Sociology Midterm Flashcards
Sociology
The systematic study of human society
Society
People who live in a defined territory and share a way of life
Sociological Perspective
Sociology’s point of view that sees general patterns of society in the lives of particular people.
global perspective
The study of the larger world and our societies place in it
What is positivism?
Scientific approach to knowledge based on “positive” facts as opposed to speculation
Theory
statement of how and why specific facts are related
Theoretical approach
a basic image of society that guides thinking and research
structural functional approach
framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability
social structure
any relatively stable pattern of social behavior
Social function
the consequences of any social pattern for the operation of society as a whole
manifest functions
the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern
latent functions
the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern
social dysfunction
any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society
social conflict approach
a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change
gender conflict theory (feminist theory)
The study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men
feminism
support of social equality for women and men
race-conflict theory
study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different races and ethnic groups
macro-level orientation
broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole
micro-level orientation
close up focus on social interaction in specific situations
symbolic interaction approach
framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals
positivist sociology
study of society based on systematic observation of social behavior
concept
mental construct that represents part of the world in simplified form
variable
concept who’s value changes case to case
what is a measurement?
procedure of determining the value of a variable
what is operationalizing a variable?
Specifying what is being measured before giving the variable a value
what is reliability?
the consistency in a measurement
what is validity?
measuring what you actually intend to
cause and effect
relationship which change in one variable causes change in another
independent variable
variable that causes the change
correlation
relationship where two or more variables change together
spurious correlation
an apparent but false relationship between two or more variables that is caused by another variable
objectivity
personal neutrality in research
interpretive sociology
study of society that focuses on meanings people attach to their social world
critical sociology
study of society that focuses on need for social change
what is science
logical system that bases knowledge on direct systematic observation
empirical evidence
information that can be verified with our senses
what is gender
personal traits and social positions that society attaches to being male or female
hypothesis is described as
statement of a possible relationship between 2 or more variables
participant observation
a method that investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities
culture
ways of thinking, acting, and material objects that form people’s way of life
non-material culture
ideas created by members of society
material culture
physical things created by members of a society
culture shock
personal disorientation when experiencing unfamiliar way of life
society
people who interact in defined teritory, share culture
symbol
anything that carries particular meaning recognized by people of same culture
language
system of symbols allowing people to communicate with eachother
cultural transmission
one generation passes culture to the next
sapir-whorf thesis
the idea that people see and understand the world through the cultural lens of language
what are values
culturally defined standards used to decide what is good bad, serve as guidelines for living
norms
rules and expectations which society guides its members
mores
widely observes norms with cultural significance
folkways are
norms for routine or casual interaction
social control
attempts by society to regulate peoples thoughts and behavior
technology
knowledge people use to make a way of life in surroundings
horticulture
use of hand tools to raise crops
pastoralism
domestication of animals
industry
production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery
postindustrialism
production of information using COMPUTER technology
high culture
cultural patterns that distinguish a societies elite
popular culture
cultural patterns that are widespread among society population
subculture
cultural patterns set apart some segment of society’s population
counter culture
cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted
multiculturalism
perspective of recognizing cultural diversity
eurocentrism
dominance of european cultural patterns (especially english)
Afrocentrism
emphasizing and promoting african cultural patterns
cultural integration
close relationships among elements of cultural system
cultural lag
some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting a cultural system
ethnocentricism
practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture
cultural relativism
practice of judging culture by its own standards
cultural universals
traits that are part of every known culture
sociobiology
theoretical approach that explores ways in which human biology affects how we create culture
socialization
lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture
personality
a persons fairly consisten patterns of acting, thinking, and feeling
id
freud’s term for human beings basic drives
ego
freuds term for a person’s conscious efforts to balance innate pleasure-seeking drives with the demands of society
superego
freuds term for the cultural values and norms internalized by an individual
sensorimotor stage
Piaget’s term for when individuals experience the world only through their senses
preoperational stage
piaget’s term for when individuals first use language and other symbols
concrete operational stage
piagets term for when humans first see casual connections in their surroundings
former operational stage
piagets term for when humans can think abstractly and critically
self
george herbert mead’s term for part of individuals personality composed of self image and self awareness
looking glass self
cooley’s term for a self image based on how we think others SEE US
significant others
people who play a special role in socialization
generalized other
george herbert mead’s term for widespread cultural norms and values which we compare ourselves to when evaluating ourselves
peer group
social group whose members have interests, social position, and age in common
anticipatory socialization
learning that helps a person achieve a desired position, WORKED FOR
mass media
means for delivering interpersonal communications to vast audience
social media
media that allows people to communicate over large distance
cohort
category of people with something in common, normally age
gerontology
the study of aging and the elderly
gerontocracy
form of social organization where elderly people have the most wealth, power, and prestige
ageism
prejudice against old people
total institution
setting where people are isolated from rest of society and manipulated by administrative staff
resocialization
radically changing an inmates personality by carefully controlling the environment
