Sociology, Chapter 1-16 (megansanny)
When did industrialization first occur?
Industrial revolution in Britain between 1760-1850, was soon repeated throughout Western Europe
Who are the most influential advocates of functionalism? (2)
Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton
Positivism
a belief that the world can best be understood through scientific inquiry
unit of analysis
what or whom is being studied
Who was Herbert Spencer?
British social theorist who had an evolutionary perspective on social order and social change
Who was Harriet Martineau?
British sociologist who translated and condensed Comte's works, also an active sociologist
Who was the sociologist to identify double-consciousness? What is it?
Du Bois; the identity conflict of being both a black and an American
Who coined term anomie?
Durkheim
Who was Emile Durkheim?
French sociologist that stressed that people are the product of their social environment and that behavior cannot be understood fully in terms of individual biological and psychological traits
Who contributed to symbolic interactionism? (2)
George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer
Who was Karl Marx?
German economist and philosopher who stressed that history is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces
Who was Max Weber?
German social scientist who was concerned about changes brought about by the Industrial revolution
Who was Georg Simmel?
German sociologist that theorized about society as a web of patterned interactions among people
Did Weber agree with Marx's idea that economics was the central force in social change?
No, but he did acknowledge that economic interests are important in shaping human actions
Who were the main 3 contributors to conflict perspectives?
Simmel, Marx, Weber
According to Durkheim, what did strains on society lead to?
a breakdown in traditional organization, values and authority and to a dramatic increase in anomie
Anomie
a condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of loss of shared values and of a sense of purpose in society
interview
a data-collection encounter in which an interviewer asks the respondent questions and records the answers
Functionalism: What did Parsons believe regarding families?
a division of labor between husband and wife is essential for family stability and social order
alienation
a feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and from oneself
Society
a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations
Survey
a poll in which the researcher gathers facts or attempts to determine the relationships among facts
prestige
a positive or negative social estimation of honor
theory
a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and predict social events
power elite
a small clique composed of top corporate, political and military officials
hypothesis
a statement of the expected relationship between two or more variables
What is formal sociology? Who developed it?
an approach that focuses attention on the universal recurring social forms that underlie the varying content of social interaction; Simmel
perspective
an overall approach to or viewpoint on some subject
variable
any concept with measurable traits or characteristics that can change or vary from one person, time, situation, or society to another
symbol
anything that meaningfully represents something else
Sex
biological and anatomical differences between females and males
How did Weber make significant contributions to modern sociology?
by emphasizing the goal of value-free inquiry and the necessity of understanding how others see the world
According to Marx, what is necessary in order to produce social change and a better society?
conflict, especially class conflict
Conflict perspective: racial-ethnic approach?
continued exploitation of certain racial-ethnic groups
Conflict perspective: feminist perspective approach?
directs attention to women's experiences and the importance of gender as an element of social structure
According to Durkheim, when is anomie most often to occur?
during periods of rapid social change
Who was W. E. B. Du Bois?
founder of the 2nd department of sociology in the US at Atlanta University; created a lab of sociology, instituted a program of systematic research, founded and conducted regular sociological conferences on research
Who was Auguste Comte?
french philosopher who coined the term sociology
What are the four major sociological perspectives?
functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, postmodernism
Functionalism: What are manifest functions? Latent functions? Dysfunctions?
functions intended and/or overtly recognized by the participants in a social unit; unintended functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged by participants; undesirable consequences of any element of a society
Functionalism: What did Robert Merton contribute?
he distinguished between manifest and latent functions of social institutions
How did Mills contribute to conflict perspectives?
he encouraged sociologists to get involved in social reform by looking beneath everyday events in order to observe the major resource and power inequalities that exist in society
How did Marx contribute to conflict perspectives?
he focused on the exploitation and oppression of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie
How did Weber contribute to conflict perspectives?
he recognized the importance of economic conditions in producing inequality and conflict in society and added power and prestige as other sources of inequality
What are high-income countries? Examples? (6)
highly industrialized countries, technologically advanced industrail, administrative and service occupations, relatively high levels of income; US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Western Europe
What did Simmel analyze?
how social interactions vary depending on the size of the social group
interaction
immediate reciprocally oriented communication between two or more people
According to functionalism, society is composed of?
interrelated parts, each of which serves a function and contributes to the overall stability of society
What did Robert E. Park assert about urbanization at the Chicago School?
it has a disintegrating influence on social life by producing an increase in crime rate and in racial and class antagonisms that contribute to the segregation and isolation of neighborhoods
Why study sociology?
it helps us gain a better understanding of ourselves and our social world
What are middle-income countries? Examples? (2 subgroups)
nations with industrializing economies, moderate levels of income; Eastern Europe, most Latin American countries (Brazil, Mexico)
What are the three branches of conflict perspective?
