Sociology Ch. 1 Terms

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bourgeoisie

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people who own the means of production in industrial society.

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conflict perspective

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a view that society is composed of groups with clashing interests who engage in a struggle over control of valuable social resources.

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functionalist perspective

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a view that society is a relatively stable and orderly system composed of interdependent and interrelated parts.

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industrialization

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the process by which societies are transformed from agricultural based economic activity to manufacturing based economic activity.

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latent function

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the largely unintended and unrecognized consequences of an activity or social institution.

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macro-level

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a focus on the social institutions and large-scale social processes that shape society as a whole.

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manifest function

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the intended, expected, or overtly recognized consequences of an activity for the social system.

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micro-level

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a focus on the dynamics and meanings of face-to-face interactions between people and small groups.

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proletariat

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people who own only their labor power, which they sell to the bourgeoisie to earn a living.

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social dysfunction

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the undesirable consequences of an institution or activity for the social system.

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social facts

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patterned ways of behaving, thinking, and feeling beyond the individual.

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social structure

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the stable, organized patterns of social relationships and social institutions that exist within a particular group or society.

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society

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a large social grouping of people who occupy and interact together in the same geographic area; are organized by and subject to a common political authority and dominant cultural expectations; and whose members share a sense of identity, loyalty, and purpose.

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sociology

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the systematic study of human society and social interaction.

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sociological perspective

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the ability to see the general in the particular.

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symbolic interactionist perspective

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a view of society as the ongoing product of the everyday interactions and shared meanings of people and groups.

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theory

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a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to explain, describe, and occasionally predict how two or more social phenomena are related.

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theoretical perspective

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a basic overall image or paradigm used to organize a way of understanding society.

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urbanization

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the process by which an increasing proportion of a society's population lives in cities instead of rural areas.

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Auguste Comte

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coined the term sociology and believed that the application of the scientific method to the study of industrial society would lead to its improvement.

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C. Wright Mills

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identified the term sociological imagination to describe the link between an individual's experiences and the society in which the individual lives.

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Charles Horton Cooley

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symbolic interactionist who identified the concept of looking glass self, in which one's sense of self is based on the imagined reaction of others.

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Emile Durkheim

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conducted well-known studies on social facts using suicide pattern statistics.

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Erving Goffman

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symbolic interactionist who used dramaturgical analysis to explain social roles.

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George Herbert Mead

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symbolic interactionist who explored the social influences on the development of a sense of self.

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Karl Marx

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founded the conflict perspective by dividing society into the bourgeoisie and proletariat.

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Robert Merton

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functionalist who discerned between manifest and latent functions.

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What is sociology? What is the sociological perspective?

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Sociology is the systematic study of human society and social interaction. The sociological perspective holds that the behavior of individuals is shaped, influenced, and constrained by the larger social context in which it occurs. The sociological perspective sees the general in the particular.

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What are social facts? What two social facts that reflected substantiative changes in the way societies were organized contributed to the development of sociology as a discipline in the social sciences?

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Social facts are patterned ways of behaving, thinking, and feeling. Social facts are generated at the individual level by behavioral and attitudinal choices. When these choices are aggregated, they can be observed at the societal level as social facts. The 2 main social facts that influenced the development of the field of sociology were industrialization and urbanization. The transformation of societies from agricultural based economies to manufacturing based economies is called industrialization. Industrialization was accompanied by and encouraged urbanization--the movement of an increasing proportion of societies population to or near cities. These changes stimulated the development of sociological thinking.

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How did Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim contribute to the development of the field of sociology?

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Comte is credited wtih first coining the term sociology. He believed that by applying the scientific method to the study of society, improvements could be made in social life. Durkheim produced one of the first studies that attempted to apply the scientific method to the study of society and social relationships. His examination of suicide was a seminal illustration of how rapid social change and the variance in the degree of integration among different groups, such as men and women, significantly influenced behavioral choices.

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Compare and contrast the functionalist and conflict perspectives.

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The conflict and functionalist perspectives are macro-level perspectives. The functionalist perspective emphasizes social stability, social cohesion, and the survival of a society. It also seeks to understand how social phenomena contribute to stability, cohesion, and survival. Functionalists view society as a relatively stable and orderly system composed of interdependent and interrelated parts. Each part is though to serve a function that contributes to the smooth and continued operation of society. Society is characterized by widespread agreement on values, beliefs, and expectations for behavior. Rapid social change is viewed as a strain on the social system. Not surprisingly, the conflict perspective emphasizes the role of social conflict in society. This perspective sees society as composed of different groups that have clashing self-interests and are in competition with each other for scarce social rewards, such as high-paying jobs and social power. One group tends to have disproportionate control over valuable social resources, and it uses this power and control to shape society to its advantage. Conflict is viewed as positive because it can lead to the betterment of society.

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What is the difference between manifest and latent functions?

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Manifest functions are the intended, expected, or overtly recognized consequences of an activity or institution. For example, the manifest function of attending college is to obtain skills and knowledge to better prepare one for success in the working world. Latent functions of attending college include gaining independence from one's parents, developing a network of contacts and friendships, and identifying potential marriage partners.

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What is the difference between micro-level and macro-level orientations?

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Macro-level perspectives, such as the functionalist and conflict perspectives, examine large scale social processes and institutions that shape society as a whole. The experiences of individuals are of little interest except as representatives of particular, recognized groups, such as gender groups, and racial groups. In contrast, a micro-level orientation, such as the symbolic interactionist perspective, focuses on the shaping of the self and what people do together. In particular, micro-level orientations focus on the dynamics, meanings, and interpretations of face-to-face interactions of people and small groups.

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Describe the symbolic interactionist perspective. How does it differ from the other perspectives in sociology?

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The symbolic interactionist perspective holds that society is continuously produced through everyday interactions of people and groups. This perspective emphasizes the manner in which individuals create subjective meanings and interpretations of social life and how these meanings and interpretations affect social interaction. The symbolic interactionist perspective differs from the functionalist and conflict perspectives in substantiative ways. While the functionalist and conflict perspectives employ a macro-level view and examine social institutions and large-scale social processes that shape society as a whole, the symbolic interactionist perspective employs a micro-level orientation. Such an orientation focuses on the nature and meanings of face-to-face interactions between people and small groups. Another difference between symbolic interactionism and the 2 macro-level perspectives is that symbolic interactionism finds the perceptions and meanings of everyday interaction have a greater analytical interest than objective conditions and relations.