Sociology CH 1

Theory

a way to explain different aspects of social interactions and create a testable proposition about society

Reification

the error of treating an abstract concept as though it has real, material existence (ex. culture)

Social Facts

the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life

Positivism

the scientific study of social patterns

According to Robert Merton, the positive consequence of a social process that is intended or anticipated is called a latent function. True False

False

C. Wright Mill's concept the sociological imagination is the theory that humans evolved slowly over time . True False

False

Karl Marx considered himself a positivist and supported the philosophy of August Comte called positivism. True False

False

Sociologists have always agreed that the most important goal of sociology is to bring about social change. True False

False

Conflict Theory

Looks at society as a competition for limited resources

A fundamental principle of sociology is that social contexts shape what people think and do. True False

True

A paradigm can be defined as philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments conducted to discover evidence to support them. True False

True

According to the principles of symbolic interactionism, the exchange of meaning through language and symbols not only allows relationships to exist, it also allows society to exist. True False

True

Applying the scientific method to the social world is called positivism. True False

True

Emile Durkheim identified social instead of psychological forces as the cause of differing suicide rates. True False

True

French philosopher August Comte is widely considered the father of sociology. True False

True

Jeremy wrote an essay criticizing the college admissions process, arguing that heavy competition and limited educational resources make admission difficult for the average student. Jeremy's argument supports the conflict perspective. True False

True

Karl Marx believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production. True False

True

Latent functions refer to the unintended consequences of an action(s) that contribute to the stability of the system. True False

True

Sociologists call the areas of life that people occupy such as jobs, income, education, gender, age, and the laws, morals, and the customs that accompany them social facts. True False

True

Sociologists who use the functionalist perspective stress how society is a system of interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals within it. True False

True

Verstehen is defined by the text as to understand in a deep way. True False

True

Qualitative Sociology

Uses in-depth interviews, focus groups, and analysis of content sources (ie. books, popular media) to uncover patterns of human behavior

Quantitative Sociology

Uses statistical methods (ie. surveys) with large numbers of participants to uncover patterns of human behavior

Society

a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and share a common culture

Culture

a group's shared practices, values, and beliefs

Dramaturgical Analysis

a technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance

Hypothesis

a testable proposition about society

Functionalism

a theoretical approach that sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals that make up that society

Symbolic Interactionism

a theoretical perspective through which scholars examine the relationship of individuals within their society by studying their communication (language and symbols)

Constructivism

an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be

Grand Theories

attempt to explain large scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and change

Sociological Imagination

awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience (history and social structure)

Social institutions

patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs

Paradigms

philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and experiments to support them

Social Solidarity

social ties within a group

Manifest Functions

sought consequences of a social process

Figuration

the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior

Sociology

the study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, of small and personal groups to very large groups

Latent Functions

the unrecognized/unintended consequences of a social process

Antipositivism

the view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they work to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values

Verstehen

to understand in a deep way