Sociology 1
Terms
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- What is the definition of a society?
- A society is an intricate and complicated structure composed of parts and processes.
- Sociology
- The scientific study of the relationship between social structure and human behavior.
- Sociological Imagination
- C. Wright Mills' famous term for the discipline's ability to show the relationship between social and personal patterns.
- Microstructure
- Social Networks ; lowest level
- Macrostructure
- Refers to organizations, institutions, and finally societies
- Megastructures
- Links different organizations in different societies.
- sociocracy
- Sociological royalty that would rule society according to scientific principles.
- Data
- the information gathered through a scientific study of a phenomenon.
- Empirical
- Based on the anaysis of real-world experience.
- Generalizations
- The statements typifying the behavior of large numbers of people in a social structure.
- Theory
- A proposistion about the relationship between two or more concepts.
- Concept
- An abstract category for classifying aspects of reality.
- Paradigm
- An intellectual model for selection crucial concepts and forms of evidence.
- Functionalism
- A major theoretical approach in sociology that focuses on how social parts contribute4 to society as a system.
- Dysfunction
- A negative consequence of a social part for the system of society.
- Positive Function
- The positive consequences of social parts for the system of society.
- social facts
- Emile Durkheim's term for the supra-individualo phenomena that are the subject matter of sociology.
- conscience collective
- Emile Durkheim's term for a common set of ideas and moral sentiments shared by individuals.
- social integration
- the forces binding society together.
- QUOTE
- The fundamental fact of socialo life is conflict.
- rate
- the number of occurrences of a phenomenon for a constant base of population.
- egotistic suicide
- caused by too little social integration.
- altruistic suicide
- caused by excessive social integration.
- Conflict Theory
- A major theoretical approach in sociology that focuses on the conflict among the social structures in a society.
- means of production
- Karl Marx's term for the economic structure of society.
- class
- A set of individuals sharing a common relationship to the means of production.
- ruling class
- the class that controls the means of production of a given society
- superstructure
- the various forms of social life built upon the means of production,
- ideology
- a set of ideas justifying the interests of a classs.
- symbolic interactionism
- a major theoretical approach in sociology that focuses on the meanings that arise from the interactions among individuals in a society.
- verstehen
- Max Weber'[s term for the attempt to understand the intentions of social actors on their own terms.
- ideal type
- Max Weber's term for the description of a given social phenonmenon in its conceptual purity in order to reveal its essential features.
- level of analysis
- the higer the level, the larger the social structure under study.
- structural differentiation
- Emile Durkheim's theory tracing the increasing complexity and specialization on social structures.
- mechanical solidarity
- the human attraction generated by common moral sentiments, typical of tribal societies.
- organic solidarity
- social integration based on functional dependence of specialists, typical of modern societies.
- anomic
- the weakening of moral regulation of the self associated with personal and social disorder.
- class consciousness
- an awareness among the mebers of a given class of their common interests in the class struggle.
- alienation
- people losing control of the social order created by their labor, resulting in personal dissatisfaction and social disorder.
- multi-factor theory
- an explanatory approach identifying multiple sources of social change.
- rationalism
- the systematic application of standardized means to predetermined ends.
- objective dimension
- the concrete, measurable human harm associated with a societal phenomenon.
- subjective dimension
- the general level of concern about that phenomenon registered in public opinion.
- objectivity
- the real qualities of a thing outside the mind of the reasearched observing it.
- value-free
- Weber's term for the 'ethically neutral' procedures of sociology that would, ideally, allow an objective view of social reality untainted by personal values.
- replication
- the duplication of a research prodecure to verify the results.
- experimentation
- a reseatch strategy that fcreate4s an artificial situation in ord to simplify reality and highlight variables of interest.
- causality
- a situation in which a change in on variable produces a change in another variable.
- randomization
- the method by which subjects are assigned to either the experimental or control group according to the rules of chance.
- reactivity
- artificial alterations in behavior created by an awareness of being studied.
- generalizability
- the degree to which conclusions can be extended to the population outside the study participants.
- participant observation
- the researcher participates in the group process in order to observe its natural functioning.
- respondent
- a participant in a survey.
- sample
- a set of people systematically selected from the larger population about which the researcher wishes to generalize.
- probability sampling
- a procedure in which the chance of a unit's selection is known in advance, aqnd therefore the hance of sampling error can be estimated.
