Question | Answer |
Sociological Perspective | how the context in which we live affects us and how we see the world |
society | a group of people who share a culture and a territory |
social location | the "corners of life" that people occupy because of where they are located in society (job, income, gender and how it affects behavior) |
Science (as opposed to tradition) | requires that something can be tested by research |
scientific method | using objective, systematic observations to test theories |
positivism | applying the scientific method to the social world (suggested by Auguste Comte) |
Auguste Comte | "founder of sociology", suggested positivism- applying the scientific method to the study of the social world, coined the term "sociology" |
Herbert Spencer | "second founder of sociology", Social Darwinism- societies evolve from a lower "barbarian" state to a higher "civilized" state, and we should not interfere with this process (no social reform) |
Karl Marx | CLASS CONFLICT- 2 social classes inherently at odds, the proletariat (exploited workers) will eventually overthrow the bourgeoise (those with the capital, machines, land, etc.) |
Emile Durkheim | studied suicide and found that SOCIAL INTEGRATION- the degree to which people are connected to their social groups) affects suicide rates; got sociology recognized as its own field (first sociology academic appointment) |
Max Weber | PROTESTANT ETHIC- suggested that religious change is the origin of economic change (Protestantism= capitalism) |
W.E.B. DuBois | co-founder of NAACP, studied relations between African Americans and Caucasians |
Jane Adams | offered insight into social classes, founded Hull House (refuge), social activist |
Talcot Parsons | developed abstract theories on society, C. Wright Mills followed and urged sociologists to get back to social reform |
C. Wright Mills | urged sociologists to move again beyond theories and work towards social reform |
basic sociology | analyzing some aspect of society with NO GOAL OTHER THAN KNOWLEDGE |
applied sociology | using sociology to solve problems |
public sociology | middle ground between research and reform, using sociology for public good (e.g. analyzing problems and suggesting solutions, criticism of social policy) |
symbolic interactionism | symbols (things to which we attach meaning) are the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with one another |
functional analysis | society is a whole unit, made up of interrelating parts that work together, each with a certain function |
conflict theory | opposing viewpoints run throughout society, started as studying class conflict, or the opposing viewpoints between the workers and the capitalists |
nonverbal interaction | gestures, use of space, etc. |
macro level | the large scale patterns of society (functionalists and conflict theorists) |
micro level | focus on social interaction, what people do when they are in one another's presence (symbolic interactionists) |