Delta State University
Sociology 101
Spring Semester 2003

Study Questions
Henslin Text, Chapter 4

(1)  What is meant by the term “social structure.”  Provide concrete examples of elements of social structure and briefly describe some functions of each.

(2)  What is meant by the term “social interaction.”  What do interactionists study?  Provide concrete examples that distinguish this perspective from the structuralist perspective.

(3)  For each of the following theorists, identify specific contributions they made to the study of social structure and/or social interaction:

Emile Durkheim
Ferdinand Tonnies
Edward Hall
Erving Goffman
W.I. Thomas

(4)  Identify the five most important social institutions and give examples of roles associated with each.

(5)  Identify three minor social institutions found in industrialized societies, and connect each to some associated values and norms.

(6)  What are the four major social revolutions, according to Henslin?  For each, identify the important technological change and/or commodity that produced the revolution, and describe how this technology or commodity transformed economic organization and social relations.

(7)  What does the term “social construction of reality” mean?  Provide an example of how social situations are constructed.  Are social constructionists generally more interested in objective or subjective reality?  Explain.

(8)  Explain important differences between the microsociological and the macrosociological perspectives.  Use examples to illustrate this difference.