POLSCI 140 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: The Sociological Imagination, Stanford Prison Experiment, Symbolic Interactionism

• School: U of M
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLSCI 140
• Professor: Ronald Inglehart

Document Summary

Sociology 100: introduction to sociology: for each of the empirical studies we read, you should be familiar with the following: Theory is an explanation for how facts are related to one another. When one part of society changes, other elements are going to change in response: merton"s distinction between manifest (obvious; rain dance is to make it rain) and latent (unintended; dance brings social cohesion) functions, core assumptions: In any given society there is a great deal of consensus about what values and norms are important. Functionalists see society as a whole that is made up of integrated parts. When one part of society changes, other parts will change in response. All societies tend to seek stability and avoid conflict: conflict theory, overview of the theory: society is composed of groups that are competing with one another for scarce resources and power. Within any particular society, there are subgroups of people who have different beliefs and conflicting values and goals.