Unit 1

Question 1

Emile Durkheim’s explanation for the way modern societies rely on differentiation to form social bonds. Different parts of society function as a whole, much like an organism.

Answer 1

Organic Solidarity

Question 2

A type of field work in which the researcher observes and participates in the activity being studied.

Answer 2

Participant Observation

Question 3

A process in society that disrupts the social system or reduces its stability.

Answer 3

Dysfunction

Question 4

The name given to theories about society that claimed to apply concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology.

Answer 4

Social Darwinism

Question 5

Research that describes a problem or situation.

Answer 5

Descriptive research

Question 6

The phenomenon that refers to a change in a subject’s behavior in an experiment or study because they know they are being observed.

Answer 6

Hawthorne effect

Question 7

A subset of the population observed for the purposes of making inferences about the nature of the larger population of interest.

Answer 7

Sample

Question 8

The group (usually of people) about whom we want to be able to draw conclusions.

Answer 8

Population

Question 9

The academic study of social behavior using empirical investigation and analysis to draw conclusions about social order, disorder, and change.

Answer 9

Sociology

Question 10

The stated, intended consequences of an institution, action, or social group.

Answer 10

Manifest Function

Question 11

One of the most important rules that govern research on humans; it requires that participants in a study are aware of all the potential risks, health, and emotional, that could result from their participation.

Answer 11

Informed Consent

Question 12

The unconscious or unrecognized consequences of an action within the framework of a social group.

Answer 12

Latent Function

Question 13

An applied practice of sociology that focuses on health intervention, such as working with medical practitioners, community health services, social policy and public health campaigns.

Answer 13

Clinical Sociology

Question 14

Occurs when the differences between the groups being studied are the result of factors other than chance.

Answer 14

Statistically Significant

Question 15

Social bonds in small traditional societies which are based on common values.

Answer 15

Mechanical Solidarity

Question 16

The application of the scientific approach to the social world in order to understand it.

Answer 16

Positivism

Question 17

Objects, words, or actions that stand for something else.

Answer 17

Symbols

Question 18

Defines a trait or characteristic in terms of a process, test, or unit of measure that is needed to determine its existence, duration, and quantity. It makes a hypothesis about a characteristic testable.

Answer 18

Operational Definition

Question 19

The term coined by C. Wright Mills to describe a way of understanding the world that involves thinking about things from different perspectives and putting personal circumstances into a wider context.

Answer 19

Social Imagination

Question 20

Any kind of communication between people that is understood to have meaning.

Answer 20

Sociological Interactions

Question 21

A process in society that contributes to the social system and its stability.

Answer 21

Function

Question 22

A formal organization that has defined terms of membership, written governance, and written communication, as well as a division of labor, responsibility, and accountability.

Answer 22

Bureaucracy

Question 23

A type of research focusing on data that can be measured numerically (typically emphasizing complex statistical techniques.

Answer 23

Quantitative

Question 24

In statistics, _____________ is a feature of the statistical technique or inputs, which causes the study results not to accurately reflect reality.

Answer 24

Bias

Question 25

W.E.B. DuBois’ concept of a feeling of “twoness” where the experience of one’s identity is fragmented into several contradictory facets, making it hard to develop a sense of self.

Answer 25

Double Consciousness

Question 26

External circumstances or events that have an effect on the way individual people behave, such as economy, religion, or government.

Answer 26

Social Facts

Question 27

The relationship of cause and effect between variables.

Answer 27

Causation

Question 28

The extent or degree of statistical association among two or more variables.

Answer 28

Correlation

Question 29

A term that describes professionals who use sociological theories and methods outside of academic settings in order to produce social change.

Answer 29

Applied Sociology

Question 30

A factor that can vary or change from one case to another.

Answer 30

Variable

Question 31

A systematic study of people and cultures, where the researcher observes the people or society being studied from the point of view of the subject being studied

Answer 31

Ethnography

Question 32

Research that explains why a social phenomenon occurs.

Answer 32

Explanatory Research

Question 33

A tentative statement of the relationship between two or more concepts.

Answer 33

Hypothesis

Question 34

A set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and sometimes predict social events.

Answer 34

Theory

Question 35

A type of field research in which the researcher observes what is being studied.

Answer 35

Direct Observation

Question 36

Replacing traditional motives, values, and emotions for social action with rational, calculated ones, a replacement that leads to more efficient social institutions.

Answer 36

Rationalization

Question 37

A type of research focusing on observations or descriptions and using these to analyze underlying meanings, patterns, or themes of social relationships.

Answer 37

Qualitative