Chapter 1

Question 0

Sociological imagination

Answer 0

sociological imagination— an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past

Question 1

Sociology

Answer 1

Sociology is, simply, the scientific study of social behavior and human groups. It focuses on social relationships; how those relationships influence people’s behavior; and how societies, the sum total of those relationships, develop and change.

Question 2

functionalist perspective

Answer 2

functionalist perspective, which emphasizes the way in which the parts of . Purpose of society is to maintain balance, social equilibrium. Based on consensus and cooperation.

Question 3

science

Answer 3

refers to the body of knowl- edge obtained by methods based on systematic observation.

Question 4

Social science

Answer 4

study of the social features of humans and the ways in which they interact and change.

Question 5

theory

Answer 5

set of statements that seeks to explain prob- lems, actions, or behavior. An effective theory may have both explanatory and predictive power.

Question 6

Auguste Comte

Answer 6

He coined the term sociology to apply to the science of 9 human behavior.
believed that a theoretical science of society and a systematic investigation of behavior were needed to improve
Yet he hoped that the systematic study of social behavior would eventually lead to more rational human inter- actions

Question 7

Max Weber

Answer 7

Weber taught his students that they should employ verstehen (pronounced fair-shtay-en), the German word for “understanding” or “insight,” in their intellectual work.
Thought that we must learn the subjective meanings people attach to their actions—how they themselves view and explain their behavior.
We also owe credit to Weber for a key conceptual tool: the ideal type. An ideal type is a construct or model for evaluat- ing specific cases.

Question 8

Macrosociology

Answer 8

Macrosociology concentrates on large-scale phenom- ena or entire civilizations.

Question 9

Microsociology

Answer 9

microsociology stresses the study of small groups, often through experimental means. Socio- logical research on the micro level has included studies of how divorced men and women disengage from significant social roles

Question 10

Manifest function

Answer 10

intended, recognized consequences of an aspect of society, such as the university’s role in certifying academic com- petence and excellence.

Question 11

Latent function

Answer 11

latent functions are uncon- scious or unintended functions that may reflect hidden purposes of an institution

Question 12

Dysfunction

Answer 12

an element or process of a society that may actually dis- rupt the social system or reduce its stability.

Question 13

Conflict perspective

Answer 13

conflict perspective assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation.

Question 14

Interactionist perspective

Answer 14

interactionist perspective generalize about every- day forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole.

Question 15

Social inequality

Answer 15

social inequality, a con- dition in which members of society have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, or power.