CLEP 
Sociology
College · CLEP Introductory Sociology · Certificate available
537 lessons 3.9h runtime 11 units 836 links between lessons Test yourself · 11 quizzes, a mid exam, and a final
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Begin with Unit 1: The Sociological Perspective and Its Theories. It sets the foundation for everything that follows.
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Unit 1: The Sociological Perspective and Its Theories 36 lessons, 1 lecture part
Lecture: Watch · 33:33
- 0001 What Sociology Is
- 0002 "Sociology Is Just Common Sense"
- 0003 Society
- 0004 Culture
- 0005 Reification
- 0007 The Micro Level
- 0008 The Macro Level
- 0010 The Sociological Imagination
- 0011 Personal Troubles and Public Issues
- 0013 Social Facts
- 0014 Figuration
- 0016 Auguste Comte and Positivism
- 0017 Harriet Martineau
- 0018 Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism
- 0019 Karl Marx
- 0020 Bourgeoisie and Proletariat
- 0021 Émile Durkheim
- 0022 Durkheim's *Suicide*
- 0023 Durkheim's Four Types of Suicide
- 0024 Max Weber and *Verstehen*
- 0025 Positivism and Antipositivism
- 0026 Class Consciousness and False Consciousness
- 0027 W. E. B. Du Bois
- 0028 Jane Addams and Hull House
- 0031 The Paradigm
- 0033 Structural Functionalism
- 0034 Manifest and Latent Functions
- 0035 Dysfunction
- 0037 Conflict Theory
- 0039 Symbolic Interactionism
- 0041 Feminist Theory
- 0042 Critical Sociology
- 0044 "The Three Perspectives Are All of Sociology"
- 0046 Reading One Case Through Three Lenses worked example
- 0050 Why Study Sociology
- 0052 The Sociological Perspective, Applied review
Unit 2: Sociological Research 36 lessons, 1 lecture part
Lecture: Watch · 33:14
- 0141 Why Sociological Research
- 0142 The Scientific Method in Sociology
- 0143 Value Neutrality
- 0145 The Research Question
- 0146 The Literature Review
- 0148 The Hypothesis
- 0149 Independent and Dependent Variables
- 0151 Operational Definitions
- 0152 Reliability
- 0153 Validity
- 0155 Quantitative Data
- 0156 Qualitative Data
- 0158 Population and Sample
- 0159 The Random Sample
- 0160 "A Bigger Sample Is a Better Sample"
- 0162 The Survey
- 0163 Interviews and Questionnaires
- 0165 Field Research
- 0166 Participant Observation
- 0167 Ethnography
- 0169 The Case Study
- 0170 The Experiment
- 0171 Control and Experimental Groups
- 0173 Secondary Data Analysis
- 0174 Content Analysis
- 0176 Correlation
- 0177 "Correlation Proves Causation"
- 0178 Reading a Rate, Not a Count worked example
- 0179 Reading a Cross-Tabulation worked example
- 0180 Reading a Trend Line worked example
- 0181 Reading a Distribution and Its Skew worked example
- 0182 Reading a Misleading Chart worked example
- 0183 "The Chart Proves It"
- 0184 The ASA Code of Ethics
- 0185 Informed Consent
- 0186 The Institutional Review Board
Unit 3: Culture 33 lessons, 1 lecture part
Lecture: Watch · 28:27
- 0291 Material Culture
- 0292 Nonmaterial Culture
- 0293 "Culture and Society Are the Same Thing"
- 0294 Cultural Universals
- 0296 Ethnocentrism
- 0297 Cultural Relativism
- 0298 "Cultural Relativism Means Anything Goes"
- 0299 Xenocentrism
- 0301 Culture Shock
- 0303 Values
- 0304 Beliefs
- 0306 Norms
- 0307 Formal and Informal Norms
- 0309 Folkways
- 0310 Mores
- 0311 Taboo
- 0313 Sanctions
- 0314 Positive and Negative Sanctions
- 0316 Symbols
- 0318 Language
