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Definition
| Major social change. Two big events such as the Industrial Revolution and Age of Enlightenment. |
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Term
| The Sociological Imagination |
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Definition
| Seeing the general in the particular, understanding how our lives are shaped by social forces. C. Wright Mills task of sociology to instill in laypersons. Black success stories and common explanations. |
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Term
| Blalock:number reflects two things |
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Definition
| Relative absence of other avenues to wealth, status and minorities can overcome discrimination in areas where performance most easily/accurately assessed. |
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Term
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Definition
| Scientific study of patterns and processes of human social relations. |
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Term
| Social Exchange Perspective |
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Definition
Social behavior governed by rewards and punishments between people. Different access to rewards determines who has power in each relationship.
Ex. Exchange approaches to sex; women’s rights; formation of commitment relations |
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Term
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Definition
| social expectation that benefits should be reciprocated. |
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Term
| Principle of least interest |
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Definition
| person with least interest in relationship has most power |
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Term
| Symbolic Interactionist Perspective |
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Definition
| To understand action, must look at meanings things have for person enacting them. even applies to physiological reactions, like being “high” |
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Term
| "On becoming a Marijuana User" Howard Becker |
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Definition
| Must learn to feel the effects. Once learned must learn to like them. |
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Term
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Definition
| A responds directly to B without interpreting B’s action |
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Term
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Definition
| A interprets and then responds to B’s action |
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Term
| Functionalist Perspective |
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Definition
Long tenure in sociology-fallen out of favor.
React against micro-level thinking. |
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Term
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Definition
| Cannot explain society with reference to indviduals |
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Term
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Definition
| Society is a System or “Organism”made up of different interdependent parts. Each part contributes to whole/system institutions (family, religion, education). |
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Term
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Definition
| Overemphasizes equilibrium and consensus |
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Term
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Definition
Basic Principles (Sanderson):
Social life is characterized by struggles and conflicts between opposing groups over money, power, status, etc. : capitalists & workers , gender, ethnic groups.
Struggles are the primary determinant for social change. |
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Term
| Criticisms of Conflict Perspective |
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Definition
Ex.Predicted crumbling of Capitalism – not fared well
Ex 2. Social change not as common as suggested by conflict perspective
Ex 3. Even Marx fans suggest he was overly critical of capitalism average level of affluence is high |
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Term
| Summing up Classic Sociological Perspectives |
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Definition
| Perspectives provide springboard for constructing theories & hypotheses. Influence what we look for, see, ignore, etc. No perspective is complete. |
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