Lecture 1 Flashcards
Basic sociological questions (HWW)
what is human nature? why is society structured as it is? how and why do societies change?
C. Wright Mills
came up with sociological imagination; relationship between “public issues and personal troubles”; how personal issues are related to society as a whole; “neither the life nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both”
drinking coffee (sociological imagination) (BIOSS)
symbolic value where the ritual is more important than the drink itself (lets meet for coffee); a socially acceptable stimulant drug; ;important valuable commodity in international trade; origins in colonial expansions; “branded and politicized” good lifestyle choice
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
dysfunctions
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
latent functions
the unrecognized or unintended consequences of a social process
manifest functions
sought consequences of a social process
paradigms
philosophical 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
social facts
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
systematic study of society and social interation
symbolic interacitonism
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
verstehen
a German word that means to understand in a deep way
August Comte
believed social scientists could study society using the same scientific methods utilized in natural sciences; believed in potential of social scientists to work toward the betterment of society; named the scientific study of social patterns positivism coined term “sociology”; RATIONALITY; positivism by nature doesnt work but Comte is important because he was the first attempt at studying society
Harriet Martineau
first woman sociologist; first systematic methodological international comparisons of social institutions; believed that belief in all being created equal was inconsistent with the lack of women’s rights
Karl Marx
rejected Comte’s positivism; believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production; social conflict leads to change in society
herbert spencer
first book with the term “sociology” in the title; rejected much of Comte’s philosophy as well as Marx’s theory of class struggle; favored form a government that allowed market forces to control capitalism
Georg Simmel
took an anti-positivism stance and addressed topics such as social conflict, the function of money, etc; focused on micro-level theories
Emile Durkheim
helped establish sociology as a formal academic discipline by establishing the first European department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895; theory on how societies transformed from a primitive state into a capitalist, industrial society; people rise to their proper levels in society based on merit; believed in “social facts”; did the suicide experiment: egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic; regulation and integration
George Herbert Mead
mind and self were developed as a result of social processes; individual comes to view himself based on a very large extent on interactions with others; microlevel of analysis
Max Weber
established sociology department in Germany; wrote on political change in Russia and social forces; believed it was difficult to use standard scientific methods to predict the behaivor of groups; introduced verstehen; proposed antipositivism
theories involve constructing?
abstract interpretations that can be used to explain a wide variety of empirical situations
Regulation
how many rules there are
Integration
how cohesive a society is
Egotistic Suicide
Low integration; individual sense of meaninglessness, depression; usually unmarried individuals (Protestant males)
Anomic Suicide
low regulation; lost, no guidance, culture is ineffective, moral feeling that society is breaking down; usually laid off people and teenagers (sentimental anomie)
Fatalistic suicide
high regulation; norms are strong and people have no opportunities; usually slaves, prisoners, and overworked students/executives (no way of escape except through death)
Altruistic Suicide
high integration; usually soldiers, parents, suicide bombers; willing to sacrifice yourself and die for society
anomie
insufficient normative regulation; people are lost
mechanical society
more traditional where solidarity comes from “we all do the same thing”, strong regulation and integration, feel like they belong because they have the same houses and work; cohesion is based on shared tradition; penalized if doing something different
Organic society
more modern, there is a division of labor where people depend on each other and everyone does their individual work; everyone has a role to play
Murdock on marriage
marriage and then family fulfill 4 basic functions: sexual, reproductive, educational, and economic
instrumental roles
father: works outside, financial support
expressive roles
mother: emotional support and care inside the home
