4.1 - 4.2 Flashcards
What is sociology?
Scientific study of society and human behavior.
Looks for patterns and behaviors
What is a society?
A group of people sharing a culture and territory.
How do sociologists perceive patterns and events?
They use the sociological imagination.
Sociological Imagination;
- Seeing the general in the particular
- Seeing the strange in the particular
What is social location?
A way of classifying yourself by class, race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. A persons choices are influenced by their social location.
What is marginalization?
Occupying a position in society outside the centers of power.
What is power and inequality?
Marginalization can cause many different types of inequalities.
What are some key concerns for sociologists?
- Determine whether changes in society are predictable or unpredictable
- Look at previous conditions that brought about change
- Census / General Data
- Looks at conflicts and interactions within a society
- All societies are governed by norms
What are normative statements?
- Opinion
- Contain a judgement
Examples; Politicians should be more dignified. You shouldn’t smoke.
What are empirical statements?
- Fact
- Contain no judgement
Examples; Justin Trudeau and Erin O’toole ran against each other in the last federal election. As of 2021, 12% of Canadians 15 and older smoke cigarettes.
What is structural functionalism?
- Macrosociology
- All parts of society serve a purpose
- For society to function all of it’s aspects must work in harmony
- Society works as a complex system with parts and structures that interact
- Change is gradual
What is conflict theory?
- Macrosociology
- Society is involved in a struggle for resources and power
- Change is inevitable and can be violent, end is often good
- Conflict within classes determines change, some groups are prosperous at the expense of others
- Social conflict is a struggle over power, includes; strikes, civil disorder, riots, marches, demonstrations, and protest gatherings
What is symbolic interactionism?
- Microsociology
- Examines sociology through interactions within small groups
- Human interaction is the key to behavior
- Humans need social interaction
- Humans use thought to interact
Who is Auguste Comte?
- One of the founders of the sociology field
- Founded positivism
a) Studying society in a scientific way - came up three stage theory
1. Religion (Believed people saw the word through a religious view)
2. Natural / Supernatural (Started seeing the world as natural instead of supernatural)
3. Scientific (Where people become governed by science and sociologists) - made his own religion called the religion of humanity
What is quantitative / qualitative?
Quantitative - Number of something
Qualitative - Qualities of something
What topics did Martineau address and why were they criticized?
The state of women’s education
