Socl 2001 Ch. 1

Front 1

achieved status

Back 1

A social position, such as teacher, graduate, or wife, obtained through one's own efforts.

Front 2

analytical or explanatory studies

Back 2

The studies used to help explain what cause certain events or problems.

Front 3

anthropology

Back 3

The study of the physical, biological, social, and cultural development of humans, often on a comparative level.

Front 4

applied science

Back 4

The area of science in which the knowledge gained from the "pure" sciences is put into practice.

Front 5

applied social research

Back 5

The use of sociological knowledge and research skills to obtain information for groups and organizations.

Front 6

ascribed status

Back 6

A social position assigned to a person on the basis of a characteristic over which he or she has no control, such as age, sex, or race.

Front 7

base

Back 7

Karl Marx's term referring to the economy and the dynamics regarding the means of production, which he believed was the basis of all other aspects of the society.

Front 8

basic science

Back 8

The area of science in which knowledge is sought for its own sake with little emphasis on how the knowledge might be applied.

Front 9

bourgeoisie

Back 9

The class of people who own the means of production

Front 10

capitalism

Back 10

An economic system characterized by private ownership of means of production, continuous reinvestment of the profits, and power and social standing coming from the control of capital.

Front 11

charismatic authority

Back 11

Authority granted to someone on the bases of his or her personality characteristics or charisma.

Front 12

Chicago School

Back 12

An approach developed by Cooley, Mead, Thomas, and others in the 1920s that emphasized the importance of social interactions in the development of human thought and action.

Front 13

class consciousness

Back 13

Awareness among members of a social class that they share a common interest unique to their class.

Front 14

clinical sociology

Back 14

The use of sociological perpectives, theories, concepts, research, and methods for consulting and providing technical assistance to individuals or organizations.

Front 15

collective conscience

Back 15

A collective psyche that results from the blending of many individual mentalities, but exists above any one individual.

Front 16

conflict theory

Back 16

A social theory that views conflict as inevitable and natural and as a significant cause of social action and social change.

Front 17

critical thinking

Back 17

The cognitive process to analyze a situation or information and to arrive at careful, precise judgments.

Front 18

descriptive studies

Back 18

Studies used primarily to obtain information about a particular social problem, event, or population.

Front 19

dysfunction

Back 19

In structural functional theory, factors that lead to the disruption or breakdown of the social system.

Front 20

economic determinism

Back 20

The idea that economic factors are responsible for most social change and for the nature of social conditions, activities, and institutions.

Front 21

economics

Back 21

The study of how goods, services, and wealth are produced, consumed, and distributed.

Front 22

empirical

Back 22

Based on observation or experience rather than preexisting idea.

Front 23

evaluative studies

Back 23

Studies used to estimate the effects of specific social programs or policies.

Front 24

evolutionary theory

Back 24

A theory of social development that suggests that societies, like biological organisms, progress through stages of increasing complexity.

Front 25

exchange theory

Back 25

A theoretical perspective that social action is a result of continuous exchange of resources between individuals based on rational calculation.

Front 26

function

Back 26

The role a certain part of the structure plays in maintaining or changing the society.

Front 27

functional alternatives

Back 27

Alternate ways to achieve an intended goal in order to avoid dysfunctions.

Front 28

history

Back 28

The study of the past; social history is concerned with past human social events.

Front 29

hypothesis

Back 29

A concrete statement about the relationship between variables that can be put to an empirical test.

Front 30

latent functions

Back 30

The unintended consequences of a social system.

Front 31

law of human progress

Back 31

Comte's notion that all knowledge passes through three successive theoretical conditions: the theological, the metaphysical, and the scientific.

Front 32

legal authority

Back 32

Authority based on a system of rules and regulations that determine how a society will be governed.

Front 33

macro sociology

Back 33

Sociological analysis concerned with large-scale units such as institutions, social categories, and social systems.

Front 34

manifest functions

Back 34

The intended consequences of a social system.

Front 35

means of production

Back 35

Karl Marx's term referring to the capital with which some people produce excessive values, such as farmland, factory, and/ or machines.

Front 36

mechanical solidarity

Back 36

Durkheim's idea of social integration in which people do similar work and assume that they share similar responsibilities.

Front 37

micro sociology

Back 37

Sociological analysis concerned with small-scale units such as individuals in small group interactions.

Front 38

middle-range theory

Back 38

A set of propositions (theory) with a rather restricted focus (i.e., theories of deviance, bureaucracies, etc.)

Front 39

organic solidarity

Back 39

Durkheim's idea of social integration in which people assume highly differentiated tasks, responsibilities, and behaviors called division of labor, and they are more dependent on each other through their unique status in the society.

Front 40

political science

Back 40

The study of power, government, and the political process.

Front 41

proletariat

Back 41

The group in capitalist societies that does not own the means of production and has labor to sell.

Front 42

Protestant ethic

Back 42

The view associated with the Puritans that hard work is valuable for its own sake; according to Weber, the Protestant ethic is responsible for the high value placed capitalism in the United States.

Front 43

psychology

Back 43

The study of human mental processes and individual human behavior.

Front 44

social conflict

Back 44

A view of Karl Marx that social conflict - class struggle due to economic inequality - is at the core of society and the key source of social change.

Front 45

social dynamics

Back 45

Comte's term for social processes and forms of change.

Front 46

social engineering

Back 46

Attempting to change the way a society, community, organization, institution, or group is arranged so that particular goal may be achieved.

Front 47

social facts

Back 47

Reliable and valid items of information about society.

Front 48

social psychology

Back 48

The study of how individuals interact with other individuals or groups and how groups influence the individual.

Front 49

social statics

Back 49

Comte's term for the stable structure of a society.

Front 50

social structure

Back 50

Relatively stable patterns of society, such as the ways in which people and groups are related to each tother and the characteristics of groups influencing our behavior.

Front 51

social system

Back 51

A set of interrelated social statuses and the expectations that accompany them with a clear boundary of its own.

Front 52

social work

Back 52

The field in which the principles of the social sciences are applied to actual social problems.

Front 53

sociological perspective

Back 53

The way to recognize patterns in social events and view personal experiences in the light of these patterns.

Front 54

sociology

Back 54

The scientific study of social relationships, social institutions, and society.

Front 55

structural functionalism

Back 55

The theory that societies contain certain interdependent structures, each of which performs certain functions for the maintenance of society.

Front 56

superstructure

Back 56

Karl Marx's term referring to all aspects of the society other than economy (such as culture, family relations, politics, etc.) that he believed are affected by its economic system.

Front 57

symbolic interactionism

Back 57

The social theory stressing interactions between people and the social processes that occur within the individual that are made possible by language and internalized meanings.

Front 58

theory

Back 58

A set of logically and systematically interrelated propositions that explain a particular process or phenomenon.

Front 59

tradition authority

Back 59

The right to rule granted to someone on the basis of tradition, as with patriarch, king, or parents.

Front 60

verstehen

Back 60

Understanding human action by examining the subjective meanings that people attach to their own behavior and the behavior of others.