Sociology 202 Exam 1

sociology (TB)

scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups

society (TB)

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

Microlevel sociology (TB)

studying small groups and individual interactions

Macrolevel sociology (TB)

analysis look at trends among and between large groups and societies

culture (TB)

a group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs

sociological imagination - C. Wright Mills (TB) 

an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions

cultural patterns (TB)

social forces and influences put pressure on people to select one choice over another

social facts (TB)

the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and cultural rules that govern social life

figuration (TB)

the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior

social institution (TB)

patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs, such as government, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the economy

Auguste Comte 

named the scientific study of social patterns of positivism 

Harriet Martineau

introduced sociology to English-speaking scholars through her translation of Comte’s writing from French to English. Early analyst of social practices, including economics, social class, religion, suicide, government, and women’s rights.

Karl Marx

German philosopher and economist. Communist. Rejected Comte’s positivism. Believed that societies grow and change as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production. Conflict theorist.

Herbert Spencer

Published The Study of Sociology, the first book with the term “sociology” in the title. Favored a form of government that allowed market forces to control capitalism. Pioneered the idea of Functionalism.

Georg Simmel

German art critic who wrote widely on social and political issues. Anti-positivist stance and addressed topics such as social conflict, the function of money, individual identity in city life, and the European fear of outsiders. Micro-level theories. analyzed the dynamics of two-person and three-person groups. Conflict Theorist.

Emile Durkheim

established the first European department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux (1895) and published his Rules of the Sociological Method. As societies transformed from a primitive state into a capitalist, industrial society, people rose to their proper levels in society based on merit. Examined suicide studies. Functionalist.

Max Weber

believed it was difficult (almost impossible) to use standard scientific methods to accurately predict the behavior of groups. created the concept of verstehen. Conflict theorist.

verstehen

a German word that means to understand in a deep way

W.E.B. Du Bois

pioneered the use of rigorous empirical methodology in sociology. A leader in the Niagara Movement, he helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A study of the African American community in Philadelphia incorporated hundreds of interviews conducted in order to document the familial and employment structures and assess the chief challenges of the community. 

Charles Horton Cooley

posited that individuals compare themselves to others in order to check themselves against social standards and remain part of the group, the idea of the “looking-glass self”

George Herbert Mead

focused on the ways in which the mind and the self were developed as a result of social processes, argued that how an individual views themselves is based to a very large extent on interactions with others, felt that an individual’s reaction to positive or negative reflected depended on who the ‘other” was. Symbolic Interactionist.

Significant Others (TB)

individuals who had the greatest impact on a person’s life

Generalized others

the organized and generalized attitude of a social group

hypothesis

a testable proposition

social solidarity

the social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion

grand theories

attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answers fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change

paradigms

philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them.

structural functionalism

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

conflict theory

(macro) The way inequities and inequalities contribute to social, political, and power differences, and how they perpetuate power

symbolic interactionism

(micro) the way one-on-one interactions and communications behave.

Robert Merton

Functionalist. Pointed out that social processes often have many functions: manifest and latent functions, sometimes dysfunctions too.

manifest functions

the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated

latent functions

the unsought consequences of a social process

dysfunctions

social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society 

Critical theory

An expansion of conflict theory, it is broader than just sociology, incorporating other social sciences and philosophy

constructivism

An extension of symbolic interaction theory, which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be.

antipositivism

The view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they work to present social processes, cultural norms, and societal values

positivism

the scientific study of social patterns

qualitative sociology

in-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of its data

quantitative sociology

statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants

case study

in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual

code of ethics

a set of guidelines that the American Sociological Association has established to foster ethical research and professionally responsible scholarship in sociology

content analysis

applying a systematic approach to record and value information gleaned from secondary data as it relates to the study at hand

correlation

when a change in one variable coincides with a change in another variable, but does not necessarily indicate causation

dependent variables

a variable changed by other variables

empirical evidence

evidence that comes from direct observations, scientifically gathered data, or experimentation

