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Introduction to Sociology Midterm Study Guide, Cheat Sheet of Sociology

Introduction to Sociology Midterm Study Guide

Typology: Cheat Sheet

2021/2022

Available from 06/19/2023

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Midterm Exam
1. Who was Emile Durkheim and what were his ideas regarding functionalism, division of labor,
deviance, and the two types of social solidarity? Who was Karl Marx and what were his main
ideas concerning conflict theory? Who was Max Weber and what were his main ideas that were
focused on the ideal type of bureaucracy and economics organizing society?
Emile Durkheim was a Jewish sociologist who observed how public degradation of Jews by non-Jews
calmed and unified the majority of the divided French public which developed his ideas of social
solidarity being by identifying some as “other” or not belonging. Durkheim indicated that society was
larger than the sum of its parts and produced the term Sui Generis which means in a literal sense, “thing
in itself”. Sui Generis entailed that society was a subject to be studied separately from the sum of
individuals who composed it. Durkheim further adds social structures produce social forces that impinge
on individuals. Durkheim identifies that society as an integrated whole, each part contributes to its
stability which were the basis of functionalism. Rituals create social solidarity, referring to the bonds that
link the members of a group.
Karl Marx expressed his beliefs that capitalism, an economic system based on the pursuit of profit
and sanctity of private property shapes society. Marx expressed that profit was produced through the
exploitation of the working class. There was a difference between the wages being paid and the worth of
the goods being sold that produced profit for the capitalist. He further states that capitalist controlled the
production of goods and ideas which allowed to dictate people’s behavior. Conflict theory emphasizes the
role of coercion and power in society and the ability of some to influence and control others. According to
conflict theory, inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of society’s
resources actively defend their advantages. Marx sees conflict theory sees a dominant class as controlling
the resources of society and using its power to create the institutional rules and belief systems that support
its power. Some groups of people have access to fewer resources in capitalist society, they are forced into
crime to sustain themselves which produce deviance and crimes.
Max Weber was a sociologist that stated that cultural values interact with economic and political
systems to produce society; no one factor determines the character of society. Even when the economy is
stagnant, cultural beliefs in hard work and the Protestant ethic mean that people will blame individuals, not
the system, for failure. In terms of bureaucracy, Weber analyzed the ideal type. The characteristics
involved a high degree of division of labor and specialization., hierarchy of authority, rule and regulations,
impersonal relationships, career ladders and efficiency.
2. What is culture including the elements and characteristics discussed in class? Why is it essential
for culture to have an established language? What are examples of material and nonmaterial
culture? What is cultural relativism and explain the differences in the types of cultures we
defined in chapter 2.
Culture is a complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group
or society. Culture includes beliefs, values, knowledge, art, morals, laws, customs, habits, language, and
dress style. Culture also includes ways of thinking and patterns of behavior. Culture holds society together,
gives people a sense of belonging and tells them how to behave or think in certain situations.
Culture is both material and non-material components where material culture is objects created in
society such as art, tools, toys, literature and etc. Non-material components include norms, laws, customs,
ideas, and beliefs of that group of people. Examples of material culture is an object such as the Mona Lisa
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Midterm Exam

  1. Who was Emile Durkheim and what were his ideas regarding functionalism, division of labor, deviance, and the two types of social solidarity? Who was Karl Marx and what were his main ideas concerning conflict theory? Who was Max Weber and what were his main ideas that were focused on the ideal type of bureaucracy and economics organizing society? Emile Durkheim was a Jewish sociologist who observed how public degradation of Jews by non-Jews calmed and unified the majority of the divided French public which developed his ideas of social solidarity being by identifying some as “other” or not belonging. Durkheim indicated that society was larger than the sum of its parts and produced the term Sui Generis which means in a literal sense, “thing in itself”. Sui Generis entailed that society was a subject to be studied separately from the sum of individuals who composed it. Durkheim further adds social structures produce social forces that impinge on individuals. Durkheim identifies that society as an integrated whole, each part contributes to its stability which were the basis of functionalism. Rituals create social solidarity, referring to the bonds that link the members of a group. Karl Marx expressed his beliefs that capitalism, an economic system based on the pursuit of profit and sanctity of private property shapes society. Marx expressed that profit was produced through the exploitation of the working class. There was a difference between the wages being paid and the worth of the goods being sold that produced profit for the capitalist. He further states that capitalist controlled the production of goods and ideas which allowed to dictate people’s behavior. Conflict theory emphasizes the role of coercion and power in society and the ability of some to influence and control others. According to conflict theory, inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of society’s

