Final Flashcards
What are troubles?
Caused by personal shortcomings related to motivation, attitude, character, etc
What are Issues?
Societal matters that impact many people, can only be explained by larger social forces
What is Emile Durkheim known for?
How solidarity affects the suicide rate in a society
What is sociology?
The systematic and scientific study of society
Father of sociology
August Comte
Sociological imagination
A perspective that allows us to consider how outside forces, especially the time and place we were born and live, shape our life story.
Symbolic interaction perspective
Focuses on how human beings use and interpret symbols to communicate and forge a sense of self. A symbol is something that we attach meaning to and use to communicate.
Structural functionalist perspective
The “VCR” approach. Every part of society is necessary and functional.
Conflict perspective
Society is shaped by groups who struggle with one another for valuable resources. It is conflict that holds society together.
Hypothesis
a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables (it is a prediction about the variables)
variable
a factor that varies or changes
Population
Who you want to study
Sample
all the individuals intended to represent the entire population to be studied
Scientific method
A carefully planned research process with the goal of generating observations and data that can be verified by others.
Subculture
People who share some aspects of the dominant culture but share a unique outlook (anchor)
Culture
The way of life of a people
Ethnocentrism
A point of view in which people use their own culture as a standard for judging the worth of another culture’s ways
Cultural universals
Found in every society
Cultural Specifics
Not found in every society
Norms
Written and unwritten social rules that specify how people should behave. They are often influenced by our shared values.
What is Ascribed Status?
A status that is assigned, not out of free will.
What is Achieved Status?
A status that is earned, a choice.
Role
The behaviors, obligations, expectations, and privileges associated with each of your statuses
What is a Status?
A socially defined position that a person occupies. It sets expectations for our behavior.
