The Sociological Imagination

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture notes on The Sociological Imagination.

Sociology

The systematic study of human society.

Society

The largest scale human group that shares a common geographic territory and common institutions.

Breaching Experiment

A study in which the researcher breaks a social rule to reveal the unrecognized cooperation among individuals in maintaining social order.

Culture

A system of behavior, beliefs, knowledge, practices, values, and materials that is contested and differentiated between dominant, subcultures, and countercultures.

Sociological Imagination

The ability to see the connection between personal troubles and larger social issues as defined by C. Wright Mills.

Social Inequality

The gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged in society.

Social Institutions

Norms, values, and rules of conduct that structure human interactions, including family, education, religion, economy, and government.

Social Change

The examination of how social institutions can perpetuate inequality or create transformation within societies.

Secularization

The process by which religion loses its authority over individuals and social life.

Homophily

The principle that structures social relationships, suggesting people tend to associate with others like themselves.

Qualitative Research

A research method that examines a smaller number of cases in detail and emphasizes the meanings of actions for individuals and groups.

Quantitative Research

A research method that focuses on measurable phenomena and uses statistical models to assess relationships among variables.

Independent Variable

A variable that is manipulated or varied to affect another variable in a study.

Dependent Variable

A variable that is affected by changes in an independent variable.

Agency

The capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own choices, often influenced by social structures.

Anomic Suicide

A type of suicide that occurs in societies with excessively low regulation.

Altruistic Suicide

A type of suicide that occurs in societies with excessively high integration.

Egoistic Suicide

A type of suicide that occurs in societies with extremely low levels of integration.

Fatalistic Suicide

A type of suicide that occurs in societies with excessively high regulation.

Research Question

A question that sociologists start with to guide their investigation of the relationship between variables.

Content Analysis

A research method involving the systematic coding of documents to answer research questions.

Sociology

The systematic study of human society.

Society

The largest scale human group that shares a common geographic territory and common institutions.

Breaching Experiment

A study in which the researcher breaks a social rule to reveal the unrecognized cooperation among individuals in maintaining social order.

Culture

A system of behavior, beliefs, knowledge, practices, values, and materials that is contested and differentiated between dominant, subcultures, and countercultures.

Sociological Imagination

The ability to see the connection between personal troubles and larger social issues as defined by C. Wright Mills.

Social Inequality

The gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged in society.

Social Institutions

Norms, values, and rules of conduct that structure human interactions, including family, education, religion, economy, and government.

Social Change

The examination of how social institutions can perpetuate inequality or create transformation within societies.

Secularization

The process by which religion loses its authority over individuals and social life.

Homophily

The principle that structures social relationships, suggesting people tend to associate with others like themselves.

Qualitative Research

A research method that examines a smaller number of cases in detail and emphasizes the meanings of actions for individuals and groups.

Quantitative Research

A research method that focuses on measurable phenomena and uses statistical models to assess relationships among variables.

Independent Variable

A variable that is manipulated or varied to affect another variable in a study.

Dependent Variable

A variable that is affected by changes in an independent variable.

Agency

The capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own choices, often influenced by social structures.

Anomic Suicide

A type of suicide that occurs in societies with excessively low regulation.

Altruistic Suicide

A type of suicide that occurs in societies with excessively high integration.

Egoistic Suicide

A type of suicide that occurs in societies with extremely low levels of integration.

Fatalistic Suicide

A type of suicide that occurs in societies with excessively high regulation.

Research Question

A question that sociologists start with to guide their investigation of the relationship between variables.

Content Analysis

A research method involving the systematic coding of documents to answer research questions.

Social Structure

The stable patterns of social relations and institutions that together form society.

Norms

Social rules and expectations that guide the behavior of members within a society.

Values

Culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful.

Socialization

The lifelong process through which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of their society.

Conflict Theory

A macro-level sociological perspective that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change.

Structural Functionalism

A sociological perspective that views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.

Symbolic Interactionism

A micro-level perspective that focuses on the meanings individuals attach to social interaction and symbols.

Deviance

The recognized violation of cultural norms.

Reliability

The consistency with which a research tool measures a concept across different trials.

Validity

The degree to which a research tool accurately measures the concept it is intended to measure.

Social Stratification

The hierarchical arrangement of individuals into social categories based on factors like wealth, power, and prestige.