Essentials Of Sociology: A Down To Earth Approach Chapter 1 Test

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Applied Sociology

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Sociology that is used to solve social problems from the micro level of family relationships to the macro level of war and pollution.

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Basic Sociology

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Or pure sociology; sociological research whose only purpose is to make discoveries about life in human groups, not to make changesi n those groups.

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Conflict Theory

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An explanation of human behaviour that sees society as groups competing for scarce resources. Karl Marx is credited with developing this theory.

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Correlation

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A statistical measure of association that indicates the degree to which two variables occur at the same time (covary). DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION.

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Latent dysfunction

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The unanticipated negative, disruptive consequences of a social pattern, custom, or invention. Term was coined by Robert Merton.

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Experiment

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A research emthod that involves manipulating one or more independent variables under controlled conditions to determine if the independent variable has a significant effect on the dependent variable.

Control group is those not exposed to independent variable.

Experimental group is those exposed to independent variable.

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Hypothesis

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A speculative statement that specifies how variables are related, according to a theory.

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Interval level variable

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a quantitative variable that does not have a natural zero, but does have equal intervals between levels. (i.e. temperature).

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Latent Function

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Unintended and generally unrecognized benefit of a social pattern, custom, or invention. Term coined by Robert Merton.

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Measure of central tendency

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statistical measures that describe what is average inlude the mean, the median, and the mode.

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Operational Definition

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The precise way that researchers measure variables.

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Ordinal variables

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can be qualitative or quantitative. Ordinal variables are categories that vary in terms of higher and lower or greater and lesser. For example, high school, college, and grad school are levels of education that should be ordered from low to high; however, the order is nomainl, because we cannot average the different categories. In some cases, ordinal variables can be quantitative - for example, likert sclales that ask subjects to rate their attitudes or feelings on a scale of 1 - 5 permit averaging.

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Population

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the target group of a study

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Positivism

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Term coined by August Comte that refers to the application of the scientific approach to the social world.

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Qualitative variables

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Also called nominal or categorial variables, we cannot use math on nominal variables - only calculate frequencies. They do not require natural ordering.

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Random sample

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A subset of a population that is drawn in such a way that every member of the population has the same chance of being chosen.

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Ratio variables

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Quantitative variables that have a natural zero (weight, height, speed, income), and the interval between levels is equal.

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Research methods

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surveys, experiments, participant observation, secondary analysis, documents, and unobtrusive measures

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Reliability

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the extent to which research produces consistent and dependable results

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Social integration

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the degree to which people are tied to their social groups

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Social Interaction

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What people do when they are in each other's presence and are aware of each other.

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Social Location

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The groups people belong to because of their location in history and society - i.e. race, sex, age, social class, country of origin, etc.

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Society

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A group of people who share a culture and a territory, and who are self-sufficient.

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Sociological Perspective

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An approach that seeks to understand human behaviour by placing it within its broader social context - the emphasis is on the group and not the individual.

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Stratified random sample

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The process of dividing a population into subgroups and then taking random samples from each of those subgroups in order to accurately represent the subgroups.

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Symbolic Interactionism

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a perspective in which society is viewed in terms of the symbols used by people to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communication with each other.

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Survey

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a research method that relies on random samples from populations to draw inferences about the population by means of standardized sets of questions

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Theory

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A general statement about how some parts of the world fit together, and how they work; an explanation of how 2 or more facts are related to each other.

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Validity

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the extent to which an operational definition measures what is supposed to measure.

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Variable

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a factor that changes from one case or event to another. Variables can be qualitative or quantitative.

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Jane Addams

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Founder of Hull House.

Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1931.

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August Comte

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Founder of sociology, because he was the first to use the scientific method to study the social world. He is also known for laying the foundation for structural functionalism.

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W.E.B. Dubois

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The first African-American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University,

Taught sociology at Atlanta University.

Concern about social injustice, wrote about race relations...

Co-founder of the NAACP.

