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Definition
| how societies achieve social order |
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| What causes a society to change |
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| Positivism (August Comte) |
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Definition
| an approach to sociology that assumes the methods of the natural sciences such as physics can be applied successfully to the study of social life and the scientific process learned can be applied to solving social problems |
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| Emile Durkheim was interested in... |
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| the impact of social structures on individual behavior. |
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| Karl Marx was interested in... |
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Definition
| conflicts between people (conflict theory) |
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| rational action by human actors based on their own subjective understanding |
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| human goals in which goals are set and achieved in the most efficient manner |
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| organizations based on rationality having a clear division of labor, written rules and regulations, impersonality, hierarchical lines of authority, and selection and promotion based on competence |
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| microsociology (interactionist theory - george simmel) |
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Definition
| sociological research that focuses on individuals, thoughts, actions and individual behaviors |
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| Durkheim argued that suicide is... |
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Definition
| not just a highly personal individual act, but is influenced by social factors (structural-functional) |
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| enduring, relatively stable patterns of social behavior |
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Definition
| the consequence or effect of a social structure for the society as a whole |
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| the obvious and usually intended consequences of actions (schools are intended to educate young people so they can eventually contribute to society) |
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| the less obvious and often uninteded consequences (ex. school is also to provide adult supervision for kids so their parents can work) |
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Definition
| the positive consequences of a social structure (ex. offering employees early retirement bonuses has the function of reducing the payroll for a company) |
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| the negative consequences of a social structure (ex. early retirement bonuses also produce a temporary increase in costs for the company required for employees taking early retirement) |
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Definition
| the capacity for people to act to change their own lives and to influence others. |
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| focus on social structures that influence individuals, such as groups, organizations, cultures or even societies (structural-funtional and conflict) |
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Definition
focus on individuals, thoughts, actions, and individual behaviors
(interactionst) |
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| Sociology Differs from Natural Sciences |
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Definition
1.subjective experience
2.reactivity
3.ethical issues |
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Term
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Definition
1. Sociologists are prohibited from using their role for any purpose besides research
2.Maintain privacy of respondents
3.if risks to subjects, they must be fully aware and written consent obtained |
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| Conflict Theory of Sociology |
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Definition
| puts emphasis on a person’s or group’s ability to influence and control others, thus affecting social order. (karl marx) |
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| Structural-Functional theory of sociology |
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Definition
| social structures constrain individual behavior. (ex. Durkheims analysis of suicide) |
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| Interactionist Theory of Sociology |
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Definition
| focus on individuals, thoughts, actions, and individual behaviors (max weber) |
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Term
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Definition
| many elements of the dominant culture, but having unique features that distinguish its members from the rest of the population |
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Definition
| culture that takes precedence over other cultures in activities or events involving people from many categories of the population |
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| a subculture that challenges important elements of the dominant culture such as beliefs, attitudes, or values and seeks to create an alternative lifestyle. |
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Term
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Definition
1. Empirically Testable
2. Falsifiable
3. Reproducible
4. Valid
5. Generalizable |
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Term
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Definition
| a sample of people who were selected because they were easy to find. |
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| probability sampling procedures |
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Definition
| procedures for which each case in the population has some known probability of being included in the sample and all segments of the population are represented in the sample. |
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Definition
| a sample including specific numbers of cases falling in various subcategories |
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Definition
| gathering information by asking people (respondents) questions. |
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| – the researcher interacts in person with the respondent asking them questions |
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Definition
| respondents are asked questions over a phone |
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| a written questionnaire is mailed to the respondent who then fills out answers and mails the responses back to the researcher. |
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Definition
| empirical studies in which subjects are assigned to two or more groups, and the groups are treated differently and compared. |
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| a study in which the subjects do not know the purpose of the study, but the experimenters do. |
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| a method for collecting data in research in which the researcher participates in and is directly involved in the lives of those he or she is studying. |
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Definition
| a formal, quantitative method of observation in which researchers typically develop a systematic set of codes, use those to code each event observed, and analyze the results statistically. |
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Definition
| individuals or groups who transmit culture, such as parents and teachers |
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Definition
| a position so important it dominates all other statuses in the individual’s status set, for both the individual holding the status and others. |
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Term
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Definition
| emphasizes the meaning of actions and the use of symbols in communication. |
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Term
| dramaturgical perspective |
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Definition
| views interaction as analogous to actors in a play. |
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Term
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Definition
| emphasizes the valued outcomes of the interaction. |
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Term
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Definition
| refers to discomfort or difficulty on the part of an individual due to the difficulty of meeting the conflicting expectations of a single role. |
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Term
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Definition
| when different roles have incompatible expectations for the individual holding both of those roles. |
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Definition
| refers to attempts to avoid occupying statuses requiring specific individuals to be role partners for more than one role we are practicing. |
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Term
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Definition
| refers to modifications or changes in roles as a result of individual action by people occupying those roles. |
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Term
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Definition
| generalizations about a category of people asserting they have a particular set of characteristics and not taking into account their individual differences. |
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Definition
| a perspective that recognized the contributions of diverse groups to our society and holds that no single culture is any better than all the rest. |
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Definition
| words, gestures, pictures, in fact anything, that conveys meaning to people who share a culture. |
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Term
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Definition
| setting refers to occasions or encounters in which people are in the presence of others whom they would like to impress favorably (an “audience”) |
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| refers to times and places when the people a person wishes to impress favorably are not present. |
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| the social process through which the statuses and roles appropriate to a situation are identified. |
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Term
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Definition
| the social process through which the statuses and roles appropriate to a situation are identified. |
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Definition
| a group in which people have intimate face-to-face associations that endure for long periods of time. (small, close-knit, and personal) |
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Definition
| a group that is large and impersonal, members do not know each other intimately or completely, there are weak ties, and the group typically has a less profound impact on the members. (formed for a specific purpose and last a short duration) |
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Definition
| any group a person considers when evaluating his or her actions or characteristics. (their family, friends, or religious group) |
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| 1. a series of social relationships linking individuals directly to other individuals and indirectly to still other individuals. |
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Term
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Definition
| localized, kin based cooperative coalitions of people based on strong ties |
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Term
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Definition
a. Positive Consequence = efficiency
b. Negative Consequence = trained incapacity (encourages a narrow perspective) |
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Term
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Definition
a. Positive Consequence = clarifies decision making
b. Negative Consequence = employees have no voice in decisions, encourages decision avoidance |
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Term
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Definition
a. Positive Consequence = discourages favoritism
b. Negative Consequence = may promote people beyond their level of competence (the Peter Principle) |
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Term
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Definition
a. Positive Consequence = reduces bias
b. Negative Consequence = worker alienation and reduced loyalty to company |
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| Written Rules and Regulations |
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Definition
a. Positive Consequence = workers know what is expected
b. Negative Consequence = stifles initiative, encourages ritualism and goal displacement |
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