Chapter 1 Vocab

Question 1

Sociological perspective

Answer 1

Understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context

Question 2

Society

Answer 2

People who share a culture and a territory

Question 3

Social location

Answer 3

The group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society

Question 4

Positivism

Answer 4

The application of the scientific approach to the social world

Question 5

Sociology

Answer 5

The scientific study of society and human behavior

Question 6

Class conflict

Answer 6

Marx’s term for the struggle between capitalists and workers

Question 7

Bourgeoisie

Answer 7

Marx’s term for capitalists, those who own the means of production

Question 8

Proletariat

Answer 8

Marx’s term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production

Question 9

Patterns of behavior

Answer 9

Recurring behaviors or events

Question 10

Basic (or pure) sociology

Answer 10

Sociological research for the purpose of making discoveries about life in human groups, not for making changes in those groups

Question 11

Applied sociology

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Public sociology

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Theory

Answer 13

A general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work; an explanation of ho two or more facts are related to one another

Question 14

Symbolic interactionism

Answer 14

A theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another

Question 15

Functional analysis

Answer 15

A theoretical framework in which octet is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that when fulfilled contributes society’s equilibrium; also known as functionalism and structural functionalism

Question 16

Conflict theory

Answer 16

A theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources

Question 17

Macro-level analysis

Answer 17

An examination of large-scale patterns of comets; such as how Wall Street and the political establishment are interrelated

Question 18

Micro-level analysis

Answer 18

An examination of small-scale patterns of society; such as how the members of a group interact

Question 19

Social interaction

Answer 19

One person’s actions influencing someone else; usually refers to what people do when they are in one another’s presence, but also includes communications at a distance

Question 20

Nonverbal interaction

Answer 20

Communications without words through gestures, use of space silence and so on

Question 21

Hypothesis

Answer 21

A statement of how variables are expected to be related to one another, often according to predictions from a theory

Question 22

Variable

Answer 22

A factor thought to be significant for human behavior, which can vary (or change) from one case to another

Question 23

Operational definition

Answer 23

The way in which a researcher measures a variable

Question 24

Research method (or research design)

Answer 24

One of seven procedures that sociologists use to collect data: surveys, participant observation, case studies, secondary analysis, analysis of documents, experiments, and unobtrusive measures

Question 25

Validity

Answer 25

The extent to which an operational definition measures what it is intended to measure

Question 26

Reliability

Answer 26

The extent to which research produces consistent or dependable results

Question 27

Survey

Answer 27

The collection of data by having people answer a series of questions

Question 28

Population

Answer 28

A target group to be studied

Question 29

Sample

Answer 29

The individuals intended to represent the population to be studied

Question 30

Random sample

Answer 30

A sample in which everyone in the target population has the same chance of being included in the study

Question 31

Stratified random sample

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Respondents

Answer 32

People who respond to a survey, either in interviews or by self-administered questionnaires

Question 33

Rapport

Answer 33

A feeling of trust between researchers and the people they are studying

Question 34

Participant observation (or fieldwork)

Answer 34

Research in which the researcher participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that setting

Question 35

Case study

Answer 35

An intensive analysis of a single event situation, or individual

Question 36

Documents

Answer 36

In its narrow sense, written sources that provide data; in its extended sene, archival material of any sort, including photographs movie, CDs, DVDs, and so on

Question 37

Experimental group

Answer 37

The group of subjects in an experiment who are exposed to the independent variable

Question 38

Control group

Answer 38

The subjects in an experiment who are not exposed to the independent variable

Question 39

Independent variable

Answer 39

A factor that causes a change in another variable, called the dependent variable

Question 40

Dependent variable

Answer 40

A factor in an experiment that is changed by an independent variable

Question 41

Unobtrusive measures

Answer 41

Ways of observing people so they do not know they are being studied

Question 42

Globalization of capitalism

Answer 42

Capitalism (investing to make profits within a rational system) becoming the globe’s dominant economic system