REVIEW MIDTERM INTRO TO SOCIOLOGY

1. Sociology
-Sociology: the scientific study of social behavior and human groups.
Sociology focuses on:
• Social relationships.
• How those relationships influence human behavior.
• How societies develop and change.
-Social relationships: “social relationships refer to the connections that
exist between people who have recurring interactions that are perceived by
the participants to have personal meaning. This definition includes
relationships between family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and
other associates but excludes social contacts and interactions that are
fleeting, incidental, or perceived to have limited significance (e.g., time-
limited interactions with service providers or retail employees)” (August
and Rook, 2013)
-Sociology and the Social Sciences
Science: the body of knowledge obtained by methods of systematic
observation.
Natural science: the study of the physical features of nature and the ways
in which they interact and change.
Social science: the study of the social features of humans and the ways in
which they interact and change.
-Social sciences include:
• Sociology.
• Anthropology.
• Economics.
• History.
• Psychology.
• Political science.
The common focus is on the social behavior of people.
-Sociologists study:
 • The influence that society has on people’s attitudes and
behavior.
• The ways people interact and shape society. Examples:
• The reasons many Americans deny that climate change is
occurring or feel that human activities are not responsible.
• How the impact of climate change is not evenly felt.
• Episodes of extreme violence and hatred.
• How to respond to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005
and hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017.
-Sociology and Common Sense
Commonsense knowledge is not always reliable.
Sociologists believe information must be tested, recorded, and analyzed.
Scientific studies are used to describe and understand the social
environment.
2.Sociological Imagination
-Sociologists rely on a particular type of critical thinking that C. Wright
Mills described as the sociological imagination.
• Defined as an awareness of the relationship between an
individual and the wider society, both today and in the past.
• A key element is viewing society from an outsider’s
perspective, rather than only from the perspective of personal
experiences and cultural biases.
• We go beyond personal experiences to understand broader
public issues. Divorce, for example, is unquestionably a personal
hardship for a husband and wife who split apart
-The sociological imagination is an empowering tool. It allows us to look
beyond a limited understanding of human behavior to see the world and its
people in a new way and through a broader lens than we might otherwise
use.
+Culture – Confucianism and its influences
+Religions - Sharia laws (in Afghanistan for example), and its
influences
+Racial inequality – Black lives matter and its influences
 +Social interaction – the role of social media: CEO.Nguyen
Phuong Hang, Binh Duong, Vietnam
+Economy – Global financial crisis (GFC) 2008-2009, – US-China
Trade War
3. Major Theoretical Perspectives
-The three most widely used perspectives in sociology:
• Functionalist perspective.
• Conflict perspective.
• Interactionist perspective
*Functionalist perspective: emphasizes how the parts of society are
structured to maintain social stability Talcott Parsons (1902 to 1979):
• Key sociologist in the functionalist perspective.
• Viewed society as a network of connected parts.
• Each part helps maintain the social system. Niklas Luhmann
(1927–1998) holds that if an aspect of social life does not
contribute to a society’s stability or survival—if it does not serve
some identifiably useful function or promote value consensus
among members of society—it will not be passed on from one
generation to the next
For example: Why the Hindu prohibition against slaughtering cows?.
+ Cow worship is highly functional in Indian society.
+ Cows perform two essential tasks: plowing the fields and producing
milk. If eating beef were permitted, poor families might be tempted to
slaughter their cows for immediate consumption => no a means of
cultivation. Cows also produce dung, which doubles as a fertilizer and a
fuel for cooking.
+ Finally, cow meat sustains the neediest group in society, the Dalit, or
untouchables, who sometimes resort to eating beef in secrecy. If eating beef
were socially acceptable, higher-status Indians would no doubt bid up its
price, placing it beyond the reach of the hungriest.
-Manifest functions: the open, stated, and conscious functions of
institutions.
For instance, the university’s role in certifying academic competence and
excellence.
-Latent functions: the unintended consequences of an institution. It may
reflect hidden purposes.
For example, one latent function of universities is to serve as a meeting
ground for people seeking marital partners.
-Dysfunctions: elements or processes of society that can disrupt the social
system or reduce stability.
For instance, sex work is banned in some countries due to its negative
impact on the stability. However, we should evaluate this issue carefully, in
some countries, sex work contribute to the economic development.
*Conflict perspective: assumes social behavior is best understood in
terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources.
Forms of tension can include:
• Labor negotiations.
• Party politics.
• Competition for religious group membership.
• Budget disputes.
-The Marxist View Based on the work of Karl Marx.
Conflict is now viewed as a part of everyday life. Conflict theorists:
• Focus on how social institutions maintain privilege and
subservience of different groups.
• Emphasize social change.
• Emphasize the redistribution of resources.
• Are more radical than functionalists.
-Feminist perspective: inequity in gender is central to all behavior and
organization.
The focus tends to be on the macro level.
Women’s subordination is inherent in capitalist societies.
Intersectionalities: the interlocking matrix of domination.
• Multiple social factors—such as race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and
religion—help determine privilege and lack of privilege.
-Queer theory: the study of society from the perspective of a broad
spectrum of sexual identities, including:
 • Heterosexuality.
• Homosexuality.
• Bisexuality.
Foucault (1978) wrote that what is acceptable human sexuality varies
between cultures and periods of time.
Sedgwick (1990) argued that analyzing society is incomplete without
including sexual identities.
For example: the reelection of President Obama in 2012.
Political scientists have often noted the overwhelming support the president
received from African Americans, Latinos, and women voters. Yet most
have ignored the huge support—76 percent—that the president enjoyed
among gay, lesbian, and bisexual voters.
In the three battleground states of Florida, Ohio, and Virginia, support from
gay, lesbian, and bisexual voters alone was enough to put Obama over the
top
*Interactionist perspective: generalizes about everyday forms of social
interaction to explain society as a whole.
-Humans are viewed as living in a world of meaningful objects, including:
• Material things.
• Actions.
• Other people.
• Relationships.
• Symbols.
-Symbols are especially important to this perspective.
• Central to communication.
• Have a shared meaning among all members of society.
-Nonverbal communication: gestures, facial expressions, and postures.
• All express meaning
-George Herbert Mead (1863 to 1931):
• Founder of the interactionist perspective.
• Wanted sociologists to focus more on the micro level of
behavior.
-Erving -Goffman (1922 to 1982):
• Developed the dramaturgical approach, in which people are
seen as theatrical performers.
• Compared everyday life to the settings of the theater and stage.
• Presentation of self in public and private settings.

