SOSYOLOJİYE GİRİŞ

The sociologist is not concerned with the truth or falsity of any given religion; s/he only takes an objective look at religion (its functions, social foundations, and social consequences). The correct answer is A.  

Sociologists define religion as a cultural system of commonly shared beliefs and rituals that provide a sense of ultimate meaning and purpose by creating an idea of reality that is sacred, all encompassing the supernatural. The correct answer is B. 

Emile Durkheim believed that social life was impossible without the shared values and moral beliefs that form the collective conscience. In their absence, there would be no social order, social control, social solidarity or cooperation. The correct answer is E. 

Social conflict theory has always focused heavily on the differential distribution of resources as reflected in the socioeconomic class structure of society. Unlike functionalist theory, conflict theory sees order and harmony as superficial entities. The correct answer is B. 

Marx suggests that religion often has ideological implications, serving to justify the interests of ruling classes at the expense of others. The correct answer is D. 

Weber theorized that Calvinism fostered the Protestant ethic of hard work and asceticism and that Protestantism was an important influence on the development of capitalism. Calvinism is rooted in the concept of predestination, which means that before people are born, some of them are selected for heaven and others for hell. The correct answer is D.  

According to Berger and Luckmann, religion helps to build, maintain and legitimate universes of meaning. Throughout human history religion has played a decisive part in the construction and maintenance of universes. A universe of meaning requires constant legitimation: It needs repeated reinforcement and justification. The correct answer is C. 

Stark and Bainbridge, in their rational choice theory, suggest that religion answers universal questions and it offers compensators that meet universal human needs. According to them, religion can neither disappear nor seriously decline. Also, religion provides a set of beliefs about how very general rewards can be obtained as well as a set of compensators in the face of the impossibility of gaining such rewards. The correct answer is B.

Auguste Comte suggests that, as a result of modernization, human society was going beyond the “theological stage” of social evolution and a new age was rising in which the science of sociology would replace religion as the basis for moral judgments. The correct answer is A. 

The phenomenological approach has been criticized on a number of counts. One view is that it is guilty of “cognitive reductionism”, and places too great emphasis on subjective meanings of culture as well as assuming that there is a common culture shared by all members of society. The correct answer is E.

Emile Durheim, one of the earliest functional theorists, noted the ability of religion to bring about group unity.

Emile Durheim defined religion as a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things.

His (Durheim's) book titled "The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life" is based on existing studies of the religious life of the Australian Aboriginals.

Marx considered religion inseparable from the worker and the economy.

In his book titled, Towards a Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Marx argues that man creates religion.

Alienation is the process by which people lose control over the social institutions they themselves invented.

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, religion responds to the basic human need to understand the purpose of life.

Berger and Luckmann put forward a phenomenological perspective of religion.

According to Berger and Luckmann, religion is socially constructed as a means of responding to life's uncertainties and disruptions.

Unlike Durheim, Stark and Bain bridge see religion as meeting the needs of individuals rather than those of society as a whole.