Introduction to Sociology: study guide and practice
Also known as: soc 101, soc 1301, soc 2000, soc 1010, soci 1301, soc 100, sociology 101, introduction to sociology, intro to sociology, principles of sociology, general sociology
What you will be able to do
- Use the sociological imagination and the three major theories to analyse social life
- Explain how sociologists design studies and judge their quality
- Describe the elements of culture and the difference between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
- Explain how people learn their roles and identities through socialisation
- Compare major theories of deviance and social control
- Explain how and why societies are stratified into classes and what social mobility means
- Distinguish race, ethnicity, sex and gender and explain how inequality is maintained
- Describe the main social institutions and how they shape individual lives
Topics
- The sociological imagination and theoriesSeeing personal troubles as public issues, and the functionalist, conflict and interactionist lenses.
- Research methods in sociologyVariables, sampling, surveys, ethnography, reliability, validity and avoiding wrong conclusions.
- CultureMaterial and non-material culture, norms and values, subcultures, and how to study other cultures fairly.
- Socialization and the selfHow people acquire a self, roles and culture through family, school, peers and media over a lifetime.
- Deviance and social controlHow societies define rule-breaking and the main theories of why it happens.
- Social stratification and classHow societies rank people, systems of stratification, social mobility and the measurement of inequality.
- Race, ethnicity and genderSocial construction, prejudice versus discrimination, patterns of group relations and gender roles.
- Social institutionsFamily, education, religion, economy and government, and how bureaucracy and rationalisation shape modern life.