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9 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is sociology?
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Sociology is the scientific study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior.
Sociologists seek to analyze and explain why people interact with others and belong to groups, how groups work, who has power and who does not, how decisions are made, and how groups deal with conflict and change. |
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Is sociology common sense?
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The difference between common sense and sociology is that sociologists test their beliefs by gathering information and analyzing the evidence in a planned, objective, systematic, and replicable (repeatable) scientific way.
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The sociological perspective
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The sociological perspective holds that we can best understand our personal experiences and problems by examining their broader social context - by looking at the big picture.
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The sociological imagination
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The sociological imagination is the relationship between individual experiences and public issues.
Many personal experiences can and should be interpreted in the context of large-scale forces in the wider society |
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How is sociology different from psychology and other social sciences?
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Social sciences all study aspects of human behavioral and social life.
But sociologists focus on human interaction, groups, and social structure, providing the broadest overview of the social world |
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Social Structure
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Holds societies together and brings order to our lives by regulating the way the units work in combination.
Social units are interconnected parts of the social world |
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Micro-level Analysis
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A focus on individual or small group interaction
Important because face-to-face interaction forms the basic foundation of all social groups and organizations to which we belong - we are members of many groups at the micro level |
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Meso-level Analysis
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Involves looking at units smaller than the nation but larger than the local community or even the region
Includes national institutions, nationwide organizations, nationwide corporations, and ethic groups |
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Macro-level Analysis
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Involves looking at entire nations, social forces, and international social trends
Essential to our understanding of how larger social forces shape our everyday lives |
