Understanding Sociology Vocabulary Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, theoretical perspectives, and core concepts from introductory sociology lecture notes.

Sociology

The systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions.

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.

Beginner's Mind

Approaching the world without preconceptions to see things in a new way.

Expert's Mind

A mind so filled with facts, projections, assumptions, opinions, and explanations that it cannot learn anything new.

Culture Shock

A sense of disorientation that occurs when entering a radically new social or cultural environment.

Sociological Imagination

A quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our individual circumstances and larger social forces.

Trouble (C. Wright Mills)

A private matter where values cherished by an individual are felt by that individual to be threatened.

Issue (C. Wright Mills)

A public matter where some value cherished by the public is felt to be threatened.

As sabiyah

A term coined by Ibn Khaldun, translated as "social cohesion".

Ilm alumran

A discipline proposed by Ibn Khaldun, translated as "the science of civilization".

Eurocentrism

The tendency to favor European or Western histories, cultures, and values over those of non-Western societies.

Social statics

Forces for stability and cooperation within societies, as argued by Auguste Comte.

Social dynamics

Forces for conflict and change within societies, as argued by Auguste Comte.

Positivism

The theory that sense perceptions are the only valid source of knowledge, also known as the belief that accurate knowledge comes through empirical evidence.

Social Darwinism

The application of the theory of evolution and the notion of "survival of the fittest" to the study of society, promoted by Herbert Spencer.

Social facts

Facts about the collective natures of social life that have their own patterns and dynamics beyond the individual level, explored by Émile Durkheim.

Mechanical solidarity

Social bonds present in premodern, agrarian societies, in which shared traditions and beliefs created a sense of social cohesion.

Organic solidarity

Social bonds present in modern societies based on difference, interdependence, and individual rights.

Anomie

A sense of disconnection brought about by the changing conditions of modern life.

Capitalism

An economic system based on the laws of free market competition, privatization of the means of production, and production for profit.

Proletariat

Workers who have no means of production of their own and so are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live.

Bourgeoisie

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

Class consciousness

The recognition of social inequality on the part of the oppressed, leading to revolutionary action.

Rationalization

The application of economic logic to human activity; the use of formal rules and regulations in order to maximize efficiency without consideration of subjective or individual concerns.

Bureaucracies

Secondary groups designed to perform tasks efficiently, characterized as efficient, goal-oriented, and rule-governed.

Dyad

A two-person social group.

Triad

A three-person social group.

Objective culture

The elements that people produce, such as art, science, and philosophy.

Individual culture

The capacity of the individual to produce, understand, and control the elements of objective culture.

Tragedy of culture theory

Theory proposed by Georg Simmel stating that over time objective culture grows exponentially while individual culture grows only slightly, causing individual capacities to fail to keep pace.

Color line

The separation of Black society and White society into different and unequal worlds, examined by W. E. B. Du Bois.

Hull House

A center established by Jane Addams in 1889 that offered shelter, medical care, legal advice, training, and education to new immigrants, single mothers, and people of lower SES.

Hegemony

The cultural aspects of social control, whereby the ideas of the dominant group are accepted by all.

Dramaturgy

An approach developed by Erving Goffman in which social life is analyzed in terms of similarities to theatrical performances.

Impression management

An effort to control the impressions we make on others so that they can form a desired view of us and the situation.

Intersectionality

A concept promoted by Patricia Hill Collins that identifies how different categories of inequality intersect to shape the lives of individuals and groups.

Structural functionalism

A theoretical perspective that views society as a stable, ordered system made up of interrelated parts, where each structure has a function contributing to overall stability.

Dysfunction

A disturbance or undesirable consequence of some aspect of the social system.

Manifest function

The obvious, intended functions of a social structure for the social system.

Conflict theory

A theoretical perspective that sees society as a system of inequalities where structures perpetuate inequality and struggles exist over power and resources.

Social inequity

The unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society.

Symbolic interactionism

A theoretical perspective that sees interaction and meaning as central to society, focusing on micro-level interactions and non-inherent meanings created through interaction.

Symbol

Anything that represents something else.