neo-Marxist approach; racial-ethnic inequalities; feminist perspective
Anomic suicide
occurs from a lack of social regulation
Fatalistic suicide
occurs from excessive regulation and oppressive discipline (ex: slaves)
Altruistic suicide
occurs with people who are excessively integrated into society (military leaders who kill themselves in defeat)
Egoistic suicide
occurs with people who are isolated from any social groups
Who was Jane Addams
one of the best-known early women sociologists who founded a famous settlement house in an impoverished area of Chicago
For Auguste Comte, what were the best policies/forces of sociology?
ones that involved order and authority
Social facts
patterned ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside any one individual but that exert social control over each person
What are postmodern perspectives?
perpectives that attempt to explain social life in modern societies that are characterized by postindustrialization, consumerism, and global communications
What are symbolic interactionist perspectives? What type of analysis are they based on?
perspective that views society as the sum of interactions of individuals and groups; microlevel analysis
What are functionalist perspectives?
perspectives based on the assumption that a society is a stable, orderly system, characterized by societal consensus (members share values, beliefs, etc.)
What are conflict perspectives?
perspectives that view groups in society as engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources
What is Comte's philosophy known as? What are its two dimensions?
positivism; methodological (the application of scientific knowledge to both physical and social phenomena); social and political (the use of such knowledge to predict the likely results of different policies so that the best one could be chosen)
What are low-income countries? Examples? (2 subgroups)
primarily agrarian nations with little industrialization and low levels of income; Africa, Asia (India, Chine)
What did H. Martineau advocate?
racial and gender equality, creating a science of society that would be grounded in empirical observations and widely accessible to public
According to Weber, what was the most significant factor in determining the social relations between people in industrial societies?
rational bureaucracy
quantitative research
research based on the goal of scientific objectivity and focus on data that can be measured numerically
qualitative research
research that uses interpretive description rather than statistics to analyze underlying meanings and patterns of social relationships
What are the steps of the conventional research model?
select and define the research problem, review previous research, formulate the hypothesis, develop the research design, collect and analyze the data, draw conclusions and report the findings
What was Spencer's view of society called?
social darwinism (the belief that those species of animals, including human beings, best adapted to their environment survive and prosper)
Because of rapid urbanization and fast-paced changes in third world countries, what is happening to the social aspect?
social ties are weakened, as people move away from their families and their community
What was Comte's main theory of sociology?
societies contain social statics (forces for social order and stability) and social dynamics (forces for conflict and change)
What was Spencer's Theory of General Evolution?
society has various interdependent parts that work to endure the stability and survival of the entire society
What was C. Wright Mills major contribution to sociology? What was it?
sociological imagination; the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society
Why is sociology systematic?
sociologists apply both theoretical perspectives and research methods to examinations of social behavior
Research methods
specific strategies or techniques for systematically conducting research
Class conflict
struggle between capitalist class and the working class
Four types of research methods
survey, analysis, field research, experiments
Sociology
systematic study of human society and social interaction
power
the ability of a person within a social relationship to carry out his or her own will despite resistance from others
What are postmodern theories based on?
the assumption that rapid social change occurs as societies move from modern to postmodern conditions
Ethnicity
the cultural heritage or identity of a group and is based on factors such as language or country of origin
status quo
the existing state of society
validity
the extent to which a study or research instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure
reliability
the extent to which a study or research instrument yields consistent results when applied to different individuals at one time or to the same individuals over time
What was the Chicago School?
the first department of sociology in the US
What do postmodern theories emphasize?
the fragmented nature of contemporary society brought about by constant change
What was Durkheim's most important contribution to sociology?
the idea that societies are built on social facts
Gender
the meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with sex differences
Urbanization
the process by which an increasing population lives in cities rather than in rural areas
Industrialization
the process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and handmade products to an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries
research
the process of systematically collecting info for the purpose of testing an existing theory or generating a new one
Class
the relative location of a person or group within the larger society, based on wealth, power, prestige, or other valued resources
According to Spencer, how do societies develop?
through a process of struggle (for existence) and fitness (for survival), which he referred to as the survival of the fittest
What does sociological imagination enable us to do?
understand the link between our personal experiences and the social contexts in which they occur
What did Weber believe that sociological research should be? What does this mean?
value free; research should be conducted in a scientific manner and should exclude the researcher's personal values and economic interest
dependent variable
variable assumed to be caused by the independent variable
independent variable
variable assumed to be the cause of the relationship between variables
Conflict perspective: neo-Marxist approach?
views struggle between classes as inevitable and as a prime source of social change