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60 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
achieved status
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A social position, such as teacher, graduate, or wife, obtained through one's own efforts.
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analytical or explanatory studies
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The studies used to help explain what cause certain events or problems.
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anthropology
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The study of the physical, biological, social, and cultural development of humans, often on a comparative level.
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applied science
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The area of science in which the knowledge gained from the "pure" sciences is put into practice.
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applied social research
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The use of sociological knowledge and research skills to obtain information for groups and organizations.
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ascribed status
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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.
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base
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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.
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basic science
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The area of science in which knowledge is sought for its own sake with little emphasis on how the knowledge might be applied.
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bourgeoisie
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The class of people who own the means of production
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capitalism
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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.
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charismatic authority
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Authority granted to someone on the bases of his or her personality characteristics or charisma.
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Chicago School
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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.
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class consciousness
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Awareness among members of a social class that they share a common interest unique to their class.
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clinical sociology
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The use of sociological perpectives, theories, concepts, research, and methods for consulting and providing technical assistance to individuals or organizations.
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collective conscience
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A collective psyche that results from the blending of many individual mentalities, but exists above any one individual.
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conflict theory
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A social theory that views conflict as inevitable and natural and as a significant cause of social action and social change.
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critical thinking
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The cognitive process to analyze a situation or information and to arrive at careful, precise judgments.
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descriptive studies
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Studies used primarily to obtain information about a particular social problem, event, or population.
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dysfunction
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In structural functional theory, factors that lead to the disruption or breakdown of the social system.
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economic determinism
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The idea that economic factors are responsible for most social change and for the nature of social conditions, activities, and institutions.
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economics
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The study of how goods, services, and wealth are produced, consumed, and distributed.
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empirical
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Based on observation or experience rather than preexisting idea.
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evaluative studies
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Studies used to estimate the effects of specific social programs or policies.
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evolutionary theory
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A theory of social development that suggests that societies, like biological organisms, progress through stages of increasing complexity.
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exchange theory
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A theoretical perspective that social action is a result of continuous exchange of resources between individuals based on rational calculation.
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function
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The role a certain part of the structure plays in maintaining or changing the society.
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functional alternatives
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Alternate ways to achieve an intended goal in order to avoid dysfunctions.
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history
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The study of the past; social history is concerned with past human social events.
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hypothesis
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A concrete statement about the relationship between variables that can be put to an empirical test.
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latent functions
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The unintended consequences of a social system.
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law of human progress
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Comte's notion that all knowledge passes through three successive theoretical conditions: the theological, the metaphysical, and the scientific.
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legal authority
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Authority based on a system of rules and regulations that determine how a society will be governed.
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macro sociology
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Sociological analysis concerned with large-scale units such as institutions, social categories, and social systems.
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manifest functions
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The intended consequences of a social system.
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means of production
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Karl Marx's term referring to the capital with which some people produce excessive values, such as farmland, factory, and/ or machines.
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mechanical solidarity
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Durkheim's idea of social integration in which people do similar work and assume that they share similar responsibilities.
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micro sociology
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Sociological analysis concerned with small-scale units such as individuals in small group interactions.
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middle-range theory
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A set of propositions (theory) with a rather restricted focus (i.e., theories of deviance, bureaucracies, etc.)
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organic solidarity
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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.
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political science
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The study of power, government, and the political process.
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proletariat
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The group in capitalist societies that does not own the means of production and has labor to sell.
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Protestant ethic
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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.
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psychology
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The study of human mental processes and individual human behavior.
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social conflict
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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.
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social dynamics
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Comte's term for social processes and forms of change.
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social engineering
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Attempting to change the way a society, community, organization, institution, or group is arranged so that particular goal may be achieved.
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social facts
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Reliable and valid items of information about society.
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social psychology
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The study of how individuals interact with other individuals or groups and how groups influence the individual.
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social statics
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Comte's term for the stable structure of a society.
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social structure
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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.
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social system
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A set of interrelated social statuses and the expectations that accompany them with a clear boundary of its own.
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social work
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The field in which the principles of the social sciences are applied to actual social problems.
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sociological perspective
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The way to recognize patterns in social events and view personal experiences in the light of these patterns.
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sociology
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The scientific study of social relationships, social institutions, and society.
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structural functionalism
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The theory that societies contain certain interdependent structures, each of which performs certain functions for the maintenance of society.
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superstructure
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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.
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symbolic interactionism
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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.
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theory
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A set of logically and systematically interrelated propositions that explain a particular process or phenomenon.
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tradition authority
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The right to rule granted to someone on the basis of tradition, as with patriarch, king, or parents.
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verstehen
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Understanding human action by examining the subjective meanings that people attach to their own behavior and the behavior of others.
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