Chapter 1; Theories Flashcards
Sociology
systematic study of society
Sociological imagination
the ability to perceive the interconnectedness between individual experiences (micro level) and broader social forces (macro level)
What are the tools used to develop your sociological imagination
Empirical research methods, sociological theories, and critical thinking
How does sociology differ from other disciplines?
It focuses on meaningful connections between people
social statics
August Comt; forms of social organizations
social dynamics
August Comt; processes of social change
Empirical research methods
data collection that produces verifiable findings and is carried out using systematic procedures
Theory
set of propositions intended to explain a fact or phenomenon
What are the 3 approaches to theorizing?
positivist, interpretive, critical
what is the positivist approach and why do interpretive and critical theories reject it?
interest in explanation and prediction; examines relationships between variables to better understand society. Interpretive and critical theorizing rejects the positivist assumption of an objective “laws” that govern the way society works.
What is the Interpretive approach and what is its goal?
focuses on understanding themselves, the world, and others. presumes people are shaped through culture; the goal is to describe the role culture plays in shaping societies.
critical
focuses on emancipation and power
What is the functionalist perspective, what approach does it take, and what level perspective is it?
Emile Durkheim, positivist approach, macro-level perspective, Jenga analogy; views society as comprising of structures, each that fulfills important functions that keeps society operating smoothly. These structures can serve manifest functions and latent functions, and if there is latent dysfunction it is believed other structures will adapt to restore order. consensus and cooperation are fundamental to the maintenance of social order. Adaptable to small changes. Values and norms are widely held.
manifest functions
intended functions of an institution
latent functions
unintended functions of an institution that still have positive outcomes
latent dysfunction
unintended negative function of one of society’s structures
values
shared criteria by which we determine if something is right or wrong
social facts
aspects of society that exist over specific individuals and control peoples actions
material social facts
social facts with a tangible reality, ex. currency, education system, government
non-material social facts
intangible social facts, ex. norms, morals, values
mechanical solidarity
social bonds in preindustrial societies based on similarities among people
organic solidarity
social bonds in industrialized society based on different roles people play in the division of labour
collective conscience
shared system of morals; bonded people in preindustrial societies
anomie
state where traditional norms deteriorate, process of social control decline, and institutions become dysfunctional
The Conflict Perspective
Karl Marx/Max Weber, critical approach ,macro-level, emphasizes power and emancipation, views society as a hierarchy with a small group of powerful people at the top and a large group of powerless people at the bottom. Competition over resources, possibility of emancipation. Highlights the importance of praxis.
alienation
the detachment that exists between the worker and their labour as perpetuated under capitalism
praxis
The responsibility scholars have to provide marginalized groups in society with the knowledge they need to end their powerlessness
The symbolic interactionist perspective
George Herbert Mead/Herbert Blumer, interpretive approach, mirco-level, emphasis on meaning and subjective understandings. Analyzes how we come to develop understanding; depicts society as consisting of individuals engaged in both direct and indirect communication that come to have meaning
dramaturgical theory
Erving Goffman; social life is like a theatre, with a front stage: how we act/the roles we play infront of other people, and a back stage: our identities/behaviours when we are alone. Humans engage in impression management: ensuring our appearances, words, and actions correspond to the specific roles we are playing at the time.
The Feminist Perspective
Harriet Martineau; ranges from micro-macro level, crtical perspective; Diverse: views society and people’s experiences as as structured on the basis of gender, academic work has an androcentric bias, research and theory must be intertwined with practice
patriarchy
legal and social power vested in men
androcentric
male-centred, failing to account for experiences of women
The Post-modern perspective
Michael Foucalt, emerged from the post WW2 era, points out ways in which our lives have dramatically changed since the war, 2 forms; Skeptical: proposes that the social changes have created inescapable chaos and meaningless. Affirmative: the way society has changed means we can’t rely on overarching theories of society and broad categories of people. The post-modern perspective focusses on deconstructing what is perceived as knowledge and questioning it.
Post-structuralist theories
Michael Foulcault, emphasises the relationship between knowledge and power, truth is not objective it is historically produced
discourse
ways of talking about bodies of knowledge or social phenomenon
critical thinking
mode of thinking where the thinker imposes intellectual standards on the structures of thinking
lower-order thinking
based on memory, recall and paraphrasing. We tend to think of things as true or false/ accurate or inaccurate when their is really nuance
higher order thinking
when we extrapolate info from one domain and apply it to another
critical societies
contain a mass order of higher order thinking
Sociological toolkit
empirical research methods:means for creating verifiable knowledge
sociological theories:provide a larger context of explanation for that knowledge
critical thinking skills: enable us to evaluate and extrapolate that knowledge
Academic sociology
empirical research methods and sociological theorizing conducted by formally trained researchers
Policy sociology
the use of research, theorizing, and critical thinking for policy development in governments and other public/private organizations
Public sociology
transmits sociological knowledge to non-academic audiences
private sociology
the application of sociological knowledge to one’s own personal life
