Chapter 1

Question 1

is the scientific or systematic study of society

Answer 1

Sociology

Question 2

which involves a special kind of “vision”

Answer 2

Sociological Perspective

Question 3

Benefits of Sociological Perspective

Answer 3

1. The sociological perspective helps us critically assess “common sense” ideas.
2. The sociological perspective helps us see the opportunities and constraints in our lives.
3. The sociological perspective empowers us to be active participants in society.
4. The sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse world.

Question 4

Kinds of sociological Perspective

Answer 4

Seeing the general in the particular

Seeing the strange in the familiar

Question 5

core sociological concept

Answer 5

social construction of reality

Question 6

provides a framework which allows us to better understand the world around us. It involves the capacity to see “personal troubles” as “public issues”.

Answer 6

Sociological Imagination

Question 7

Micro-level aspect

Answer 7

individual experiences

Question 8

Macro-level aspect

Answer 8

social structures

Question 9

Thinking that is purposeful, deliberate, and self-regulatory, and that arrives at judgments based on well-defined criteria and evidence”

Answer 9

Critical Thinking

Question 10

critical sociological thinking

Answer 10

the ability to logically and reasonably evaluate an argument or problem while maintaining an awareness of and sensitivity to social forces and contexts

Question 11

____________ psychology is a therapeutic effort to help people understand their own behaviour and cope with their problems.

Answer 11

Applied psychology

Question 12

______________ psychology is closer to the mainstream of sociology, placing its central emphasis on understanding such phenomena as learning, thinking, personality formation and functioning, intelligence, memory, and motivation.

Answer 12

Academic psychology

Question 13

Three major social changes during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are important to the development of scientific sociology:

Answer 13

1. the rise and growth of a factory-based industrial economy (industrialization)
2. the growth of cities (urbanization)
3. political change, including a rising concern with individual liberty and rights (e.g., the French revolution)

Question 14

Comte saw sociology as the product of a three-stage historical development:

Answer 14

the theological stage
the metaphysical stage
the scientific stage

Question 15

guided by religion

Answer 15

theological stage

Question 16

transitional phase in which people saw society as a natural rather than a supernatural phenomenon

Answer 16

metaphysical stage

Question 17

guided by positivism: a way of understanding based on science

Answer 17

scientific stage

Question 18

a statement of how and why specific facts are related

Answer 18

Theory

Question 19

goal of sociological theory

Answer 19

explain social behaviour in the real world

Question 20

Three Main Sociological Approaches

Answer 20

Structural-Functionalist Approach
Social Conflict Approach
Symbolic-Interaction Approach

Question 21

structural-functional approach

Answer 21

a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.

Question 22

the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern

Answer 22

manifest functions

Question 23

the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern

Answer 23

latent functions

Question 24

social dysfunctions

Answer 24

social patterns that may disrupt the operation of society

Question 25

social conflict approach

Answer 25

a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change.

Question 26

symbolic-interaction approach

Answer 26

a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals.

Question 27

the scientific orientation corresponds to the ______________________________ approach

Answer 27

structural-functional

Question 28

___________________ orientation corresponds to the symbolic-interaction approach

Answer 28

interpretive orientation

Question 29

the critical orientation corresponds to the _______________________ approach

Answer 29

social-conflict

Question 30

_____________________ are concepts with measurable traits whose value changes from case to case.

Answer 30

Variables

Question 31

__________________ is the process of determining the value of a variable in a specific case.

Answer 31

Measurement

Question 32

refers to consistency in measurement

Answer 32

Reliability

Question 33

Validity

Answer 33

refers to actually measuring exactly what one intends to measure.

Question 34

Interpretive Sociology differs from scientific sociology in three ways:

Answer 34

1. Scientific sociology focuses on action, whereas interpretive sociology focuses on the meaning people attach to behaviour.
2. Scientific sociology sees an objective reality “out there,” whereas interpretive sociology sees reality constructed by people themselves in everyday life.
3. Scientific sociology favours quantitative data, whereas interpretive sociology favours qualitative data.

Question 35

Verstehen, the German word for

Answer 35

understanding