Perspectives In Sociology

Question 1

The Three Sociological Theoretical Paradigms

Answer 1

Structural Functionalism, Social Conflict, Symbolic Interactionism

Question 2

Functionalism

Answer 2

A sociological theory that explains social organization and change in terms of the role performed by different social structures, phenomena and institutions

Question 3

Manifest functions

Answer 3

functions of an object or a phenomenon that are obvious or intended

Question 4

Latentent functions

Answer 4

functions of an object, or a phenomenon, that are not expected.

Question 5

Social Conflict:
Proletariat: working class, wage workers
Bourgeois: capitalist (property owning class)

Answer 5

theory that seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of conflict that is built into social relations.

Question 6

Social Conflict:

Answer 6

theory that seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of conflict that is built into social relations.

Question 7

Proletariat:

Answer 7

working class, wage workers

Question 8

Bourgeois:

Answer 8

capitalist (property owning class)

Question 9

Sociology

Answer 9

The scientific study of human social relations groups and societies.

Question 10

Social Embeddedness,

Answer 10

the idea that economic, political, and other forms of human behavior are fundamentally shaped by social relations.

Question 11

Sociological Imagination

Answer 11

the ability to grasp the relationship between individual lives and the larger social forces that help to shape them.

Question 12

Agency –

Answer 12

The ability of individuals and groups to exercise free will and to influence social change.

Question 13

Structure –

Answer 13

Patterned social arrangements that have an effect of agency. (anything that keeps you from doing what you want)

Question 14

Critical Thinking

Answer 14

The ability to evaluate claims by using reason and evidence. Think about your actions and how they influence others.

Question 15

Scientific Inquiry (evidence):

Answer 15

A way of learning about the world that systematically examines logically constructed theories through testable methods.

Question 16

Positivists:

Answer 16

Science that is based on facts alone. The idea is to be as systematic and unbiased as possible.
Early proclamation of sociology.

Question 17

Macro-level:

Answer 17

theories of the world that are concerned with large-scale patterns and institutions.

Question 18

Micro-level:

Answer 18

Theories of the world that are concerned with small group- social relations and interactions.

Question 19

Norms:

Answer 19

Acceptable social behaviours and beliefs.

Question 20

Collective Consciousness:

Answer 20

The common beliefs and values that bind the society together.

Question 21

Symbolic Interactionism:

Answer 21

Individual self and society as a whole are the products of social interactions based on symbols.

Question 22

Symbols:

Answer 22

Representations of things that are not immediately present to our senses.
words, gestures, reactions, invitations, exclusions.

Question 23

Auguste Comte:

Answer 23

Founded sociology
Societies evolve their understanding of the world
theological → metaphysical → scientific reasoning
Two key pillars of Comte theories…

Question 24

Social statics:

Answer 24

the way society is held together.

Study things that keep us together so that we can manipulate it into something we want.

Question 25

Social dynamics:

Answer 25

The laws that govern social change.

Question 26

Emile Durkheim: the student of Auguste Comte

Answer 26

Established what sociology should study
Focused on social solidarity: what held us together
The higher the economics were, the more capitalist, the more suicide rates.

Question 27

Anomie:

Answer 27

a social condition of normlessness that occurs when people lose touch with the shared rules and values that give order and meaning to their lives.

Question 28

Karl Marx

Answer 28

Father of conflict perspective with his discussions of class conflict, where one class prospers at the expense of another.

Question 29

Class Conflict:

Answer 29

competition between social classes over the distribution of wealth, power, and other valued resources in society.

Question 30

Max Weber

Answer 30

Believed that an adequate explanation of the social world takes into account the meaning of what people do and say.
Predicted the world would organize into bureaucracies, creating an iron cage.

Question 31

Bureaucracies:

Answer 31

Formal organizations characterized by written rules. hierarchical authority, and aid stagg, intended to promote organizational efficiency

Question 32

W.E.B. Du Bois

Answer 32

Introduced the study of race, racism, and racial identity.

Question 33

Social Diversity:

Answer 33

The social and cultural mixture of different groups in society and the societal recognition of difference as significant

Question 34

Ethnocentrism:

Answer 34

A worldview whereby one judges other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture and regards one’s own way of life as normal and better than others.

Question 35

Globalization

Answer 35

The process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and mutual sharing, and other aspects of culture.