SOC. Exam 1 Flashcards
Society
A group of people who shape their lives in aggregated and patterned ways that distinguish their group from others.
Sociology
The systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions
Beginner’s mind
Approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things in a new way.
Macrosociology
The level of analysis that studies large-scale social structures in order to determine how they affect the lives of groups and individuals
Culture shock
A sense of disorientation that occurs when entering a radically new social or cultural enviroment
Sociological imagination
A quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our individual circumstances and larger social forces
Microsociology
The level of analysis that studies face-to-face and small-group interactions in order to understand how they affect the larger patterns and structures of society
Expert’s Mind
Approaching the world with facts, projections, assumptions, opinions, and explanations leading you to not learn anything new
Structural Functionalist Theory
A paradigm based on the assumptions that society is a unified whole and functions bc of the contributions of its separate structures; aka functionalist theory, dominant perspective in mid-twentieth century.
Conflict Theory
a paradigm that sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change and that emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change
Symbolic Interaction Theory (Interactionist theory)
a paradigm that sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction
Critical Race Theory
The study of the relationship among race, racism, and power
Pragmatism
a perspective that assumes organisms (including humans) make practical adaptations to their environments; humans do this through cognition, interpretation, and interaction
Proletariat
workers; those who have no means of production of their own and so are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live
Bourgeoisie
owners; the class of modern capitalists who own the means of production and employ wage laborers
Karl Marx
German political economist, inspiration of the conflict theory=Marxism; believed most problems of poverty, crime, and disease were a result of capitalism( when industry is controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by state) Proposed a radical alternative to inherent inequalities of the system in the “Manifesto of the Communist Party”
Harriet Martineau
Social activist who travelled around the states and wrote about social changes that were radical for this time period. Translated Compte’s work into English, making his ideas accessible to England and The States
Auguste Comte
Developed a theory of the progress of human thinking that came to be known as positivism(the theory that sense perceptions are the only valid source of knowledge) Laid groundwork for future sociologists and helped to establish the discipline
Emile Durkheim
Central figure of the Functionalist theory-(paradigm based on the assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures. He studied the social factors that bond and hold people together.
Erving Goffman
Studied how the self is developed through interactions with others in society. He elaborated on Mead’s ideas by using the theatrical metaphor of dramaturgy to describe the ways in which we engage in a strategic presentation of ourselves to others.
Feminist Theory
A theoretical approach that looks at gender inequalities in society and the way that gender structures the social world. Feminist theory developed along side the 20th century women’s rights movement. Judith Butler, bell hooks and Catherine MacKinnon argue the gender and power or extract of the intertwined in society through other social hierarchies, such as race and ethnicity
,class, and sexual orientation
Capitalists
A wealthy person who uses money to invest in trade and industry for profit in accordance with the principles of capitalism.
Scientific method
Procedure for acquiring knowledge that emphasizes collecting data through observation and experiment. 1.) identify a problem or ask a question. 2.) Conduct a literature review. 3.)Form a hypothesis give, operational definitions to variables. 4.)Choose a research design or method. 5.)Collect data. 6.)Analyze data. 7.)Disseminate findings.
Survey
Questionnaires that are administered to a sample of responding selected from a target population. Sociologists often use probability sampling to obtain a sample that reflects the characteristics of members of the target population. Survey research tends to look at a large scale social patterns and employ statistics and other mathematical means of analysis.