- 0319 Linguistic Relativity
- 0320 "Language Determines Thought"
- 0322 High Culture
- 0323 Popular Culture
- 0325 Subculture
- 0326 Counterculture
- 0328 Cultural Change
- 0329 Discovery and Invention
- 0330 Diffusion
- 0332 Cultural Lag
- 0333 Globalization and Culture
- 0334 Cultural Imperialism
- 0335 Culture Through Three Lenses worked example
Unit 4: Society, Social Interaction, and Socialization 59 lessons, 2 lecture parts
- 0441 Types of Societies
- 0442 Hunter-Gatherer Societies
- 0443 Pastoral Societies
- 0444 Horticultural Societies
- 0446 Agricultural Societies
- 0447 Feudal Societies
- 0449 Industrial Societies
- 0450 Postindustrial Societies
- 0452 Mechanical Solidarity
- 0453 Organic Solidarity
- 0455 Anomie
- 0457 Alienation
- 0459 Rationalization
- 0460 The Iron Cage
- 0462 Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
- 0465 The Social Construction of Reality
- 0466 The Thomas Theorem
- 0468 Habitualization
- 0469 Institutionalization
- 0471 Status
- 0472 Ascribed and Achieved Status
- 0473 Master Status
- 0475 Role
- 0476 Role Set
- 0478 Role Strain
- 0479 Role Conflict
- 0480 "Role Strain and Role Conflict Are the Same"
- 0482 Role Exit
- 0485 Dramaturgy
- 0486 Impression Management
- 0487 Front Stage and Back Stage
- 0490 Socialization
- 0491 "Socialization Ends in Childhood"
- 0493 Nature and Nurture
- 0495 The Looking-Glass Self
- 0497 Mead's Theory of the Self
- 0498 The I and the Me
- 0499 The Generalized Other
- 0501 Mead's Stages of Development
- 0503 Freud on Socialization
- 0505 Kohlberg's Moral Development
- 0506 Gilligan's Critique
- 0508 Why Socialization Matters
- 0510 Agents of Socialization
- 0511 The Family as Agent
- 0512 Peers as Agent
- 0514 School as Agent
- 0515 The Hidden Curriculum
- 0517 The Workplace as Agent
- 0518 Religion as Agent
- 0519 Government as Agent
- 0520 Media as Agent
- 0523 The Life Course
- 0524 Anticipatory Socialization
- 0526 Resocialization
- 0527 Total Institutions
- 0528 The Degradation Ceremony
- 0530 Society and Self Through Three Lenses worked example
- 0533 Becoming a Member review
Unit 5: Groups, Organizations, Deviance, and Social Control 51 lessons, 2 lecture parts
- 0621 The Social Group
- 0622 The Dyad
- 0623 The Triad
- 0625 Primary Groups
- 0626 Secondary Groups
- 0628 Reference Groups
- 0630 In-Groups and Out-Groups
- 0632 Conformity
- 0633 The Asch Experiments
- 0634 The Milgram Experiments
- 0635 Instrumental Leadership
- 0636 Expressive Leadership
- 0637 Groupthink
- 0638 Leadership Styles
- 0640 Formal Organizations
- 0641 Types of Formal Organization
- 0643 Bureaucracy
- 0644 The Costs of Bureaucracy
- 0645 The Iron Law of Oligarchy
- 0647 McDonaldization
- 0650 Deviance
- 0651 "Deviance Means Harmful"
- 0653 Deviance Is Relative
- 0655 Social Control
- 0656 Formal and Informal Social Control
- 0658 Functionalism on Deviance
- 0660 Strain Theory
- 0661 Merton's Modes of Adaptation
- 0663 Conflict Theory on Deviance
- 0665 Labeling Theory
- 0666 Primary and Secondary Deviance
- 0667 The Deviant Master Status
- 0669 Differential Association
- 0671 Control Theory
- 0675 Crime
- 0676 Categories of Crime
- 0678 White-Collar and Corporate Crime
- 0680 Victimless Crime
- 0682 Measuring Crime
- 0684 The Criminal Justice System
- 0686 The Purposes of Punishment
- 0687 Recidivism
- 0689 Deviance and Social Position
- 0691 Deviance as Social Change
