Intro to Sociology: Chapter 1-2

rise of factory based indutrial economy, growth of cities, and new ideas about political rights

3 changes that led to the development of social change

placebo

A fake treatment given to control groups to mimic the experience of the experimental groups.

control group

A group separated from the rest of the experiment where the independent variable being tested cannot influence the results

experimental group

A subject or group of subjects in an experiment that is exposed to the factor or condition being tested.

The Sociologial Perspective

See the general in the particular, see the strange in the familiar

The Origin of Sociology

Sociology comes from three separate revolutions: the scientific revolution, the economic revolution, and the political revolution.

mean, median, and mode

The 3 measures of central tendency

Belief or faith, turn to experts, agreement of regular people, and science.

The 4 different kinds of truth:

Auguste Comte

The first sociologist, french social thinker, coined the term "sociology," applied scientific approach to society: society conforms to laws, like the physical world.

EVERY

________ causation is a correlation.

NOT EVERY

___________ correlation is a causation.

scientific revolution

a belief in science began to replace traditional forms of authority

science

a logical system that bases knowledge on direct, systematic, observation.

structural functionalism

a macro-oriented paradigm that views society as a complex system with many interdependent parts. the parts work together to promote social stability and order. major changes to the system's parts is not required or desired; system seeks to maintain its equilibrium.

Social Conflict

a macro-oriented paradigm that views society as a structured system based on equality. Society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the expense of the majority.

Symbolic Interactionism

a micro-oriented paradigm that views society as the product of everyday interactions. Society results from the shared reality that people construct as they interact with one another.

sample group

a part of the population that represents the whole

Herbert Spencer

a social darwinist, coined "survival of the fittest"

theory

a statement of how and why facts are related

Robert Merton

a structural functionalist that worked with manifest and latent fuctions, and social dysfunctions

positivism

a way of understanding based on science

symbol

anything that represents something else. society must agree it has meaning.

paradigm

basic image of society that guides thinking and research; a way of looking at the world.

Independent variable

cause change in another variable

Hawthorne Effect

change in behavior because you are being studied

Correlation

change in one is associated with change in another

Latent Functions

consequences that are largely unrecognized and unintended

research ethics

findings must be disclosed in full without omitting significant data. researchers must be willing to share their data with others. protections of the rights and privacy of the subjects taking part is required; confidentiality. subjects must be made aware of the true purpose of research.

economic revolution

industrialism and capitalism were changing economic patterns

participant observation

investigators systematically observe people while joining in their activities. they may not have a hypothesis at the beginning. they become immersed, but at a distance.

political revolution

more democratic values and standards were being adopted

Social Darwinism

much like biological systems, society is interdependent and works together to maintain the system over time. Best aspects of society will survive over time; best societies will continue to upgrade the world.

Causation

one variable causes another

deductive logic

reasoning that transforms general theory into specific hypothesis suitable for testing...starts with a theory

Inductive logic

reasoning that transforms specific observations into general theory...starts with an observation

Manifest Functions

recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern

experiment

research method for investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions

secondary analysis

researcher uses data collected by others, but the end result is still original

Emile Durkheim

studied who is more likely to commit suicide. Found out that people with strong sociological ties are less likely to commit suicide.

survey

subjects respond to a series of statements or questions on paper or in an interview

mean

the average

median

the middle number

mode

the number that shows up most often

Sociology

the systematic study of human society

Social Dysfunctions

undesirable consequences

hypothesis

unverified statement of relationship between variables; a guess

Dependent variable

variable that changes

Karl Marx

worked with the social conflict paradigm. Said it views society as a structured system based on inequality.