OER Text MaterialSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Section: 17.317.3 – Sociological Perspectives on Religion:Summarize the major functions of religion.Explain the views of religion held by the conflict perspective.Explain the views of religion held by the symbolic interactionist perspective.Sociological perspectives on religion aim to understand the functions religion serves, the inequality andother problems it can reinforce and perpetuate, and the role it plays in our daily lives (Emerson,Monahan, & Mirola, 2011). Table 17.1 “Theory Snapshot” summarizes what these perspectives say.Limited content on Weber’s work on Religion.

OER Text MaterialSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Chapter 17Religion in the United States - Section 17.5Describe the extent and correlates of religious affiliation.Explain the different dimensions of religiosity.Describe the correlates and consequences of religiosity.The United States is generally regarded as a fairly religious nation. In a 2009 survey administered by theGallup Organization to 114 nations, 65% of Americans answered yes when asked, “Is religion animportant part of your daily life?” (Crabtree, 2010). In a 2007 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Lifesurvey, about 83% of Americans expressed a religious preference, 61% were official members of a localhouse of worship, and 39% attended religious services at least weekly (Pew Forum on Religion & PublicLife, 2008). These figures show that religion plays a significant role in the lives of many Americans.Types of Religious Organizations – content in OER – Section 17.4​ - provides additional information forthis learning objective.

OER Text MaterialSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Sections: 17.1-2 

OER Text MaterialSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Chapter 17Section 17.2​ Key World Religions Today (​provides some content through the exploration of Cross Cultural Perspectives of Religion - page 656)Today the world’s largest religion is Christianity, to which more than 2 billion people, or about one-thirdthe world’s population, subscribe. Christianity began 2,000 years ago in Palestine under the charismaticinfluence of Jesus of Nazareth and today is a Western religion, as most Christians live in the Americasand in Europe. Beginning as a cult, Christianity spread through the Mediterranean and later throughEurope before becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire. Today, dozens of Christiandenominations exist in the United States and other nations. Their views differ in many respects, butgenerally they all regard Jesus as the son of God, and many believe that salvation awaits them if theyfollow his example (Young, 2010).

OER Text Material“Eye on Society: Doing Sociological Research” (Chapter Two) Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social WorldSoicology as a Social Science. This section will cover the following:Explain what is meant by saying that sociology is a social science.Describe the difference between a generalization and a law in scientific research.List the sources of knowledge on which people rely for their understanding of social reality and explain why the knowledge gained from these sources may sometimes be faulty.List the basic steps of the scientific method.General good content for the introduction to the social science research process

OER Text materialSocial Structure: The Building Blocks of Social LifeSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World. Section 5.1.3 provides a basic definition of social institutions, providing examples of institutions.  It also provides a working definition of society

OER Text MaterialSocial GroupsSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, 6.2.2. This section discusses Instrumental and expressive leadership; and authoritarian leadership, democratic, and laissez-faire leadership.

OER Text MaterialSocial GroupsSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, 6.1.1. This section defines and differentiates social groups from categories and aggregates. It also defines primary groups, secondary groups, reference groups, in/out-groups, and networks.  

OER Text MaterialSocial Structure: The Building Blocks of Social LifeSocial Interaction in Everyday LifeSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, 5.1.1, 5.3.2. These sections define status roles and provide examples of ascribed status, achieved status, master status, role conflict and role strain.

OER Text MaterialGroup Dynamics and BehaviorSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, 6.2.3. This section reviews Asch, Milgram and Zimbardo’s experiments to discuss how groups influence conformity, and roles and authority influence obedience.

OER Text MaterialFormal OrganizationsSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, 6.3. This section defines the ideal type characteristics of bureaucracies, explains some disadvantages of bureaucracies and explains the iron law of oligarchy.

OER Text materialGroup Dynamics and BehaviorSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, 6.2.1. This section reviews dyads, triads and how group dynamics and strength alter by group size.

OER Text MaterialSocialization, Chapter 5This chapter starts with the definition of socialization as the process through which people are taught to be proficient members of a society. In addition, it describes the ways that people come to understand societal norms and expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, and to be aware of societal values. It goes further to note that socialization is not the same as socializing (interacting with others, like family, friends, and coworkers).

OER Text MaterialTheories of Self-Development, Section 5.1This subsection starts with psychological perspectives on self development before delving into sociological theories of self-development. Notable theories use include Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development, Gilligan’s Theory of Moral Development and Gender. Also explained in the subsection are the theories of Charles Cooley who asserted that people’s self-understanding is constructed, in part, by their perception of how others view them—a process termed “the looking glass self.” George Herbert Mead’s study of the self is covered as well as Erik Erikson’s theory of personality development. In addition, Jean Piaget’s theory on the role of social interactions in the development of people is covered. The work of Sigmund Freud about how people develop a sense of self is also covered in this subsection.

OER Text MaterialSocialization Across the Life Course Section 5.4 Socialization is not a one-time or even a short-term event. Socialization is identified as a lifelong process. In the United States, socialization throughout the life course is determined greatly by age norms and “time-related rules and regulations” (Setterson 2002). As we grow older, we encounter age-related transition points that require socialization into a new role, such as becoming school age, entering the workforce, or retiring.