Contempt Social Problem Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering foundational sociological concepts, classical and contemporary theorists, and quantitative/qualitative research methods from the lecture.

Sociology

The study of societies and the social networks or relations of individuals within societies.

Social Context

The environment and social networks surrounding individuals that shape their behavior, opportunities, and constrained actions.

Social Theory

A set of assumptions and propositions used to explain, predict, and understand social phenomena.

Macro-level Analysis

A theoretical perspective where the primary unit of analysis is society as a whole.

Micro-level Analysis

A theoretical perspective where the primary unit of analysis is the individual.

Auguste Comte

Early thinker who coined the term 'sociology' in 1838 with the goal of applying the scientific method to understand social phenomena.

Proletariat

The working class in Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism.

Bourgeoisie

The business owners and 'ruling' class in Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism.

Species Being

Karl Marx's concept representing a human's true self.

Alienation

In Marxist theory, the separation of an individual from their true self ('species being').

Class Consciousness

An individual's awareness of their specific position within the class hierarchy.

The Communist Manifesto

An 1848 political pamphlet by Marx and Engels outlining economic relations as inherent sources of class conflict to spark revolutionary action.

Modes of Production

Historical systems of economic organization, such as slavery in ancient societies, land ownership in feudalism, and market exchange in capitalism.

Forces of Production

The technological and productive capacity of a society, including the tools used to create goods.

Social Relations of Production

The relationships, organization, and inequalities between people as they perform tasks within an economic system.

Das Kapital

Karl Marx's 1867 work advocating for a socialist society where productive forces are owned by everyone rather than individual business owners.

Exploitation

A social problem defined by Marx wherein the value of work performed by ordinary people is mostly appropriated by those who control the means of production.

Domination

The mechanisms and ways through which powerful economic classes exert control over the activities of everyone else.

Emile Durkheim

A founding father of sociology who authored 'The Rules of Sociological Method' (1895) and 'Suicide: A Study in Sociology' (1897).

Social Facts

Everyday rules and forces present in human societies that exist objectively and outside of individual control.

Mechanical Solidarity

Social cohesion found in primitive societies built around families or tribes, characterized by a minimal division of labor.

Organic Solidarity

Social cohesion found in modern societies, characterized by an extensive division of labor and mutual dependence.

Social Integration

The extent and strength of connections an individual maintains within their social groups or society.

Social Regulation

The degree to which social norms within a group or society constrain individual behavior.

Interpretive Sociology

An approach introduced by Max Weber in 'Economy and Society' (1922) aimed at studying actual behavior to understand individual motives.

Social Class (Weber)

An element of Max Weber's stratification system defined specifically by economic interests.

Status Groups

An element of Max Weber's stratification system defined by non-economic identities such as race, gender, education, and occupation.

Party (Weber)

An element of Max Weber's stratification system based on political affiliations.

W.E.B. DuBois

Sociologist and NAACP co-founder who authored 'The Souls of Black Folk' (1903) and served as a bridge between classical and contemporary theory.

Double Consciousness

Concept coined by W.E.B. DuBois referring to the internal conflict experienced by African Americans living with two identities: 'Black' and 'American'.

Robert K. Merton

Contemporary sociologist (born Meyer Robert Schknolnick) who criticized 'grand' theories and introduced terms like 'role model' and 'self-fulfilling prophecy'.

Middle-range Theories

Theories advocated by Robert K. Merton that avoid broad generalization by making specific, falsifiable propositions that can be tested empirically.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction stated a priori about the relationship between two or more variables.

A Priori

A Latin term meaning 'before the fact'.

Variable

A characteristic or property that can take on different values or vary across observations.

Attribute

A specific value or characteristic of a variable, such as 'Blue' for the variable 'Color'.

Dependent Variable

The outcome variable in a study that the researcher seeks to predict or explain.

Independent Variable

The factor hypothesized to cause, predict, or explain changes in the dependent variable.

Constant

A characteristic or property that does not vary across observations or over time.

Ecological Fallacy

An analytical error that occurs when an individual assumes associations found at the group level imply that identical associations exist at the individual level.

Reductionist Fallacy

An analytical error that occurs when individual-level data is used to make incorrect inferences about group or system levels.

Time Order

A necessary criterion for causality stating that the independent variable must occur prior to the dependent variable.

Non-spuriousness

A requirement for establishing causality ensuring that an observed association between two variables is not caused by variation in a third variable.

Population

The entire set of individuals or elements to which research findings are intended to be generalized.

Sample

A subset of a target population that is selected and actually studied in research.

Sampling Frame

An explicit list of elements or individuals within a population from which a sample is selected.