Intro to Sociology Chapter 1

Sociology

1.1. This is the scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups.

Society

1.1. A group of people who live in a defined

geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture is what sociologists call a

what?

micro-level study

1.1 This kind of study involves small

groups and individual interactions

macro-level analysis

1.1 This kind of study/ analysis look at trends among and between

large groups and societies.

Culture

1.1 This refers to the group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs

sociological imagination

1.1 This is described as an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions.

reification

1.1 The error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence is known as what?

D

1.1 Which of the following are Social facts?

a. Laws

b. morals, values, and religious beliefs

c. customs and ritutals

d. All of the above

figuration

1.1 the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior is called

Auguste Comte

1.2 This individual believed in the potential of social scientists to work toward the betterment of society. He held that once scholars identified the laws that governed society, sociologists could address problems such as poor education and poverty

Harriet Martineau

1.2 She introduced sociology to English speaking scholars through her translation of Comte’s

writing from French to English. She was an early analyst of social practices, including economics, social class,

religion, suicide, government, and women’s rights.

Karl Marx

1.2 He was a german philosopher who co-authored the communist manifesto and believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of

different social classes over the means of production.

Herbert Spencer

1.2 He rejected much of Comte’s philosophy as well as Marx’s theory of class

struggle and his support of communism. Instead, he favored a form of government that allowed market forces

to control capitalism. His work influenced many early sociologists including Émile Durkheim (1858–1917).

Émile Durkheim

1.2 He helped establish sociology as a formal academic discipline by establishing the first European

department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux believed that sociologists could study objective social facts and also believed that

through such studies it would be possible to determine if a society was “healthy” or “pathological.” 

Max Weber

1.2 He believed that it was difficult, if not impossible, to use standard scientific methods to accurately predict

the behavior of groups as some sociologists hoped to do. He also argued that the influence of culture on human behavior had to be taken into account.

a theory

1.3 In sociology, this is a way to explain different aspects of social interactions and to create a

testable proposition

Grand theories

1.3 These attempt to explain large-scale

relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change.

Paradigms

 1.3 These are philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a

discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them.

structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.

1.3 Three paradigms have come to dominate sociological thinking because they provide useful explanations are what?

Functionalism

This paradigm sees society as a structure with interrelated parts

designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society

Manifest functions

1.3 These functions are the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated

latent functions

1.3 These functions are the unsought consequences of a social process

T

1.3 T/F Latent functions can be beneficial,

neutral, or harmful.

dysfunctions

1.3 Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society are

called what?

the structural-functional theory

One criticism of this is that it can’t adequately explain social change even though

the functions are processes.

Conflict theory

1.3 This theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources. This perspective is a macro-level

approach most identified with the writings of German philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx

Critical theory

This is an expansion of conflict theory and is broader than just

sociology, incorporating other social sciences and philosophy. This is a holistic theory and

attempts to address structural issues causing inequality.

conflict theory

This theory has been criticized because it tends to focus on conflict to the exclusion of recognizing stability

Symbolic interactionism

This is a micro-level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society.

Constructivism

This is an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans

cognitively construct it to be. 

symbolic interaction theory

Research done from this perspective is often scrutinized because of the difficulty of remaining objective.

Structural-functionalism

This was a dominant force after World War II and until the 1960s and 1970s.

dramaturgical analysis

a technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of

theatrical performance

verstehen

a German word that means to understand in a deep way