievement, and grade inflation.
 Define the basic concepts of religion.
 Identify characteristics of six major world religions.
 Apply the theoretical analyses in sociology to the study of education and religion.
 Apply the sociological approach to current issues in society.