Soc 100 Chapter 2

Question 1

Social structure

Answer 1

the way society is organized into different elements (nested boxes)

Question 2

social institutions

Answer 2

an established and enduring pattern of social relationships

Question 3

social paradox

Answer 3

Many of the things that sociologists want to explain in the social world cannot be viewed directly by an observer.

Question 4

Auguste Comte

Answer 4

stasis and kinesis

Question 5

Stasis

Answer 5

how social institutions were able to remain largely the same over time.

Question 6

Kinesis

Answer 6

how and why societies change.

Question 7

Bug vs. feature (mindset)

Answer 7

features - focusing on the normal operation of society.

Bugs - studying something that isn’t working correctly.

Question 8

Durkheim’s normative

Answer 8

two kind of social facts:

normative: something that usually happens
pathological: relatively rare.

Question 9

levels of analysis

Answer 9

the focus of sociological study.

Question 10

Micro-level

Answer 10

about individuals and small groups of people and their patterns of action or senses of self.

Question 11

meso-level

Answer 11

middle, level of analysis of groups or organizations in particular situations.

Question 12

macro-level

Answer 12

one that brings our attention to structural phenomena. At the institutional level.

Question 13

agency

Answer 13

the capacity to influence what happens in one’s life

Question 14

Willy Martinussen

Answer 14

organized modes of sociological explanation in terms of

1. level of analysis
2. do the actors have agency?

Question 15

Systems explanations

Answer 15

how the internal dynamics and relations of social systems impact on sociological phenomena (macro–systems and institutions).

Question 16

Communities explanations

Answer 16

look to the relations and interactions between individuals acting in a particular position in a social formation (meso–group level)

Question 17

Opportunities explanations

Answer 17

focuses on the ways in which groups of individuals assess and access resources, as well as what they define as a resource (meso/micro – how individuals deal with w/social formation)

Question 18

Meaningful behaviours (explanation)

Answer 18

see the explanatory factor in the collection of individual actions and the motives behind those actions (micro – how individuals operate)

Question 19

Paradigm

Answer 19

a sociological theory; a particular philosophical or theoretical way of thinking about the world.

Question 20

Structural-functionalist

Answer 20

an approach that examines the way social systems operate by viewing those systems in terms of the various parts or structures of which they are made (macrosociological)

Question 21

Durkheim’s social facts

Answer 21

social forces in our environment that exist outside of anyone individual but exert social control over people.

Question 22

3 characteristics to every social fact:

Answer 22

1. It was developed prior to and separate from you as an individual
2. It can be seen as a characteristic of a particular group
3. It involves a constraining or coercing force that pushes individual into acting in a particular way.

Question 23

Robert Merton

Answer 23

identified 3 types of functions

Question 24

Manifest function

Answer 24

intended and easily recognized; expected

Question 25

Latent functions

Answer 25

unintended

Question 26

latent dysfunctions

Answer 26

unintended and produce negative consequences

Question 27

symbolic interactionism

Answer 27

looks at the meaning (symbols we use to make meaning) of the daily social interactions of individuals.

Question 28

conflict perspective

Answer 28

4 c’s

1. conflict
2. class
3. contestation
4. change

Question 29

Karl Marx

Answer 29

Economic organization of society is the most important influence on what humans think and how they behave (political economy).

Social institutions and culture – everything in the superstructure is based on (supported by) the economic structure.

Question 30

Race conflict theory

Answer 30

WEB Dubois -Demonstrated the ways in which structural inequalities based on race impacted the sense of self of those who are discriminated against.

Question 31

intersectionality

Answer 31

the analytic position that recognizes forms of inequality operating to differentially distribute advantages for and discrimination against a group of individuals based on their complex identities.

Question 32

Professional sociology

Answer 32

involves research typically designed to generate highly specific information – often with an aim of applying it to a particular problem or intellectual question.

Question 33

critical sociology

Answer 33

the conscience of professional sociology.

Question 34

policy sociology

Answer 34

generates sociological data for government and large corporations – used for developing laws, rules, and short/long term plans.

Question 35

public sociology

Answer 35

sociology that addresses an audience outside of the academy.