Here are some key points from the sources that could be important for a

sociology exam:
• Sociology is the study of modern human societies, which are
characterized by a definite territory, sexual reproduction, a
comprehensive culture, and interdependence among their parts.
• Societies have functional problems to solve, including adaptation
(making a living), goal attainment (peace and order), integration
(meaningful membership), and latent pattern maintenance (replacing
members and socializing to norms).
• Social institutions are organized systems of social relationships that
embody common values and procedures to meet basic needs of society.
They are composed of interacting persons and patterns of interaction.
• Social institutions perform vital tasks such as socializing new members,
producing and distributing necessities, maintaining peace and order, and
providing purpose for life.
• Major social institutions include the family, religion, education, the
polity, and the economy.
• Social institutions have both primary functions (their main societal roles)
and secondary functions (supporting other institutions).
• The family has primary functions of reproduction and caring for new
members. It has secondary functions in relation to other institutions like
education, religion, and the economy.
• Sociology of the family studies the organization, structures, functions,
changes, and interrelationships of the family.
• The family can be defined as a group characterized by common
residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction. There are different
forms of families, including nuclear, extended, reconstructed, patriarchal,
matriarchal, and equalitarian.
• Marriage is a socially approved, heterosexual union that legitimizes
sexual relations and childbearing. It involves a binding relationship with
reciprocal rights and obligations.
• Incest taboos regulate sexual relationships and are explained by theories
of natural aversion, role confusion, socialization, and demography.
• Exogamy requires marrying outside a defined group, and endogamy
requires marrying within a defined group.
• Kinship is a system of social relationships based on blood, marriage, or
adoption, which is a source of social control, economic function, and
religious or ceremonial functions.
• Descent systems include patrilineal, matrilineal, and ambilineal, which
determine how rights and duties are passed through family lines.
• The family has functional interchanges with other institutions. The
family interacts with the economy, polity, the community, the value
system, and religion.
• The family has its own functional problems, such as task performance,
leadership, integration and solidarity, and pattern maintenance.
• The family also provides vital functions of reproduction, protection,
socialization, regulation of sexual behavior, affection and companionship,
and social status.
• The nuclear family is a universal social grouping, but family structures
have undergone dramatic changes. The family performs less functions in
modern times due to the development of other institutions.
• Current family issues include stress, privatization, higher expectations in
marriage, changing roles of women, and marital power dynamics.
• Religion is a cultural universal that offers answers to ultimate questions.
The sociology of religion studies the relationship between religion and
society.
• The sociology of religion is not concerned with whether religious ideas
are true, but with people's beliefs.
• Major sociological theorists of religion include Auguste Comte, Karl
Marx, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, Sigmund Freud, and Talcott Parsons.
• Durkheim defined religion as a unified system of beliefs and practices
related to sacred things, and he viewed religion as a social means of
expressing and reinforcing sentiments essential to preserving a society.
• Weber argued that religion is not always a conservative force in society
and can influence everyday choices and attitudes. He explored the
influence of the Protestant Ethic on the development of capitalism.
• Religion is divided into the secular (profane) and the sacred.
• Concepts of religion include monotheism, totemism, and the relationship
between religion and magic.
• Theories of religion include evolutionary, de-evolutionary,
psychoanalytic, and anxiety reduction theories.
• Religion has active relationships with the polity, economy, and education.
• Religion provides individual support, social integration, and can be a
source of both social conflict and social change.
• Secularization is the process by which religion's influence on other social
institutions diminishes.
• Education is a form of socialization that involves the formal transmission
of skills, knowledge, and culture.
• The sociology of education analyzes the social processes and patterns in
the educational system.
• Perspectives on education include structural functionalism (education
contributes to stability) and conflict theory (education perpetuates
inequalities).
• Functions of education include cultural transmission, social control,
social integration, an agent of change, and promotion of personal
growth.
• College subcultures include collegiate, vocational, academic, and
nonconformist.
• Educational inequality is influenced by home circumstances, parental
interest, parents' education, teacher attitudes, and gender socialization.
• Political sociology examines the relationship between politics and
society, as well as the distribution and exercise of power.
• Political sociology differs from political science by focusing on political
behavior and studying power within social relationships.
• Key political thinkers include the Greeks (Plato, Aristotle), St. Augustine,
St. Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes,
and John Locke.
• The concept of politics can be narrowly defined as the striving for power
or broadly as existing in all social relationships.
• The state is defined as a set of institutions within a territory that claims a
monopoly on the legitimate use of force.
• Power is the capacity to influence decisions and control others, and can
be social, economic, or political.
• Authority is institutionalized power accepted as legitimate, and it can be
traditional, charismatic, or rational-legal.
• Totalitarianism is an extreme form of authoritarian rule characterized by
totalized ideology, a single party, control of communication, and a
terroristic police force.
• Democracy emphasizes citizen participation, civil rights, and competing
political parties.
• Political participation includes voting, campaigning, and other forms of
involvement, and it is essentially a minority activity.
• Pressure groups advocate the interests of their members, while political
parties seek to hold government offices.
• Elite theory contends that societies are ruled by a minority with power,
while pluralism suggests that power is distributed among many groups.
• Functionalist theory states that the state arises to maintain order and
provide the common good, while conflict theory argues that the state is
a vehicle for the ruling class to impose inequality.
• Weber's theory of legitimate domination explores why people obey
authority, and it outlines traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal
authority.
• Sociology of law studies legal institutions in light of sociological
concepts.
• The law can be seen as a mechanism of social control, and it is a system
of standardized norms regulating human conduct.
 • Major thinkers in the sociology of law include Montesquieu, Comte,
Spencer, Marx, Maine, and Durkheim.
• Durkheim argued that the development of law is from repressive to
restitutive law.
• Sociology and the law are related because sociologists have developed
theories of law and because jurists have found sociological approaches
useful in making legal analyses.
• The sociology of law is concerned with how formal norms act towards
deviants, analyses the social roles of those working in the legal system,
studies the laws governing human society and the effects of legal
provisions, and shares with political sociology a concern for legitimate
authority and social control.
• The law has functions including upholding values, maintaining social
control, settling disputes, serving as an instrument of social change, and
guiding economic conduct.
• Economic sociology studies how economic activities are structured, the
relationship between sociological variables and economic contexts, and
distinctive sociological aspects of central economic variables.
• Economic sociology differs from economics in that it emphasizes the
social aspects of economic processes rather than solely economic
factors.
• Key thinkers in economic sociology include Spencer, Durkheim, Marx,
and Weber.
• Weber argued that ideology, such as the Protestant Ethic, can influence
economic development.
• Concepts in economic sociology include work, alienation, and anomie.
These are just some of the main points, but it would be beneficial to study and
review the different theories, thinkers, and concepts in more detail.
Understanding the connections and differences between them will enhance
your understanding of the material and make it easier to apply these ideas to
various sociological questions in the exam.