- 0693 Moral Panic
- 0695 Deviant Subcultures
- 0697 Stigma
- 0699 Substance Use as Deviance
- 0701 The Medicalization of Deviance
- 0710 Deviance Through Three Lenses worked example
- 0715 The Career of a Rule review
Unit 6: Social Stratification and Global Inequality 43 lessons, 2 lecture parts
- 0821 Social Stratification
- 0822 "Stratification Reflects Individual Merit"
- 0824 Systems of Stratification
- 0825 The Caste System
- 0826 The Class System
- 0828 Meritocracy
- 0830 Social Mobility
- 0831 Intergenerational Mobility
- 0832 Intragenerational Mobility
- 0834 Structural Mobility
- 0835 "The United States Is a Classless Society"
- 0836 Social Class
- 0837 Income and Wealth
- 0838 Why Wealth Concentrates
- 0840 Status Consistency
- 0842 The Upper Class
- 0843 The Middle Class
- 0844 The Working Class
- 0845 The Lower Class and the Underclass
- 0847 Absolute Poverty
- 0848 Relative Poverty
- 0849 How a Poverty Line Is Constructed
- 0851 The Feminization of Poverty
- 0853 The Cycle of Poverty
- 0855 Explaining Poverty
- 0857 The Davis-Moore Thesis
- 0858 Objections to Davis-Moore
- 0860 Conflict Theory on Stratification
- 0862 Symbolic Interactionism on Stratification
- 0863 Conspicuous Consumption
- 0866 Global Stratification
- 0867 Measuring Global Inequality
- 0868 The Gini Coefficient
- 0870 Classifying Nations
- 0872 Modernization Theory
- 0873 Dependency Theory
- 0875 World Systems Analysis
- 0876 Semi-Peripheral Nations
- 0878 Capital Flight and Deindustrialization
- 0879 Debt Accumulation
- 0880 Consequences of Global Inequality
- 0885 Stratification Through Three Lenses worked example
- 0890 Two Households review
Unit 7: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sex, and Aging 65 lessons, 3 lecture parts
- 1041 Race
- 1042 "Race Is a Biological Category"
- 1044 Ethnicity
- 1046 Majority and Minority Groups
- 1048 Functionalism on Race and Ethnicity
- 1049 Conflict Theory on Race and Ethnicity
- 1050 Symbolic Interactionism on Race and Ethnicity
- 1052 Intersectionality
- 1054 Critical Race Theory
- 1056 Prejudice and Discrimination, Distinguished
- 1057 "Prejudice and Discrimination Are the Same Thing"
- 1059 Racism, Individual and Systemic
- 1060 White Privilege
- 1062 Antiracism
- 1063 The Contact Hypothesis
- 1064 Segregation: De Jure and De Facto
- 1066 Pluralism
- 1067 Assimilation
- 1068 "Assimilation Means Giving Up One's Culture Entirely"
- 1070 The Model Minority Stereotype
- 1072 The Color Line, Applied
- 1075 Race and Ethnicity Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1080 Gender Role
- 1081 Gender Socialization
- 1083 Gender Identity: Cisgender and Transgender
- 1085 Sexual Orientation
- 1087 Heteronormativity
- 1089 Sexism and Patriarchy, Distinguished
- 1091 The Gender Wage Gap: How It's Measured
- 1093 The Motherhood Penalty and Fatherhood Premium
- 1095 The Glass Ceiling
- 1097 Feminism: A History of Organizing
- 1098 Functionalism on Gender
- 1099 Conflict Theory on Gender
- 1101 Feminist Theory on Gender
- 1103 Symbolic Interactionism and "Doing Gender"
- 1104 Heterosexism
- 1106 Homophobia and Transphobia, Distinguished
- 1108 The Sex Education Debate
- 1109 The Second Shift and Emotional Labor
- 1115 Gerontology
- 1116 Cohort
- 1118 Young-Old, Middle-Old, Old-Old
- 1120 Ageism
- 1121 "The Elderly Are Uniformly Declining"
- 1123 Primary and Secondary Aging
- 1125 Gerontocracy
