Sociology Quiz (Chapter 1)

Levels of Analysis

1. Microsociology 2. Macrosociology

Emile Durkheim

1. Social facts 2. Organic solidarity 3. Social constraints 4. Division of Labor 5. Anomie

Exercise of sociological imagination involves....

1. see "strange in familiar" and "general in particular" - familiar: individualistic interpretations of human behavior - strange: human behaviors are a product of social forces 2. How society is presently structured/organized 3. How and why it seems to be changing (society) 4. How individual life experiences fit within and are affected by society's structure and the flow of social change

Symbolic Interactionist Theory: Vision of Society

web of social interaction

Class Conflict and Marxism

Marxism: a body of thought deriving its main elements from the ideas of Karl Marx Power: the ability of individuals or members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold. Ideologies: shared ideas or beliefs that serve to justify the interests of dominant groups

Personal Troubles

private problems experienced within the character of the individual and the range of their immediate relation to others - personal needs, problems, or difficulties bought on by individual shortcomings related to motivation, attitude, ability, character, or judgment

Auguste Comte

- French philosopher who invented the word sociology

Functionalism

- a theoretical perspective based on the notion that social events can best be explained in terms of the functions they perform - analogy: to study an organ such as the heart, we need to show how it relates to other parts of the body When we learn how the heart pumps blood, we understand its vital role in the continuation of the life of the organism. 1. Manifest functions: the functions of a type of social activity that are known to and intended by the individuals involved in the activity. 2. Latent functions: functional consequences that are not intended or recognized by the members of a social system in which they occur.

Sociological Imagination

- coined by C. Wright Mills (1959) - emphasizes intersection between biography and history - a quality of mind that allows people to grasp how remote and impersonal social forces shape their life story/biography

What does sociology study?

- how individuals influence society, and how society influences individuals - how people create, maintain, or alter the society - how various features of society affects its members

Max Weber

- the protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism (1904) ---bureaucracy ---rationalization

Karl Marx

1. Materialist conception of history 2. Capitalism

Four big names to know in Sociology

1. Auguste Comte (1798-1857) 2. Emile Durkheim 3. Karl Marx 4. Max Weber

Three major perspectives in sociology

1. Functionalist 2. Conflict and Marxism 3. Symbolic Interactionist

Sociology (def. 1)

A social science discipline that examines human behavior and human experience in relation to its social context

Symbolic Interactionism

A theoretical approach in sociology developed by George Herbert Mead that emphasizes the role of symbols and language as core elements of human interaction symbolic thought frees us from being limited in our experience to what we actually see, hear, feel

Bureaucracy

A type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and the existence of written rules of procedure and staffed by full-time, salaried officials. - enables large organizations to run efficiently, but at the same time it poses problems for effective democratic participation in modern societies - involves the rule of experts, who make decisions without consulting those whose lives are affected by them

Social Facts

Aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals, such as the state of the economy or the influence of religion (social facts can be studied scientifically)

Conflict Theory: Vision of society

Advantaged and disadvantaged groups in conflict over scarce and valued resources

Capitalism

An economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested in order to produce profit

Symbolic Interactionist Theory: Major Criticism

Can lose sight of the larger structural issues in which the interaction is embedded

Conflict Theory: Focus

Conflict over scarce and valued resources

Conflict Theory: Key Terms

Conflict, ideologies

Functionalist Theory: Key Terms

Function, dysfunction, manifest, and latent

Functionalists ask....

How do XXX contribute to order and stability? What are the intended and unintended consequences of XXX?

Symbolic Interactionist Theory: Central Question

How do people involved in interaction take account of what each other is doing or is about to do and respond accordingly?

Symbolic Interactionists Asks...

How do people involved in interaction with XXX interpret the behavior and respond accordingly?

Functionalist Theory: Key Criticism

Leaves one wondering about a parts overall effect on society

Functionalist Theory: Focus

Order and stability

Rationalization

Refer to the process by which modes of precise calculation and organization, involving abstract rules and procedures, increasingly come to dominate the social world

Anomie

Referring to a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior

Symbolic Interactionist Theory: Key Terms

Self-awareness; symbols, negotiated order

Symbolic Interactionist Theory: Focus

Shared meanings; interaction

Conflict Theory: Major Criticisms

Simplistically portrays the advantaged as all powerful

Organic Solidarity

Social cohesion that results from the various parts of a society functioning as an integrated whole

Division of Labor

Specialization of work tasks by means of which different occupations are combined within a production system.

Functionalist Theory: Vision of society

System of interrelated parts

Macrosociology

The analysis of large social systems and institutions. Functionalists and Marxists fall largely under this heading

Social Constraints

The conditioning influence on our behavior of the groups and societies of which we are members. Social constraint was regarded as one of the distinctive properties of social facts.

Sociology (def. 2)

The scientific study of society and human activity

Microsociology

The study of everyday, face-to-face interaction. Symbolic interactionists study primarily at this level of analysis.

Public Issues

Those that lie beyond one's personal control and the range of one's inner life - a matter that can be explained only by factors outside an individual's control and immediate environment

Materialist conception of history

View developed by Marx according to which material, or economic, factors have a prime role in determining historical change

Conflict Theorists Asks....

Who benefits from the increasing XXX and at whose expense?

Conflict Theory: Central Question

Who benefits from the way society organized and at whose expense?

Functionalist Theory: Central Question

Why does a part exist? What are the anticipated and unintended consequences of a part?