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WGU C273 - Unit 1
Foundations of Sociology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| social interactions | Any kind of communication between people that is understood to have meaning. |
| statistically significant | Occurs when the differences between the groups being studied are the result of factors other than chance. |
| positivism | The application of the scientific approach to the social world in order to understand it. |
| bureaucracy | A formal organization that has defined terms of membership, written governance, and written communication, as well as a division of labor, responsibility, and accountability. |
| function | A process in society that contributes to the social system and its stability. |
| double consciousness | W.E.B. DuBois' concept of a feeling of "twoness" where the experience of one's identity is fragmented into several contradictory facets, making it hard to develop a sense of self. |
| quantitative | A type of research focusing on data that can be measured numerically (typically emphasizing complex statistical techniques.) |
| operational definition | Defines a trait or characteristic in terms of a process, test, or unit of measure that is needed to determine its existence, duration, and quantity. It makes a hypothesis about a characteristic testable. |
| ethnography | A systematic study of people and cultures, where the researcher observes the people or society being studied from the point of view of the subject being studied. |
| dysfunction | A process in society that disrupts the social system or reduces its stability. |
| descriptive research | Research that describes a problem or situation. |
| symbols | Objects, words, or actions that stand for something else. |
| mechanical solidarity | Social bonds in small traditional societies which are based on common values. |
| direct observation | A type of field research in which the researcher observes what is being studied. |
| clinical sociology | An applied practice of sociology that focuses on health intervention, such as working with medical practitioners, community health services, social policy and public health campaigns. |
| sample | A subset of the population observed for the purposes of making inferences about the nature of the larger population of interest. |
| organic solidarity | Émile Durkheim's explanation for the way in modern societies rely on differentiation to form social bonds. Different parts of society function as a whole, much like an organism. |
| bias | In statistics, bias is a feature of the statistical technique or inputs, which causes the study results not to accurately reflect reality. |
| causation | The relationship of cause and effect between variables. |
| participant observation | A type of field work in which the researcher observes and participates in the activity being studied. |
| hypothesis | A tentative statement of the relationship between two or more concepts. |
| explanatory research | Research that explains why a social phenomenon occurs. |
| informed consent | One of the most important rules that govern research on humans; it requires that participants in a study are aware of all of the potential risks, health, emotional, that could result from their participation. |
| manifest function | The stated, intended consequences of an institution, action, or social group. |
| social facts | External circumstances or events that have an effect on the way individual people behave, such as economy, religion, or government. |
| correlation | The extent or degree of statistical association among two or more variables. |
| sociological imagination | The term coined by C. Wright Mills to describe a way of understanding the world that involves thinking about things from different perspectives and putting personal circumstances into a wider context. |
| social Darwinism | The name given to theories about society which claimed to apply concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology. |
| theory | A set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and sometimes predict social events. |
| variable | A factor that can vary or change from one case to another. |
| applied sociology | A term that describes professionals who use sociological theories and methods outside of academic settings in order to produce social change. |
| sociology | The academic study of social behavior using empirical investigation and analysis to draw conclusions about social order, disorder, and change. |
| rationalization | Replacing traditional motives, values, and emotions for social action with rational, calculated ones, a replacement that leads to more efficient social institutions. |
| Hawthorne effect | The phenomenon that refers to a change in a subject's behavior in an experiment or study because they know they are being observed. |
| qualitative | A type of research focusing on observations or descriptions and using these to analyze underlying meanings, patterns, or themes of social relationships. |
| latent function | The unconscious or unrecognized consequences of an action within the framework of a social group. |
| population | The group (usually of people) about whom we want to be able to draw conclusions. |
Created by:
keatonsteuben
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