Question | Answer |
What is sociology? | The systematic study of human society. |
What is sociological perspective? | The special point of view of sociology that sees general patterns of society in the lives of particular people. |
What is global perspective? | The study of the larger world and our society's place in it. |
What is positivism? | A scientific approach to knowledge based on positive facts as opposed to mere speculation. |
What is theory? | A statement of how and why specific facts are related. |
What is the theoretical approach? | It is a basic image of society that guides thinking and research. |
What is the structural-functional approach? | It is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. |
What are social functions? | The consequences of a social pattern for the operation of society as a whole. |
What are manifest functions? | The recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern. |
What are latent functions? | The unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern. |
What is the social-conflict approach? | It is a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change. |
What is the gender-conflict approach? | It is a point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and man. |
What is social structure? | Any relatively stable pattern of social behavior. |
What is social dysfunction? | Any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society. |
What are high-income countries? | The nations that have the highest overall standards of living. |
What are middle-income countries? | Nations with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole. |
What are low-income countries? | Nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor. |
What is feminism? | Support of social equality for women and men. |
What is the race-conflict approach? | A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories. |
What is the macro-level orientation? | A broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole. |
What is the micro-level orientation? | A close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations. |
What is the symbolic-interaction approach? | A framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals. |
What is positivist sociology? | The study of society based on systematic observation of social behavior. |
What is science? | A logical system that develops knowledge from direct, systematic observation. |
What is empirical evidence? | Information we can verify with our senses. |
Concept | A mental construct that represents some aspect of the world in s simplified form. |
Variable | A concept whose value changes from case to case. |
Measurement | A procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case. |
Reliability | Consistency in measurement. |
Validity | Actually measuring exactly what you intend to measure. |
Correlation | A relationship in which two (or more) variables change together. |
Cause and effect | A relationship in which change in one variable (the independent variable) causes change in another (the dependent variable). |
Interpretive sociology | The study of society that focuses on the need for social change. |
Critical sociology | The study of society that focuses on the need for social change. |
Gender | The personal traits and social positions that memebers of a society attach to being female or male. |
Culture | The ways of thinking, the ways of acting and the material objects that together form a people's way of life. |
Society | People who interact in a defined territory and share a culture. |
Culture Shock | Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. |
Symbol | Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture. |
Language | A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another. |
Cultural Transmission | The process by which one generation passes culture to the next. |
Sapir-Whorf thesis | The idea that people see and understand the world through the cultural lens of language. |
What is social structure? | Any relatively stable pattern of social behavior. |
What is social dysfunction? | Any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society. |
What are high-income countries? | The nations that have the highest overall standards of living. |
What are middle-income countries? | Nations with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole. |
What are low-income countries? | Nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor. |
What is feminism? | Support of social equality for women and men. |
What is the race-conflict approach? | A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories. |
What is the macro-level orientation? | A broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole. |
What is the micro-level orientation? | A close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations. |
What is the symbolic-interaction approach? | A framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals. |
What is positivist sociology? | The study of society based on systematic observation of social behavior. |
What is science? | A logical system that develops knowledge from direct, systematic observation. |
What is empirical evidence? | Information we can verify with our senses. |
Concept | A mental construct that represents some aspect of the world in s simplified form. |
Variable | A concept whose value changes from case to case. |
Measurement | A procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case. |
Reliability | Consistency in measurement. |
Validity | Actually measuring exactly what you intend to measure. |
Correlation | A relationship in which two (or more) variables change together. |
Cause and effect | A relationship in which change in one variable (the independent variable) causes change in another (the dependent variable). |
Interpretive sociology | The study of society that focuses on the need for social change. |
Critical sociology | The study of society that focuses on the need for social change. |
Gender | The personal traits and social positions that memebers of a society attach to being female or male. |
Culture | The ways of thinking, the ways of acting and the material objects that together form a people's way of life. |
Society | People who interact in a defined territory and share a culture. |
Culture Shock | Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. |
Symbol | Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture. |
Language | A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another. |
Cultural Transmission | The process by which one generation passes culture to the next. |
Sapir-Whorf thesis | The idea that people see and understand the world through the cultural lens of language. |
Values | Culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines for social living. |
Beliefs | Specific ideas that people hold to be true. |
Norms | Rules and expectations by which a society guides that behavior of its members. |
Mores | Norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. |
Folkways | Norms for routine or casual interaction. |
Technology | Knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings. |
Hunting and gathering | The use of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation for food. |
Horticulture | The use of hand tools to raise crops. |
Pastoralism | The domestication of animals. |
Agriculture | Large-scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or more powerful energy sources. |
Industry | The production of good using advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery. |
Postindustrialism | The production of information using computer technology. |
High culture | Cultural patterns that distinguish a society's elite. |
Popular culture | Cultural patterns that are widespread among a society's population. |
Subculture | Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society's population. |
Multiculturalism | A perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions. |
Eurocentrism | The dominance of European (especially English) cultural patterns. |
Afrocentrism | Emphasizing and promoting African cultural patterns. |
Counterculture | Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society. |
Cultural integration | The close relationships among various elements of a cultural system. |
Cultural lag | The fact that some cultural elements change more quickly that others, disrupting a cultural system. |
Ethnocentrism | The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture. |
Cultural relativism | The practice of judging a cultural by its own standards. |