Soc 100 Chapter 1 Flashcards
Narratives
a person’s story told in their own words or voice
Social location
details about a person (e.g. gender, age, health status, interests, etc.) that inform the individual’s perspective and shape his/her experience.
Intersectionality
describes how two or more aspects of your social location can combine together and increase the discrimination or privilege you experience.
Sociologists observe…
social patterns.
Sociological research helps us to…
This allows us to…
discuss social issues in a informed and critical manner.
challenge common perceptions such as stereotypes.
How does sociology distinguish itself from other social sciences?
through its history, vocabulary and tools.
Sociology is distinct.. (3 ways)
- concerned with society
- examines different kinds of societies as totalities
- Explanation, analysis and debate about contemporary or
“modern” life
Totalities
a sum of interconnected social elements and the ways they are interconnected
Sociology (steckley def.)
the social science that studies the development, structure, and functioning of human society.
Sociology (alt def.)
the study of the way that humans are shaped by things that they don’t see.
Sociology looks for social patterns in…
social variables, social institutions, and social interactions.
Social variables
e.g. age, gender, religion, ‘race’, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.
Social institutions
They dicatate and perpetuate social norms.
e.g. education, religion, the family, government.
Sociological imagination
the ability to understand how your personal experiences are connected to larger social and historical forces.
You are able to step back and look at that problem or experience in relation to society and a border social context.
Who developed the term “sociological imagination”?
C. Wright Mills
Henry Giroux says that failing to exercise our sociological imagination means that…
society can no longer translate private problems into social issues.
Individuals have a sense of failure, as they are made the primary focus of blame.
Disproportionate representation
when an atypically high or low number of a particular social group is associated with a specific situation.
Confucius
a strong proponent of role modelling.
Ibn Khaldun
Arab scholar who researched the cyclical rise and fall of powerful tribes and nations.
Found that as a society achieves strength, it will inevitably reach a point of decay and will be overtaken by outside forces or by disgruntled factions from within.
Auguste Comte
The founder of sociology (Gave us the term ‘sociology’) . Thought that sociology could discover laws of human social behaviour to help solve society’s problems.
Positivism says…
the best way to gain knowledge is to experiment, measurement, observation.
Harriet Martineau
1st female sociologist.
Translated many of Comte’s works.
Interested in the equality of women / women’s rights movement.
Who wrote the first sociology methods book?
Harriet Martineau
Herbert Spencer
sought to apply Darwin’s theory of natural selection to human societies; also influenced by Comte’s positivism.
Coined the term survival of the fittest.