Theories & Methods Flashcards
Definition of a sociological theory
Way of thinking about society.
Centre on how much freedom or control an individual has on their lives and how much power they have to influence society.
What is a structural theory?
- Form of macro sociology - based on assumptions that society is more important than an individual.
- Deterministic (no choice) - argue that social forces and institutions dictate our behaviour. Lives are controlled by society.
- Use quantitative data - numerical data to discover ‘bigger picture’ - meta narratives.
What are social action theories?
- Form of micro sociology - based on assumption that people have free will, agency & choose how they behave.
- Argue society is constructed & shaped by behaviours of individuals & are NOT predictable and are diverse.
- Use qualitative data - written data to give insight (verstehen) & understand human behaviour.
e.g. post modernism & interactionism
Definition of social norms
Perceived, unwritten rules that are deemed acceptable and appropriate within a society.
Definition of a value consensus
Societies develop a set of believes and principles to co-operate and meet societies functional prerequisites.
e.g. Functionalists
Definition of Social solidarity
The feeling of being part of a larger social group. Durkheim stated that society should provide individuals with this sense of social solidarity through all the institutions.
What is Parsons organic analogy?
- Society is like a human body - all social institutions need to function together like a human body requires organs to survive.
- If one institution is dysfunctional, this will have a knock on effect.
What do Marx believe?
The economy is a driving force in society and it is this that determines the nature of social institutions and people’s values and beliefs. They believe society serves and maintains interests of the bourgeoise.
Definition of bourgeoisie and the proletariat
- The bourgeoisie are the people who control the means of production in a capitalist society
- The proletariat are the members of the working class.
Describe the Marxist belief of structure of society.
- Superstructure - social institutions such as school, family & the ideologies of the dominant views of ruling class.
- Economic base - determined everything in society and consists the means of production such as land, factories & relations of production such as shared or private ownership, owners and non-owners.
Definition of Capitalism
Economic and political system where a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, bourgeoisie. Market competition.
Definition of Surplus value (profit)
Accumulated exploitation of workers by the new value created by workers in excess of the cost of their own labour.
Definition of False consciousness
People’s inability to recognize inequality, oppression, and exploitation in a capitalist society because of the prevalence within it of views that naturalise and legitimise the existence of social classes.
What was Marx’ prediction?
Class conflict would lead to a revolution whereby the means of a production is given to the state creating a communist society.
Definition of Communism.
Classless society in which all property and wealth are communally owned, instead of being owned by individuals.
Definition of Labelling
The behaviour of human beings is influenced significantly by the way other members in society label (perceive or describe) them.
Definition of self-fulfilling prophecy
Acts as the label they are given.
What do Post-modernists argue?
-That society changes rapidly and cannot be understood through metanarratives.
-They believe that society is no longer bound by societal structures and there’s an increase in diversity.
-They believe there is no single truth.
-Media saturated consumer culture where individuals can ‘pick & mix’ their identities.
Definition of Metanarratives
Big stories / theories that study society as a whole.
What is media- saturated culture?
Baudrillard (2001) says that the mass media is so far into our lives that it begins to shape the way we live. Our society therefore is so saturated with media imagery.
E.g. media image of war zones eliminate the corpses and death before being sent home, only to show war torn streets.
4 main features of the New Right
-Emphasis on limited state involvement in business problems.
-Want the state to reduce spending money.
E.g. Welfare benefits.
-Want a free market, where there’s competition. PRO- capitalists.
-Importance of traditional values.
E.g. Religion, marriage, work ethic etc.
Charles Murray: Underclass
Developed the idea of an underclass. He suggested that the welfare state created welfare dependency and that there were perverse incentives in the welfare system that could encourage lone parenthood and discourage work.
Positivists
Positivist sociologists believe that it is possible to establish objective facts through scientific research methods and the thorough collection and analysis of empirical evidence.
Positivists prefer quantitative methods such as social surveys, structured questionnaires and official statistics because these have good reliability and representativeness.
Interprevism
-Social action theory.
-Qualitative methods such as unstructured interviews or participant observation.
-Interpretivists, argue that individuals are not just puppets who react to external social forces.