Chapter 1 Flashcards
(27 cards)
The application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions. “Thinks himself away” from the familiar routines of daily life
Sociological imagination
The underlying regularities or patterns in how people behave in their relationships with one another
Social structure
An idea or practice that a group of people agree exists. It is maintained over time by people taking its existence for granted
Social construction
The social processes through which children develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self
Socialization
According to Émile Durkheim, the aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals. Believed these could be studied scientifically
Social facts
According to Durkheim, the social cohesion that results from the various parts of a society functioning as an integrated whole
Organic solidarity
The conditioning influence on our behavior of the groups and societies of which we are members
Social constraint
The specialization of work tasks by means of which different occupations are combined within a production system. Became vastly more complex during industrialization
Division of labor
Th concept first brought into wide usage in sociology by Durkheim to refer to a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior
Anomie
The view developed by Marx according to which material, or economic, factors have a prime role in determining historical change
Materialistic conception of history
An economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested in order to produce profit
Capitalism
A type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and the existence of written rules of procedure and staffed by full-time, salaried officials
Bureaucracy
A concept used by Weber to refer to the process by which modes of precise calculation and organization, involving abstract rules and procedures, increasingly come to dominate the social world
Rationalization
A theoretical approach developed by Mead that emphasizes the role of symbols and language as core elements of all human interaction
Symbolic interactionism
One item used to stand for or represent another—as in the case of a flag
Symbol
A theoretical perspective based on the notion that social events can best be explained in terms of the functions they perform—that is, the contributions they make to the continuity of a society
Functionalism
The functions of a type of social activity that are known to and intended by the individuals involved in the activity
Manifest functions
Functional consequences that are not intended or recognized by the members of a social system in which they occur
Latent functions
A sociological perspective that emphasizes the role of political and economic power and oppression as contributing to the existing social order
Conflict theory
The ability of individuals or the members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold. Large source of conflict
Power
Shared ideas of beliefs that serve to justify the interests of dominant groups
Ideologies
A sociological perspective that emphasizes the centrality of gender in analyzing the social world and particularly the uniqueness of the experience of women
Feminist theory
Advocacy of the rights of women to be equal with men in all spheres of life
Feminism
The theory that an individual’s behavior is purposive
Rational choice approach