4.
-Formal norms: generally have been written down and specify strict
punishment for violators
-Mores: norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society.
• Societies demand obedience to mores, violation can lead to
severe penalties
• Thus, The United States has strong mores against murder,
treason, and child abuse.
-Folkways: norms governing everyday behavior. It shapes the daily
behavior of members of a culture.
• Society is less likely to formalize folkways.
• Violations do not raise much concern.
For examples: DẠ, THƯA…., Lovely.
-Sanctions: penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm.
• Positive sanctions: include pay raises, medals, words of
gratitude, and pats on the back.
 • Negative sanctions: include fines, threats, imprisonment, and
stares of contempt.

Norms Positive Sanctions Negative Sa

Formal Salary bonus; Demotion;
Testimonial dinner; Firing from a
Medal; Jail sentence
Diploma Expulsion
Informal Smile; Frown;
Compliment; Humiliation;
Cheers Bullying
-Values: the collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper
—or bad, undesirable, and improper—in a culture.
• Indicate what people in a culture prefer, find important, find
morally right or wrong.
• Can be specific (e.g., honoring one’s parents and owning a
home) or general (e.g. health, love, and democracy).
Values, norms, and sanctions are often directly related to each other.
Values can differ in subtle ways not just among individuals and groups, but
from one culture to another.
• Example: “cram schools,” which are valued in Japan but are
considered an unfair advantage in Korea.
• Example: public opinion regarding government efforts to
reduce income inequality.
5.
Social institutions: organized patterns of beliefs and behavior centered on
basic social needs.
• Government preserves order.
• Family replaces personnel.
The mass media, the government, the economy, the family, religion,
educational system, and the health care system are all examples of social
institutions found in our society.
From the functionalist perspective, there are five major tasks or functional
prerequisites that a society or relatively permanent group must accomplish
if it is to survive:
• Replacing personnel.
• Teaching new recruits.
• Producing and distributing goods and services.
• Preserving order.
• Providing and maintaining a sense of purpose.
Conflict theorists object to the idea that the outcome is necessarily efficient
and desirable.
• Major institutions help maintain privileges of most powerful
individuals and groups within society.
• Social institutions such as education have an inherently
conservative nature.
• Social institutions also operate in gendered and racist
environments.
Social institutions affect everyday our behavior.
Interactionist theorists emphasize that our social behavior is conditioned
by:
• The roles and statuses we accept.
• The groups to which we belong.
• The institutions within which we function.