- 1127 Filial Piety and Cross-Cultural Elder Care
- 1129 The Dependency Ratio
- 1131 Elder Abuse
- 1133 The Feminization of the Aging Poor
- 1135 Kübler-Ross and the Stages of Grief
- 1136 Hospice
- 1138 The Right to Die Debate
- 1140 Suicide Risk in Later Life
- 1142 Disengagement Theory
- 1143 Activity Theory
- 1144 Continuity Theory
- 1146 Modernization Theory of Aging
- 1148 Age Stratification Theory
- 1150 Exchange Theory of Aging
- 1152 Subculture of Aging Theory
- 1153 Gerotranscendence
- 1156 Aging Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1178 Three Systems of Stratification review
Unit 8: Institutions I: Family, Religion, and Education 62 lessons, 3 lecture parts
- 1281 Marriage
- 1283 Family
- 1285 Family of Orientation and Family of Procreation
- 1287 Polygyny and Polyandry
- 1289 Bilateral and Unilateral Descent
- 1291 Patrilocal and Matrilocal Residence
- 1293 The Nuclear Family
- 1295 The Extended Family
- 1297 Functionalism on Family
- 1299 Conflict Theory on Family
- 1301 Symbolic Interactionism on Family
- 1303 Cohabitation
- 1305 Single-Parent and Blended Families
- 1307 The Same-Sex Marriage Debate
- 1309 The Divorce Rate: How It's Computed
- 1310 "Half of All Marriages End in Divorce"
- 1312 Intimate Partner Violence
- 1314 Child Abuse and Neglect
- 1316 Family Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1319 Religion
- 1321 Sacred and Profane
- 1323 Durkheim on Religion
- 1325 Weber on Religion
- 1327 Marx on Religion
- 1329 Functionalism on Religion
- 1331 Conflict Theory on Religion
- 1333 Symbolic Interactionism on Religion
- 1335 Rational Choice Theory of Religion
- 1337 Cult, Sect, Denomination, and Ecclesia
- 1338 Established Sects
- 1340 Classifying Religion by the Divine
- 1342 Hinduism and Buddhism
- 1344 The Abrahamic Religions
- 1346 Liberation Theology
- 1348 Megachurches
- 1350 Secularization and Religiosity, Distinguished
- 1351 "Secularization Means Religion Is Disappearing"
- 1353 The Secularization Thesis Debate
- 1355 Religion and LGBTQ Rights: A Live Debate
- 1357 Religion Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1359 Education
- 1361 Formal and Informal Education
- 1363 Cultural Transmission
- 1365 Universal Access
- 1367 Functionalism on Education: Manifest Functions
- 1369 Functionalism on Education: Latent Functions
- 1371 Conflict Theory on Education: Cultural Capital
- 1373 Tracking
- 1374 "Tracking Sorts by Ability Alone"
- 1376 The Hidden Curriculum, Applied to Cultural Capital
- 1378 Feminist Theory on Education
- 1380 Symbolic Interactionism: Labeling and the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
- 1382 Credentialism
- 1384 Grade Inflation
- 1386 The Achievement Gap: How It's Measured
- 1388 Brown v. Board and School Desegregation
- 1390 The Standardized Testing Debate
- 1392 The School Choice Debate
- 1394 Homeschooling
- 1396 Inclusion and Mainstreaming, Distinguished
- 1398 Education Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1400 Three Institutions, One Life: A Capstone review
Unit 9: Institutions II: Government, Work, and Health 70 lessons, 3 lecture parts
- 1481 Power
- 1483 Authority
- 1485 Traditional Authority
- 1487 Charismatic Authority
- 1489 Rational-Legal Authority
- 1491 Patrimonialism
- 1493 Monarchy
- 1495 Absolute and Constitutional Monarchy, Distinguished
- 1497 Oligarchy
- 1499 "Is the United States an Oligarchy?"
