Topical Discussion Outline for SCOSCI 112

Topic: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN SOCIOLOGY

I. What is a theory?
What is a theoretical paradigm?

Levels of analysis:
a. Macro-level analysis
b. Micro-level analysis

II. Three (3) Major Theories
a. Symbolic-Interactionism
b. Structural-Functionalism
c. Conflict Theory


Topic: SOCIO-CULTURAL EVOLUTION OF SOCIETIES

I. What is a society?
What does it mean by socio-cultural evolution?

II. Types of Societies
a. Hunting and Gathering Society
b. Horticultural Society
c. Pastoral Society
d. Agrarian Society
e. Industrial Society
f. Post-Industrial Society

III. Range and Limits of Technology



Topic: GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS

I. What is a social group?
What is a category?
What is a crowd?
What is an aggregate?

How are the above-named collections of people different from each other?
What are the characteristics of a social group?

II. Types of Social Groups
a. Groups according to social ties
b. Groups according to self-identification
c. Groups according to purpose
d. Groups according to geographical location and degree or quality of relationship
e. Groups according to form of organization

III. Group Size
a. Dyad
b. Triad
c. Social Network

IV. Group Leadership
a. 2 Kinds of Leadership
b. 3 Leadership Styles

V. Formal Organizations
a. Types of Formal Organizations



Topic: SOCIALIZATION

I. What is socialization?
What is personality?

II. Nature vs. Nurture
a. Charles Darwin: The Role of Nature
b. Social Sciences: The Role of Nurture

III. Understanding Socialization
a. The Elements of Personality: Sigmund Freud
b. Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget
c. Moral Development: Lawrence Kohlberg
d. Bringing in Gender: Carol Gilligan
e. The Social Self: George Herbert Mead
f. Eight Stages of Development: Erick Erikson

IV. Agents of Socialization
a. Family
b. School
c. Peer Groups
d. Mass Media
e. Religious Organizations
f. Workplace

V. Socialization and the Life Course



Topic: CULTURE

I. What is culture?
What does it mean by enculturation?

II. Components of Culture
a. Symbols
b. Values
c. Beliefs
d. Norms (Mores, Folkways, Laws)

III. Characteristics of Culture
a. Learned
b. Shared
c. Symbolic
d. All-encompassing
e. Stable yet Dynamic
f. Integrated
g. Transmitted
h. Adaptive and Maladaptive
i. Patterned
j. Compulsory
k. Essential for Life
l. A Social Product
m. Accumulated

IV. Levels of Culture
a. National Culture
b. International Culture
c. Subculture

V. Issues in understanding Culture
a. Ethnocentrism
b. Xenocentrism
c. Cultural Relativism
d. Cultural Rights vs. Human Rights

VI. Mechanisms of Cultural Change
a. Diffusion
b. Acculturation
c. Independent Invention
d. Globalization
e. Globalization
f. Discovery

VII. Other Principles that Characterize Culture
a. Cultural Universals
b. Particular Culture
c. General Cultures


Topic: RACE AND ETHNICITY

I. Race
Uses of the term “race”

Racial Classification
a. Based on phenotype
b. Bases on social race

II. Ethnicity
What is an ethnic group?
a. 4 elements that make up an ethnic group
b. Characteristics of an ethnic group
Ethnicity
a. 2 Types of ethnicity
b. 3 Stages of ethnicity

Ethnic Status and Stratification
a. 2 Types of ethnic statuses
b. Dimensions of stratification
c. Ethnic stratification system

III. Race and Ethnic Relations
Patterns and Consequences of Contact

Race Relations Cycle
a. According to Robert E. Park
b. According to W. O. Brown

2 Major Types of Race Relations
a. Peaceful coexistence
b. Conflict
Roots of Conflict
5 Levels of Negative Action
4 Categories of People
Social Psychological Approaches in Understanding Prejudice
Acts of Discrimination



Topic: SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

I. What is social stratification?
Systems of Social Stratification
a. Slavery
b. Caste
c. Estate
d. Class

II. What determines Social Class?
Karl Marx: The Means of Production
Max Weber: Property, Prestige, and Power

III. Why is Social Stratification Universal?
According to Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore
According to Melvin Tumin
According to Gaetano Mosca
According to Gerhard Lenski


III. How do elites maintain stratification?
Controlling ideas
Controlling information
Technology
Social Network



Topic: COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

I. What is collective behavior?
What is the meaning of collectivity?
a. 2 Kinds of Collectivities
b. Difference between Collectivities and Social Group

Localized Collectivities
a. Crowd
b. Mobs
c. Riots

Dispersed Collectivities
a. Mass Behavior
b. Rumor
c. Gossip
d. Public Opinion
e. Propaganda
f. Panic
g. Mass Hysteria
h. Fashions
i. Fad

Explaining Crowd Behavior
a. Contagion Theory
b. Convergence Theory
c. Emergent-norm Theory


II. What is a social movement?
Types of Social Movements
a. Alternative
b. Redemptive
c. Reformative
d. Revolutionary

Explaining Social Movements
a. Deprivation Theory
b. Mass-Society Theory
c. Structural-Strain Theory
d. Resource-Mobilization Theory
e. Culture Theory
f. New Social Movements Theory

Gender and Social Movements

Stages in Social Movements
a. Emergence
b. Coalescence
c. Bureaucratization
d. Decline