ethnography

participating and observing thinking and behavior in a social setting

experiment

the testing of a hypothesis under controlled conditions

field research

gathering data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey

hawthorne effect

when study subjects behave in a certain manner due to their awareness of being observed by a researcher

independent variables

variables that cause changes in dependent variables

interpretive framework

a sociological research approach that seeks an in-depth understanding of a topic or subject through observation or interaction; this approach is not based on hypothesis testing

literature review

a scholarly research step that entails identifying and studying all existing studies on a topic to create a basis for new research

nonreactive research

using secondary data, does not include direct contact with research subjects and does not alter or influence people’s behaviors

operational definitions

specific explanations of abstract concepts that a researcher plans to study

participant observations

when a researcher immerses herself in a group or social setting in order to make observations from an “insider” perspective

population

a defined group serving as the subject of a study

primary data

data that are collected directly from firsthand experience

qualitative data

non-numerical, descriptive data that is often subjective and based on what is experienced in a natural setting

quantitative data

data collected in numerical form that can be counted and analyzed using statistics

random sample

a study’s participants being randomly selected to serve as a representation of a larger population

reliability

a measure of a study’s consistency that considers how likely results are to be replicated if a study is reproduced

samples

small, manageable number of subjects that represent the population

scientific method

an established scholarly research that involves asking a question, researching existing sources, forming a hypothesis, designing a data collection method, gathering data, and drawing conclusions secondary data analysi

secondary data analysis

using data collected by others and applying new interpretations

surveys

collect data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about thinking, behaviors, and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire

validity

the degree to which a sociological measure accurately reflects the topic of study

value neutrality

a practice of remaining impartial, without bias or judgment during the course of a study and in publishing results

alarm reaction

first stage of the general adaptation syndrome; characterized as the body’s immediate physiological reaction to a threatening situation or some other emergency; analogous to the fight-or-flight response

beliefs

tenets or convictions that people hold to be true

cortisol

stress hormone released by the adrenal glands when encountering a stressor; helps to provide a boost of energy, thereby preparing the individual to take action

countercultures

groups that reject and oppose society’s widely accepted cultural patterns

culture lag

the gap of time between the introduction of material culture and nonmaterial culture’s acceptance of it

diffusion

the spread of material and nonmaterial culture from one culture to another

eustress

good form of stress; low to moderate in intensity; associated with positive feelings, as well as optimal health and performance

folkways

direct, appropriate behavior in the day-to-day practices and expressions of a culture

formal norms

established, written rules

general adaption syndrome

Hans Selye’s three-stage model of the body’s physiological reactions to stress and the process of stress adaptation: alarm reaction, stage of resistance, and stage of exhaustion

globalization

the integration of international trade and finance markets

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

set of structures found in both the limbic system (hypothalamus) and the endocrine system (pituitary gland and adrenal glands) that regulate many of the body’s physiological reactions to stress through the release of hormones

informal norms

casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to

mores

the moral views and principles of a group

norms

the visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured

primary appraisal

judgment about the degree of potential harm or threat to well-being that a stressor might entail

sanctions

a way to authorize or formally disapprove of certain behaviors

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

the way that people understand the world based on their form of language

secondary appraisal

judgment of options available to cope with a stressor and their potential effectiveness

stage of exhaustion

third stage of the general adaptation syndrome; the body’s ability to resist stress becomes depleted; illness, disease, and even death may occur

stage of resistance

second stage of the general adaptation syndrome; the body adapts to a stressor for a period of time

subcultures

groups that share a specific identification, apart from a society’s majority, even as the members exist within a larger society

symbols

gestures or objects that have meanings associated with them that are recognized by people who share a culture

values

a culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society

achieved status

the status a person chooses, such as a level of education or income

agricultural societies

societies that rely on farming as a way of life

anomie

a situation in which society no longer has the support of a firm collective consciousness

ascribed status

the status outside of an individual’s control, such as sex or race

bourgeoisie

the owners of the means of production in a society

capitalism

a way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government

class consciousness 

the awareness of one’s rank in society

collective conscience

the communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society