Chapter 2 Flashcards
Sociological paradox
-things that we want to observe/explain but understand can’t be directly observed
Sociological theory is used:
-to identify historical and societal forces influencing our daily lives
-to offer the kinds of questions to ask in a study of social behaviour and provide specialized language (metalanguage)
1.Stasis vs 2.Kinesis (also who?)
- how social institutions were able to mostly remain the same over time
2.How and why societies change
-Auguste Comte
Emile Durkheim’s Normative
two kinds of social facts/phenomena
1.Normal (expected things in society)
2. Pathological, unexpected things that suggest societal dysfunction
Levels of analysis
-ability to see different practices, values, and social forces at work in the same situation
-give us a way to focus on a set o aspects of a social situation and are linked to the frame of reference we use for our observations
-Micro (individuals and small groups) subjectivity or a social sense of self
-Meso (groups or organizations)
-Macro “big picture” society and its institutions
structural phenomena
organizes the variety of modes of sociological explanation in two dimensions: (also who?)
- the level of analysis they focus on
2.the complexity of the social phenomenon being analyzed and whether the explanation emphasizes the structural aspect or the agency the actors have within the situation
-Willy Martinussen
modes of sociological explanation
1.systems explanations: how the internal dynamics and relations of social systems impact sociological phenomena
2.communities explanations: the relations and interactions between individuals acting in a particular position in a social formation
3.Opportunities explanations: The ways in which groups assess and access resources, as well as what they define as a resource
4. Meaningful behaviours: the explanatory factor in the collection of individual actions and the motives behind those actions
Systems explanation [level of Analysis; Structure focused; Action or intention-focused; How we think of the “social”]
-Macro-systems and institutions
-Functional explanations
-Linkage explanations
-social whole
Communities explanation [level of Analysis; Structure focused; Action or intention-focused; How we think of the “social”]
-Meso-group level
-Social integration explanation
-joint/collective action explanation
-N/A
Opportunities explanation [level of Analysis; Structure focused; Action or intention-focused; How we think of the “social”]
-Meso/Micro-how individuals deal with social formation
-social context explanation
-situation logic explanation
-N/A
Meaningful explanation [level of Analysis; Structure focused; Action or intention-focused; How we think of the “social”]
-Micro-how individuals operate
-Adjustment explanation
-choice explanation
-sum total of individuals
paradigm core components as given by____ are:
-Thomas Kuhn
-what is to be observed
-how these questions should be structured
-what predictions would be made by these paradigms
-how to interpret the results made by these paradigms
Structural Functionalism
-uses an organic or biological analogy for society
-identifies structures of society and describes the functions the structure performs to maintain the social system and produce social cohesion
-focuses on explaining social form and their contributions to social cohesion and social reproduction
-has fallen out of favour
Auguste Comte
-Aims to develop a science of society that could be used for social reconstruction
Herbert Spencer
-Social evolutionist
-survival of the fittest
Emile Durkheim
-social facts
-relationship between economy, social solidarity, and ideas of morality
Talcott Parsons
-Works toward a systematic and generalized theory of social systems based on how social structures constrain social actions
Robert Merton
-identifies three types of functions (manifest, latent, and latent dysfunction) which helps to develop his theory of anomie and bridges functionalist and conflict paradigms
Symbolic interactionism
-focuses on the meaning (symbolism) of daily interactions and the ways in which we communicate these interactions that produce or reproduce the social order
Max Weber
-examine how the meanings of actions related to social institutions (meaning and belief system can be translated into action)
-deep understanding is necessary to analyze behaviour with a mental distancing approach
-the objective study of subjective phenomena
George Herbert Mead
-self is constructed through learning to anticipate how we will be perceived through personal exchanges with others
Herbert Blumer
-made the term symbolic interaction to examine the role of meaning in how people relate to things and others
Erving Goffman
-dramaturgical perspective, understanding social interaction as if in a dramatic play
-idea of the total institution
Conflict oriented paradigms (4 C’s)
-contestation: functions can be contested by asking “what group does this function best serve”
-conflict: exists in all large societies
-class(ification): has existed in every society
-change: society either will or should be changed
professional sociology
-research designed to generate highly specific information with the aim of applying it to a particular problem or intellectual question
-highly technical and specialized language
-audience = academic and professional readers
Critical sociology
-the conscience of professional sociology
-audience= academic and professional readers
Policy sociology
-Generates sociological data to be used in development of social policies, laws, rules or plans
-Audience = governments and corporations
main sectors (education, health, and social welfare)
Public sociology
-make sociology accessible to the public through the use of jargon-free language
-Audience= those outside of the discipline and politics
