Module 1 Notes Flashcards

Flashcards based on Module 1 notes, covering key sociological concepts, thinkers, and theories.

What do sociologists call a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, interact with one another, and share a common culture?

A society

What is the focus of micro-level studies in sociology?

Small groups and individual interactions

What type of analysis looks at trends among and between large groups and societies?

Macro-level analysis

What sociological pioneer described sociological imagination as an awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the wider culture?

C. Wright Mills

What did Norbert Elias call the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior?

Figuration

Who is known for advocating positivism as the scientific study of social patterns?

Auguste Comte

Who is known for writing and analysis of American society, especially concerning women's rights and education?

Harriet Martineau

Who believed that societies grew as a result of struggles of different social and political classes and predicted that social change came through social conflict?

Karl Marx

Who rejected Comte and Marx, favoring market and societal forces to shape government and economy?

Herbert Spencer

Who focused on the sociological study of objective social facts and studied social ties that led to social solidarity?

Emile Durkheim

Who focused on the mind and self, indicating that our identity is developed through interactions with others?

George Herbert Mead

What are significant others, according to George Herbert Mead ?

Specific individuals that impacted a person's life.

What are generalized others, according to George Herbert Mead?

The organized and generalized attitude of a social group.

Who introduced the concept of 'Verstehen' to understand social worlds from an insider's point of view?

Max Weber

What is antipositivism?

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

What does Quantitative Sociology use to analyze data and uncover patterns of human behavior?

Statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants.

What type of method does Qualitative Sociology use to understand human behavior?

In-depth interviews, focus groups, and analysis of content sources.

Who employed detailed, empirical methods of research and was also a leader in the African American Civil Rights movement?

W. E. B. Du Bois

Name the three paradigms that dominate much of sociological discussions

Structural functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism

What does structural functionalism focus on?

The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the functioning of the whole.

What does conflict theory focus on?

The way inequities and inequalities contribute to social, political, and power differences and how they perpetuate power.

What does symbolic interactionism focus on?

The way one-on-one interactions and communications behave.

What type of evidence comes from direct experience, scientifically gathered data, or experimentation?

Empirical Evidence