What is Culture? Culture is generally regarded as a complex collection of values, beliefs, behaviours, and material objects shared by a group and passed on from one generation to the next There is nothing good or bad about culture – it just is what it is Origins of Culture and Its Defining Features No one…
What is a Minority? Minority – a definable category of people who are socially disadvantaged Membership in a minority group has two components: the group lacks social power, and it is definable as being distinct from the majority Majority – a definable category of people who are socially advantaged For sociologists, the defining feature of…
Species: Latin word meaning “kind” Speciation: The origin of new species Macroevolution: The evolutionary changes above the species level eg. Appearance of feathers during the evolution of birds from one set of dinosaurs Anagenesis – one species over time becomes another species Cladogenesis– one species, over time, splits and becomes two species Morphogensis– look at…
Theories in sociology are abstract, general ideas that help organize and make sense of the social world Epistemology Philosophical Roots of Classical Sociological Theory Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) Suggested that people are responsible for creating the social world around them, and thus society could be changed through conscious reflection Was one of the first theorists to…
The chemical reactions of metabolism are reversible, and they, too, would reach equilibrium if they occurred in the isolation of a test tube. Because systems at equilibrium are at a minimum of G and can do no work, a cell that has reached metabolic equilibrium is dead. A cell in our body is not in…
Selective Permeability: Allows some substances to cross it more easily than others. A phospholipid is an amphipathic molecule, meaning is has both a hydrophilic region and a hydrophobic region. Fluid Mosaic Model: The membrane is a fluid structure with a “mosaic” of various proteins embedded in or attached to a double layer (bilayer) of phospholipids.…
Living systems increase the entropy of their surroundings, as predicted by thermodynamic law. We can trace the ancestry of the plant kingdom to much simpler organisms called green algae. However, this increase in organization over time in no way violates the second law. The entropy of a particular system, such as an organism, may actually…
Energy: The capacity to cause change. Kinetic Energy: Energy can be associated with the relative movement of objects; this energy is called kinetic energy. Heat/Thermal Energy: Kinetic energy associated with the random movement of atoms or molecules. Potential Energy: An object not presently moving may still possess energy. Energy that is not kinetic is called…
Coined by Auguste Comte (1798-1857), meaning the study of society- socius (being with others) ology (the study of) Henslin et al: “simply put, sociology is the discipline study of human social behaviour, especially the investigation of the origins, classifications, institutions, and development of human society on a global level” “the systematic study of social behaviour…
There has been a lot of debate of whether the federal or provincial government should take a leading role in health care. This essay will argue that the federal government should take initiative and play a leading role in health care. The federal government should take a leading role for the following reasons; in order…
A hurricane is defined as an intense rotated oceanic weather system, which has speeds faster than 74 miles per hour. Hurricanes form over tropical regions of the ocean during the late summer and early fall. In order for a hurricane to from the water must be warmer than usual, with a temperature of 27 C.…
Confucius– Confucious was a Chinese philosopher who has had a major impact on East Asia because of his teachings. He was born in 551 BCE and he died in 479 BCE. Confucius is important because he felt the world had gone wrong. He felt that it was up to him to try and save the…
Many people today are puzzled over whether a god truly exists or not. There are three approaches to the belief of an ultimate being one can classify as: atheist, agnostic, or theist. The related article for this paper on Anselm argues from the view point of a theist. A theist is one who believes in…
The history of our species is rife with violence, from ancient wars to random, vicious assaults, violence seems to pervade it. It also seems to be a big part of our present society, everyday we hear of some new person who has been brutally gunned down for no reason, another soldier who has been shot…
Overview Canada flushes approx 200 billion liters of raw sewage directly into natural waterways every year, from the St Lawrence River to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean. That is only six percent of the three trillion liters of sewage Canadians produce annually but it is still enough to fill more…
Death is inevitable. We live our lives as best we can and then, just as we were brought into this world, we are removed from it. People attempt to live their lives to the fullest, and succeed. However, more commonly, we fall short of these expectations. Our lives are somehow derailed, no longer allowing this…
Men often feel their private lives are a series of traps The more aware they may become, the more trapped they may feel Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both Information often dominates attention and overwhelms their capacities to assimilate it Sociological Imagination The…
Wal-Mart has been apart of our lives for over 50 years, becoming a dominant force in the retailing sector. There are several disputes amongst economist whether Wal-Mart has a positive or negative influence on our economy and society, many criticizing the Wal-Mart Corporation for its negative and careless approach to becoming the powerhouse it is…
“Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” This quotation is said by Nick Caraway, the narrator of Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald depicts Nick as or moral guide through a novel infused…
Political Culture Culture: ‘patterns of beliefs and behaviour’ Institutional arrangements Social traits Political culture = cultural attitudes towards politics & government Attitudes, beliefs, values, norms about political issues and ideas Cultural differences among different groups and states Ideology Three categories of political culture: Parochial = negative + low Subject = positive + low Participatory =…
