CH.1 Sociology: Perspective, Theory, & Method – Flashcards

the systematic study of human society

-Seeing the general in the particular -Helps us to see general social patterns in the behavior of particular individuals.

Seeing sociologically: marginality and crisis The greater people's social marginality, the better able they are to use the sociological perspective. Just as social change encourages sociological thinking, sociological thinking can bring about social change.

Seeing society in our everyday choices Emile Durkheim's research showed that the suicide rate was strongly influenced by the extent to which people were socially integrated with others.

Seeing the strange in the familiar This perspective also encourages us to realize that society guides our thoughts and deeds.

the study of the larger world and our society's place in it

a. Where we live makes a great difference in shaping our lives. b. Societies the world over are increasingly interconnected, making traditional distinctions between "us" and "them" less and less valid. c. Many human problems faced in the United States are far more serious elsewhere. d. Thinking globally is a good way to learn more about ourselves.

One of sociology as pioneers who showed that even here social forces are at work. This pioneer found that some categories of people were more likely than others to take their own lives. He found that men, protestants, wealthy people, and the unmarried each had higher suicide rates than women, catholic and jews, the poor, and married people. He explain these differences in terms of social integration: Categories of people with strong social ties had low suicide rates and more individualistic people had high suicide rates. Freedom weakens social ties and thus increases the risk of suicide. Applying his logic The higher suicide rate among white people and men reflects their greater wealth and freedom, Just as the lower rate among women and people of color reflects their limited social choices.

-the nations with the highest overall standards of living -74 -Generate most of the world's goods and services

-nations with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole -72 -Likely to live in rural villages as in cities and to walk or ride tractors scooters or animals as they are to drive automobiles -Received eight years of schooling

-nations with a low standard of living, in which most people are poor -49 -Majority struggled to get by with poor housing unsafe water too little food and perhaps most serious of all the chance to improve their lives

A. Sociology and Public Policy Sociologists have helped shape public policy. B. Sociology and Personal Growth Using sociology benefits us in four distinct ways: 1. The sociological perspective helps us assess the truth of "common sense." 2. The sociological perspective helps us assess both opportunities and constraints in our lives. 3. The sociological perspective empowers us to be active participants in society. 4. The sociological perspective helps us to live in a diverse world. C. Careers: The "Sociology Advantage" The application of sociology is evident in the role that sociology has had in shaping public policy and law in many ways. A background in sociology is also good preparation for the working world. An increasing number of sociologists work in all sorts of applied fields.

a statement of how and why specific facts are related The goal of sociological theory is to explain social behavior in the real world. Theories are based on theoretical approaches, or basic images of society that guides thinking and research. Sociologists ask two basic questions: "What issues should we study?", and "How should we connect the facts?" There are three major sociological approaches:

a basic image of society that guides thinking and research

-a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability -This approach owes much to Auguste Comte.

-any relatively stable pattern of social behavior - Each social structure has social functions, or consequences, for the operation of society as a whole. Key figures in the development of this approach include Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, and Talcott Parsons. -Gives our lives shape in families, the workplace, or the college classroom

-the consequences of a social pattern for the operation of society as awhole -From a simple handshake too complex religious rituals, function to tie people together and to keep society going, at least in its present form

the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern

the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern

any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society

-a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change - Most sociologists who favor this approach attempt not only to understand society, but also to reduce social inequality. Karl Marx is always associated with this approach. -This approach highlights how factors such as class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age are linked to inequality in terms of money, power, education, and social prestige -Sociologists use this approach to look at ongoing conflict between dominant and disadvantaged categories of people

-the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men -The importance of this theory lies in making us aware of the many ways in which our society places men in positions of power over women, in the home, in the workplace, and in the mass media

support of social equality for women and men

-a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals. The structural-functional and the social-conflict approaches share a macro-level orientation, meaning that they focus on broad social structures that shape society as a whole. In contrast, symbolic-interactionism has a micro-level orientation; it focuses on patterns of social interaction in specific settings. Key figures in the development of this approach include Max Weber, George Herbert Mead, Erving Goffman, George Homans, and Peter Blau. - We human beings live in a world of symbols, and we attach meaning to virtually everything, from the words on this page to the wink of eye

-An important contribution to understanding race in the United States is because of... -Founded the Atlanta sociological laboratory, which was an important center of sociological research in the early decades of last century -Believing that scholars should not simply learn about society's problems but also try to solve them -He studied the black communities across the United States, pointing to numerous social problems ranging from educational inequality, a political system that denied people their right to vote, and the terrorist practice of lynching -Participated in the founding of the national association for the advancement of colored people (NAACP)

-Founded the critical orientation, rejected the idea that society exists as a natural system. To assume that society is somehow fixed, he claimed, is the same as saying that society cannot be changed -He claims that the point of critical sociology is not just to research and the social world but to change it in the direction of democracy and social justice

the study of society that focuses on the need for social change

The study of society that focuses on discovering the meanings people attached to their social world

The study of society based on systematic observation of social behavior

C. Wright Mills called this point of view the "sociological imagination," which transforms personal troubles into public issues. Being an outsider or experiencing a social crisis encourages the sociological perspective

-where we live shapes the lives we lead -societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected -what happens in the rest of the world affects life here in the United States -many social problems that we face in the United States are far more serious else where -thinking globally helps us learn more about outselves

-is used by government agencies when developing laws and regulations that guide how people in communities live and work -helps us understand the barriers and opportunities in our lives -is an advantage in may fields of work that involve working with people

Named the discipline of Sociology in 1838 -early philosophers had tried to describe the ideal society, but comte wanted to understand society as it really is -Karl Marx and many later sociologists used sociology to try to make society better

-explores how social structures work together to help society operate -Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, and Hebert Spencer helped develop this approach

Shows how inequality creates conflict and causes change -Karl Marx helped developed this approach

Two important types of conflict analysis are called..