SOCI 1010 Ch 01 Intro to Soc Flashcards
antipositivism
the view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values
sociology
the systematic study of society and social interaction
society
a group of people who live in a defined geographical area who interact with one another and who share a common culture
micro-level
wide-scale view of the role of social structures within a society
macro-level theories
the study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups
culture
a group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs
sociological imagination
the ability to understand how your own past relates to that of other people, as well as to history in general and societal structures in particular
reification
an error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence
cultural pattern
refers to a recurring and shared set of behaviors, beliefs, and values that are prevalent within a particular society, (essentially describing the common ways people within a culture tend to act and think across different situations; it’s a recognizable pattern of cultural traits that can be observed across individuals within a community)
social facts
the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life
figuration
the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior
the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior
patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs
Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857)
positivism
the scientific study of social patterns
Harriet Martineau (1802 – 1876)
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)
Georg Simmel (1858–1918)
anti-positivism
the view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values
Émile Durkheim (1858–1917)
Max Weber (1864–1920)
verstehen
a German word that means to understand in a deep way
anti-positivism
the view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values
qualitative sociology
in-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of its data
quantitative sociology
statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
Thorstein Veblen (1857 – 1929)
Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929)
George Herbert Mead (1863–1931)
significant others
specific individuals that impact a person’s life
generalized others
the organized and generalized attitude of a social group
hypothesis
a testable proposition
social solidarity
the social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion
grand theories
an attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change
paradigms
philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them
functionalism
a theoretical approach that sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals that make up that society
social institutions
patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs
function
the part a recurrent activity plays in the social life as a whole and the contribution it makes to structural continuity
dynamic equilibrium
a stable state in which all parts of a healthy society work together properly
manifest functions
sought consequences of a social process
latent functions
the unrecognized or unintended consequences of a social process
dysfunctions
social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society
conflict theory
a theory that looks at society as a competition for limited resources
critical theory
refers to a theoretical approach that aims to critically analyze and challenge existing power structures within society, (often by uncovering underlying assumptions and inequalities, with the goal of promoting social change and emancipation, drawing heavily from Marxist thought and primarily associated with the Frankfurt School of philosophy; it focuses on understanding how social structures and cultural norms contribute to oppression and seeks to dismantle them through critique and social action)
dramaturgical analysis
a technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance
constructivism
an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be
What concepts are central to sociology? (Obj. 1.1.1)
How have different sociological perspectives have developed? (Obj. 1.1.2)
Why did sociology emerge when it did? (Obj. 1.2.1)
How did sociology become a separate academic discipline? (Obj. 1.2.2)
In what ways are sociological theories used to explain social institutions? (Obj. 1.3.1)
What are the differentiations between functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism? (Obj. 1.3.2)
Why is it worthwhile to study sociology? (obj. 1.4.1)
