Exam One - Terms Flashcards
Antipositivism
The view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values
Conflict Theory
A theory that looks at society as a competition for limited resources
Constructivism
An extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be
Culture
A group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs
Dramaturgical Analysis
A technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance
Dynamic Equilibrium
A stable state in which all parts of a healthy society work together properly
Dsyfunctions
Social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society
Figuration
The process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior
Function
The part a recurrent activity plays in the social life as a whole and the contribution it makes to structural continuity
Functionalism
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
Generalized Others
The organized and generalized attitude of a social group
Grand Theories
An attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change
Hypothesis
A testable proposition
Latent Functions
The unrecognized or unintended consequences of a social process
Macro-level
A wide-scale view of the role of social structures within a society
Manifest Functions
Sought consequences of a social process
Micro-level Theories
The study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups
Paradigms
Philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them
Positivism
The scientific study of social patterns
Qualitative Sociology
In-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of its data
Quantitative Sociology
Statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants
Reification
An error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence
Significant Others
Specific individuals that impact a person’s life
Social Facts
The laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life
Social Institutions
Patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs
Social Solidarity
The social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion
Society
A group of people who live in a defined geographical area who interact with one another and who share a common culture
Sociological Imagination
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
Sociology
The systematic study of society and social interaction
Symbolic Interactionism
A theoretical perspective through which scholars examine the relationship of individuals within their society by studying their communication (language and symbols)
Theory
A proposed explanation about social interactions or society
Content Analysis
A way of analyzing a body of literature and doing statistical analysis of certain words and terms within it
Survey
Collects data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire or an interview
Random Sample
Every person in a population has the same chance of being chosen for the study. As a result, a Gallup Poll, if conducted as a nationwide random sampling, should be able to provide an accurate estimate of public opinion whether it contacts 2,000 or 10,000 people
Quantitative Data
Where people answer a series of closed-ended questions, the researcher might ask yes-or-no or multiple-choice questions, allowing subjects to choose possible responses to each question. This kind of questionnaire collects ____________-—data in numerical form that can be counted and statistically analyzed.
Qualitative Data
Some topics that investigate internal thought processes are impossible to observe directly and are difficult to discuss honestly in a public forum. People are more likely to share honest answers if they can respond to questions anonymously. This type of personal explanation is_______________—conveyed through words rather than numbers.
Beliefs
Tenets or convictions that people hold to be true
Countercultures
Groups that reject and oppose society’s widely accepted cultural patterns
Cultural Imperialism
The deliberate imposition of one’s own cultural values on another culture
Cultural Relativism
The practice of assessing a culture by its own standards, and not in comparison to another culture
Cultural Universals
Patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies
Culture Lag
The gap of time between the introduction of material culture and nonmaterial culture’s acceptance of it
Culture Shock
An experience of personal disorientation when confronted with an unfamiliar way of life
Diffusion
The spread of material and nonmaterial culture from one culture to another
Discoveries
Things and ideas found from what already exists
Ethnocentrism
The practice of evaluating another culture according to the standards of one’s own culture
Folkways
Direct, appropriate behavior in the day-to-day practices and expressions of a culture
Formal Norms
Established, written rules
Globalization
The integration of international trade and finance markets
High Culture
The cultural patterns of a society’s elite
Ideal Culture
The standards a society would like to embrace and live up to
Informal Norms
Casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to
Innovations
New objects or ideas introduced to culture for the first time
Inventions
A combination of pieces of existing reality into new forms
Language
A symbolic system of communication
Material Culture
The objects or belongings of a group of people
Mores
The moral views and principles of a group
Nonmaterial Culture
The ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society
Norms
The visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured
Popular Culture
Mainstream, widespread patterns among a society’s population
Real Culture
The way society really is based on what actually occurs and exists
Sanctions
A way to authorize or formally disapprove of certain behaviors
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
The way that people understand the world based on their form of language
Social Control
A way to encourage conformity to cultural norms
Society
People who live in a definable community and who share a culture
Subcultures
Groups that share a specific identification, apart from a society’s majority, even as the members exist within a larger society
Symbols
Gestures or objects that have meanings associated with them that are recognized by people who share a culture
Values
A culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society
Xenocentrism
A belief that another culture is superior to one’s own
Achieved Status
The status a person chooses, such as a level of education or income
Agricultural Societies
Societies that rely on farming as a way of life
Alienation
An individual’s isolation from his society, his work, and his sense of self
Anomie
A situation in which society no longer has the support of a firm collective consciousness
Ascribed Status
The status outside of an individual’s control, such as sex or race
Bourgeoisie
The owners of the means of production in a society
Capitalism
A way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government
Class Consciousness
The awareness of one’s rank in society
Collective Conscience
The communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society
False Consciousness
A person’s beliefs and ideology that are in conflict with her best interests
Feudal Societies
Societies that operate on a strict hierarchical system of power based around land ownership and protection
Habitualization
The idea that society is constructed by us and those before us, and it is followed like a habit
Horticultural Societies
Societies based around the cultivation of plants
Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Societies that depend on hunting wild animals and gathering uncultivated plants for survival
Industrial Societies
Societies characterized by a reliance on mechanized labor to create material goods
Information Societies
Societies based on the production of nonmaterial goods and services
Institutionalization
The act of implanting a convention or norm into society
Iron Cage
A situation in which an individual is trapped by social institutions
Looking-Glass Self
Our reflection of how we think we appear to others
Mechanical Solidarity
A type of social order maintained by the collective consciousness of a culture
Organic Solidarity
A type of social order based around an acceptance of economic and social differences
Pastoral Societies
Societies based around the domestication of animals
Proletariat
The laborers in a society
Rationalization
A belief that modern society should be built around logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition
Role Conflict
A situation when one or more of an individual’s roles clash
Role Performance
The expression of a role
Role Strain
Stress that occurs when too much is required of a single role
Role-Set
An array of roles attached to a particular status
Roles
Patterns of behavior that are representative of a person’s social status
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
An idea that becomes true when acted upon
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
An idea that becomes true when acted upon
Social-Integration
How strongly a person is connected to his or her social group
Society
A group of people who live in a definable community and share the same culture
Status
The responsibilities and benefits that a person experiences according to his or her rank and role in society
Thomas Theorem
How a subjective reality can drive events to develop in accordance with that reality, despite being originally unsupported by objective reality
Anticipatory Socialization
The way we prepare for future life roles
Degradation Ceremony
The process by which new members of a total institution lose aspects of their old identities and are given new ones
Hidden Curriculum
The informal teaching done in schools that socializes children to societal norms
Moral Development
The way people learn what is “good” and “bad” in society
Nature
The influence of our genetic makeup on self-development
Nurture
The role that our social environment plays in self-development
Peer Group
A group made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests
Resocialization
The process by which old behaviors are removed and new behaviors are learned in their place
Self
A person’s distinct sense of identity as developed through social interaction
Socialization
The process wherein people come to understand societal norms and expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, and to be aware of societal values
