Sociology Ch 2

Front 1

ascribed characteristic

Back 1

Any physical trait that is biological in origin and/or cannot be changed, to which people assign overwhelming significance.

Front 2

bourgeoisie

Back 2

The owners of the means of production (such as land, machinery, buildings, and tools), who purchase labor.

Front 3

concepts

Back 3

Thinking and communication tools used to give and receive complex information efficiently and to frame and focus observations.

Front 4

control variables

Back 4

Variables suspected of causing spurious correlations.

Front 5

correlation coefficient

Back 5

A mathematical representation that quantifies the extent to which a change in one variable is associated with a change in another variable.

Front 6

dependent variable

Back 6

The variable to be explained or predicted.

Front 7

documents

Back 7

Written or printed materials used in research.

Front 8

facade of legitimacy

Back 8

An explanation that members of dominant groups give to justify their actions.

Front 9

function

Back 9

The contribution part of a society makes to order and stability within the society.

Front 10

generalizability

Back 10

The extent to which findings can be applied to the larger population from which a sample is drawn.

Front 11

Hawthorne effect

Back 11

A phenomenon in which research subjects alter their behavior when they learn they are being observed.

Front 12

households

Back 12

All related and unrelated persons who share the same dwelling.

Front 13

hypothesis

Back 13

A trial explanation put forward as the focus of research it predicts how independent and dependent variables are related and how a dependent variable will change when an independent variable changes.

Front 14

independent variable

Back 14

The variable that explains or predicts the dependent variable.

Front 15

interviews

Back 15

Face-to-face or telephone conversations between an interviewer and a respondent, in which the interviewer asks questions and records the respondent's answers.

Front 16

latent functions

Back 16

Unintended or unanticipated effects that part of a society has on order and stability within the society.

Front 17

manifest functions

Back 17

Intended or anticipated effects that part of a society has on order and stability within the society.

Front 18

methods of data collection

Back 18

The procedures a researcher follows to gather relevant data.

Front 19

nonparticipant observation

Back 19

A research technique in which the researcher merely observes but does not interact with the study subjects or become involved in their daily life.

Front 20

objectivity

Back 20

A stance in which researchers' personal, or subjective, views do not influence their observations or the outcomes of their research.

Front 21

observation

Back 21

A research technique in which the researcher watches, listens to, and records behavior and conversations as they happen.

Front 22

operational definitions

Back 22

Clear, precise definitions and instructions about how to observe and/or measure the variables under study.

Front 23

participant observation

Back 23

A research technique in which the researcher observes study participants while directly interacting with them.

Front 24

populations

Back 24

The total number of individuals, traces, documents, territories, households, or groups that could be studied.

Front 25

proletariat

Back 25

A social class composed of workers who own nothing of the production process and who sell their labor to the bourgeoisie.

Front 26

random sample

Back 26

A type of sample in which every case in the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Front 27

reliability

Back 27

The extent to which an operational definition gives consistent results.

Front 28

representative sample

Back 28

A type of sample in which those selected for study have the same distribution of characteristics as the population from which it is selected

Front 29

research

Back 29

A data-gathering and data-explaining enterprise governed by strict rules.

Front 30

research design

Back 30

A plan for gathering data that specifies who or what will be studied and the methods of data collection.

Front 31

research methods

Back 31

Techniques used to formulate or answer meaningful research questions and to collect, analyze, and interpret data in ways that allow other researchers to verify the results.

Front 32

samples

Back 32

Portions of the cases from a larger population.

Front 33

sampling frame

Back 33

A complete list of every case in a population.

Front 34

scientific method

Back 34

An approach to data collection in which knowledge is gained through observation and its truth is confirmed through verification.

Front 35

secondary sources
(archival data)

Back 35

Data that have been collected by other researchers for some other purpose.

Front 36

self-administered questionnaire

Back 36

A set of questions given to respondents who read the instructions and fill in the answers themselves.

Front 37

small groups

Back 37

Groups of 2 to about 20 people who interact with one another in meaningful ways.

Front 38

sociological theory

Back 38

A set of principles and definitions that tell how societies operate and how people in them relate to one another and respond to their surroundings.

Front 39

spurious correlation

Back 39

A correlation that is coincidental or accidental because the independent and dependent variables are not actually related rather, some third variable related to both of them makes it seem as though they are.

Front 40

structured interview

Back 40

An interview in which the wording and sequence of questions are set in advance and cannot be changed during the interview.

Front 41

symbols

Back 41

Any kind of physical or conceptual phenomenon- a word, an object, a sound, a feeling, an odor, a gesture or bodily movement, or a concept of time-to which people assign a name and a meaning or value.

Front 42

territories

Back 42

Settings that have borders or that are set aside for particular activities.

Front 43

theory

Back 43

A framework that can be used to comprehend and explain events.

Front 44

traces

Back 44

Materials or other forms of physical evidence that yield information about human activity.

Front 45

unstructured interview

Back 45

An interview in which the question-and-answer sequence is spontaneous, open-ended, and flexible.

Front 46

validity

Back 46

The degree to which an operational definition measures what it claims to measure.

Front 47

variable validity

Back 47

Any trait or characteristic that can change under different conditions or that consists of more than one category.