Sociology Concepts And Applications In A Diverse World Ch.1

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sociology

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the scientific study of societies and human social behavior

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sociological perspective

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the powerful role that group membership and social forces play in shaping behavior

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globalization

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trends toward increasing interconnectedness between different peoples around the world and the growing unification of social and cultural life

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sociological imagination

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the ability to understand the relationship between that is happening in people's personal lives and the social forces that surround them

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science

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a method of obtaining objective and systematic knowledge through observation

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theory

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a set of statements that explains the relationship among phenomena

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variable

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a property or characteristic of something that can take on different values

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independent variable

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those that bring about changes in other variables

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dependent variable

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those that are changed

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hypotheses

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tentative statements that can be tested regarding relationships between two or more variables

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theoretical perspectives

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provide some fundamental assumptions about that nature and operation of society and commonly serve as sources of more specific theories

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functionalist perspective

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says that society is a system made up of a number of interrelated and interdependent elements, each performing a function that contributes to the operation of the whole

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manifest functions

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intended consequences of some action or social process and refer to what most people expect to result

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latent functions

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consequences that are unexpected or unintended

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conflict perspective

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the idea that society consists of different groups that struggle with one another to attain the scarce societal resources that are considered valuable, be they money, power, prestige, or the authority to impose one's values on society

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interest group

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a group whose members share distinct and common concerns

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interactionist perspective

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focuses on everyday social interaction among individuals rather than on large societal structures such as politics and education

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definition of the situation

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refers to people's perceptions and interpretations of what is important in a situation and what actions are possible or appropriate

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research methods

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a detailed plan that specifies how observations will be made in order to test a hypothesis

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observational techniques

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the direct observation of behavior by sociologists, either by seeing or hearing what people do

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participant observation

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the investigators take part in the activities of the people being studied

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surveys

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the collection of data by asking people questions about their behavior or attitudes

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experiment

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a controlled method of observation in which independent variables are manipulated in order to asses their effects on a dependent variable

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experimental group

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exposed to some factor, the independent variable

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control group

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not exposed to a factor

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reactivity

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refers to the fact that people react to being studied and may behave differently from the way they do when they don't think they are being studied

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basic (or pure) sociology

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sociological research whose purpose is to advance our knowledge about human social behavior with little concern for any immediate practical benefits that might result

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applied sociology

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research and other activities designed to focus sociological knowledge or research tools on a particular problem identified by some client with some practical outcome in mind