Chapter 1 - Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology – SOC 1000

These flashcards cover key definitions, theorists, perspectives, and concepts introduced in Chapter 1, providing a concise review of foundational ideas in sociology.

What does sociology encourage us to find that is “strange in the familiar”?

Questioning the everyday things we normally take for granted.

What does it mean to look for the “general in the particular”?

Identifying patterns in individual lives that are shared by others in society.

In sociology, what are norms?

Society’s expectations that guide and constrain individual behaviour.

What is studied at the micro level in sociology?

Individual experiences and personal choices.

What is studied at the macro level in sociology?

Broader social forces such as life chances, norms, and social institutions.

Who coined the term “sociological imagination”?

C. Wright Mills.

Define the sociological imagination.

The ability to perceive the connections between individual biographies (micro) and larger social/historical forces (macro).

Which 14th-century scholar examined power structures and surplus labour, foreshadowing sociology?

Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406).

Which historical period’s upheavals helped give rise to sociology?

The French Revolution (1789–1799) and the Enlightenment.

Who first coined the word “sociology” and promoted empirical research plus theory?

Auguste Comte (1798–1857).

List the three main tools in a sociologist’s toolkit.

Empirical research methods, sociological theorizing, and critical thinking.

Why are empirical research methods essential in sociology?

They provide reliable, verifiable knowledge that can ground social action.

What is a theory in sociological terms?

A set of propositions intended to explain a fact or phenomenon.

What question guides positivist theorizing?

“What is happening?”—emphasising explanation and prediction of relationships between variables.

What question guides interpretative theorizing?

“What does it mean?”—focusing on how people construct meaning through culture.

What question guides critical theorizing?

“Who has power?”—exploring how power shapes social processes and aiming at emancipation.

Name the five core theoretical frameworks highlighted in Chapter 1.

Functionalist, Conflict, Interactionist, Feminist, and Postmodern perspectives.

How does the functionalist perspective view society?

As a set of structures/institutions that perform functions to keep society running smoothly.

Differentiate manifest and latent functions.

Manifest functions are intended and recognized; latent functions are unintended and often hidden.

What term did Émile Durkheim use for widespread normlessness when institutions malfunction?

Anomie.

According to the conflict perspective, what drives social change?

Competition over scarce resources between the powerful and the powerless.

In Marx’s analysis, who are the bourgeoisie?

Owners of the means of production.

In Marx’s analysis, who are the proletariat?

Workers who sell their labour to the bourgeoisie.

What is praxis in critical/conflict theory?

Scholars’ responsibility to equip marginalized groups with knowledge to overcome powerlessness.

What does symbolic interactionism study?

How individuals create shared meanings through interaction and symbols.

Who are ‘significant others’ in symbolic interactionism?

People who are especially important to an individual’s self-development.

What is the ‘generalized other’?

The internalized expectations of society that guide an individual’s behaviour.

State the core principle of feminism outlined in the lecture.

Women are human beings equal to men and should have equal rights and opportunities.

What bias has traditional academic work exhibited, according to feminist perspectives?

Androcentric (male-centred) bias.

According to postmodernism, why is ‘objective truth’ suspect?

Knowledge is produced through discourse—social ways of understanding that are never fully objective.