Sociology Flashcards
what is sociology
systemic study of social behavior and human groups
what is a society
a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations
structure vs agency
structure= pre-existing arrangements that influence our behaviours
agency= choices individuals make
sociological imagination
- an awareness of the relationship between the individual and the larger society.
- c. Wright Mills
auguste comte
- first person to use the term sociology
- positivism
- he observes that societies remain stables (order) but change over time (progress)
positivism
- august comte
- belief that the world can best be understood through scientific inquiry
Emile durkheim
- focused on the roles of examining religion, suicide and division of labour
- anomie
Anomie
- durkheim
- confusion about what is the norm (ex: should we wear masks)
- people get confused (experience anomie) when theres no structure
karl marx
- talked about role of class conflict in bringing social change
- examined the things that that made capitalism
- alienation
why society changes
Alienation
- feeling of estrangement from other people and oneself
- felt alienated from means of production, work process, products, each other
verstehen
- to understand human behavior we must understand other and put ourself in their shoes
- shows importance of empathy
- understanding and insight
ideal type
abstraction of a typical case used to compare actual cases
- can describe things that arent real
functionalist
- durkheim
- ## what makes social order possible (social structures and integration)
manifest functions
- conscious functions of institutions with intended consequences for social order
- function of school is to learn
latent function
- unintended functions that may have unplanned consequences
- meeting wife at school
dysfunctions
- unintended functions of institutions that may disrupt social order
conflict perspective
- struggle between groups for scarce resources and social power
- lead to dominant and subdominant groups
- class conflict is the main reason for social change
feminist perspective
- existing institutions may deny opportunities based on gender, sexual orientations
- ida
symbolic interactionist perspective ( micro sociological)
- reality is socially constructed
- people learn culture through socialization
- micro level analysis of human interaction
- george herbert mead
- erving goffman (dramatigual)
sociology vs common sense
common sense is not
systematic, based on individual experience, one sided, tends to reflect
prejudiced and mistaken interpretations
