Test 1 Flashcards
(68 cards)
What is Sociology?
The study of society and and the social worlds that individuals inhabit within them
What makes sociology different than journalism?
Sociology backs up assumptions with scientific facts
Is sociology similar to social work?
No. The only thing they have in common are the letters soci.
Describe a sociological imagination.
A way of looking at the world that lets us consider how we are shaped by personal experiences, where we live, social networks, and other factors
What are some questions that sociologists might ask?
any questions related to what makes individuals or groups behave the way they do and their outcomes
What are social contexts and how do they impact our lives and chances for success later in life?
Our environments. Our families, communities, country of birth, etc play a vital part in our stability in younger years which is very important in development.
When did the field of sociology come into existence and why? What are some other fields that are “siblings” to sociology that came into existence around the same time?
Sociology arose out of the issues related to industrialization and urbanization in the late 1800s. Siblings- anthropology and political science
What is social theory?
The way sociologists explain things
What is the difference between “Theory” with a capital T and “theory” with a lowercase t?
Theory describes a general perspective
theory describes how social phenomenon works
What are some examples of social theory?
Looking glass self, conflict theory, functionalism
Who are some of influential social theorists?
Marx, Weber, Durkeim
Why is social theory important to sociology?
Backbone and language of sociology. Dictates what we see and helps make sense of what we cant see.
What is the “looking-glass self?” Who came up with this perspective on social life?
Cooley: How others see us defines our ideas of who we are/how we fit in the world
How did Karl Marx view social life? How did he believe that society was structured?
Conflict theory- Have and have nots; who has the means of production has the power
What did Marx believe created social classes (the “haves” and “have-nots” in our world)?
Economics
What is the premise of conflict theory?
There is a ruling class and a subject class. The ruling class must maintain power over the subject class. This creates conflict.
How did Marx view social institutions?
They are created by the bourgeoisie to maintain power.
What is Alienation?
When a worker becomes separated from his work due to the fact that he is a commodity. He becomes frustrated and cant figure out why.
What effect does alienation have on people and groups of people?
Causes mistreatment and callousness as everyone starts viewing everyone else as commodities
Describe “False Consciousness.” What effect does false consciousness have on human society?
The owners of production use their power to control our social values, ideas, and norms, causing us to go again our own social and political interests.
Describe Weber’s view on rationalization and bureaucracy.
Everything is systemized and orderly in order to keep a power structure. This sometimes creates ridiculous situations where a person has to jump through hoops in order to maintain the functioning of the system.
How did Emile Durkheim view social institutions?
They serve as cohesion.
How did Durkheim view social life? How did he believe that society was structured?
He saw us sticking together through social solidarity, and being a part of an institution that helped us function as a society. Through anomie we lost our sense of purpose and self worth.
How might alienation and anomie describe (in different ways) some of the problems that people face today?
By becoming autonomous we lose our sense of pride and purpose. Our institutions own us and we don’t have the authority to question them anymore. This makes us question ourselves.