resources actively defend their advantages. Marx sees conflict theory sees a dominant class as controlling

the resources of society and using its power to create the institutional rules and belief systems that support its power. Some groups of people have access to fewer resources in capitalist society, they are forced into crime to sustain themselves which produce deviance and crimes. Max Weber was a sociologist that stated that cultural values interact with economic and political systems to produce society; no one factor determines the character of society. Even when the economy is stagnant, cultural beliefs in hard work and the Protestant ethic mean that people will blame individuals, not the system, for failure. In terms of bureaucracy, Weber analyzed the ideal type. The characteristics involved a high degree of division of labor and specialization., hierarchy of authority, rule and regulations, impersonal relationships, career ladders and efficiency.

  1. What is culture including the elements and characteristics discussed in class? Why is it essential for culture to have an established language? What are examples of material and nonmaterial culture? What is cultural relativism and explain the differences in the types of cultures we defined in chapter 2. Culture is a complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society. Culture includes beliefs, values, knowledge, art, morals, laws, customs, habits, language, and dress style. Culture also includes ways of thinking and patterns of behavior. Culture holds society together, gives people a sense of belonging and tells them how to behave or think in certain situations. Culture is both material and non-material components where material culture is objects created in society such as art, tools, toys, literature and etc. Non-material components include norms, laws, customs, ideas, and beliefs of that group of people. Examples of material culture is an object such as the Mona Lisa

painting or work of literature such as Common Sense and non-material culture is less tangible where some people eat with utensil and others don’t, the nonmaterial aspect is the belief to use utensils or not. The common characteristics of culture are that culture is shared, culture is learned, culture is taken for granted, culture is symbolic, culture varies across time and place. The elements of culture includes abstract and concrete elements such as language, norms, beliefs and values. Norms are the specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation such as manners, Values are abstract standards in a society or group that defines ideal principles such as liberty or freedom and beliefs are shared ideas about what is true held collectively by people within a given culture such as belief in God. There is also language which is a set of symbols or rules that put together in a meaningful way provide a complex communication system such as English and Spanish. It is essential for culture to have an established language because it is important for human interaction, and it evolves in response to social changes in society. Language is central in social thought and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis asserts that language determines other aspects of culture because it provides the categories through which social reality is defined. Language determines what people think because language forces people to perceive the world in particular terms. The language of any culture also reflects the nature of that society such as inequalities, assumptions, and stereotypes of different social groups. Language reflects social value placed on different groups and it reflects power relationships depending on who gets to name whom such as derogatory terms such as redneck, and other offensive terms. Cultural relativism is the idea that something can be understood and judged only in relation to the cultural context in which it appears. For example, in the United States, burying or cremating the dead is the cultural practice. It may be difficult for someone from this culture to understand that in parts of Tibet, with a ruggedly cold climate and the inability to dig the soil, the dead are cut into pieces and left for vultures to eat. Understanding these differences gives insight towards some controversies such as clitoridectomy or female circumcision which can be a very unsanitary and risky procedure and this procedure is frequented where women’s virginity is highly prized, and dowries are dependent on acceptable proof of virginity.

  1. Describe the different systems of social stratification and explain both the differences between income and wealth and Max Weber’s concept of life chances. Social Stratification is a relatively fixed, hierarchical arrangement in society by which groups have different access to resources, power, and perceived social worth. Social stratification is a system of structured social inequality. Stratification systems are categorized into three types which include estate systems, caste systems, and class systems. In an estate system of stratification, the ownership of property and the exercise of power are monopolized by an elite class who have total control over societal resources such as the feudal system during the European Middle Ages. Estate systems of stratification are most common in agricultural societies. In a caste system, one’s place in the stratification system is an ascribed status, meaning it is a quality given to an individual by circumstances of birth such as the apartheid system of South Africa. The hierarchy of classes is rigid in caste systems and is often preserved through formal law and cultural practices that prevent free association and movement between classes. In class systems, stratification exists, but a per- son’s placement in the class system can change according to personal achievements. That is, class depends to some degree on achieved status, defined as status that is earned by the acquisition of resources and power, regardless of one’s origins. Class systems are more open than caste systems because position does not depend strictly on birth. Classes are less rigidly defined than castes because class divisions are blurred when there is movement from one class to another such as the class system in the United States. Income is the amount of money brought into a household from various sources such as wages, investment income, dividends, and etc. during a given period. While wealth is the monetary value of everything a person actually owns. Wealth is calculated by adding all financial assets such as stocks, bonds,