Summary Of The Real World: An Introduction To Sociology

Chapter six brings a different approach at introducing the importance of sociology. This chapter, focuses upon the historical significance of American sociology as society knows of it today. It discusses many different aspects of sociology, but it intentionally focuses on these important aspects that include: “The Chicago school”, sociologists whom attributed to American sociology, and the rise of female sociologists. These three fundamentals establish the overall history of American sociology.

group that functions together. As can be seen from all three books, having a close knit family is

I wake up at 4:45 am in the morning to fix my fiancé, Josh, breakfast and pack his lunch. He allows me to stay at home with our kids and not work so I can complete school so I do what I can to help provide for him. This role is important because he is our provider so in return I provide for him. This demonstrates a functionalist society. A functionalist society is one that demonstrates everyone plays a part in order to function.

Firstly, a key influence on retirement is gender. James M. Henslin, author of “Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach” uses the term gender age to describe how gender has influence on retirement. Gender age can be portrayed as the relative value assigned to men and women by their length of life (Henslin, 372). Symbolic interactionists use four factors to determine whether a person is considered old or not. These include biology, personal history, gender age, and societies idea of old (Henslin, 372). This is significant since gender age plays a crucial role in determining when age cohorts, or people born at around similar time and progress through life in conjunction, are considered old in societies standards. In addition, not only gender, but

Functionalism is a macro-structural theory; meaning that it studies society and a whole, and looks at how it shapes the individual. Functionalists state that each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society's satiability and functioning as a whole. They believe that the nuclear family (a family consisting of two married adults on an monogamous relationship with one or more dependent children) is completely beneficial to society, and that it, and other institutions within society (eg school, hospitals, ect.) each perform different crucial functions to meet society's needs, much like how the organs of the body all work together to keep the body functioning. This is called the organic anology. There are two main theories within the functionalist perspective, Murdock and Parsons, which both give different functions in which the family performs and explain why it is a vital part of society.

According to our textbook, The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, authors Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein define sociology as “the systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior”, or more simply put “the study of society” (9). As well in the The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, the authors explain the definition of social science to be “the disciplines that use scientific method to examine the social world” (10). In essence, sociology is a factor of the social sciences. The way that “we know what we know” about sociology and human interaction in society is through the various types of institutions such as family, education, religion, economy, and politics. These create an impact on people’s lives by the influence

Sociology is the systematic study of human society. It is about human beings interacting together and what happens when we interact with each other. Sociology is literally the study of society and how it works. Every time we come in contact with another human being, it’s a form of sociology. Sociologists study the social trends in society. Life is surrounded with various issues from a social standpoint. We all live, dress, speak, and act a certain way because of the way we we’re brought up. Society changes from one generation to the next and will always change as we progress. What we may consider normal may vary from what another country may believe is normal. I feel sociology is thinking outside of the box, not

In chapter 5 of the textbook we learn about various groups and what they represent. A social group “is two or more people who identify with and interact with one another” (Macionis 108). We also learned about several different experiments and the understanding of each.

groups” (Dictionary.com). Were we are pitted against each other and neither wanting to risk the

When studying Sociology, you learn to start viewing the world “sociologically”. Reading chapter two of this book, breaks down the three major theories which were started from Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and George Herbert Mead. There are three main types of sociological views which are structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Taking a closer look at structural functionalism and conflict theory, they both function on a macro level while symbolic interactionism functions on a micro level.

It is a common practice for people to form small groups and communities on the basis of their similar ideas and concepts. The problem arises when they start being vocal about their ideas in an aggressive manner. Such an example is of the Knights Party (2010): The Ku Klux Klan organization in the United States; it is one of the biggest hate group organizations in the country.

people of different social classes and backgrounds have gathered in the same place, disregarding social

How do you think people would describe you based on where you live? In today's society people are often defined by stereotypical views that in most cases fall into generalized areas including religion, education, cultural differences, clothing, and even the neighborhood they live in. The fact is that an economic status does not necessarily define who an individual is nor does a wealthy neighborhood guarantee success. For example, an undesired residence can sometimes become a hurdle which can lead to a question of poor judgement and relative unfair treatment by others.

Since beginning this course in sociology, my worldview has undeniably changed. Sociology is a subject matter that is implemented into our every day lives. There is no way of escaping social settings within our society. Whether it is in large groups or small groups it is always a beneficial standpoint to have. It allows one to look at these situations with more objectivity, rather than always being passive towards the world’s effects.

Cliques-are that of an average of six persons and travel in packs, in which case they are all friends. These cliques are of people who have similar interests and diversity. Although there is a group effort in a clique, in which “boosting teens’ self-esteem by giving them a place to belong.” (Healy, 2010) there are also the downsides of “"the notion of friendship is still critical, but it's becoming much more complicated," said Bernardo Carducci, a professor of psychology at Indiana University Southeast. (Healy, 2010) in which case, there is the lack of ties with cliques.