W. W. Norton Home  |   Help  |   Contact Us  |  Site map  |  Site Credits Colorblind Mode: On • Off
Chapter
1
An Introduction to the Introduction to Sociology
Chapter Learning Objectives

The Sociological Imagination

  • Describe what the discipline of sociology studies.
  • Define the sociological imagination and describe how it "makes the familiar strange."

What Is a Social Institution?

  • Explain what social institutions are and how to think about them sociologically.
  • Explain the concept of social identity.

The Sociology of Sociology

  • Describe the relevance of Auguste Comte in the development of the field of sociology.
  • Compare and contrast the approaches of Karl Marx (historical materialism), Max Weber (interpretive sociology), Emile Durkheim (positivist sociology), and Georg Simmel (formal sociology).
  • Describe the approach of the Chicago School to the study of sociology.
  • Describe the contributions of functionalism, conflict theory, feminist theory, symbolic interactionism, postmodernism, and midrange theory to the study of sociology.

Sociology and Its Cousins

  • Describe how the study of sociology is distinct from other disciplines and how it sometimes overlaps with other disciplines.

Divisions within Sociology

  • Explain the difference between interpretive sociology and positivist sociology.
  • Explain the difference between microsociology and macrosociology.
Print This Page

In This Chapter

The Norton Gradebook

Instructors and students now have an easy way to track online quiz scores with the Norton Gradebook.

Go to the Norton Gradebook

Norton Ebooks

The ebook version You May Ask Yourself offers the full content of the print version at half the price.

Norton Ebooks