2. Are the sentences true (t) or false (f)? Correct the false sentence.

1. All the people’s needs may be satisfied only in one way.

2. Each institution serves a particular need of the society.

3. The Institution of Government does not make laws.

4. The Institution of Education helps prepare children to enter the adult world.

5. There are seven ways of obtaining most important needs.

3. Fill in the gaps.

1. …………………. are ways of obtaining most important needs.

2. Each of the five major institutions serves a particular ………… of the society.

3. The Institution of the Family meets the need for ………………. children.

4. The Institution of Education helps the family teach children the society’s …………...

5. Government protects the members of the society from harm and punishes those who break the …………….

Unit 5 Values

A value is an idea or belief about a goodness or badness of a person, thing, situation, or action. We have all made the thousands of value judgments. We hold our values as a result of the socialization process. From the time of birth, values are taught to us by other people and by institutions in our society. The teachers include the family, government, peer groups and many others.

One value this society teaches most of us is that it is good to work for a living. We are raised to believe that laziness is bad and should not be rewarded. We are taught the value of working hard to get material things such as cars, stereo equipment, color televisions and fashionable clothing. Even the titles we hold in our job is an important part of this “work value”.

How can you tell what our society values are? Just look at the norms. Norms usually develop from society’s basic beliefs, its values. When society feels that something is good or bad, it tends to make norms governing people’s behavior. For example, our society feels that human life is valuable. It believes that the life of an individual should be continued as long as possible. That value is expressed in several norms, including mores against murder and suicide.

Sociologists try to find out people’s values by asking questions in surveys of public opinion. Another way to study values is to observe people’s behavior in certain situations. By watching people carefully, sociologists can form hypotheses about the values upon which people act. A person who buys many fine oil paintings probably values that kind of art, for one reason or another. A child who is polite probably comes from a home where those traits are valued and therefore taught.

Another way sociologists determine the values of a society is by examining the ways in which people spend time and money. In our society people spend time working for a living. Society encourages this. People earn money for the time they work and spend it on the things society produces. This is also approved by society. If you work eight hours per day, you are actually trading about one-third of your life for the things you need or want.

Sociologists try to understand people’s values by studying the way they spend money. Industries often use findings of sociologists to determine how and what to produce and sell. The advertising industry, for instance, uses sociological data to make ads which will convince people to buy certain products. In doing this, advertising people actually create social values.