Ch. 1 Flashcards
Learn about some of the historical people in Sociology (24 cards)
What is Sociology?
The scientific study of social behavior and human groups.
What is Sociological Imagination?
An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society.
What are the 3 main theoretical perspectives in sociology?
Functionalist perspective
Conflict perspective
Interactionist perspective
What is the Functionalist Perspective?
A theoretical perspective that emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain stability.
What is the Conflict Perspective?
A theoretical perspective that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of conflict or mention between competing groups.
What is the Feminist Perspective?
Often allied with the conflict perspective, the feminist perspective sees inequality in gender as central to all behavior and organization.
What is the Queer Theory?
The study of society from the perspective of a broad spectrum of sexualities. This theory stresses that to fully understand society, scholars must study it from the perspective of a range of sexual identities, rather than exclusively from a “normal” heterosexual point of view.
What is the Interactionist Persepctive?
A theoretical perspective that is concerned primarily with fundamental or everyday forms of interaction, including symbols and other types of noverbal communication.
What is Anomie?
The loss of direction felt in society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective.
What is a Dysfunction?
A element or process of a society that may disrupt the social system or reduce its stability.
Name three 19th century thinkers who contributed sociological insight
Auguste Comte (a French philosopher) Harriet Martineau (an English sociologist) Herbert Spencer (an English scholar)
Is sociology a science?
Yes, it is a social science that studies the social features of humans and the ways in which they interact and change. Sociology involves the organized, systematic study of phenomena in order to enhance understanding.
What is the difference between the natural sciences and social sciences?
- Natural Science is the study of physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change. This includes Astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and physics.
- Social Science is the study of the social features of humans and the ways in which they interact and change. This includes sociology, anthropology, economics, history, psychology, and political sciences.
People to know for the test
C. Wright Mills
Sociologist rely on a particular type of critical thinking. Mills described this as the Sociological Imagination. (an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society) This awareness allows anyone to comprehend the links between our immediate, personal social settings, and the remote, impersonal world that surrounds and helps shape us. Mills advocated using the sociological imagination to view divorce not simply an individual’s personal problem, but rather as a societal concern. From this perspective, we can view the divorce rate as it redefines the major social institution of the family.
(How we relate to others)
People to know for the test
Auguste Comte
A 19th century French philosopher that noticed all of the other sciences were progressing forward because they had a system. He coined the term sociology to apply to the science of human behavior.
He hoped that the systematic study of social behavior would eventually lead to more rational human interactions.
People to know for the test
Harriet Martineau
A 19th century English sociologist who wrote the first book on sociological methods.
People to know for the test
Herbert Spencer
A 19th century Victorian Englishman that aimed to understand society better. He did not aim to change or improve society. He believed that societal change was bound to happen eventually. His viewpoint was very popular in his lifetime.
People to know for the test
Emile Durkheim
Made many pioneering contributions to sociology, including important theoretical work on suicide. Came up with the concept of Anomie which refers to the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective. The state of anomie often occurs during the time of profound social change.
People to know for the test
Max Weber
Another important early theorist who taught his students how to employ “verstehen” a German word for understanding or insight. He pointed out that we cannot analyze our social behavior by the same type of objective criteria we use to measure weight or temperature. To fully comprehend behavior, we must learn the subjective meanings people attach to their actions; how they themselves view and explain their behavior.
People to know for the test
Karl Marx
Wrote many books and analyzed society, economics and politics. He believed that society was fundementally divided between 2 classes that clashed in pursuit of their own intrests. Like a conflict between exploiters(an owner/buissness/company) and the exploited(the workers). His writings inspired thoes who later lead revelutions in Russia, China, Cuba, Vietnam, and elsewhere.
People to know for the test
Jane Addams
As a member of the American Sociological Society and co-founder of Hull House in Chicago (a settlement house). She along with many other sociologists in the early 1900s, was concerned with social reform and improving the lives of immigrants in the growing US cities and were dedicated to systematically studying and improving a corrupt society.
People to know for the test
Robert Merton
Made an important contribution to the discipline by successfully combining theory and research. Also emphasized that sociology should strive to bring together the macro-level and micro-level approaches to the study of society. (macrosociology and microsociology)
What is Macrosociology?
Sociological investigation on a large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations.
What is Microsociology?
Sociological investigation that focues the study of small groups, often through experiments.
