Sociology 1010 Final Exam (everything) Questions and Complete Solutions

Sociology the study of human society sociological imagination the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual's life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces social institutions a complex group of interdependent positions that, together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time; also defined in a narrow sense as any institution in a society that works to shape the behavior of the groups or people within it. Verstehen German for "understanding." The concept of Verstehen comes from Max Weber and is the basis of interpretive sociology in which researchers imagine themselves experiencing the life positions of the social actors they want to understand rather than treating those people as objects to be examined. Anomie a sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; too little social regulation; normlessness Functionalism a strain within sociology that believes the social world can be described and predicted by certain observable relationships (akin to social physics) double consciousness a concept conceived by W. E. B. Du Bois to describe the two behavioral scripts, one for moving through the world and the other incorporating the external opinions of prejudiced onlookers, which are constantly maintained by African Americans. functionalism the theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important (or necessary) function to keep society running. (page 32) Conflict Theory the idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general. (page 33) Symbolic Interactionism a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people's actions. (page 35) postmodernism a condition characterized by a questioning of the notion of progress and history, the replacement of narrative within pastiche, and multiple, perhaps even conflicting, identities resulting from disjointed affiliations. (page 35