Ch.1: The Sociological Perspective Flashcards
Sociological Perspective
Understanding human behavior by placing it within a broader social context
Society
Group of people who share a culture and a territory
Social Location
The group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society
Positivism
The application of the scientific approach to the social world
Sociology
The scientific study of society and human behavior
Class Conflict
Marx’s term for the struggle between capitalists and workers
Bourgeoisie
Marx’s term for capitalists, those who own the means of production
Proletariat
Marx’s term for the exploited class, the mass of worker who do no own the means of production
Patterns of Behavor
Recurring behaviors or events
Basic (or pure) Sociology
Sociological research for the purpose of making discoveries about life in human groups, not for making changes in this groups
Applied Sociology
The use of sociology to solve problems-from the micro level of classroom interaction and family relationships to the macro level of crime and pollution
Public Sociology
Applying sociology for the public good; especially the use of the sociological perspective (how things are related to one another) to guide politicians and policy makers
Theory
A general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another
Symbolic Interactionism
A theoretical perspective in which socially is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another
Functional Analysis
A theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society’s equilibrium; also known a functionalism and structural functionalism
Conflict Theory
A theoretical framework in which society is viewed a composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources
Macro-Level Analysis
An examination of large-scale patterns of society; such as how Wall Street and the political establishment are interrelated
Micro-Level Analysis
An examination of small-scale patterns of society; such as how the members of a group interact
Social Interaction
One person’s actions influencing someone else; usually refers to what people do when they are in one another’s presence, but also includes communication at at distance
Nonverbal Interaction
Communication without words through gestures, use of space, silence, and so on
Hypothesis
A statement of how variables are expected to be related to one another, often according to predictions from a theory
Variable
A factor thought to be significant for human behavior, which can vary (or change) from one case to another
Operational Definition
The way in which a researcher measure a variable
Research Method (or research design)
One of seven procedures that Sociology use to collect data: surveys participant observation, case studies, secondary, analysis, analysis of documents, experiments, and unobtrusive measures
Validity
The extent to which an operational definition measures what it is intended to measure
Reliability
The extent to which research produces consistent or dependable results
Survey
The collection of data by having people answer a series of questions
Population
A target group to be studied
Sample
The individuals intended to represent the population to be studied
Random Sample
A sample in which everyone in the target population has the same chance of being included in the study
Stratified Random Sample
A sample from selected subgroups of the target population in which everyone in those subgroups has an equal chance of being included in the research
Respondents
People who respond to a survey, either in interviews or by self-administered questionnaires
Rapport (ruh-POUR)
A feeling of trust between researchers and the people they are studying
Participant Observation (or fieldwork)
Research in which the researcher participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that setting
Case Study
An intensive analysis of a single event, situation, or individual
Documents
In its narrow sense, written sources that provide data; in its extended sense, archival material of any sort, including photographs, movies, CDs, DVDs, and so on
Experimental Group
The group of subjects in an experiment who are exposed to the independent variable
Control Group
The subjects in an experiment who are not exposed to the independent variable
Independent Variable
A factor that causes a change in another variable, called the dependent variable
Dependent Variable
A factor in an experiment that is changed by an independent variable
Unobtrusive Measures
Ways of observing people so they do not know they are being studied
Globalization of Capitalism
Capitalism (investing to make profits within a rational system) becoming the globe’s dominant economic system