- 1501 Dictatorship and Totalitarian Dictatorship
- 1503 Democracy
- 1505 Representative Democracy, or Republic
- 1506 "The United States Is a Direct Democracy"
- 1508 Anarchy
- 1510 "One Person, One Vote"
- 1512 Race, Class, and Voter Participation
- 1514 The Judicial System as the Third Branch
- 1516 Functionalism on Government
- 1518 Conflict Theory on Government: The Power Elite
- 1520 Symbolic Interactionism on Government
- 1522 Government Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1524 Economy, Defined
- 1526 Organic Solidarity and the Economy
- 1528 The Four Economic Sectors
- 1530 Capitalism
- 1532 Socialism
- 1534 Market Socialism and Mixed Economies
- 1536 Convergence Theory
- 1538 "How Involved Should Government Be in the Economy?"
- 1540 Functionalism on the Economy
- 1542 Conflict Theory on the Economy
- 1544 Symbolic Interactionism on the Economy: Career Inheritance
- 1548 Global Commodity Chains
- 1550 GDP Per Capita: How It's Computed
- 1552 Polarization of the Labor Market
- 1554 Social Capital
- 1555 "Hard Work Alone Explains Economic Success"
- 1557 Outsourcing and Automation
- 1559 Structural Unemployment
- 1561 How the Unemployment Rate Is Counted
- 1563 Absolute and Relative Poverty in the Labor Market
- 1565 The Working Poor and Underemployment
- 1567 Economy Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1569 Medical Sociology
- 1571 The Cultural Meaning of Illness
- 1573 Contested Illness
- 1575 The Social Construction of the Illness Experience
- 1577 The Social Construction of Medical Knowledge
- 1579 Social Epidemiology
- 1581 Core, Semi-Peripheral, and Peripheral Nations and Health
- 1583 How Health Disparities Are Measured
- 1584 Fundamental Cause Theory
- 1585 Medicalization
- 1587 Demedicalization
- 1589 Substance Use Disorder and the Medicalization of Addiction
- 1591 The Sick Role
- 1593 Commodification of Health
- 1595 Impairment vs. Disability
- 1597 Mental Disorder and Mental Illness, and Serious Mental Illness
- 1599 Public and Private Healthcare
- 1601 Universal Healthcare and Socialized Medicine, Distinguished
- 1602 "Universal Healthcare Means Socialized Medicine"
- 1604 The Affordable Care Act and the Individual Mandate Debate
- 1606 Cross-National Health Comparison
- 1608 Functionalism on Health
- 1610 Conflict Theory on Health
- 1612 Symbolic Interactionism on Health
- 1614 Health Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1616 Government, Economy, and Health: A Capstone review
Unit 10: Media, Population, Environment, and Social Change 72 lessons, 3 lecture parts
- 1681 Media and Technology, Extended
- 1683 The Digital Divide
- 1685 The Knowledge Gap
- 1687 New Media
- 1689 Planned Obsolescence
- 1691 Technological Diffusion
- 1693 "Technology Will Naturally Equalize Global Opportunity"
- 1695 Media Globalization
- 1697 Cultural Imperialism, Extended
- 1699 Gatekeeping
- 1701 Panoptic Surveillance and New Media
- 1703 Functionalism on Media and Technology
- 1705 Conflict Theory on Media and Technology
- 1707 Symbolic Interactionism on Media and Technology
- 1709 Media and Technology Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1712 Demography, Defined
- 1714 Fertility Rate and Mortality Rate, Distinguished
- 1716 Immigration and Emigration, Distinguished
- 1718 Refugee, Asylum-Seeker, and Internally Displaced Person, Distinguished
- 1720 Population Composition: Sex Ratio and Population Pyramid
- 1722 Malthusian Theory
- 1724 Zero Population Growth
- 1726 Cornucopian Theory
- 1728 Demographic Transition Theory
- 1730 "World Population Growth Is Accelerating Out of Control"
- 1732 "How Should Border Policy Balance Security and Humanitarian Claims?"
