CHP1 Vocab Flashcards
the view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values
antipositivism
a theory that looks at society as a competition for limited resources
conflict theory
an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be
constructivism
a group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs
culture
a technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance
dramaturgical analysis
a stable state in which all parts of a healthy society work together properly
dynamic equilibrium
social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society
dysfunctions
the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior
figuration
the part a recurrent activity plays in the social life as a whole and the contribution it makes to structural continuity
function
a theoretical approach that sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals that make up that society
functionalism
the organized and generalized attitude of a social group
generalized others
an attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change
grand theories
a testable proposition
hypothesis
the unrecognized or unintended consequences of a social process
latent functions
a wide-scale view of the role of social structures within a society
macro-level
sought consequences of a social process
manifest functions
the study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups
micro-level theories
philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them
paradigms
the scientific study of social patterns
positivism
in-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of its data
qualitative sociology
statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants
quantitative sociology
an error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence
reification
specific individuals that impact a person’s life
significant others
the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life
social facts
patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs
social institutions
the social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion
social solidarity
a group of people who live in a defined geographical area who interact with one another and who share a common culture
society
the ability to understand how your own past relates to that of other people, as well as to history in general and societal structures in particular
sociological imagination
the systematic study of society and social interaction
sociology
a theoretical perspective through which scholars examine the relationship of individuals within their society by studying their communication (language and symbols)
symbolic interactionism
a proposed explanation about social interactions or society
theory
a German word that means to understand in a deep way
verstehen
