Major Theoretical Approach

Question 1

Anomie

Answer 1

a term used by Emile Durkheim to describe a condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals

Question 2

Anti-Positivism

Answer 2

a movement in Sociology that argued the sociologist would be better served by rejecting a strict adherence to the scientific method within social research and should rely on interpretive methodologies

Question 3

Charles Horton Cooley

Answer 3

(1864-1929) was an American sociologist best known for his concept of the “looking glass self”

Question 4

“Collective Consciousness”

Answer 4

a term used by Emile Durkheim to describe a set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes that operate as a unifying force in society

Question 5

conflict

Answer 5

a battle or struggle; controversy; a quarrel, to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash

Question 6

Critical Sociology

Answer 6

the study of society that focuses on the need for social change

Question 7

“Definition of the Situation”

Answer 7

that which people use to know what is expected of them in a situation; the characteristics of a situation that guide people to determine their choice in behaviors

Question 8

Dramaturgical Approach

Answer 8

the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance; the theory that we “present” ourselves in the best way possible and act a certain way when “hiding” from the audience; Erving Goffman

Question 9

Emile Durkheim

Answer 9

(1858-1917) a French sociologist whose study of suicide rates in the late 1800s helped propel the field of sociology as a scientific academic discipline separate from psychology and political science; considered as one of the founding fathers of sociology

Question 10

Erving Goffman

Answer 10

(1922-1982) was a Canadian sociologist who developed the term “dramaturgical approach” due to his belief that individuals “present” themselves in a certain way in public but act in another way when “hiding” from the “audience”

Question 11

Evolutionary Change

Answer 11

a social change that occurs gradually

Question 12

Gender-Conflict Approach

Answer 12

a point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men

Question 13

George Herbert Mead

Answer 13

(1863-1931) an American sociologist who argued that social experience develops an individual’s personality; instrumental in the development of sociology in the United States while working as a professor at the University of Chicago

Question 14

Herbert George Blumer

Answer 14

(1900-1987) was an American sociologist who believed that individuals create their own social reality through collective and individual action and argued that the creation of social reality is a continuous process

Question 15

Herbert Spencer

Answer 15

(1820-1903) an English sociologist best known for coining the phrase “survival of the fittest” in 1864 upon reading Charles Darwin’s work on evolution

Question 16

Interpretive Sociology

Answer 16

the study of society that focuses on the meanings people attach to their social world

Question 17

Karl Marx

Answer 17

(1818-1883) a German sociologist best known for his books The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital; argued that societies progress through class struggle: a conflict between an ownership class that controls production and a victimized laboring class that provides the labor for production; considered as one of the founding fathers of sociology

Question 18

Latent Function

Answer 18

the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern

Question 19

Looking Glass Self

Answer 19

a self-image based on how we think others see us

Question 20

Macro-Level Orientation

Answer 20

a broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole

Question 21

Manifest Function

Answer 21

the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern

Question 22

Max Weber

Answer 22

(1864-1920) a German sociologist who argued against August Comte’s approach to positivism and claimed that people’s beliefs and values shaped society; considered as one of the founding fathers of sociology

Question 23

Mechanical Solidarity

Answer 23

a term used by Emile Durkheim to refer to a type of social unity achieved by people doing the same type of work and holding similar values

Question 24

Micro-Level Orientation

Answer 24

a close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations

Question 25

Micro-processes

Answer 25

the interpersonal interactions or socialization of individuals studied in sociology

Question 26

Organic Solidarity

Answer 26

a term used by Emile Durkheim to refer to a type of social unity in which interdependence is based on specialized functions and statuses

Question 27

Race-Conflict Approach

Answer 27

a point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories

Question 28

Revolutionary Change

Answer 28

a social change that occurs swiftly following a prompt

Question 29

Robert K. Merton

Answer 29

(1910-2003) an American sociologist who identified the presence of manifest and latent functions within social structures and also identified the presence of social dysfunctions; also famous for his work on “role models” and “self-fulfilling prophesy”

Question 30

Self

Answer 30

the part of an individual’s personality composed of self-awareness and self-image; George Herbert Mead argued that the self was the product of social experience

Question 31

Social Dysfunction

Answer 31

any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society

Question 32

Social Exchange

Answer 32

a theory within the Symbolic-Interaction Approach that suggests that voluntary action is performed in the expectation of getting a reward in return

Question 33

Social Inequality

Answer 33

a condition that occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, usually based on social stratification

Question 34

Social Stratification

Answer 34

a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy

Question 35

Social Structure

Answer 35

the distinctive, stable arrangement of institutions whereby human beings in a society interact and live together; examples include government, economy, class, family, education, etc. It is a very broad term as it refers to the ways people are interrelated or interdependent

Question 36

Social-Conflict Approach

Answer 36

a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change; Karl Marx, W.E.B. Du Bois, Harriet Martineau, Jane Addams

Question 37

Socialization

Answer 37

the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn the culture

Question 38

Society

Answer 38

a body of individuals living as members of a community; an organized interaction of people who typically live in a nation or some other specific territory

Question 39

Structural-Functional Approach

Answer 39

a framework for building sociological theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability; August Comte, Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, Thomas Merton

Question 40

“Survival of the Fittest”

Answer 40

a phrase used by Herbert Spencer to describe the natural evolution of people; it was later used as justification of social stratification

Question 41

Symbol

Answer 41

anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture

Question 42

Symbolic-Interaction Approach

Answer 42

a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals; Max Weber, George Herbert Mead, Herbert Blumer, Erving Goffman, George Horton Cooley

Question 43

The Power Elite

Answer 43

book written by C. Wright Mills in 1956 in which he draws attention to the interwoven interests of the leaders of the military, corporate, and political elements of society, and suggests that the ordinary citizen is a relatively powerless subject of manipulation by those entities; one of the first sociological tomes to use the Social-Conflict Approach to American society

Question 44

Theoretical Approach

Answer 44

a basic image of society that guides thinking and research

Question 45

Theory

Answer 45

a statement of how and why specific facts are related

Question 46

Verstehen

Answer 46

a German word that literally translates to mean “to understand” in English and refers to understanding the meaning of action from the actor’s point of view

Question 47

William I. Thomas

Answer 47

(1863-1947) an American sociologist who developed the Thomas Theorem- “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (also known as the “Definition of the Situation”