Exam 1: Sociology: Perspective, Theory, and Method

You wish to observe "natural behaviour"and you are unconcerned about replication. Which method should you use?

Which of the following did Durkheim believe to be a key factor in explaining why some categories of people had higher rates of suicide than others?

The ________ approaches view societies in broad terms.

How can Peter Berger's idea of "seeing the general in the particular"be useful to students in their everyday lives? In your response discuss why you have taken an introductory sociology class and why your classmates are taking the class, and compare "surface"and "deeper"reasons for taking the sociology class.

Critical sociologists:

As a positivist, Auguste Comte believed society has invariable laws, just like the laws of nature.

Use the ideas of Auguste Comte and Karl Marx to answer the following questions: What would your views be on the nature of the scientific study of society? How would you interpret the role of social forces in shaping human lives? What would you identify as the most important contemporary social forces? Finally, should we use scientific knowledge to change society, or not?

When Peter Berger characterized the sociological perspective as "seeing the general in the particular,"he meant that sociology helps us:

An apparent, although false, association between two (or more) variables caused by some other variable is termed a:

Name the three social changes that were especially important to the development of sociology.

Which sociological method is geared toward explanatory research, generates quantitative data, and provides for relatively easy research replication?

Which sociologist greatly influenced the development of the symbolic-interaction approach?

Reliability is the quality of consistency in measurement of a variable.

Jane Addams translated the writings of Auguste Comte from French into English.

Describe the theoretical paradigm of structural-functionalism.

Compare the major sociological approaches. First, write a short summary of the major points of each of the approaches. Next, highlight the differences between them. How would each of the approaches explain the persistence of inequality in Canada? How is your understanding of inequality broadened by using all three approaches at the same time?

According to Merton, social patterns affect all members of a society in the same way.

You have been accused of "androcentricity"in your research. You may be guilty of:

Which sociological approach tends to ignore the importance of larger social structures in society?

Who would chastise modern sociologists for theorizing about the world, but failing to change it?