chapter 1 Flashcards
thinking like a sociologist
How did C. Wright Mills define sociological imagination?
A vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society.
What purpose does the sociological imagination serve?
It makes us aware of the relationship between individuals and the wider society.
C. Wright Mills believed that a lack of sociological imagination could lead to what?
It could make people apathetic.
According to Peter Berger, what does it mean to see to the general in the particular?
Looking at seemingly unique individual events and finding patterns that might point to broader forces at work.
According to Peter Berger, how can one practice seeing the strange in the familiar?
Looking at things that appear ordinary but instead of accepting it, questioning it.
When did the modern study of sociology begin?
During the Enlightenment (1650-1850).
Who are considered to be the “founding fathers” of modern sociology?
- Emile Durkheim
- Karl Marx
- Max Weber
What is Emile Durkheim most notable for?
He is most notable for his research regarding suicide; he argued that suicide revealed certain social patterns.
What did Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels believe would come from the collapse of capitalism?
An end to social inequality and social strike.
According to Marx and Engel, who would be the cause of capitalism’s collapse?
The proletariat would rise up against the bourgeoisie.
What is Max Weber’s most famous book called? What did it argue?
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
It argued that religion was one reason the economies developed differently in the West and East.
-He examined the many ways social groups gain power in modern and historical society.
What notable work did Harriet Martineau write? What was the topic?
She wrote Society in America.
It criticized the social injustices that women, enslaved people, and the working poor often experienced.
What did the era of Enlightenment stand for?
A time for secularism as well as support for scientific exploration with an overall opposition to the aristocracy.
What are some important factors that led to the development of sociology?
1.Understanding the implications of religion
2. The development of scientific methods.
3. Technology having a similar objective to sociology; they both sought to improve or better understand the everyday lives or the average people.
Why is social structure important?
It constrains and shapes people’s behavior.
How is culture best defined?
The lens of values and beliefs through which we view reality.
What is the driving force behind every choice made by an individual?
Social Structure
What is a social institution?
A social structure made from several social relationships.
Statuses are?
Socially defined positions that describe how an individual should behave toward others.
Roles are?
Patterns of interaction with other’s.
When understanding sociology, what is the main goal for quantitative sociologists? Qualitative sociologists?
Quantitative - propose and test theories regarding social events.
Qualitative - propose and examine explanations of reality.
What was the focus of the Whitehall studies (1967-1977)?
How an individual’s position within social structure will affect their health and longevity.
What is Conflict theory mainly concerned with?
The unequal distribution of wealth and power in society.
Karl Marx proposed that social conflict comes from where?
The power difference between social classes.
