SOC 100 Exam 9/22

sociology

the study of human society

sociological imagination

the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces

social institution

a complex group of interdependent positions that, together perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time

positivism

the approach to sociology that emphasizes the scientific method as an approach to studying the objectively observable behavior of individuals irrespective of the meanings those actions have for the subjects themselves

verstehen

german for “understanding” the concept of verstehen comes from Max Weber and is the basis of interpretive sociology

interpretive sociology

a type of scholarship in which researchers imagine themselves experiencing the life positions of the social actors they want to understand rather than treating those people as objects to be examined

anomie

a sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; too little social regulation; normlessness

positivist sociology

the approach to sociology that emphasizes the scientific method as an approach to studying the objectively observable behavior of individuals irrespective of the meanings of those actions for the subjects themselves

double consciousness

a concept conceived by W. E. DuBois to describe the behavioral scripts, one for moving through the world and the other incorporating the external opinions of prejudiced onlookers, which are constantly maintained by African Americans

functionalism

the theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important (or necessary) function to keep society running

conflict theory

the idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general

symbolic interactionism

a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people’s actions

postmodernism

a condition characterized by the questioning of the notion of progress and history, the replacement of narrative with pastiche or imitation of other work in the service of satire or subversion, and multiple, perhaps even conflicting, identities resulting from unconnected affiliations

social construction

an entity that exists because people behave as if it exists and whose existence is perpetuated as people and social institutions act in accordance with widely agreed-on formal rules or informal norms of behavior associated with that entity

midrange theory

a theory that attempts to predict how certain social institutions tend to function

microsociology

a branch of soc. that seeks to understand local interactional contexts; its methods of choice are ethnographic, generally including participant observation and in-depth interviews

macrosociology

a branch of soc. generally concerned with social dynamics at a higher level of analysis that is, across the breadth of society

ethnography

a qualitative method of studying people or a social setting that uses observation, interaction, and sometimes formal interviewing to document behaviors, customs, experiences, social ties, and so on

scientific method

a procedure involving the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses based on systematic observation, measurement, and/or experiments

theory

an abstracted, systematic model of how some aspect of the world works

research methods

approaches that social scientists use for investigating the answers to questions

quantitative methods

methods that seek to obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form

qualitative methods

methods that attempt to collet information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form