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54 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Sociology |
The study of human society |
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Sociological imagination |
The ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individuals life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces |
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Social institution |
A complex group of interdependent positions that, together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time; also defined in a narrow sense as any institution in society that works to shape the behavior of the groups or people within it |
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Verstehen |
Back (Definition) |
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Anomie |
A sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; too little social regulation; normlessness |
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Anomie |
A sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; too little social regulation; normlessness |
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Positivist sociology |
A strain within sociology that believes that social world can be described and predicted by certain describable relationships (akin to a social physics) |
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Double consciousness |
A concept conceived by WEB Du Bois to describe the two behavior scripts, one for moving through the world and the other incorporating the external opinion of prejudiced onlookers which are constantly maintained by African Americans |
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Functionalism |
The theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important(or necessary) function to keep society running |
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Organicism |
The notion that society is like a living organism, each part of which serves an important role in keeping society together |
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Conflict theory |
The idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general |
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Conflict theory |
The idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general |
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Symbolic interactionism |
The idea that people act in response to the meaning that signs and social signals hold for them. ( focused on how to face to face interactions create the social world) |
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Postmodernism |
A condition characterized by questioning of the notion of progress and history, the replacement of narrative within pastiche, and multiple, perhaps even conflicting, identities resulting from disjointed affiliations |
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Social construction |
An entity that exists because people behave as if it exists and whose existence is perpetuated as people and social institutions act in accordance with the wide agreed upon formal rules or informal norms of behavior associated with that entity |
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Midrange theory |
A theory that attempts to predict how certain social institutions tend to function |
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Microsociology |
A branch of sociology that seeks to understand local interactional contexts; its methods of choice are ethnographic, generally including participant observation and in-depth interviews |
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Macrosociology |
A branch of sociology generally concerned with social dynamics at a higher level of analysis- that is, across the breadth of a society |
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Research methods |
Approaches the social scientists use for investigating the answers to questions |
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Quantitative methods |
Methods that seek go obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form |
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Qualitative methods |
Methods that attempt to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form |
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Deductive approach |
A research approach that starts with a theory, forms a hypothesis, makes empirical observations, and then analyzes the data to confirm, reject, or modify the original theory |
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Inductive approach |
A research approach that starts with empirical observations and then works to form a theory |
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Correlation or association |
Simultaneous variation in two variables |
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Casuality |
The notion that a change in one factor results in a corresponding change in another |
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Reverse causality |
A situation in which the researcher believes that A results in a change in B, but B, in fact is causing A |
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Dependent variable |
The outcome that the researcher is trying to explain |
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Dependent variable |
The outcome that the researcher is trying to explain |
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Independent variable |
A measured factor that the researcher believes has a casual impact on the dependent variable |
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Dependent variable |
The outcome that the researcher is trying to explain |
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Independent variable |
A measured factor that the researcher believes has a casual impact on the dependent variable |
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Hypothesis |
A proposed relationship between two variables |
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Dependent variable |
The outcome that the researcher is trying to explain |
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Independent variable |
A measured factor that the researcher believes has a casual impact on the dependent variable |
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Hypothesis |
A proposed relationship between two variables |
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Operationalization |
The process of assigning a precise method for measuring a term being examine for use in a particular study |
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Validity |
to extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure |
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Validity |
to extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure |
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Reliability |
The likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measure |
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Generalizability |
The extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied |
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Generalizability |
The extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied |
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Reflexivity |
Analyzing and critically considering our own role in, and effect on, our research |
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Feminist methodology |
A set of systems or methods that treat women's experiences as legitimate empirical and theoretical resources that promote social science for women (think public sociology but for a specific half of the public) and that take into account the researcher as much as the overt subject matter |
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Population |
An entire group which samples can be drawn |
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Population |
An entire group which samples can be drawn |
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Sample |
The subset of the population from which are actually collect the data |
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Case study |
An intensive investigation of one particular unit of analysis in order to describe it or uncover it's mechanisms |
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Participant observation |
A qualitative research method that seeks to uncover the meanings people give their social actions by observing their behavior in practice |
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Survey |
An ordered series of questions intended to elicit information from respondents |
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Historical methods |
Research that collects data from written reports, newspaper articles, journals, transcripts, television programs, diaries, artwork, and other artifacts that date back to the period under study |
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Historical methods |
Research that collects data from written reports, newspaper articles, journals, transcripts, television programs, diaries, artwork, and other artifacts that date back to the period under study |
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Comparative research |
A methodology by which two or more entities( such as countries) which are similar in many dimensions but differ on one question, are compared to learn about the dimension that differs between them |
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Content analysis |
A systematic analysis of content rather than the structure of a communication, such as a written work, speech, or film |
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Experimental methods |
Methods that seek to alter the social landscape in a very specific way for a given sample of individuals and then track what results that change yields; often involve comparisons to a control group that did not experience such an intervention |
