Key Concepts in Sociology and Social Theory

Sociological Imagination

A quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our particular situation in life and what is happening at a societal level.

Social Facts

Ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are external to individuals. Coercive; apparent but not obvious. Ex: "Social Current" as an example of a social fact.

Macro-micro continuum

Society > Culture > Social Institutions (Economics, Politics, Education, Religion) > Social Inequality > (Class, Race, Gender) > Groups > Roles > Socialization > Interaction > Self.

Symbolic interactionism

Sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent, but rather are created through interaction. Basic Tenets: We act towards things based on their meanings. Meanings are not inherent; instead, negotiated. Meanings can change.

Conflict Theory

Sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change. Power and inequality central to conflict theory. The main emphases are on: The materialistic view on society. A critical stance toward existing social arrangements. A dynamic model of historical change.

Structural Functionalism

Society is viewed as an ordered system of interrelated parts, or structures, which are the social institutions that make up society (family, education, politics, the economy). Each of these different structures meets the needs of society by performing specific functions for the whole system (society).

Operational definitions

Clearly defining variables in a study so they can be measured.

Correlation and causation

The scientific method helps to determine and distinguish between correlation, causation, and spurious causation. Correlation: a relationship between two variables. Causation: a relationship in which one variable causes another variable to change. Spurious causation: a relationship that seems to exist between two variables, but is actually caused by some external, or intervening, variable.

Independent and dependent variables

The independent variable is the cause, and the dependent variable is the effect being studied.

Socialization

The process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group. The socialization process begins in infancy and lasts throughout the lifetime. Language facilitates socialization.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The idea that language structures thought and ways of looking at the world are embedded in language, is based on this premise.

Counterculture

A group within society that openly rejects, and may actively oppose, society's values and norms.

Subculture

A group within society that is differentiated by its distinctive values, norms, and lifestyle.

Cultural Change

Cultures usually change slowly and incrementally, though change can also happen in rapid and dramatic ways. At times, a subculture can influence the mainstream and become part of the dominant culture, or something that is dominant can change to a counterculture.

Ethnocentrism

Occurs when people use their own culture as a standard to evaluate another group or individual, leading to the view that cultures other than their own are abnormal.

Cultural Relativism

The practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of one's own culture.

Cultural Relativism

The process of understanding other cultures on their own terms rather than judging them according to one's own culture.

Erving Goffman's Theory of the Self

Believed that meaning is constructed through interaction, comparing social interaction to the theater where individuals take on roles and act them out for an audience.

Dramaturgy

Goffman's approach that compares social interaction to the theater.

Impression Management

The process of controlling the impressions others have of us.

Charles Cooley's Theory of the Self

Believed that the sense of self depends on seeing oneself reflected in interactions with others.

Looking-Glass Self

The notion that the self develops through our perception of others' evaluations and appraisals of us.

The Thomas Theorem

States that 'if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.'

Role Conflict

Occurs when the roles associated with one status clash with the roles associated with a different status.

Role Strain

Occurs when roles associated with a single status clash.

Role Exit

The process that may occur as a result of role conflict or role strain.

Agents of Socialization

Social groups, institutions, and individuals that provide structured situations where socialization occurs.

Family (as an agent of socialization)

The single most significant agent of socialization in all societies, teaching basic values and norms.

Schools (as an agent of socialization)

Provide education and socialize us through a hidden curriculum that teaches important behaviors.

Peers (as an agent of socialization)

Provide different social skills and become more significant than the family during adolescence.

Media (as an agent of socialization)

An important agent of socialization that often overrides the family and other institutions in instilling values.

Emotion Work

The process of evoking, suppressing, or managing feelings to create a public display of emotion.

Deviance

A behavior, trait, or belief that departs from a norm and generates a negative reaction in a particular group.

Labeling Theory

States that deviance is caused by external judgments (labels) that change a person's self-concept.

Stereotype Threat

The risk of confirming negative stereotypes about an individual's social group.

Stereotype Promise

The positive expectations associated with a particular social group.

Labeling

A prediction that causes itself to come true.

Stereotype threat

A self-fulfilling prophecy in which the fear of performing poorly and thereby confirming stereotypes about one's social group causes people to perform poorly.

Stereotype promise

A self-fulfilling prophecy in which positive stereotypes lead to positive performance outcomes.

Structural Strain Theory

Developed by Robert Merton; there are goals in our society that people want to achieve but cannot always reach, which creates stress (or strain).

Pluralism

A system of political power in which a wide variety of individuals and groups have equal access to resources and power.

Power Elite

C. Wright Mills coined the term to refer to a relatively small number of people who control the economic, political, and military institutions of a society.

Interest Groups

Organizations that raise and spend money to influence elected officials or public opinion.

Hidden Curriculum

Describes the values and behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the educational system's structure and teaching methods.

The Pygmalion Effect

The idea that teachers' attitudes about their students unintentionally influence their academic performance.

Karl Marx theory of social class

Believed that there were two main social classes in capitalist societies: Capitalists (or the bourgeoisie) who owned the means of production, and Workers (or the proletariat) who sold their labor for wages.

Max Weber Theory of Social Class

Offered a model that included cultural factors, arguing that class status was made of three components: Wealth (or privilege), Power, and Prestige.

Wealth

A measure of net worth that includes income, property, and other assets.

Power

The ability to make changes in the system.

Prestige

The social honor people are given because of their membership in well-regarded social groups.

Social mobility

The movement of individuals or groups within the hierarchical system of social classes.

Intergenerational mobility

The movement between social classes that occurs from one generation to the next.

Intragenerational mobility

The movement between social classes that occurs over the course of an individual's lifetime.

Horizontal social mobility

The occupational movement of individuals or groups within a social class.

Vertical social mobility

The movement between social classes, often referred to as either upward mobility or downward mobility.

Closed system

A system in which there is very little opportunity to move from one class to another.

Open system

A system with ample opportunity to move from one class to another.

Social reproduction

The tendency for social-class status to be passed down from one generation to the next.