Chapter 1

Front 1

Sociology,

Back 1

The study of human groups and societies, giving particular emphasis to analysis of the industrialized world. Sociology is one of a group of social sciences, which include anthropology, economics, political science, and human geography. The divisions among the various social sciences are not clear-cut, and all share a certain range of common interests, concepts, and methods. (page 4)

Front 2

Personal troubles,

Back 2

Difficulties that are located in individual biographies and their immediate milieu, a seemingly private experience. (page 4)

Front 3

Public issues,

Back 3

Difficulties or problems that are linked to the institutional and historical possibilities of social structure. (page 4)

Front 4

Sociological imagination,

Back 4

The application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions. Someone using the sociological imagination 'thinks himself away' from the familiar routines of daily life. (page 6)

Front 5

Structuration,

Back 5

The two-way process by which we shape our social world through our individual actions and by which we are reshaped by society. (page 7)

Front 6

Social facts,

Back 6

According to Emile Durkheim, the aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals. Durkheim believed that social facts could be studied scientifically. (page 11)

Front 7

Organic solidarity,

Back 7

According to Emile Durkheim, the social cohesion that results from the various parts of a society functioning as an integrated whole. (page 11)

Front 8

Social constraint,

Back 8

The conditioning influence on our behavior by the groups and societies of which we are members. Social constraint was regarded by Emile Durkheim as one of the distinctive properties of social facts. (page 12)

Front 9

Anomie,

Back 9

A concept first brought into wide usage in sociology by Durkheim, referring to a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior. (page 12)

Front 10

Materialist conception of history,

Back 10

The view developed by Marx, according to which material, or economic, factors have a prime role in determining historical change. (page 12)

Front 11

Capitalism,

Back 11

An economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested in order to produce profit. (page 12)

Front 12

Symbolic interactionism,

Back 12

A theoretical approach in sociology developed by George Herbert Mead that emphasizes the role of symbols and language as core elements of all human interaction. (page 15)

Front 13

Functionalism,

Back 13

A theoretical perspective based on the notion that social events can best be explained in terms of the functions they perform -- that is, the contributions they make to the continuity of a society. (page 16)

Front 14

Manifest functions,

Back 14

The functions of a particular social activity that are known to and intended by the individuals involved in the activity. (page 16)

Front 15

Latent functions,

Back 15

Functional consequences that are not intended or recognized by the members of a social system in which they occur. (page 16)

Front 16

Marxism,

Back 16

A body of thought deriving its main elements from Karl Marx's ideas. (page 16)

Front 17

Power,

Back 17

The ability of individuals or the members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold. Power is a pervasive element in all human relationships. Many conflicts in society are struggles over power, because how much power an individual or group is able to obtain governs how far they are able to put their wishes into practice. (page 18)

Front 18

Ideology,

Back 18

Shared ideas or beliefs that serve to justify the interests of dominant groups. Ideologies are found in all societies in which there are systematic and ingrained inequalities among groups. The concept of ideology connects closely with that of power, since ideological systems serve to legitimize the power that groups hold. (page 18)

Front 19

Feminist theory,

Back 19

A sociological perspective that emphasizes the centrality of gender in analyzing the social world and particularly the experiences of women. There are many strands of feminist theory, but they all share the intention to explain gender inequalities in society and to work to overcome them. (page 18)

Front 20

Feminism,

Back 20

Advocacy of the rights of women to be equal with men in all spheres of life. Feminism dates from the late eighteenth century in Europe, and feminist movements exist in most countries today. (page 18)

Front 21

Postmodernism

Back 21

, The belief that society is no longer governed by history or progress. Postmodern society is highly pluralistic and diverse, with no 'grand narrative' guiding its development. (page 18)

Front 22

Microsociology,

Back 22

The study of human behavior in contexts of face-to-face interaction. (page 20)

Front 23

Macrosociology,

Back 23

The study of large-scale groups, organizations, or social systems. (page 20)

Front 24

Factual questions,

Back 24

Questions that raise issues concerning matters of fact (rather than theoretical or moral issues). (page 21)

Front 25

Comparative questions,

Back 25

Questions concerned with drawing comparisons among different human societies for the purposes of sociological theory or research. (page 21)

Front 26

Developmental questions,

Back 26

Questions that sociologists pose when looking at the origins and path of development of social institutions from the past to the present. (page 21)

Front 27

Theoretical questions,

Back 27

Questions posed by sociologists when seeking to explain a particular range of observed events. The asking of theoretical questions is crucial to allowing us to generalize about the nature of social life. (page 22)

Front 28

Ethnography,

Back 28

The firsthand study of people using participant observation or interviewing. (page 25)

Front 29

Participant observation,

Back 29

A method of research widely used in sociology and anthropology in which the researcher takes part in the activities of the group or community being studied. Also called fieldwork. (page 25)

Front 30

Degree of dispersal,

Back 30

The range or distribution of a set of figures. (page 31)

Front 31

Oral history,

Back 31

Interviews with people about events they witnessed earlier in their lives. (page 31)

Front 32

Triangulation,

Back 32

The use of multiple research methods as a way of producing more reliable empirical data than are available from any single method. (page 31)