Download Chapter 1 Section 2

Reading Activities and Notes
Chapter 1 Section 2
Comprehension Exercise
19.5/20
Directions: Record the notes that are posted around the room. When finished recording the
notes, use these notes and the text book to complete the following items. Answer questions 2-9
in complete sentences.
1. In your own words, define the following terms found in the chart below. In the far right
column, write the perspective that would be most likely to use this word.
Term
Dysfunctional
Manifest Function
Latent Function
Symbol
Symbolic
Interaction
Ideal Type
Verstehen
Social Darwinism
Definition
Perspective
Something that doesn’t perform its function so that
society doesn’t work smoothly.
Something that in invented to perform its certain role.
Functionalist
Something that invented with some negative effect
functionalist
Something represents something else.
The process how symbol are used when penetrating the
meaning
Describing something necessary for society and that is
what the society should be
Attempt to understand why people act
interactionalist
The idea that evolution plays the role of function
funcionalist
functionalist
interactionalist
interactionalist
interactionalist
2. What were the social and political changes that were the result of growing cities?
Social and political changes replaced home as a working place. Increasing of factory made
people who live in countryside to go to go to the city to look for the jobs.
3. How did scientists attempt to understand these rapid changes?
They tried to prove their beliefs through observation, controlled experiment, and careful
collection and analysis of information.
4. What were the topics of interests for the five early sociologists?
Auguste Comte: the cause and consequence of French revolution and social order and social
change.
Herbert Spencer: adopting Biological model of society.
Karl Marx: The structure of society is influenced by how its economy is organized.
Emile Durkheim: function of religion in maintaining social order
Max Weder: separate group within the society rather than in society as a whole.
5. What do the three theoretical perspectives study, and which of the founders of sociology
is connected to which perspective?
Functionalist: study society by viewing it as a set of interrelated parts that work together to
produce a stable social system.
---- Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim
Conflict: Study society by focusing on the force in society that promotes competition and change.
------ Karl Marx
Interactionalist: Study society by focusing on how individuals respond to one another in
everyday situation.
----- Max Weder
Reading Activities and Notes
6. How did Herbert Spencer’s belief in the survival of the fittest influence his view of
social unrest?
His belief is similar to idea of Darwin so that his view of a society becomes known as Social
Darwinism.
7. Below is a chart that contains the types of perspectives and issues that sociologists study.
In the appropriate box, explain how that perspective might examine or study the issue.
See page 3 for more description concerning these three issues.
Issues
Internet’s effect on Society
Marriage life
Crime
Functionalist
Conflict
Interactionist
How one user or
company interacts with
the other.
Function of user and
company
Conflict between some
users and the others.
Function of people who
marry and their parents
or people who don’t
marry
Conflict between people
who marry and people
who don’t marry
How people who marry
are interacted.
Function of police and
criminals
Conflict between people
who caused the criminal
How people interact
with the other and its
causes
8. Review your answers in the chart above. Are some issues better to study with one
perspective and maybe not as good with other perspectives? Explain.
I think that to study the internet’s effect on Society, we had better to study in Functionalist
perspective and Conflict perspective because I hope that these perspective can reveal the issue.
9. Which of the three theoretical perspectives do you think is the best? Explain why you
believe this.
I think Functionalist is the best because I agree with the concept of this perspective. I
experienced that everyone have to play their role appropriately to achieve something.