Sociology Chapter 1

society

A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another & who share a common culture is what sociologist

A sociologist defines society as a group of people who reside in a defined area, share a culture, and who: a. interact b. work in the same industry c. speak different languages d. practice a recognized religion

A. interact

. Which founder of sociology believed societies changed due to class struggle? a. Emile Comte b. Karl Marx c. Plato d. Herbert Spencer

B. Karl Marx

Which of the following was a topic of study in early sociology? a. Astrology b. Economics c. Physics d. History

B. economics

. C. Wright Mills once said that sociologists need to develop a sociological __________ to study how society affects individuals a. culture b. imagination c. method d. tool

B. imagination

which of the following best describes sociology as a subject? a. The study of individual behavior b. The study of cultures c. The study of society and social interaction d. The study of economics

C. the study of society and social interaction

The difference between positivism and antipositivism relates to: a. whether individuals like or dislike their society b. whether research methods use statistical data or person-to-person research c. whether sociological studies can predict or improve society d. all of the above

C. whether sociological studies can predit or improve society

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

Comte named the scientific study of social patterns positivism

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

English philosopher Herbert Spencer published The Study of Sociology, the first book

Georg Simmel (1858-1918)

German art critic who wrote widely on social & political issues as well

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)-the First Woman Sociologist

Her writing career began in 1931 with a series of stories titled Illustrations of Political Economy, in which she tried to educate ordinary people about the principles of economics

dysfunction

Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society

dramaturgical analysis

The focus on the importance of symbols in building a society led sociologists to develop a technique

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

a German philosopher & economist. believed that societies grew & changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production. Developing his theories, the Industrial Revolution & the rise of capitalism led to great disparities in wealth between the owners of the factories & workers. Capitalism, an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of goods and the means to produce them, grew in many nations

verstehen

a German word that means to understand in a deep way

theory

a way to explain different aspects of social interactions

Who coined the phrase symbolic interactionism? a. Herbert Blumer b. Max Weber c. Lester F. Ward d. W. I. Thomas

a. Herbert Blumer

Which would a quantitative sociologists use to gather data? a. A large survey b. A literature search c. An in-depth interview d. A review of television programs

a. a large survey

sociological imagination

an awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior & experience & the wider culture that shaped the person's choices & perceptions (C. wright Mills, 1959)

reification

an error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence (Sahn 2013)

macro-level

analysis look at trends among & between large groups and societies

function

any recurrent activity as the part it played in social life as therefore the contribution it makes to social stability continuity

paradigms

are philosophical & theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, & the experiments performed in support of them

manifest functions

are the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated

social life

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

latent functions

are the unsought consequences of a social process

grand theories

attempt to explain large-scale relationships & answer fundamental questions such as why societies form & why they change

. Who believed that the history of society was one of class struggle? a. Emile Durkheim b. Karl Marx c. Erving Goffmann d. George Herbert Mead

b. Karl Marx

Kenneth and Mamie Clark used sociological research to show that segregation was: a. beneficial b. harmful c. illegal d. of no importance

b. harmful

Which research technique would most likely be used by a symbolic interactionist? a. Surveys b. Participant observation c. Quantitative data analysis d. None of the above

b. participant observation

. Weber believed humans could not be studied purely objectively because they were influenced by: a. drugs b. their culture c. their genetic makeup d. the researcher

b. their culture

Max Weber (1864-1920)

believed that it was difficult, if not impossible, to use standard scientific methods to accurately predict the behavior of groups as people hoped to do

Seeing patterns means that a sociologist needs to be able to: a. compare the behavior of individuals from different societies b. compare one society to another c. identify similarities in how social groups respond to social pressure d. compare individuals to groups

c. identify similarities in how social groups respond to social pressure

Studying sociology helps people analyze data because they learn: a. interview techniques b. to apply statistics c. to generate theories d. all of the above

d. all of the above

Which of these theories is most likely to look at the social world on a micro level? a. Structural functionalism b. Conflict theory c. Positivism d. Symbolic interactionism

d. symbolic interactionism

A symbolic interactionist may compare social interactions to: a. behaviors b. conflicts Chapter 1 | An Introduction to Sociology 23 c. human organs d. theatrical roles

d. theatrical roles

dynamic equilibrium

healthy society, all parts work together to maintain stability

Émile Durkheim (1858-1917)

helped establish sociology as a formal academic discipline by establishing the first European department of sociology. laid out his theory on how societies transformed from a primitive state into a capitalist, industrial society

constructivism

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

sociology

is the study of groups & group interactions, societies & social interactions, from small & personal groups to very large groups

conflict theory

looks at society as a competition for limited resources macro-level approach most identified with the writings of German philosopher,sociologist Karl Marx Social institutions like government, education,religion reflect this competition in their inherent inequalities and help maintain the unequal social structure

structural functionalism

macro-level The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the whole sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological & social needs of the individuals in that society various organs of the body work together to keep the body functioning, the various parts of society work together to keep society functioning

social institutions

patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs

George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)

philosopher & sociologist whose work focused on the ways in which the mind & the self were developed as a result of social processes.

qualitative sociology

seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in-depth interviews, focus groups, & analysis of content sources

what do sociologist use to study culture?

sociological imagination

significant others

specific individuals that impacted a person's life

micro-level

study small groups and individual interactions

symbolic theory

that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society micro-level Communication;the exchange of meaning through language and symbols—is believed to be the way in which people

culture

the group's shared practices, values, and beliefs

social facts

the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, & all of the cultural rules that govern social life, that may contribute to these changes in the family

figuration

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

social solidarity

the social ties that bind a group of people such as kinship, shared location, and religion

antipositivism

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

hypothesis

to create a testable proposition about society

quantitative sociology

uses statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants

Studying sociology can provide people with this wide knowledge and a skill set that can contribute to many workplaces, including

• an understanding of social systems and large bureaucracies; • the ability to devise and carry out research projects to assess whether a program or policy is working; • the ability to collect, read, and analyze statistical information from polls or surveys; • the ability to recognize important differences in people's social, cultural, and economic backgrounds; • skills in preparing reports and communicating complex ideas; and • the capacity for critical thinking about social issues and problems that confront modern society