Answer to Question 1
Human ecology describes how people adapt to their environment and explains a great deal about personal motivations for success, failure, crime, delinquency, and other social phenomenon. Human ecology is of interest to sociologists because it helps explain group behavior and offers a means by which to test theories related to behavior and environment. Human ecology is also called urban ecology and is used to explain population movement between the city and rural areas.
Answer to Question 2
According to the functionalist perspective, religion meets eight basic needs. It answers questions about ultimate meaning, provides emotional comfort, social solidarity, guidelines for everyday behavior, and social control. Religion also helps people adapt to new environments, helps support the government and, sometimes, religion can spearhead social change. Functionalists stress that religion is universal because it meets basic human needs such as these.
