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SOCWK1
Sociology Week 1
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Sociology | a systematic approach to thinking about studying and understanding society, human social behavior, and social groups |
Auguste Comte | coined the term “sociology”; he’s considered the founder of sociology |
Karl Marx | a conflict theorist who believed that conflict was usually a result of economy; result of conflict is change in society |
Emile Durkheim | theorist who believed that societies were held together by common values/beliefs; looked at contribution of parts of a society and its impact on the whole; He did the 1st studies on suicide and was the 1st to apply the scientific method to human |
Talcott Parsons | considered the most influential American Sociologist; viewed society as a stable, though complex system of interdependent parts, each of which performed a function important to the system |
C. Wright Mills | an influential American Sociologist; his theories about the power elite set the stage for research on the American power structure; synonymous with term “sociological imagination” |
Subjectivity | basing an understanding on personal values and experiences; human judgment plays a role therefore; biases can & do occur |
Objectivity | basing an understanding independent of personal values and experiences; mathematical data is not biased |
Applied sociology | research conducted to provide solutions to immediate, practical problems |
Academic sociology | research conducted for the sake of knowledge |
Methodology | system of rules, procedures and principles that guides scientific investigation |
Empirical research | involves direct observance using the senses (sight, hearing) |
Variable | any characteristic that can change or differ from time to time, person to person or place to place |
Causation | when one variable has an influence on another |
Correlation | determining the relationship between two variables (can be positive, negative, or none) |
Controls | method used in experimentation that helps eliminate extraneous cause to a relationship between 2 Variables |
Population | entire group of people the researcher is focused on studying (single mothers, men age 21, etc) |
Random sample | subjects chosen in a way that allows every member of the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample (should be a representative sample) |
Verstehen | a principle used by Max Weber that means empathetic understanding |
beliefs | shared ideas held collectively by people within a given culture |
counterculture subculture | created as a reaction against the values of the dominant culture |
cultural capital (also known as social capital ) | cultural resources that are socially designated as being worthy (such as knowledge of elite culture) and that give advantages to groups possessing such capital |
cultural diffusion | the transmission of cultural elements from one society or cultural group to another |
cultural hegemony | the pervasive and excessive influence of one culture throughout society |
cultural relativism | the idea that something can be understood and judged only in relationship to the cultural context in which it appears |
culture | the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society |
culture lag | the delay in cultural adjustments to changing social conditions |
culture shock | the feeling of disorientation that can come when one encounters a new or rapidly changed cultural situation |
dominant culture | the culture of the most powerful group in society |
ethnocentrism | the belief that one's in-group is superior to all out-groups |
ethnomethodology | a technique for studying human interaction by deliberately disrupting social norms and observing how individuals attempt to restore normalcy |
folkways | the general standards of behavior adhered to by a group |
frames | specific schemes of interpretation that allow people to perceive, identify, and label events within their lives that can become the basis for collective action |
global culture | the diffusion of a single culture throughout the world |
inner-directedness | a condition wherein the individual's behavior is guided by internal principles and morals |
language | a set of symbols and rules that, when put together in a meaningful way, provides a complex communication system |
law | the written set of guidelines that define what is right and wrong in society |
mass media | channels of communication that are available to very wide segments of the population |
mores | strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior |
norms | the specific cultural expectations for how to act in a given situation |
other-directedness | a condition wherein the individual's behavior is guided by the behavior of others |
popular culture | the beliefs, practices, and objects that are part of everyday traditions |
reflection hypothesis | the idea that the mass media reflect the values of the general population |
Sapir–Whorf hypothesis | a theory that language determines other aspects of culture since language provides the categories through which social reality is defined and perceived |
social capital | see cultural capital |
social sanctions | mechanisms of social control that enforce norms |
subculture | the culture of groups whose values and norms of behavior are somewhat different from those of the dominant culture |
symbols | things or behavior to which people give meaning |
tradition-directedness | conformity to longstanding and time-honored norms and practices |
values | the abstract standards in a society or group that define ideal principles |