- 1735 Urbanization, Defined
- 1737 Prerequisites for City Growth
- 1739 Suburbs and Exurbs, Distinguished
- 1741 Metropolis and Megalopolis, Distinguished
- 1743 Gentrification
- 1745 White Flight
- 1747 Human Ecology
- 1749 The Concentric Zone Model
- 1751 The Political Economy of Urban Growth
- 1753 NIMBY
- 1756 Environmental Sociology
- 1758 Carrying Capacity
- 1760 The Tragedy of the Commons
- 1762 Climate Change: The Structure Behind the Headline
- 1764 "Who Bears Responsibility for Climate Change: Core or Peripheral Nations?"
- 1766 Water, Soil, and Air Pollution
- 1768 E-Waste
- 1770 Environmental Racism
- 1772 Sustainable Development
- 1774 Population, Urbanization, and the Environment Through Three Lenses worked example
- 1777 Collective Behavior, Defined
- 1779 Crowd, Mass, and Public, Distinguished
- 1781 Four Types of Crowds
- 1783 Emergent-Norm Theory
- 1785 Value-Added Theory
- 1787 The Assembling Perspective
- 1790 Social Movement, Defined
- 1792 Levels of Social Movements: Local, State, and Global
- 1794 Four Types of Social Movements
- 1796 Four Stages of a Social Movement
- 1798 The Social Movement Sector, Industry, and Organization, Distinguished
- 1800 Resource Mobilization Theory
- 1802 "This Movement Started From Nothing, Overnight"
- 1804 Frame Analysis: Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Motivational Framing
- 1806 The Frame Alignment Process
- 1808 New Social Movement Theory
- 1810 Social Media, Strong Ties, and Weak Ties in Activism
- 1813 Social Change, Defined
- 1815 Technology as a Driver of Social Change
- 1817 Cultural Lag, Extended
- 1819 Social Institutions as a Driver of Social Change
- 1821 Population as a Driver of Social Change
- 1823 The Environment as a Driver of Social Change
- 1825 Modernization
- 1827 The Ethnocentric Bias in Measuring Modernization
- 1830 Media, Movements, and a Changing Coastline: A Capstone review
Unit 11: Capstones (synthesis only, no new doctrine) 10 lessons, 2 lecture parts
- 1901 A Factory Closes: Structure, Stratification, and the Life Course review
- 1906 A School Sorts Its Students: Method, Stratification, and Credentialing review
- 1911 An Immigrant Family Settles In: Culture, Ethnicity, and Religion review
- 1916 A Neighborhood Organizes Against a Hazard: Race, Environment, and Mobilization review
- 1921 A Region's Health Gap: Poverty, Race, and the Structure of Care review
- 1926 A Contested Election: Authority, Power, and Participation review
- 1931 A Supply Chain Crosses Borders: Global Stratification and Economic Policy review
- 1936 A New Parent Returns to Work: Gender, Role, and the Labor Market review
- 1941 A Case Moves Through Court: Labeling, Bureaucracy, and Disadvantage review
- 1946 Three Generations: A Family Across the Whole Course review
Who this subject is for
- Students preparing for the CLEP Introductory Sociology exam
- Nursing and allied health students
- Social work and criminal justice majors
- Adult learners finishing a degree
- Homeschool students
- Anyone interested in how societies work
Why Sociology matters
Sociology explains how groups, institutions and social structure shape people's lives. It is the foundation for:
- Social work
- Criminal justice
- Public health
- Education
- Social policy
Time to complete
- of lessons (537, measured)
- 3.9 h
- of lectures (23)
- 11.4 h
- learning hours on the certificate, with quizzes and the final
- 20.5 h
Times are measured from the recordings and the exam time limits. Go at your own pace; nothing expires.
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