Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is sociology?
The study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions
What is a society?
A group of people who live in a common area, interact with each other and share a common culture
What is the focus of micro level sociology?
Small groups and indivudual interactions
What is the focus of macro level sociology?
Trends among and between large groups and societies
What is culture?
Group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs that
What is sociological imagination?
an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions.
What are Cultural patterns?
social forces and influences that put pressure on people to select one choice over another.
What are social facts
the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and cultural rules that govern social life
What is figuration
the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior
What is social solidarity?
, social ties within a group,Wh
What do grand theories try to do?
Eexplain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change.
What are paradigms?
theories that provide broad perspectives that help explain many different aspects of social life,
What does structural functionalism focus on?
The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the functioning of the whole.
What does conflict theory focus on?
The way inequities and inequalities contribute to social, political, and power differences and how they perpetuate power.
What does symbolic interactionism focus on?
The way one-on-one interactions and communications behave.
What level does symbolic interactionism focus on?
Micro
What level does conflict theory focus on?
Macro
What level does Structural functionalism focus on?
Macro/mid
What does structural functionalism see society as?
a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society.
What parts keep society running in structural functionalism?
Social institutions, patterns of beliefs
What is dynamic equilibrium in structural functionalism
A healthy society where all parts are working to maintain stability
Manifest functions are
the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated, while
Latent functions are
the unsought consequences of a social process.
What are dysfunctions?
Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society
What are some criticisms of structural functionalism?
It can’t explain social change and dysfunctions continue
How does conflict theory see the world?
as a competition for limited resources.
How does power work in conflict theory?
People at the top maintain power and keep inequality
What is critical theory?
A theory that must explain what’s wrong in current social reality, identify the people who can make changes, and provide practical goals for social transformation
What are some criticisms of conflict theory?
It may exaggerate the instability of institutions
What does symbolic interactionist theory focus on?
the relationships among individuals within a society.
What are the three main premises of symbolic interactionism?
humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those things;
the ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and society;
the meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances
What is dramaturgical analysis?
People play different roles in life, like actors in a play
What is constructivism?
is an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be.
What are some criticisms of constructivism?
Hard to stay objective, narrow focus
