Exam 1: The Sociological Imagination: An Introduction

Discuss the main ideas of symbolic interactionism.

In the book How to Observe Morals and Manners,the institution of marriage is criticized as:

Postmodern sociologists argue that all so-called objective phenomena are open to debate because all meaning is subjective.Thus,to postmodernists,all "facts" are really:

Which of the three historical epistemological stages of human society did Comte explain was highlighted by Enlightenment thinking such as Rousseau's,Mill's,and Hobbes's beliefs in biological causes for human behavior?

A family,as a group of people living together and sharing individual stories,makes up a ____________ institution.

Which of the following is defined as a complex group of interdependent positions that together perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time?

One of Weber's most important contributions to sociology was the concept of Verstehen,or "understanding" in German.Describe what Weber meant by this concept and provide a "real-life" example of how one might "gain" this understanding.

George H.Mead described how the "self " internalizes the views of society as a whole,transcending the individual and particular situations.He calls this larger society:

The intended purpose of desegregation of schools in the 1950s was to make education equal for everyone.What was not intended was that many racial minority teachers and principals lost their jobs.This unintended purpose was called a(n)____________ function by functionalist theorist Talcott Parsons.

Explain what it means to "think like a sociologist" and "make the familiar strange," and use at least one example to make your point.

Max Weber criticized Marx because he felt he was "too narrow" in his focus.Why did Weber think Marx's focus was too narrow?

While historians are more likely to focus on the unique case,sociologists would more likely focus on:

Define what Karl Marx meant by historical materialism and discuss one way it could be applied in today's world (e.g.,within our technology-driven system).