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Emilie Durkheim

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Responsible for sociology getting recognized as a seperate discipline.

Was interested in studying how social forces shape individual behavior.

Known for studies of suicide, division of labor, social integration, religion, and research methods.

Considered to be a functionalist.

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Harriet Martineau

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An Englishwoman who studied British and U.S. social life and published "Society in America" decades before Durkheim or Weber was born.

Translated Comte's work into English.

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Karl Marx

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Believed Social development grew out of conflict between social classes; under capitalism, this conflict was between the bourgeoisie - those who own the means to produce wealth - and the proletariat - the mass of workers.

Considered to the be the founding father of conflict theory.

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Robert Merton

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Studied with Parsons, and was well known for his functionalist analyses of deviance and social structures.

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C. Wright Mills

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Mills suggested that external influences - or a person's experiences - become part of his or her thinking and motivations and explain social behavior. (the SOCIAL IMAGINATION). In the 1950s, he urged U.S. sociologists to get back to social reform. Considered to be a modern conflict theorist.

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Talcott Parsons

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Parsons' work dominated sociology in the 1940s - 1950s. He developed abstract models of how the parts of society harmoniously work together. Considered to be one of the most important modern functionalists.

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Herbert Spencer

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Believed societies evolve from barbarian to civilized forms.

First to use the phrase "survival of the fittest" to reflect his believe that social evolution depend on the survival of the most capable and intelligent and the extinction of the less capable. (SOCIAL DARWINISM)

Also credited with the idea that societies can be comparied to living organisms - this is known as the organismic analogy.

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Max Weber

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Studied the relationship between the emergence of the Protestant belief system and the rise of capitalism.

Credited with developing the concept of VERSTEHEN - understanding the motives of people who engage in social behaviors.

Analyzed social class and the economy, and the structure and characteristics of bureaucracy.

Believed that bureacratic rules would create an "iron cage" for the worker, thus restricting freedom and creativity.

Argued for value-free sociology - this refers to his insistence that researchers try to avoid their own personal biases while conducting research.

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Cultural Lag

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William Ogburn's term for a situation in which nonmaterial culture lags behind changes in the material culture.

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Cultural leveling

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The process by which cultures become similar to one another.

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Language

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A system of symbols that can be combined in an infinite number of ways to communicate abstract thought.

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Mores

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Norms that are considered to be very important and are strictly enforced; believed to be linked to core values.

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Negative sanction

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An expression of disapproval for breaking a norm (informal and formal types).

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Nonmaterial culture

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Also called a symbolic culture - a group's way of thinking (including its beliefs, values, and other assumptions about the world) and doing (its common patterns or behavior, including language and other forms of interaction)

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Norms

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the expectations, or rules of behavior, that develop from values.

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Sanction

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An expression of approval or disapproval given to people for upholding or violating norms.

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Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

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Edward Sapir's and Benjamin Whorf's hypothesis that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving.

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Taboo

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A norm so strong that it brings revulsion if it is violated.

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Technology

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In its narrow sense, tools; in its broader sense, the skills of procedures necessary to make and use those tools

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Values

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the standards by which people define the desirable and undesirable, good and bad, right and wrong, etc.

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Robert Edgerton

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Attacked the concept of cultural relativism, suggesting that because some cultures endanger their people's health, happiness, or survival, there should be scale to evaluate cultures on their quality of life. (SICK CULTURES)

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Douglas Massey

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Studied what happens in urban areas when immigration rates exceed the speed in which new residents learn English and the proportion of non-English speakers increases.

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William Ogburn

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coined the term cultural lag

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Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf

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Argued that language not only reflects thoughts and perceptions, but that it actually shapes the way a people perceive the world.

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JoEllen Shively

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researched the reasons why both Anglo and Native American moviegoers identify more with the cowboys than the Indians.

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William Sumner

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developed the concept of ethnocentrism

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Robin Williams

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identified 12 core U.S. values