Perspecti
ve Role of Social Institutions F

Functiona Meeting basic social needs E

list

Conflict Meeting basic social needs M

a

Interactio Fostering everyday behavior I

nist s

6.
Bureaucracy: a component of formal organization that uses rules and
hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency.
For analytical purposes, Max Weber developed an ideal type of
bureaucracy.
• Ideal type: a construct or model for evaluating specific cases.
• Perfect bureaucracies do not exist.
• Weber emphasized the basic similarity of structure and
process found in otherwise dissimilar enterprises of religion,
government, education, and business.
Characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy:
(1) Division of labor:
• Specialized experts perform specific tasks.
• Fragmentation of work can divide workers and remove any
connection they might feel to the objective of the bureaucracy.
• Alienation: a condition of estrangement or dissociation from
the surrounding society.
• Trained incapacity: workers become so specialized that they
develop blind spots and fail to notice obvious problems.
(2) Hierarchy of authority:
• Each position is under the supervision of a higher authority.
(3) Written rules and regulations:
• Written rules and regulations offer employees clear standards
for an adequate performance.
• They also provide a valuable sense of continuity in a
bureaucracy.
• Goal displacement: the term used by Robert Merton to refer
to overzealous conformity to official regulations.
(4) Impersonality:
• Work is carried out “without hatred or passion”
(sine ira et studio).
• Intended to guarantee equal treatment for each person.
 • Contributes to the cold and uncaring feeling of modern
organizations.
(5) Employment based on technical qualifications:
• Hiring based on qualifications.
• Performance measured against specific standards.
• Peter principle: every employee within a hierarchy tends to
rise to his or her level of incompetence.

Negative Consequence— N
Characteristic Positive Consequence For the Individual F

Division of labor Produces efficiency in a Produces trained P

large-scale corporation incapacity p

Hierarchy of authority Clarifies who is in Deprives employees of a P

command voice in decision making m

Written rules and Let workers know what is Stifle initiative and L
regulation expected of them imagination

Impersonality Reduces bias Contributes to feelings of D

alienation c

Employment based on Discourages favoritism Discourages ambition to F

technical qualifications and reduces rivalries improve oneself elsewhere

Bureaucratization: the process by which a group, organization, or social

movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic.
• Can take place in large and small group settings.
Iron law of oligarchy: describes how even a democratic organization will
eventually develop into a bureaucracy ruled by a few, called an oligarchy.
• People who achieve leadership roles have the skills,
knowledge, and charismatic appeal to direct or control others.
7.
Role conflict: occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or
more social positions held by the same person.
• Roles of one status may conflict with roles of another status.
 • Conflict can also occur when individuals move into
occupations that are not common among people with their
ascribed status.
For example: an employee who has worked for a decade in a company,
and has recently been appointed as a supervisor of his/her department.
This makes a conflict between the social role (with his/her colleagues) and
the occupational role (with his/her responsibilities in the department)
Role strain: the difficulty that arises when the same social position
imposes conflicting demands and expectations.
• People who belong to minority cultures can experience role
strain while working in the mainstream culture.
For example: Among students, role strain can come both from the
responsibilities and expectations of being a student in itself and
competing roles (for work and family)
Norms: the established standards of behavior maintained by a society. To
be significant, a norm must be widely shared and understood. For example:
one persistent social norm in contemporary society is heterosexuality. •
One in five mothers sees homosexuality as abnormal. • One in four mothers
teaches her young children that homosexuality is wrong. • Only one in four
parents has even considered whether his or her child might grow up to be
gay or lesbian.
Formal norms: generally have been written down and specify strict
punishment for violators. Law: formal norms enforced by the state. •
Described by sociologist Donald Black as “governmental social control.”
For example: differences between legal requirements for getting married in
Vietnam and Arab Saudi
Informal norms: generally understood but not precisely recorded. •
Standards of proper dress are an example. 29 For example: Our society has
no specific punishment, or sanction, for a person who shows up at school or
work wearing inappropriate clothing
-Mores: norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society.
• Societies demand obedience to mores, violation can lead to
severe penalties
• Thus, The United States has strong mores against murder,
treason, and child abuse.
-Folkways: norms governing everyday behavior. It shapes the daily
behavior of members of a culture.
• Society is less likely to formalize folkways.
• Violations do not raise much concern.
For examples: DẠ, THƯA…., Lovely.
-Sanctions: penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm.
• Positive sanctions: include pay raises, medals, words of
gratitude, and pats on the back.
• Negative sanctions: include fines, threats, imprisonment, and
stares of contempt.
People do not follow norms in all situations. • A norm may be weakly
enforced. • A behavior may adhere to a group norm but not a societal norm.
• Norms may be violated because they conflict with other norms.
Acceptance of norms is subject to change. • For example, norms regarding
interracial marriage have changed over time. Sudden violation of
longstanding cultural norms can upset an entire population.