Sociology Chapter 1

Sociology

The study of society, the systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior.

Society

A group of people who shape their lives in aggregated and patterned ways that distinguish their group from others.

Social Sciences

The disciplines that use the scientific method to examine the social world, in contrast to the natural sciences, which examine the physical world.

Sociological Perspective

A way of looking at the world through a sociological lens.

Beginner's Mind

Approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things in a new way. (Bernard McGrane, 1994)

Culture Shock

A sense of disorientation that occurs when entering a radically new social or cultural environment. (Peter Berger, 1963)

Sociological Imagination

A quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our individual circumstances and larger social forces. (C. Wright Mills, 1959)

Microsociology

The level of analysis that studies face-to-face and small-group interactions in order to understand how they affect the larger patterns and structures of society.

Macrosociology

The level of analysis that studies large-scale social structures in order to determine how they affect the lives of groups and individuals.

Theories

(In relation to Sociology) Abstract propositions that explain the social world and make predictions about the future.

Paradigms

A set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that make up a way of understanding social reality.

Positivism

The theory that sense perceptions are the only valid source of knowledge. (Auguste Comte, 1798-1857)
Was the first person to provide a program for the scientific study of society. *Father of sociology.

Social Darwinism

The application of the theory of evolution and the notion of "survival of the fittest" to the study of society. (Herbert Spencer, 1862)

Structural Functionalism

A.K.A Functionalist Theory, A paradigm based on the assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures. (Emile Durkheim, 1893)
Society is a body, made of different working parts.

Conflict Theory

Second major school of thought in Sociology, A paradigm that sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change and that emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of social change. (Karl Marx, 1848)

Social Inequality

The unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society. (Associated with Karl Marx's theory)

Proletariat

Workers; those who have no means of production of their own and so are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live. (Karl Marx)

Bourgeoisie

Owners; the class of modern capitalists who own the means of production and employ wage laborers. (Karl Marx)

Critical Theory

1930's - 1960's, A contemporary form of conflict theory that criticizes many different systems and ideologies of domination and oppression. Coined the term "culture industries", refers to increasingly important social institutions. (Neo-Marxism, Theodore Adorno)

Feminist Theory

Developed alongside the 20th century women's rights movement, A theoretical approach that looks at gender inequities in society and the way that gender structures the social world.

Queer Theory

Developed alongside the gay and lesbian's rights movements in the 70's and 80's, A social theory about gender and sexual identity; emphasizes the importance of difference and rejects ideas of innate identities or restrictive categories.

Weberian Theory