SOC study guide Flashcards
(39 cards)
Sociological Imagination
A sociological framework that allows people to understand how their personal experiences relate to larger social issues:The ability to see the connection between personal troubles and public issues. It’s a way of viewing the social world that goes beyond limited personal experiences.
Socialization
The process by which people learn to be competent members of a society. It involves learning and teaching, and helps people understand and accept society’s beliefs and values.
Organic Solidarity
A type of social cohesion that occurs in modern and industrial societies, where people are interdependent on each other to perform their specialized tasks. It’s a result of the division of labor, which creates a complex web of relationships between people with different values and interests
Mechanical Solidarity
Refers to cohesion within a society based on shared beliefs, lifestyles, and occupations. Durkheim calls this type of solidarity “mechanical” because he uses the analogy of a machine. If one part of a machine breaks, it can be replaced with the same part of another machine.
Division of labor
Refers to dividing work into a series of tasks assigned to different people or groups. It is also defined as “a concept referring to the internal organisation of a society or social group.” It is useful because dividing work into sections reduces unnecessary movements and tool usage.
Anomie
The concept of anomie, in sociology, can be defined as a state of normlessness, disorder, or confusion in a society when the standard norms and values are weak or unclear. This lack of social or ethical standards can lead to disconnection, deviance, and social instability among individuals.
Class Struggle
Class struggle, also known as class warfare, is a situation of tension that exists in any society due to the presence of various groups of people who have varying interests. In a society, several classes exist due to distinctions in economic conditions.
Fetishism of Commodities
the mistaken belief that the value of a product lies within the object itself, rather than in the labor and social relations that went into producing it, essentially treating commodities as if they have inherent magical value, obscuring the real social dynamics behind their creation in a capitalist system.
Reification
The process of treating abstract concepts or social constructs as if they were concrete, tangible things, essentially “thingifying” human experiences, relationships, and social structures, often leading to a misunderstanding of their socially constructed nature
Qualitative methods
Qualitative refers to research that primarily relies on approaches that attempt to gather detailed evidence of social processes, activities and events rather than attempting to measure or enumerate social phenomena.
Quantitive Methods
Refers to research techniques that involve collecting and analyzing numerical data, using statistical analysis to identify patterns, relationships, and trends between variables, typically through methods like surveys, questionnaires, and experiments, with the goal of making generalizable conclusions about a population based on measurable data.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is an assumption about how two or more variables are related; it makes a conjectural statement about the relationship between those variables. In sociology, the hypothesis will often predict how one form of human behavior influences another. In research, independent variables are the cause of the change.
Independent Variable
The variable that is presumed to cause a change in another variable (the dependent variable), essentially acting as the “cause” in a cause-and-effect relationship being studied by a researcher; it is the factor that is manipulated or observed to see its impact on the dependent variable, and is considered to stand alone, not being influenced by other variables in the study.
Dependent Variable
Refers to the variable that is being measured or observed, and is expected to change based on the influence of another variable (the independent variable); essentially, it’s the “effect” or outcome that researchers are trying to understand and explain within a
Open-Ended questions
Questions that allow respondents to answer in their own words, without providing a list of possible answers. Encourage respondents to elaborate on their answers and provide reasoned responses. They often start with “what”, “how”, or “why”
Close ended questions
A type of survey question that provides a limited set of predetermined answer choices for respondents to select from, allowing researchers to gather quantitative data that is easily categorized and analyzed statistically; essentially, it restricts respondents to choosing from a fixed set of options rather than providing their own answer in their own words.
Ethnography
a qualitative research method where a researcher immerses themselves in a specific social setting to observe and understand the behaviors, interactions, and cultural norms of a group of people from their own perspective, often through prolonged participant observation and in-depth interviews, aiming to gain a deep understanding of their social world and how they interpret their own experiences; essentially, “writing about people groups” by studying them in their natural setting.
Subculture
Subcultures are generally groups that are perceived to deviate from the normative standards of the dominant culture, as this is variously defined according to age, sexuality, and taste in economic, racial, and gendered terms.
Counterculture
“Counterculture” is a sociological term that refers to a cultural group or subculture whose values and norms of behavior run counter to those of the region’s social mainstream; it can be considered the cultural equivalent of political opposition.
Multiculturalism
The idea that different cultures can coexist harmoniously in a society, and that this diversity benefits society as a whole. It’s characterized by people of different races, ethnicities, and nationalities living together in the same community.
Assimilation
The process by which individuals or groups from different cultures adopt the traits of a dominant culture to the point of becoming indistinguishable from other members of society. It’s also known as integration or incorporation.
Cultural Relativism
The view that ethical and social standards reflect the cultural context from which they are derived. Cultural relativists uphold that cultures differ fundamentally from one another, and so do the moral frameworks that structure relations within different societies.
Industrialization
The process of transforming the economy of a nation or region from a focus on agriculture to a reliance on manufacturing. Mechanized methods of mass production are an essential component of this transition.
Post-Industrial Societies
Society marked by a transition from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy, a transition that is also connected with subsequent societal restructuring.
