Exam 1: The Sociological Perspective

______________ are patterned ways of acting,thinking,and feeling that exist outside any one individual but that exert social control over each person.

In relation to the study of education,the______________perspective would emphasize the daily activities within the schools,the various forms of communication between teachers and pupils,examine the influence of peer groups,and look at the reaction when school rules are broken or followed.

Sociologists applying a______________framework to the study of consumerism would primarily focus on a microlevel analysis of people's face­to­face interactions.

Distinguish between microlevel and macrolevel analyses and state which level of analysis is utilized by each of the major theoretical perspectives.

______________ is the process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and handmade products to an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries.

Sociologist Emile Durkheim observed that rapid social change and a more specialized division of labor produce strains in society.These strains lead to a breakdown in traditional organization,values,and authority and to a dramatic increase in anomie.

One of Max Weber's most useful concepts is decentralization-the process by which the modern world has come to be increasingly dominated by structures devoted to efficiency,calculability,predictability,and technological control.

Sociologists applying a______________framework to the study of consumerism would primarily focus on how the capitalist economy has shifted from industrial-based to information-based.

According to Auguste Comte,societies contain______________,which are forces for conflict and change.

French philosopher Auguste Comte coined the term sociology to describe a new science that would engage in the study of society.

A major difference between the theoretical perspectives is the level of analysis.Identify the focus of one of the three major perspectives (functionalist,conflict,or symbolic interactionist)and explain how theorists from each perspective would explain racism,sexism,or ageism in the United States.

______________ is the belief that those species of animals,including human beings,best adapted to their environment survive and prosper,whereas those poorly adapted die out.

Sociologists refer to a theoretical framework as a(n)______________-an overall approach to or viewpoint on some subject.

This sociologist is described as the founding figure of the functionalist theoretical tradition.

______________ perspectives are based on the assumption that society is a stable,orderly system.

According to feminists,we live in a(n)______________,a system in which men dominate women and in which things that are considered to be "male" or "masculine" are more highly valued than those considered to be "female" or "feminine."

A society is a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.

______________ and sociology have mutual interests such as consumerism and debt.

In the Marxian framework,the working class,or bourgeoisie,is composed of those who must sell their labor because they have no other means to earn a livelihood.

The conflict and functionalist perspectives focus primarily on microlevel (focusing on small groups)analysis,whereas the symbolic interactionist approaches are based on a macrolevel (examining whole societies,large-scale social structures,and social systems)analysis.