Exam 1 Flashcards
sociology
science of society and human behavior in a group setting
sociology and common sense
common sense is not reliable, science (aka sociology) is
origins of sociology
mid 19th century
August Comte
- understand and improve society through scientific method
- use science to alleviate social problems
Herbert Spencer
- sociologists should be only concerned with better and more accurate understanding of society
- societies evolve from simple/primitive to developed/complex and we shouldnt interfere
“survival of the fittest”
- Herbert Spencer
- social darwinism
- letting people be creates a more developed society
Emile Durkheim
- work on suicide
- not based on personality or psychological problems dependent on social integration
Karl Marx
-class conflict and class struggle
economic determinism
importance of economic arrangements
economic base
- mode of production
- determines ideas, values, social institutions
2 social classes
- proletariat = working class
- bourgeoisie = capitalist
Max Weber
- sociologists cant just depend on what they observe, have to put ourselves in peoples shoes
- include peoples beliefs, intentions, and values
Verstehen
- understanding
- interpretation of social actor’s behaviors and intentions
Weber believed social change came from
religious ideas
W.E.B. DeBois
- academic, sociologist, and reformer
- studied racial divide
Macrosociology
theoretical perspectives that focus on large scale phenomena
functionalist perspective
- society is a system of interrelated and interdependent parts
- manifest and latent functions
manifest functions
intended function
latent function
not obvious function
conflict perspective
- society consists of different groups that compete for scarce resources
- class struggle (Marx)
- conflict creates social change
microsociology
theoretical perspectives that focus on small scale phenomena/face to face interaction/small groups
symbolic interactionism
society is composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another
social life depends on…
the ways we define ourselves and others
casual logic
cause and effect
variable
a measureable trait or characteristic that varies from one case to another
dependent variable
a factor that is changed by an independent variable (effect)
independent variable
a factor that causes change
positive correlation
move in same direction, one goes up = another goes up
negative correlation
move in opposite direction, one goes up = another goes down
survey
reach large population
random sample
every member of the population has an even chance of getting selected
experiment
-experimental and control group