Sociological Terms and Concepts: A Comprehensive Glossary, Quizzes of Introduction to Sociology

Download Sociological Terms and Concepts: A Comprehensive Glossary and more Quizzes Introduction to Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 sociological perspective DEFINITION 1 The sociological imagination is the ability to discern the relationship between large-scale social forces and the actions of individuals. TERM 2 Society DEFINITION 2 A society or a human society is (1) a group of people related to each other through persistent relations such as social status, roles and social networks. TERM 3 Social Location DEFINITION 3 The group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society. TERM 4 Science DEFINITION 4 Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge") is, in its broadest sense, any systematic knowledge that is capable of resulting in a correct prediction (i.e. TERM 5 Natural sciences DEFINITION 5 The intellectual and academic disciplines designed to explain and predict events in our natural enviornments. TERM 6 Social sciences DEFINITION 6 The social sciences are the fields of academic scholarship that explore aspects of human society. TERM 7 Generlization DEFINITION 7 A statement that goes beyond the individual case and is applied to a broader group or situation. TERM 8 Patterns DEFINITION 8 Recurring characreristics or events. TERM 9 Common sense DEFINITION 9 Those things that "everyone knows" are true. TERM 10 The scientific method DEFINITION 10 Using objesctive, systematic observations to test theories. TERM 21 Verstethen DEFINITION 21 A german word used by Weber that is perhaps best understood as "to have insight into someone's situation" TERM 22 Subjective meanings DEFINITION 22 the meanings that people give their own behavior. TERM 23 Social facts DEFINITION 23 Durkheim's term for a group's patterns of behavior. TERM 24 Basic/Pure sociology DEFINITION 24 Sociological research whose perpose is to make discoveries about life in human groups, not to make changes in those groups. TERM 25 Applied sociology DEFINITION 25 the use of sociology to solve problems- from the micro level of family relationships to the macro level of crime and pollution. TERM 26 Theory DEFINITION 26 A general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another. TERM 27 Symbolic interactionism DEFINITION 27 A theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another. (Weber, Mead) TERM 28 Functional analysis DEFINITION 28 A theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled contributes to society's equilibrium; functionalism/structural functionalism. (durkheim) TERM 29 Conflict theory DEFINITION 29 a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources.