Intro to Sociology ~ Unit 1

Sociological Perspective

Understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context

Society

People who share a culture and a territory

Social Location

The group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society

Science

The application of systematic methods to obtain knowledge and the knowledge obtained by those methods

Natural Science

The intellectual and academic disciplines deigned to comprehend, explain, and predict events in our natural environment

Social Sciences

The intellectual and academic disciplines designed to understand the social world objectively by means of controlled and repeated observations

Generalizations

A statement that goes beyond the individual case and is applied to a broader group or situation

Common Sense

Those things that “everyone knows” are true

Scientific Method

The use of objective, systematic observations to test theories

Sociology

The scientific study of society and human behavior

Class Conflict

Marx’s term for the struggle between capitalists and workers

Bourgeoisie

Marx’s term for capitalists, those who own the means of production

Proletariat

Marx’s term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production

Social Integration

The degree to which members off a group or a society feel united by shared values and other social bonds

Patterns of Behavior

Recurring behaviors or events

Value Free

The view that a sociologist’s personal values or beliefs should not influence social research

Values

The standards by which people define what is desirable or undesiriable

Objectivity

Value neutrality in research

Replication

The repetition of a study in order to test its findings

Verstehen

A German word used by Weber that is best. understood as “to have insight into someone’s situation”

Social Facts

Durkheim’s term for a group’s patterns of behavior

Basic Sociology

Sociological research for the purpose of making discoveries, not making changes

Applied Sociology

The use of sociology to solve problems

Public Sociology

Applying sociology for the public good

Theory

A general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work

Symbolic Interactionism

A theoretical perspective that focuses on how individuals use symbols and interactions to create meaning and shape their social reality

Functional Analysis

a theoretical perspective that views society as a complex system of interconnected parts that work together to maintain stability and order

Conflict Theory

A theoretical framework in which society is viewed as groups that are competing for resources

Macro-Level Analysis

An examination of large scale patterns of society

Micro-Level Analysis

An examination of small scale patterns of society

Social Interaction

One person’s actions influencing someone else

Nonverbal Interaction

Communication without words through gestures, use of space, silence, and so on

Globalization

The growing interconnections among nations due to the expansions of capitalism

Globalization of Capitalism

Capitalism become the globe’s dominant economic system