Sociology+Unit+I+Essential+Questions

**CH. 1 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS**

 * How have positivism, social Darwinism, class conflict, social integration, and the Protestant ethic been used to explain human behavior?
 * How do social facts and verstehen fit together?
 * Why do/should people study sociology?
 * How can symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, and class conflict be used to explain a variety of scenarios?
 * Note: The textbook explains the basics behind these 3 theoretical perspectives on p. 23-29 (with a nice table on p. 29). It also mentions how they explain why the U.S. divorce rate is so high. Students should be able to use the 3 theoretical perspectives to interpret other problems.
 * Explain the difference between micro-level analysis and macro-level analysis and explain how the three theoretical perspectives and nonverbal interactions relate to those concepts (micro/macro).


 * CH. 2 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS**
 * Which is a more significant component of culture: material culture or nonmaterial culture?
 * Evaluate the statement “Culture becomes the lens through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on around us.” (p. 37)
 * Evaluate ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, and cultural universals.
 * How accurate is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
 * How are symbols (gestures, language, norms, sanctions, folkways, and mores) used in different societies?
 * What place do subcultures and countercultures fit in (and not fit in) in various societies? Be specific, including an awareness how you belong to certain groups.
 * Analyze the accuracy of the “core values” in U.S. society listed on p. 52-54 and the “emerging values” on p. 54-55.
 * Be sure to consider “ideal culture” and “real culture” (p. 56)
 * Be able to apply the controversy between sociobiologists and sociologists to multiple situations (e.g. homosexuality)
 * What are examples of “cultural lag” in education and beyond?


 * CH. 3 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS**
 * How much of a person’s characteristics come from “nature” and from “nurture?” (a key theme of Ch. 3)
 * How has socialization from families, peers, and mass media affected our perceptions of proper gender roles? (Consider the box on p 77 as well)
 * How do agents of socialization work?
 * How do the various stages of the life course as described in the book compare to what your perceptions of those stages should be? ***Also, what do you think about the photo/description on p. 91?**
 * Evaluate the definition of the “transition to adulthood” as mentioned in the box on p. 89
 * Are we prisoners of socialization?

CH. 4 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS**
 * Identify some of your specific ideas, attitudes, and behaviors that would be different if you had been reared in an Amish family. Evaluate that lifestyle. (p. 107)
 * How do self-fulfilling stereotypes work in different scenarios? (p. 110 including figure 4.3)
 * What are all the features of “dramaturgy” and how do they apply in your life? (p. 112-116)
 * Analyze the phrase “to understand human behavior, then, we must know how people define reality.” (p. 119)