Sociology – Final Exam Study Guide
Sociology – Final Exam Study Guide (Simple Version)\n\n#### Easy Study Plan\n- Read through everything: Mark words you cannot explain to a friend.\n- Practice: Pick one topic (like family or school) and try to explain it using the theories below.\n- Examples: Think of real-life examples for power and health.\n- Test yourself: Cover the definition and try to say it in your own words.\n\n#### Politics and Power\n-
Politics: The way groups make decisions together and share resources.
Power: The ability to get what you want or lead others, even if they disagree.
Legitimate Authority: Power that people think is "right" or fair. People follow these leaders because they believe they should, not because they are forced.
Weber’s Three Types of Authority: 1. Traditional: Power based on old habits or family history (like a King or Queen).
2. Charismatic: Power based on a leader’s amazing personality that makes people want to follow them.
3. Legal-Rational: Power based on official laws and written rules (like a President, a judge, or a boss).
Why Charisma is Unstable: It depends entirely on one person. When that person leaves, the power usually has to turn into laws or traditions to survive.
Monarchy: A system where one person (like a King) rules, usually because their parents were rulers.
Democracy: A system where the people hold the power, usually by voting for representatives.
Culture and Ideas
Culture: The shared language, values, and rules that a group of people live by.
Culture vs. Biology: Sociology focuses on how our environment (culture) shapes us, rather than just our genes (biology).
Social Constructivism: The idea that things we think are "natural" (like gender roles) are actually created by people through the way we act and talk.
The Economy and Work
Capitalism: Private people own businesses and compete to make a profit.
Socialism: The government or the group owns/controls businesses to make things more equal for everyone.
Three Economic Sectors:
1. Primary: Taking materials from nature (like farming, fishing, or mining).
2. Secondary: Making things out of raw materials (like building cars or clothes in a factory).
3. Tertiary: Selling services or knowledge (like nursing, teaching, or computer work).
Corporations: Large companies that are legally treated as their own entity. They can grow very big but are sometimes criticized for being too powerful or causing inequality.
Types of Societies
Hunting and Gathering: Small groups that move around to find food.
Agricultural: Groups that settle down to farm using tools.
Industrial: Societies run by machines, factories, and big cities.
Post-Industrial: Societies based on technology, information, and providing services
Inequality and Race
Social class: Where you stand on the social ladder based on your money, job, and education.
Social Stratification: The system society uses to rank people from top to bottom.
Race: Groups of people divided by physical looks (like skin color).
Ethnicity: Groups of people divided by shared culture (like language or heritage).
W.E.B. duBois: A famous thinker who studied how race and skin color create unfairness in society.
Karl Marx: A thinker who said history is a fight between the owners (rich) and the workers (poor).
Gender and Family
Sex: The biological parts you are born with.
Gender: How you feel inside and act based on what society calls "man" or "woman."
Feminism: The movement and belief that men and women should have equal rights.
Gender Pay Gap: The fact that, on average, women earn less than men for various social and economic reasons.
Family Functions: Families help by raising children, giving emotional support, and sharing money/resources.
Divorce Rates: These have gone up because women are more independent and people have higher expectations for happiness in marriage.
Marriage Patterns:
Endogamy: Marrying someone inside your own social group.
Exogamy: Marrying someone outside your social group.
Polygamy: Having more than one spouse at the same time.
Health and Aging
Social Aging: How society treats you differently as you get older.
Social Determinants of Health: The things in your life (like your job, your neighborhood, and your money) that decide if you stay healthy or get sick.
The Sick Role: A set of rules for being sick. You get to skip work or school, but you are expected to try to get better and listen to the doctor.
Medicare: Government health insurance for people over 65.
Medicaid: Government health insurance for people with very low income.
Education
Schooling: The formal way we teach kids facts, but also how to follow rules and authority.
Credential Society: When bosses care more about your college degree than what you actually know how to do.
De Jure Segregation: Separating people because of a law.
De Facto Segregation: Separating people because of where they live or how much money they have, even if there is no law.
Status and Roles
Ascribed Status: A position you are born into (like being a son or daughter).
Achieved Status: A position you worked for (like being a doctor or a graduate).
Status Set: All the labels you have at once (like being a student, an employee, and a sibling).
Role: The way people expect you to act because of your status (a student is expected to study).
Main Sociological Perspectives
Functionalism: Views society like a human body where every part (family, school, government) has a job to keep things stable.
Conflict Theory: Views society as a constant fight for money and power between different groups.
Symbolic Interactionism: Focuses on small, everyday interactions and how we use symbols (like words or gestures) to understand each other.