Introduction to Sociology
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This course provides a broad overview of sociology and how it applies to everyday life. Major theoretical perspectives and concepts are presented, including sociological imagination, culture, deviance, inequality, social change, and social structure. Students also explore the influence of social class and social institutions, such as churches, education, healthcare, government, economy, and environment. The family as a social structure is also examined.
Course Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to:
View people’s behavior from a sociological perspective, discover your own sociological imagination, and apply it to a variety of social problems and situations.
Discuss the development of sociology as a science and differentiate it from the other social sciences.
List at least five sociologists and their major contributions to the field.
Describe the three major sociological perspectives—Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist—and analyze human behavior applying these perspectives appropriately.
Explain the elements of a culture and how culture is different from society.
Explain the seven steps of the scientific research process and recognize appropriate research procedures in an experiment or an article describing research.
Explain the relationships between social structure, social stratification, and the consequences of social status.
List at least four universal social institutions and describe the characteristics of each.
Describe how inequality and other social factors contribute to social change.
Summarize the relationship between socialization and the family.
