SOC Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective Flashcards
Define: Sociological Perspective
understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context.
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Define: Society
people who share a culture and a territory
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Define: Social Location
the group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society
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Define: Positivism
the application of the scientific approach to the social world
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Define: Sociology
the scientific study of society and human behavior
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Define: Class conflict.
Marx’s term for the struggle between capitalists and workers
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Define: Bourgeoisie
Marx’s term for capitalists, those who own the means of production
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Define: Proletariat
Marx’s term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production
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Define: Patterns of behavior
recurring behaviors or events
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Define: Social Integration
The degree to which people are tied to their social groups
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* bold in text
Define: Basic (or Pure) Sociology
sociological research for the purpose of making discoveries about life in human groups, not for making changes in those groups.
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Define: Applied sociology
the use of sociology to solve problems - from the micro level of classroom interaction and family relationships to the macro level of crime and pollution
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Define: Public sociology
applying sociology for the public good; especially the use of the sociological perspective (how things are related to one another) to guide politicians and policy makers.
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Define: Theory
a general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another
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Define: Symbolic Interactionism
a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another
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Define: Functional Analysis
a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society’s equilibrium; also known as functionalism and structural functionalism
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Define: Conflict Theory
a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of groups that are composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources
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Define: Macro-Level Analysis
an examination of large-scale patterns of society; such as how Wall Street and the political establishment are interrelated
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Define: Micro-Level Analysis
an examination of small-scale patterns of society; such as how the members of a group interact
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Define: Social Interaction
one person’s actions influencing someone else; usually refers to what people do when they are in one another’s presence, but also includes communications at a distance
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Define: Nonverbal Interaction
communication without words through gestures, use of space, silence, and so on
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Define: Hypothesis
a statement of how variables are expected to be related to one another, often according to predictions from a theory
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Define: Variable
a factor thought to be significant for human behavior, which can vary (or change) from one case to another
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Define: Operational Definition
the way in which a researcher measures a variable
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Define: Research Method (or Research Design)
one of seven procedures that sociologists use to collect data: surveys, participant observation, case studies, secondary analysis, analysis of documents, experiments, and unobtrusive measures
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Define: Validity
the extent to which an operational definition measures what it is intended to measure
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Define: Reliability
the extent to which research produces consistent or dependable results
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Define: Survey
the collection of data by having people answer a series of questions
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Define: Population
a target group to be studied
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Define: Sample
the individuals intended to represent the population to be studied
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Define: Random Sample
a sample in which everyone in the target population has the same chance of being included in the study
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Define: Stratified Random Sample
a sample from selected subgroups of the target population in which everyone in those subgroups has an equal chance of being included in the research
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Define: Respondents
people who respond to a survey, either in interviews or by self administered questionnaires
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Define: Rapport (Ruh-POUR)
a feeling of trust between researchers and the people they are studying.
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Define: Participant Observation (or Fieldwork)
research in which the researcher participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that setting
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Define: Case Study
an intensive analysis of a single event, situation, or individual
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Define: Documents
in its narrow sense, written sources that provide data; in its extended sense, archival material of any sort, including photographs, movies, CDs, DVDs, and so on
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Define: Experimental Group
the group of subjects in an experiment who are exposed to the independent variable
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Define: Control Group
the subjects in an experiment who are not exposed to the independent variable
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Define: Independent Variable
a factor that causes a change in another variable, called the dependent variable
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Define: Dependent Variable
a factor in an experiment that is changed by an independent variable
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Define: Unobtrusive Measures
ways of observing people so they do not know they are being studied
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Define: Globalization of Capitalism
capitalism (investing to make profits within a rational system) becoming the globe’s dominant economic system
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Who is: Auguste Comte (1798 - 1857)
Credited as the founder of sociology. began to analyze the bases of the social order. Although he stressed that the scientific method should be applied to the study of society, he did not apply it himself.
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Who is: Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
Sometimes called the second founder of sociology, coined the term “survival of the fittest.” Spencer thought that helping the poor was wrong, that is merely helped the “less fit” survive.
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Who is: Karl Marx (1818 - 1883)
Believed that the roots of human misery lay in class conflict, the exploitation of workers by those who own the means of production. Social change, in the form of the workers overthrowing the capitalists was inevitable from Marx’s perspective.
Although Marx did not consider himself a sociologist, his ideas have influenced many sociologists, particular conflict theorists.
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Who is: Emile Durkheim (1858 - 1917)
A french sociologist that contributed many important concepts to sociology. His comparison of the suicide rates of several countries revealed an underlying social factor:
People are more likely to commit suicide if their ties to others in their communities are weak.
Durkheim’s identification of the key role of social integration in social life remains central to sociology today.
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Who is: Max Weber (1864 - 1920)
Another early sociologist who left a profound impression on sociology. He used cross-cultural and historical materials to trace the causes of social change and to determine how social groups affect people’s orientation to life.
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Who is: W. E. B. Du Bois (1868 - 1963)
aka William Edward Burghardt
Spent his entire lifetime studying relations between African American and whites. Like many early North American sociologists, Du Bois combined the role of academic sociologist with that of social reform.
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Who is: Jane Addams (1860 - 1935)
A recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace, worked on behalf of poor immigrants. With Ellen G. Starr, she founded Hull-House, a center to help immigrants in Chicago. She was also a leader in women’s rights (women’s suffrage), as well as the peace movement of World War I.
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Who is: C. Wright MIlls (1916 - 1962)
A controversial figure in sociology because of his analysis of the role of the power of elite in US society. Today, his analysis is taken for granted by many sociologists ad members of the public.
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Who is: George Herbert Mead (1863 - 1931)
Is one of the founders of symbolic interactionism, a major theoretical perspective in sociology. He taught a the University of Chicago, where his lectures were popular. Although he wrote little, after his death students compiled his lectures into an influential book: Mind, Self, and Society.
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Who is: Robert K. Merton (1910 - 2003)
Spent most of his academic career at Columbia University, was a major proponent of functionalism, one of the main theoretical perspectives in sociology.
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