unit 1 sociology test Flashcards
Sociological Imagination
the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces.
Functionalism
the theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important (or necessary) function to keep society running.
Conflict Theory
the idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general.
Double Consciousness
a concept conceived by W. E. B. Du Bois to describe the two behavioral scripts, one for moving through the world and the other incorporating the external opinions of prejudiced onlookers, which are constantly maintained by African Americans.
Macrosociology
a branch of sociology generally concerned with social dynamics at a higher level of analysis—that is, across the breadth of a society.
Microsociology
a branch of sociology that seeks to understand local interactional contexts; its methods of choice are ethnographic, generally including participant observation and in-depth interviews.
Symbolic Interactionism
a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people’s actions.
Correlation
simultaneous variation in two variables.
Validity
the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure.
Reliability
the likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measure.
Generalizablity
the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied.
Quantitative Methods
methods that seek to obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form.
Qualitative Methods
methods that attempt to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form.
Dependent Variable
the outcome that the researcher is trying to explain.
Independent Variable
a measured factor that the researcher believes has a causal impact on the dependent variable.
Experimental Methods
methods that seek to alter the social landscape in a very specific way for a given sample of individuals and then track what results that change yields; often involve comparisons to a control group that did not experience such an intervention.
Survey
a general view, examination, or description of someone or something.
Sample
the subset of the population from which you are actually collecting data.
Interview
a meeting of people face to face, especially for consultation
Social Desirability Bias
describes the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. It can take the form of over-reporting “good behavior” or under-reporting “bad”, or undesirable behavior.
Participant Observation
a qualitative research method that seeks to uncover the meanings people give their social actions by observing their behavior in practice.
Culture
a set of beliefs, traditions, and practices; the sum of the social categories and concepts we embrace in addition to beliefs, behaviors (except instinctual ones), and practices; everything but the natural environment around us.
Ethnocentrism
of one’s own.
Cultural Relativism
taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgment or assigning value.
Material Culture
everything that is a part of our constructed, physical environment, including technology.
Ideology
a system of concepts and relationships, an understanding of cause and effect.
Cultural Scripts
modes of behavior and understanding that are not universal or natural.
Subculture
the distinct cultural values and behavioral patterns of a particular group in society; a group united by sets of concepts, values, symbols, and shared meaning specific to the members of that group distinctive enough to distinguish it from others within the same culture or
Media
any formats, platforms, or vehicles that carry, present, or communicate information.
Hegemony
a condition by which a dominant group uses its power to elicit the voluntary “consent” of the masses.
Consumerism
the steady acquisition of material possessions, often with the belief that happiness and fulfillment can thus be achieved.
Culture jamming
the act of turning media against themselves.
Socialization
the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society.
Self
the individual identity of a person as perceived by that same person.
I
one’s sense of agency, action, or power.
Me
the self as perceived as an object by the “I”; the self as one imagines others perceive one.