Introduction to Sociology Key Terminology and Theorists

Vocabulary flashcards covering foundational concepts, key sociological theorists, research methods, and major theoretical perspectives from the introductory sociology lecture.

Sociology

The systematic study of society and social interaction.

Society

A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture.

Sociological imagination

An awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person's choices and perceptions, and the way individuals understand their own and others' pasts in relation to history and social structure.

Social facts

Laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life.

Figuration

Process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior (Norbert Elias).

Auguste Comte

Sociologist who believed that sociologists could address problems such as education and poverty, and introduced positivism.

Positivism

The scientific study of social patterns.

Harriet Martineau

Sociologist who observed and analyzed social practices, including economics, religion, and government, and was closely acquainted with major political and scientific figures of the time, including Charles Darwin.

Karl Marx

Sociologist who believed societies grew as a result of struggles of different social and political classes.

Herbert Spencer

Sociologist who strongly favored market and societal forces to shape government and economy, and authored The Study of Sociology (1873).

Emile Durkheim

Sociologist who focused on the sociological study of objective social facts that could determine the health of a society, and studied social ties that led to social solidarity.

George Herbert Mead

Sociologist who focused on the mind and the self, indicating that identity is developed through interactions with others.

Significant others

Specific individuals that impacted a person's life.

Generalized others

The organized and generalized attitude of a social group.

Max Weber

Sociologist central to the development of sociology who highlighted the concept of Verstehen.

Verstehen

A German word that means to understand in a deep way, in which outside observers of a social world—an entire culture or a small setting—attempt to understand it from an insider's point of view.

W. E. B. Du Bois

Sociologist who developed and employed highly detailed, empirical methods of research.

Antipositivism

The strive for subjectivity to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values.

Quantitative Sociology

Uses statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants, analyzing data using statistical techniques to uncover patterns of human behavior.

Qualitative Sociology

Seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and analysis of content sources (like books, magazines, journals, and popular media).

Structural functionalism

A theoretical perspective centered on the way each part of society functions together to contribute to the functioning of the whole.

Conflict Theory

A theoretical perspective centered on the way inequities and inequalities contribute to social, political, and power differences and how they perpetuate power.

Symbolic Interactionism

A theoretical perspective centered on the way one-on-one interactions and communications behave.