Chapter 1 Study Guide

Define sociology: The scientific study of social interaction and social organization.

What is "sociological imagination?" The ability to see our private experiences and personal difficulties as entwined with the structural arrangements of our society and the historical times in which we live.

What is the difference between Microsociology and Macrosociology? Give some examples.
Microsociology is the detailed study of what people do, and think, moment to moment as they go about their daily lives. Example: Leibow's study of African American men on the Washington street corner.
Macrosociology focuses on large scale and long term social processes of organizations, institutions, and broad social patterns.

What is dialectical materialism? The notion in the Marxist theory that development depends on the clash of contradictions and the creation of new, more advanced structures out of these clashes.

What is social Darwinism? The application of evolutionary notions and the concept of survival of the fittest to the social world.

What is Verstehen? An approach to the study of social life developed by Max Weber in which sociologists mentally attempt to place themselves in the shoes of other people and identify what they think and how they feel; translates roughly as "understanding".

Who is considered the "founder" of sociology? Auguste Comte

List the primary contributions of the following individuals:

1. Auguste Comte - Founder of sociology and coined the name sociology.

2. Harriet Martineau - English essayist, novelist, and economic and historical writer. She first gained a large reading public with a series popularizing classical economics, published in several collections (1832 - 34). Her chief historical work was The History of the Thirty Years' Peace, A.D. 1816 - 1846 (1849), a widely read popular treatment. Her most scholarly work is a condensed translation of The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte (1853). Her best-regarded novel is Deerbrook (1839). She was a popular and influential intellectual and author during her lifetime, but her contributions to sociology were marginalized by the men who dominated the discipline during its early years and kept women like Martineau out of powerful academic positions. 

3. Herbert Spencer - (born April 27, 1820, Derby, Derbyshire, Eng. - died Dec. 8, 1903, Brighton, Sussex) English sociologist and philosopher, advocate of the theory of social Darwinism. His System of Synthetic Philosophy, 9 vol. (1855 - 96), held that the physical, organic, and social realms are interconnected and develop according to identical evolutionary principles, a scheme suggested by the evolution of biological species. This sociocultural evolution amounted to, in Spencer's phrase, "the survival of the fittest." The free market system, without interference by governments, would weed out the weak and unfit. His controversial laissez-faire philosophy was praised by social Darwinists such as William Graham Sumner and opposed by sociologists such as Lester Frank Ward. Liked or loathed, Spencer was one of the most discussed Victorian thinkers.

4. Karl Marx - 

5. Émile Durkheim 

6. Max Weber

7. W. E. B. Du Bois 

Describe the primary principles and research interests of the following perspectives:

Critical Theory - Marxist inspired movement in social and political philosophy originally associated with the work of the Frankfurt school. Drawing particularly on the thought of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud, critical theorists maintain that a primary goal of philosophy is to understand and to help overcome the social structures through which people are dominated and oppressed. Believing that science, like other forms of knowledge, has been used as an instrument of oppression, they caution against a blind faith in scientific progress, arguing that scientific knowledge must not be pursued as an end in itself without reference to the goal of human emancipation. Since the 1970s, critical theory has been immensely influential in the study of history, law, literature, and the social sciences.

Feminist Theory - is a conflict theory and theoretical perspective which observes gender in its relation to power, both at the level of face-to-face interaction and reflexivity within a social structure at large. Focuses include sexual orientation, race, economic status, and nationality.
At the core of feminist sociology is the idea of the systematic oppression[note 1] of women and the historical dominance of men within most societies: 'patriarchy'. Feminist thought has a rich history, however, which may be categorised into three 'waves'. The current, 'third wave', emphasizes the concepts of globalization, postcolonialism, post-structuralism and postmodernism. Contemporary feminist thought has frequently tended to do-away with all generalizations regarding sex and gender, closely linked with antihumanism, posthumanism, queer theory and the work of Michel Foucault.

Postmodernism - At the core of postmodern social theory is the assumption that the modern period of history is coming to an end. We are now entering an age dominated not by goods-producing economy of modernity but by the production and dissemination of images and information through mass media and advanced computer technology. 

Describe the primary principles of the following theoretical perspectives:

Structural-Functional (Functionalist)

Emphasizes order and _______________.

The functionalists view society as a system. How would they describe a system? 

What are manifest vs. latent functions? Give examples.

What is social consensus?

Conflict Theory

Emphasizes disorder, ___________, interests that divide, and social __________

Social unity is an ________________ resting on coercion

Main source of conflict is resource _______________

What determines who gains and who loses?

The Interactionist Perspective

Emphasizes personal, symbolic interaction based on __________ __________

What is a symbol? Something that stands for something else.

Assumptions:

Meanings emerge from social interaction.

Meanings continually emerge and change.

What is a constructed reality? Our experience of the world. Meaning it is not something that inheres in things; it is a property that derives from, or arises out of, the interaction that takes place among people in the course of their daily lives.

Conducting Research

What is the function of social research? Because it can verify or disprove theories. It provides findings that permit us to accept , reject, or modify our theoretical fomulations, while challenging us to craft new and better theories.

A theory is a general framework or perspective that provides an explanation for a specific social phenomenon.

Basic Concepts in Research

Define the following:

1. Dependent variable - The variable that is affected in an experimental setting.

2. Independent variables - The variable that causes an effect in an experimental setting.

3. Hypothesis - A proposition that can be tested to determine its validity.

4. Correlation/Spurious correlation - Correlation A change in one variable associated with a change in another variable. Spurious Correlation The apparent relationship between two variables produced by a third variable that influences the original variables.

5. Random sample - A sampling procedure in which researchers select subjects on the basis of chance so that every individual in the population has the same opportunity to be chosen.

6. Representative sample - A sampling procedure in which researchers divide a population into relevant categories and draw a random sample from each of the categories. 

7. Experiment - A technique in which researchers work with two groups that are identical in all relevant respects. They introduce a change in one group but not in the other group. The procedure permits researchers to test the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable.

In an experiment, what are the control and experimental groups? Control Group - The group that affords a neutral standard against which the changes in an experimental group can be measured. Experimental Group - The group in which researchers introduce a change in an experimental setting.

What is archival research? - The use of existing records that have been produced or maintained by persons or organizations other than the researcher.

List and describe the steps in the scientific method. 1. Selecting a Researchable Problem. Finding a problem that merits study and can be investigated by the methods of science.
2. Reviewing the Literature. Surveying the existing theory and research on the subject.
3. Formulating a Hypothesis. Arriving at a statement that specifies the relationship between the variables and developing an operational definition that states the variables in a form that permits their measurement.
4. Choosing a Research Design. Determining whether to test the hypothesis by designing an experiment, conducting interviews, observing the ways people behave in particular situations, examining existing records and historical evidence, or combining these procedures.
5. Collecting the Data. Gathering the data and recording them in accordance with the specifications of the research design.
6. Analyzing the Results. Searching for meaningful links among the facts that emerged in the course of the research.
7. Stating Conclusions. Indicating the outcome of the study, extracting the broader meaning of the work for other knowledge and research, and suggesting directions for future research.