Sociology. Content Standards. Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. This course investigates the structure of groups, organizations, and societies and analyzes how people interact within these contexts.

1. (1) Content Standard 1. The student will explain the sociological perspective and identify sociology as a scientific field of inquiry.
2. (A) Describe the development of the field of sociology as a social science, including the contributions of leading theorists within sociology.
3. (B) Identify, differentiate among, and apply the major sociological theories (e.g., functionalist perspective, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism).
4. (C) Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the major methods of sociological research, including surveys and interviews, experiments, observations, content analysis, and research ethics.
5. (D) Apply the scientific method of inquiry on the study of society, including developing a hypothesis, and identifying independent and dependent variables.
6. (2) Content Standard 2. The student will examine the influence of culture and the way cultural transmission is accomplished.
7. (A) Describe culture and the components of culture, including norms and values, material and non-material culture, and explain the ways culture influences individuals.
8. (B) Explain the process of the social construction of the self and analyze how culture influences individuals, groups, and subcultures.
9. (3) Content Standard 3. Students will examine the social construction of groups and their impact on individuals.
10. (A) Describe the process of socialization, examining how social groups are composed and why individuals become members of or associate with different social groups.
11. (B) Describe various subcultures and countercultures and explain their influence according to sociological perspectives.
12. (C) Analyze how culture influences individuals, including the mechanisms of ethnocentrism, cultural relativity, and culture shock.
13. (D) Identify aspects of social structure, including social class, social status and roles, as well as their influences on individuals and groups.
14. (E) Describe status as a component of social structure, including status sets, ascribed and achieved statuses, status symbols and master status.
15. (4) Content Standard 4. The student will analyze the effects of social institutions on group behavior over the life course of individuals.
16. (A) Evaluate the characteristics of primary and secondary groups, including their influence over the behavior, attitudes, and values of their members.
17. (B) Identify various reference groups and explain how they are used by individuals to evaluate themselves.
18. (C) Examine the influence of major social institutions, including family, education, religion, and the media.
19. (D) Examine the benefits of belonging to social groups, as well as the power of social groups over behavior and attitudes.
20. (E) Explain how and why social institutions and cultures change over time.
21. (5) Content Standard 5. The student will analyze social problems that affect large numbers of people within a social system.
22. (A) Analyze patterns of social stratification and their effects on individuals and groups.
23. (B) Describe social problems and distinguish between characteristics of a social problem versus an individual problem.
24. (C) Analyze patterns of behavior found within social problems and their implications for society (e.g., juvenile crime, long-term unemployment).
25. (D) Examine the extent to which individual and group responses influence potential resolutions to social problems.

Added at 36 Ok Reg 755, eff 7-25-19

Amended at 42 Ok Reg, Number 21, effective 7-26-25