• recognize sociology as a social science, identify methods and strategies of research, and examine the contributions of sociology to the understanding of social issues.

    • Describe the development of the field of sociology as a social science.

    • Identify the contributions of leading theorists within sociology including Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Harriet Martineau, Herbert Spencer, Max Weber, C. Wright Mills, Karl Marx, and W.E.B. Dubois.

    • Evaluate different sociological research methods including participant observation, natural observation, library research, questionnaires, experiments, interviews, and case studies.

    • Conduct research on an issue using the scientific method of inquiry including developing a hypothesis, gathering and interpreting data, and drawing conclusions.

  • examine the influence of culture and the way cultural transmission is accomplished.

  • identify how social status influences individual and group behaviors.

    • Describe how social status affects social order including upper class, middle class, lower class, white-collar professionals, blue-collar workers, and the unemployed.

    • Recognize how role expectations can lead to conflict including gender, age, racial groups, and ethnic groups within different societies.

  • examine how social groups are composed of people who share common characteristics including interests, beliefs, behaviors, and feelings.

    • Examine why individuals become members of or associate with different social groups.

    • Compare various types of norms including folkways, mores, laws, and taboos; explain why rules of behavior are considered important to society.

    • Evaluate the characteristics of primary groups including small size intimate settings and enduring relationships and how members’ behaviors are influenced by the primary group.

    • Evaluate the characteristics of secondary groups including less permanence, less personal, and having a special purpose; explain how members’ behaviors are influenced by the secondary groups.

    • Investigate stereotypes of different groups including gangs, generational groups, immigrants, and the homeless.

  • identify the effects of social institutions on individual and group behavior and explain how these institutions influence the development of the individual.

    • Analyze the impact of social institutions on individuals, groups and organizations within society; explain how these institutions transmit the values of society including familial, religious, educational, economic, and political.

    • Examine rites of passage within various social institutions such as religious ceremonies, school proms, quinceañeros, graduation, marriage, and retirement.

    • Define ethnocentrism and xenophobia; analyze how they can be beneficial or destructive to a culture.

  • examine social change over time and the various factors that lead to these changes.

    • Examine environmental, political, economic, scientific, and technological influences upon immediate and long-term social change.

    • Describe how collective behavior can influence and change society including sit-ins, organized demonstrations, and the use of social media.

  • analyze social problems that affect large numbers of people or result from imbalances within a social system.

    • Distinguish between characteristics of a social problem as compared to an individual problem.

    • Analyze patterns of behavior found within social problems and their implications for society including juvenile crime, drug addiction, and long-term unemployment.

    • Examine individual and group response and potential resolutions to social problems as well as the consequences of such solutions.

  • explore both individual and collective behavior.

    • Describe the traditions, roles, and expectations necessary for a society to continue and flourish.

    • Examine factors that can lead to the breakdown and disruption of a society.

    • Differentiate the impact of individual leaders of different social and political movements including Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Susan B. Anthony.

    • Interpret how social behavior is influenced by propaganda, the news media, and advertising.

    • Investigate the impact of rumor, gossip, and other inaccurate communications upon group behavior.