The Essential Wisdom of Sociology - Assignment Example

Define and explain the importance of each of the five common components of all human culture: symbols, language, values, beliefs, and norms.
Symbols- Anything be it an object that has a particular meaning according to the people who are sharing a culture

Language- It is a system of symbols that assist communication to be successful among people

Values- These are defined standards that have cultural roots. People assess goodness, beauty and desirability, and social living guidelines as a whole.

Beliefs- These are statements that individuals hold to be true. They vary from society to society and have great influence, especially in activities.

Norms- Norms are expectations and rules that guide a society’s behavior.
4. What is ethnocentrism? What is cultural relativism? Identify a problem with each.

            Ethnocentrism is defined as an evaluation of various cultures using the preconceptions of one’s own culture. Cultural relativism is a principle that states that a person's beliefs and activities must be understood by other people in terms of their culture. According to Booth, (2001), the main problem with ethnocentrism is bias since there are diverse cultures. The main problem with Cultural relativism is limits since an individual cannot go beyond the cultural limits.

5. What is “mechanical solidarity”? How does it differ from “organic solidarity”? Does one type of solidarity seem “better” than the other in any way? Why?
            Mechanical solidarity is a sense of social togetherness that is experienced when people share similar experiences, perform similar tasks, and observe similar customs, beliefs, and values. On the other hand, Organic solidarity is a unity that has a basis of division of labor and often results in individuals in a society depending on each other. Lemert (2010), claims that organic solidarity is preferable to mechanical solidarity since it makes society more efficient in moving forward.

6. 
   Explain the nature-nurture debate.

The nature-nurture debate comes up due to the fact that certain physical characteristics in people are determined by means of generic inheritance. These characteristics include skin pigmentation, diseases, eye color, and straight or curly hair.

7. What specific contributions to human development are made by family, school, peer group, and mass media?
Family- It is an agent of socialization that has a significant impact. Family determines an individual’s religion, language, race, political affiliation, and race among other factors.

School- School contributes to a person’s new knowledge, bureaucracy, order, and people from diverse backgrounds.

Peer group- A person begins to break away from the authority of the parents and comes into a new world of making friends and making decisions. Most behaviors by teenagers are a result of peer pressure.

Mass media- The things that appear on social media have a significant influence on the development of a child. They shape how a child thinks about themselves, particularly their world.

8. 
   Explain the difference between an ascribed status and an achieved status. Give examples of statuses that are mostly ascribed and those that are mostly achieved.

Achieved status is the type of status that is acquired on basis of merit. It is chosen or rather earned and reflects the abilities and skills of a person. E.g. Professional athletes and college professor

Ascribed Status is the type of status that is not in the control of an individual. It is contrary to achieved status and is sort of inborn. E.g. Race and sex

9. 
   What is nonverbal communication? How do people use it in everyday life?

            According to Key (2006), Non-verbal communication is described as a communication process that entails sending and receiving written messages and passing messages through the use of gestures. People should pay attention to various aspects of nonverbal communication and its relation to verbal communication. As we interact, it is more likely for someone to get messages from a person’s gestures, facial expressions, eyes, use of space, touch, and posture.

10. Identify several ways gender affects personal performance.

            There are many ways that gender can affect the performance of an individual. The main reason why gender affects performance is a result of the stereotypes that exist among people. First, when it comes to education society believes that a boy should perform better than a girl hence affecting the inborn ability of gender. Jodi (2009) claims that when it comes to gender roles, women are supposed to assume the reproductive role while men take up the productive role hence reducing the economical performance of the female gender. In workplaces, men seem to be favored by situations regardless of them being of the same level when it comes to knowledge and skills hence affecting one gender’s morale.