UNIT 1 // CHAPTER 1 - **OBJECTIVES** - When you have completed the activities for Unit 1, you should be able to: - Describe the basic goals of the discipline of sociology and the questions it seeks to answer. - Name early and significant sociologists. - Describe what is meant by sociological imagination. - List and describe some of the various schools of thought in sociology. - **STUDY QUESTIONS** - What is “sociological imagination”? How might it be used to study a particular issue? — Ability to see things socially and how they interact + influence each other: allows us to see an individual’s circumstances in context of broader social forces (C. Wright Mills) - According to Marx, what is the basis of the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat? — class and money - What area of social life does symbolic interaction theory attempt to explain? Provide an example. — looks for the meaning of our daily social interactions. ie. a casual greeting between two people - does that mean friendship? (pg 24) - What is a total institution? Why do they exist? What are some of the key features of total institutions? — a range of institutions in which whole blocks of people are bureaucratically processed, whilst being physically isolated from the normal round of activities (Goffman) - Using Goffman’s dramaturgical approach, explain the difference between “front stage” and “back stage” as they might apply to a restaurant. — front stage refers to in the public eye while back stage refers to away from customers. People manage the impression they have on others with an outward facing personality, versus a less controlled version around those they know. - What is the role of critical sociology and conflict theory? How is feminism related to conflict perspectives? — conflict theory 4 C’s: conflict [exists in all large societies], class [divisions exist and are a source of conflict], contestation [functions of society can be contested], change [assumption that society will or should change] (pg 24) - Name three female sociologists in Canada. What were their major contributions? - Annie Marion Ma