- sampling frame
- the list population units from which a sample is drawn.
- response rate
- the percentage of the sample actually responding to the survey.
- close-ended item
- a survey question in which available answer choices are provided to the respondent in precoded form.
- open-ended item
- a survey question that allows a respondent to phrase his or her own answers.
- validity
- the degree to which a measurement procedure measures what it is supposed to measure.
- reliability
- the degree to which a measurement procedure yields consistent results.
- variable
- a measured concept whoses values can vary.
- frequentcy distribution
- a display of the numbers and percentages of respondents for each value of a variable.
- bivariate relationship
- a statistical association between two variables.
- crosstabulation
- a table that 'crosses' the frequencies of different variables to look for statistical relationships.
- inferential statistics
- the formulars used to draw a generalization about population on the basis of sample values.
- positive relationship
- a statistical association in which a higer level of one variable is associated with a higher level of another variable.
- negative relationship
- a statistical association in which a higher level of one variable is associated with a lower leve of another variable.
- mlti-method approach
- the use of several research techniques in the same research project.
- secondary analysis
- the re-use of datasets already compiled by public or private organizations.
- focus group
- an open-ended discussion among several respondents guided by the interviewer.
- choice/constraint model
- people making social choices within the constraints imposed by larger social structures.
- social network
- the pattern of ties among the units of a social system.
- multiplex
- a social tie with more than on relationship type.
- density
- the degree of interconnection among network members.
- closeness
- the degree of emotional intimacy in a network tie.
- interaction frequency
- how often a network tie is activated by personal communication.
- duration
- the time span over which a network tie has endured.
- social support
- emotional and practical help provided by network members.
- status
- a structural position in a social system
- dramaturgical school
- those analyzing social life as a theatrical production.
- roloe
- a patter of behavior appropriate for a given status
- role expectations
- the specific behaviors a status occupant is supposed to exhibit.
- status set
- the multiple social positions occupied by an individual.
- role conflict
- the inconsistency of demands across the positions of an individual's status set.
- master status
- the individual's role that is given the greatest societal significance.
- role set
- a pattern of complementary roles linked to a single status.
- role strain
- inconsistent expectations within the role set.
- exchange theory
- an approach to social structure that views social relations as transactions within which resources are given and taken.
- reification
- the fallacy of treating an abstraction as real.
- ethnomenthodolgy
- the study of commonsense practical reasoning.
- reference group
- a group whose standards one applies to the self.
- anticipatory reference group
- a group whose standards are internalized in advance of personal membership.
- multiple reference groups
- an individual's membership in several reference groups at one time.
- primary group
- a group characterized by intimate, multiplex, expressive relations.
- secondary group
- a group characterized by impersonal, uniplex, instrumental relations.
- mesostructures
- social relations that link higher to lower lebels of social structure.
- bureaucracy
- according to Max Weber, the distinctively modern group form characterized by specialization, hierarchy, regulations, impersonality, and technical qualifications.
- bureaucratic ritualism
- bureaucratic regulations being treated as more important than bureaucratic goals.
- bounded rationality
- a simplified model of a decision-making problem based on selected sources of information.
- satisfice
- making a decision that is satisfactory and sufficient, rather than a perfect decision based on complete rationality.
- normal accidents
- breakdowns that are an inherent property of certain kinds of tightly coupled complex organizations.
- interlocking directorate
- members of the executive board of one organization also sitting on the board of other organizations.
- institutions
- large-scale social structures that address basic societal needs.
- isomorphism
- the structural similarity of organizations.
- organizational envireonment
- the larger social setting of an organization, including other organizations.
- compliance theory
- explanation of the mechanisms by which organizations gain the compliance of their members.
- multinational corperations
- large firms operating beyond the macrostructure of a single society.
- core
- the set of technologically advanced, developed countries with a dominant position within the world system.
- perophery
- the set of less-developed countries providing labor and raw materials to the core within the world system.
- semipheriphery
- the set of countries intermediate between the core and periphery within the world system.
- gemeinschaft
- a place of personalized relationships based on mutual acquaintanceship.
- gesellschaft
- a place of impersonality based on a lack of mutual acquaintanceship.
- culture
- the socially standardized ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that a person acquired as a member of as particular society.
- society
- a large number of people who live in the same territory and are relatively independent of others outside their area.
- symbols
- the mechanisms necessary for the storage and transmission of the large quantities of information that consititute culture.