Sociology Introductory Concepts, Methods, and Theories

Vocabulary flashcards covering core sociological concepts, perspectives, research methods, key ethical studies, ideologies, and foundational theoretical frameworks.

Sociology

The systemic and scientific study of human groups, social interactions, and factors affecting how people experience the world using theoretical approaches and research methods.

Sociological Perspective

An approach that examines social contexts to understand how people are influenced by their society and how they view the world.

Socialization

The process through which agents like family, friends, media, and education teach individuals societal values, performance norms, rewards, and beliefs.

Sociological Imagination

A way of thinking or lens that links society and individual lived experience, showing how membership in specific groups shapes individual behavior.

Social Facts

Components of reality (such as family, education, and wealth) created through implicit or explicit social guidelines that shape empirical experiences.

Concrete Experiences

The basic level of experience composed of physical sensations, empirical experiences, guidelines, and patterns.

Abstract Experiences

Experiences grounded in the sociological imagination that give meaning to concrete experiences through concepts, suggestions, and connections.

Social Construction of Reality

The dynamic process through which people build and understand their world using a combination of concrete and abstract experiences.

Quantitative Research

A sociological research strategy focused on gathering numerical data from larger samples to identify trends over time.

Qualitative Research

A sociological research strategy focused on understanding individual experiences using smaller sample sizes.

Mixed Methods

A research approach that combines both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Content Analysis

A systematic, non-reactive research tool used to examine text, images, and media to identify social patterns, themes, representations, and deeper cultural messages.

Stanford Prison Experiment

A study conducted by Prof. Philip Zimbardo testing environmental power dynamics vs. personality traits, which was terminated after 6 days due to brutal guard behavior and psychological distress among prisoners.

Milgram Obedience Study

A study led by Dr. Stanley Milgram examining obedience to authority, in which 60-65% of participants continued administering maximum electric shocks to an actor upon researcher instructions.

Tuskegee Study

An unethical 40-year study by the United States Public Health Service involving 600 Black men in Alabama who were deceived about having 'bad blood' and denied penicillin treatment for syphilis.

Tearoom Trade Study

A study conducted by Laud Humphreys on anonymous male homosexual encounters in public bathrooms, which sparked major ethical debates regarding informed consent and participant privacy.

Ideology

A lens of values, beliefs, principles, and common sense through which an individual views the world and supports theoretical thinking.

Environmentalism

An ideology focused on minimizing harmful human impacts on the natural world and promoting ecological preservation and sustainability.

Consumerism

A dominant worldview asserting that individuals require more material possessions and achieve greater happiness through increased consumption.

Sociological Theory

A systematic, organized framework grounded in scientific observation that explains the real-world causes, mechanisms, and reasons behind social phenomena.

Functionalism

A major theoretical framework that views society as a system of interconnected parts (such as education, economy, and mass media) working together to maintain social stability.

Anomie

A concept described by Émile Durkheim as a feeling of normlessness resulting from rapid social change disrupting social stability.

Symbolic Interactionism

A micro-level theoretical framework that examines everyday experiences, focusing on how individuals define, interpret, and assign meaning to behaviors.

Front Stage Interactions

In Erving Goffman's theory, social situations where individuals perform according to expectations and display only the parts of themselves they wish others to see.

Back Stage Interactions

In Erving Goffman's theory, private situations where individuals drop their public performance and behave in an authentic, relaxed manner.

Conflict Theory

A major theoretical framework proposing that society is structured around inequalities that create conflict between powerful resource-holders and disadvantaged groups.

Bourgeoisie

In Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism, the class that owns the means of industrial production.

Proletariat

In Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism, the working class that sells its labor for wages and generates profit for the bourgeoisie.

Feminism

A theoretical framework focused on gender equality that analyzes systems of male dominance and aims to redress social gender imbalances.

Patriarchy

A system of male dominance in which men appropriate women's labor power, control their sexuality, and maintain social privilege.

Theory

Ideas intended to explain/predict a fact or social phenomenon

Functionalism

Views society as set of interconnected parts working together to preserve stability and efficiency of social life

ex. families reproduce / nurture members of society, while the economy regulates production, distribution, consumption of goods/services

Social Reproduction

Everything that goes into reproducing society: having kids, socializing them to become good employees/consumers which helps economy

Talcott Parsons

believed that as changes occur in one part of society, there must be changes made in other parts in order to maintain an equilibrium

manifest functions

intended outcomes of a social structure/institution (obvious to all, clearly stated)

latent functions

unintended/ less obvious outcomes of a social structure/institution

dysfunctions

when a system/social structure does not function as intended

Conflict Theory

opposes Functionalist overemphasis on consensus/stability; views life as a continuing struggle for fairness, security/stability, respect/status

What do Conflict Theorists believe the disadvantaged should do?

challenge power structures created by the elites in society that keep themselves in power

ex. workers forming unions (teachers strike)

Social Consciousness

recognition of one’s own exploitation and spot in social hierarchy

Who’s work is Symbolic Interactionism largely based on? (2)

George Mead, Charles Cooley

Symbolic Interactionism

focuses on the shared meanings, definitions, and interpretations that connect people in social relationships

Backstage Interactions

relaxed, authentic version of ourselves

Frontstage Interactions

when we perform how we think others expect of us, and how we want them to perceive us

Who coined the terms Frontstage and Backstage Interactions?

Erving Goffman

George Mead claimed that:

social interaction helps us define our sense of self by observing how others treat us and react to us

William Edward Du Bois

key founder of American sociology

civil rights leader, social scientist, first black person to get Harvard PHD

introduced idea of double consciousness

Double Consciousness

POC looking at themselves through the lens of racist white society, and how it can stop them from having a unified (1) sense of self

Frantz Fannon

voiced support for Algerian resistance of French colonization, defending their right to use violence against their colonizers

French govt censored his book “The Wretched of the Earth” (1961)

Feminism

focuses on what causes and perpetuates gender inequality, and how it impacts the lives of women

First Wave Feminism

resulted in white women getting the right to vote

Second Wave Feminism

women of color demanded wider social equality

helped women better understand patriarchy and its effects on them

Dorothy Smith

famous Canadian feminist; developed Standpoint Theory

Standpoint Theory

an individual’s own perspectives and understanding of the world are shaped by their specific social and political location

Third Wave Feminism

used Standpoint Theory to highlight that a woman’s experience of oppression is unique to her specific circumstances/social facts

introduces intersectionality: key point in modern Feminism

Emile Durkheim

in modern society, people are less united and more individualistic

social cohesion suffers