Introduction to Sociology Study Guide

The Sociological Perspective and Imagination

Introduces sociology's core lens, C. Wright Mills' sociological imagination, and distinguishing personal troubles from public issues.

Major Theoretical Perspectives

Covers functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism—the three frameworks essential for analyzing all exam topics.

Sociological Research Methods

Examines surveys, experiments, ethnography, and content analysis, including validity, reliability, and ethical research standards.

Culture, Norms, and Values

Explores material and nonmaterial culture, symbols, subcultures, countercultures, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism concepts.

Socialization and the Self

Analyzes Mead's stages, Cooley's looking-glass self, agents of socialization, and nature versus nurture debates.

Social Structure, Groups, and Organizations

Covers statuses, roles, primary and secondary groups, bureaucracy characteristics, and McDonaldization of society concepts.

Deviance and Social Control

Examines strain theory, labeling theory, differential association, and formal versus informal mechanisms of social control.

Social Stratification and Class

Analyzes Marx and Weber on class, social mobility types, poverty theories, and global inequality patterns.

Race, Ethnicity, and Racism

Explores social construction of race, prejudice, discrimination, institutional racism, and major theoretical explanations of inequality.

Gender, Sexuality, and Inequality

Examines gender socialization, feminist theories, sexuality as social construct, and workplace and institutional gender disparities.

Social Institutions: Family, Education, and Religion

Analyzes family structures, educational inequality, religious functions, and how institutions maintain or challenge social order.

Social Change and Globalization

Covers modernization, world-systems theory, social movements, technology's impact, and global interconnections shaping contemporary society.