Sociology Terms Ch 1

Front 1

life chance

Back 1

The degree to which people
succeed in life in such areas
as education, income, and
health. Affected by social background.

Front 2

Social Environment

Back 2

A general term for social
backgrounds and other
aspects of society.

Front 3

Sociology

Back 3

The scientific study of social
behavior and social
institutions.

Front 4

Sociological Perspective

Back 4

The belief that people’s social
backgrounds influence their
attitudes, behaviors, and life
chaynces.

Front 5

Society

Back 5

A group of people who live
within a defined territory and
who share a culture.

Front 6

Debunking Motif

Back 6

From Peter L. Berger, a theme
of sociology in which the aim
is to go beyond superficial
understandings of social
reality.

Front 7

Social Structure

Back 7

The social patterns through
which society is organized.

Front 8

Horizontal Social Structure

Back 8

The social relationships and
social and physical
characteristics of
communities to which
individuals belong.

Front 9

Vertical Social Structure

Back 9

A term used interchangeably
with social inequality.

Front 10

Social Inequality

Back 10

The unequal distribution of
resources, such as wealth,
that a society values.

Front 11

Personal Troubles

Back 11

C. Wright Mills’s term for the
personal problems that many
individuals experience.

Front 12

Public Issues

Back 12

C. Wright Mills’ term for
problems in society that
underlie personal troubles.

Front 13

Sociological Imagination

Back 13

From C. Wright Mills, the
realization that personal
troubles are rooted in public
issues.

Front 14

Macrosociology

Back 14

That part of sociology that
deals with issues involving
large-scale social change and
social institutions.

Front 15

Microsociology

Back 15

That part of sociology that
deals with social interaction
in small settings.

Front 16

Functionalism

Back 16

Social stability is necessary to have a strong society, and adequate socialization and social integration are necessary to achieve social stability. Society’s social institutions perform importantfunctions to help ensure social stability. Slow social change is desirable, but rapid social change threatens social order. Functionalism is a macro theory.

Front 17

Conflict Theory

Back 17

Society is characterized by pervasive inequality based on social class, gender, and other factors.Far-reaching social change is needed to reduce or eliminate social inequality and to create an egalitarian society. Conflict theory is a macro theory.

Hint 17

The view that society is
composed of groups with
different interests arising
from their placement in the
social structure.

Front 18

Symbolic Interactionism

Back 18

People construct their roles as they interact; they do not merely learn the roles that society has set out for them. As this interaction occurs, individuals negotiate their definitions of the situations in which they find themselves and socially construct the reality of these situations. In so doing, they rely heavily on symbols such as words and gestures to reach a shared understanding of their interaction. Symbolic interactionism is a micro theory.

Hint 18

A micro perspective in
sociology that focuses on the
meanings people gain from
social interaction.

Front 19

Utilitarianism (rational choice or exchange theory.)

Back 19

People act to maximize their advantages in a given situation and to reduce their disadvantages. If they decide that benefits outweigh disadvantages, they will initiate the interaction or continue it if it is already under way. If they instead decide that disadvantages outweigh benefits, they will decline to begin interacting or stop the interaction if already begun. Social order is possible because people realize it will be in their best interests to cooperate and to make compromises when necessary. Utilitarianism is a micro theory.

Hint 19

The view that people interact
so as to maximize their
benefits and minimize their
disadvantages.

Front 20

Collective Conscience

Back 20

From Émile Durkheim, the
combined norms of society.

Front 21

Anomie

Back 21

Normlessness, a state in
which social norms are
unclear.

Front 22

Bourgeoisie

Back 22

The ruling class

Front 23

Proletariat

Back 23

The working class

Front 24

Class Consciousness

Back 24

Awareness of one’s
placement in the social
structure and the interests
arising from this placement.

Front 25

Feminist

Back 25

The view that society is filled with gender inequality characterized by women being the subordinate sex in
the social, political, and economic dimensions of society.