DVC Sociology 120 Midterm #1 (Essay Questions)

1. meaning of sociology=the scientific study of society and social behavior 2. Why do we study it=to understand or uncover the principles of theories which explain why certain social phenomenon such as divorce or drug abuse occur with the view of solving them 3. 3 factors which gave rise=rural to urban migration, industrialization, and urbanization process 4. five logistical problems sociologists encounter=hawthorne effect, social desirability bias, problem of going native, certain experiments that scientists are not allowed to conduct, problems with measurement

Mention two contributions of each scientist: 1. Herbert Spencer -had the theory of seeing society as resembling a biological organism having different parts with different functions (lungs, heart, etc.) -contributed to the functionalist perspective 2. Auguste Comte -came up with the title social physics -later came up with the term sociology 3. Max Weber -came with up Weberian class analysis where he argued that Marxian class analysis is too narrow and too economistic -argued that other factors such as prestige and (job status)

1. explain and critique the conflict perspective- a) the founder was Karl Marx. It means that this is the view that society consists of different groups or classes with conflicting interests. For the critique of conflict perspective--for the poor, inter-generational problem conflict is the engine of change, without conflict there is no change, it's too radical, too much emphasis on conflict, too pessimistic, and it is too critical between the love between a husband and a wife. b) a wedding would be a symbol of the dominant class having a show of their wealth and power by putting on this extravagant ceremony. it is also a symbol of the exploitation of women and the wedding is a show of the inequality between men and women as the father gives away the bride to the husband and there will be no equality from that point on.

1. explain the functionalist perspective: a) The view that a society consists of various parts that have different functions that work together to promote social stability. Herbert Spencer, Robert Klein and Emile Durkheim were instrumental in developing the theory. 2. explain key terms of this perspective: a) the manifest function: The obvious, the intended/recognized/official function of consequence. E.g. education, media (to inform) b) the latent function: Unexpected consequence, unintended, unstated, hidden, this can be positive or negative. c) dysfunction: negative consequences seen as temporary condition which disrupts the system 3. two critiques of this perspective a) it's inherently conservative, and is fundamentally against rapid social reforms even if such reforms are inevitable, beneficial, and necessary in a society. It tends to emphasize social stability. (would have been against women's rights movement etc, too fast) b) Doesn't look at the past -- ignores history and merely praises the status quo, or present condition. Praises current governments -- TOO OPTIMISTIC, therefore naive. 4. explain how the role of functionalist perspective explains role of media a) the role of media related to the functionalist perspective causes: manifest function of media - to inform two latent functions of media : - the Promotion of inactivity -the Formation of global social movements dysfunction of media: spread of propaganda and panic

1. what does social statics and social dynamics mean? a) social statics focuses on social structure or the relatively stable elements found in every society. Social dynamics focuses on social change. Comte envisioned sociology as being much more than an intellectual enterprise--he dreamed of a Utopian society. He later become so consumed by sociology that he saw it almost as a religion--believing in extreme positive social change. 2. state opinion of this for test...