Sociology and the Real World Practice Flashcards Slideshow

Comprehensive practice questions covering the introductory concepts and major theoretical paradigms of sociology as presented in Chapter 1 of 'The Real World'.

What is the systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions to individual interactions?

Sociology

What are the Latin and Greek roots of the term sociology, and what do they suggest the field means?

The roots are socius and logos, suggesting sociology means the study of society.

How is a group of people who shape their lives in aggregated and patterned ways that distinguish their group from others defined?

Society

How did Howard Becker define sociology?

The study of people “doing things together.”

What are the disciplines that use the scientific method to examine the social world?

Social sciences

Which quality of the mind allows us to understand the relationship between individual circumstances and larger social forces?

Sociological imagination

Who coined the term ‘sociological imagination’ and stated that to understand social life, we must understand the ‘intersection between biography and history’?

C. Wright Mills

What is the technique of approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things a new way?

Beginner's mind

What term describes the sense of disorientation that occurs when entering a radically new social or cultural environment?

Culture shock

Which level of analysis studies face-to-face and small-group interactions to understand how they affect larger patterns of society?

Microsociology

Which level of analysis studies large-scale social structures to determine how they affect groups and individuals?

Macrosociology

What are abstract propositions that explain the social world and make predictions about the future?

Theories (also known as approaches, schools of thought, perspectives, or paradigms)

What is a set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that makes up a way of understanding social reality?

Paradigm

Who developed the theory of positivism and is known for laying the groundwork for sociology?

Auguste Comte

What is the theory that sense perceptions are the only valid source of knowledge?

Positivism

Which social activist translated Auguste Comte’s work into English, making sociology accessible in England and America?

Harriet Martineau

What is the application of the theory of evolution and ‘survival of the fittest’ to the study of society?

Social Darwinism

What paradigm assumes that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures?

Structural functionalism

How did Ήmile Durkheim define solidarity?

The degree of integration or unity within a particular society; the extent to which individuals feel connected to other members of their group.

What is the term for the type of social bonds based on shared traditions and beliefs found in premodern, agrarian societies?

Mechanical solidarity

What type of social bonds are found in modern societies and based on difference, interdependence, and individual rights?

Organic solidarity

What term did Durkheim use to describe ‘normlessness’ and the alienation resulting from weak social bonds?

Anomie

In Durkheim’s study of religion, what are the definitions of sacred and profane?

Sacred refers to the holy, divine, or supernatural, while profane refers to the ordinary, mundane, or everyday.

What term means being based on scientific experimentation or observation?

Empirical

In structural functionalism, what is a social institution that is stable over time and meets society's needs to maintain order?

Structure

What is a disturbance to or undesirable consequence of some aspect of the social system?

Dysfunction

What are the obvious, intended functions of a social structure called?

Manifest functions

What are the less obvious, perhaps unintended functions of a social structure called?

Latent functions

Which paradigm sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change, emphasizing social inequality?

Conflict theory

What is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society?

Social inequality

In Marxist theory, what term refers to anything that can create wealth, such as factories, money, and property?

Means of production

Who are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in Marx's theory?

The bourgeoisie are the owners of the means of production, and the proletariat are the workers who sell their labor power to live.

What is the sense of dissatisfaction the modern worker feels as a result of producing goods owned and controlled by someone else?

Alienation

What is the term for a denial of truth by the oppressed when they fail to recognize that the ruling class's interests are embedded in dominant ideology?

False consciousness

What is the recognition of social inequality on the part of the oppressed, leading to revolutionary action?

Class consciousness

Which contemporary form of conflict theory criticizes systems and ideologies of domination and oppression?

Critical theory

What is the study of the relationship among race, racism, and power?

Critical race theory

What is the theoretical approach that looks at gender inequities and the way gender structures the social world?

Feminist theory

Which social theory emphasizes the importance of difference and rejects innate identities or restrictive categories of gender and sexual identity?

Queer theory

What is the application of theory to practical action in an effort to improve aspects of society?

Praxis

What is the application of economic logic to human activity through formal rules to maximize efficiency?

Rationalization

What secondary group is characterized by specialization, technical competence, hierarchy, and impersonality to perform tasks efficiently?

Bureaucracy

What pessimistic term did Max Weber use to describe being caught in bureaucratic structures and rigid rules?

Iron cage

What does Max Weber’s term ‘verstehen’ translate to and mean in social research?

It means ‘empathic understanding’ and describes research that attempts to understand the meanings individuals attach to social reality.

Which paradigm sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes meanings are created through interaction?

Symbolic interactionism

What type of sociology practiced in the 1920s and ’30s centered on urban settings and field research?

Chicago School

What perspective assumes humans make practical adaptations to their environments through cognition, interpretation, and interaction?

Pragmatism

Who is credited with naming George Herbert Mead's theory ‘symbolic interactionism’?

Herbert Blumer

Which researcher was a proponent of applied sociology and is considered the founder of social work?

Jane Addams

In Erving Goffman’s approach, what term describes the strategic presentation of ourselves to others using a theatrical metaphor?

Dramaturgy

What is the study of ‘folk methods’ and background knowledge that sustain a shared sense of reality?

Ethnomethodology

Which paradigm suggests that social reality is diverse, pluralistic, and lacks absolutes?

Postmodernism

What style of theorization attempts to strike a balance between micro and macro perspectives of sociology?

Midrange theory