Chapter 1 Flashcards
(16 cards)
sociology
The scientific study of human social life, groups, and societies.
sociological imagination
Requires breaking free from the immediacy of personal circumstance and putting things in a wider context
social structure
Social contexts are not random events but have distinct patterns; there are regularities in our behavior and our relationships.
structuration
Human societies are always being reconstructed by the very “building blocks” that compose them - human beings.
theory
Abstract interpretations that can explain a wide variety of conditions.
social facts
Aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals, such as the state of the economy or influence of religion.
organic solidarity
For a society to have a continuing existence over time, its specialized institutions must function as an integrated whole.
anomie
Feeling of aimlessness or despair provoked by modern social life.
materialist conception of history
Social change is prompted primarily by economic influences.
bureaucracy
A large organization that is divided into jobs based on specific functions and staffed by officials ranked according to a hierarchy.
double consciousness
One’s sense of self and one’s identity are greatly influenced by historical experiences and social circumstances.
rationalization
the organization of social, economic, and cultural life according to principles of efficiency, on the basis of technical knowledge.
functionalism
The study of social activity and analysis of its contribution to the continuation of society as a whole.
manifest functions
Those known to, and intended by, the participants in a social activity.
latent functions
Consequences of that activity of which participants are unaware.
social structure
Is concerned not with random events, but with our enduring relationships and patterns of behavior.
