Sociology: Study of Groups and Societies

The scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups.

A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture.

Small groups and individual interactions.

<p>The group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>By examining the influence of society and history on individuals' lives and experiences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Sociologists view personal decisions as not existing in a vacuum, but as influenced by cultural patterns, social forces, and societal pressures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Examples include the 'Stop and Frisk' policy, emergence of new political factions, and the influence of Twitter on everyday communication.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The wider culture influences a person's decision to marry by affecting the social acceptability of marriage relative to the person's circumstances.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Sociologists focus on studying the ways children influence and are influenced by new family patterns, as well as the changing needs for education, housing, and healthcare.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The 'typical' family in past decades consisted of married parents living with their unmarried children. Today, there is an increase in unmarried couples, same-sex couples, single-parent and single-adult households, as well as expanded households with extended family members living together.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Cultural patterns refer to the ways in which social forces and influences put pressure on people to select one choice over another.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Studying the behavior of large groups of people helps sociologists identify general patterns and societal pressures that influence individual choices.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Employment and economic conditions play a role in families by influencing their views on marriage and family, as well as affecting their living arrangements and child-rearing choices.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The awareness described by Wright Mills is an understanding of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person's choices and perceptions.</p> Signup and view all the answers