SOCS185
Sociology - correct answer ✔systematic and scientific study of human
society, social structure/institutions/interactions
> social structure and change = social processes and interactions
> building blocks = interactions and behaviors of individuals
Sociological Problems - correct answer ✔1. social order
2. social change
3. indviduals and society
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - correct answer ✔the phenomenon whereby a
person's or a group's expectation for the behavior of another person or group
serves actually to bring about the prophesied or expected behavior
> prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's belief or
expectation that said prediction would come true
Face-Saving Behavior - correct answer ✔Erving Goffman's term for the
strategies we use to rescue our performance when we experience a potential
or actual loss of face
Social Imagination: C. Wright Mills - correct answer ✔ability to see one's
society in the context of history and culture/understand their roles in shaping
the individuals
> one cannot separate history from culture or society
,Social Imagination: Peter Berger - correct answer ✔1. view the general in the
particular; discovering each new layer changes perception of the whole
2. view the strange in the familiar; detach self from the "familiar" interpretation
of human behavior and accept "strange" notions that behavior is a production
of social forces
Social Imagination: Overall - correct answer ✔individuals bear responsibility
of their own behavior, but it can impact families to political structures
Social Imagination: Helps - correct answer ✔avoid applying simple answers
to complex issues; encourage critical thinking to see broader picture
Theory - correct answer ✔a set of logically interrelated statements that
attempts to describe, explain, and (occasionally) predict social events.
> provides a framework in which observations may be logically ordered (=
overall perspective)
Sociology as Social Science - correct answer ✔> observer and observed
> unique perspective/insight
> world = laboratory
> studies = matter of interference as humans as the actors (can infer
causality, but event needs to occur)
> ensures maximum objectivity/consistency in researching problems
Sociology as Social Science: Method - correct answer ✔1. problem (stated
to be researched)
2. background (review relevant-previous research to see what has been said)
,3. testable hypothesis (unverified relationship among variables)
4. research design (methodology; collection/analyzation of data)
5. data collection (laying out data)
6. conclusion (report findings and offer suggestions for additional search)
Method: Additional Terms - correct answer ✔> empirical data = information
verified through senses and subject to observation, measurement, and
replication
> variables = conditions are subject to change in response to other variables
(independent vs dependent)
General Designs - correct answer ✔> surveys (questioners based on a scale
or range)
> existing sources (secondary analysis)
> participant observation (ethnography or field search)
Limited Experimental Design - correct answer ✔variables too unpredictable
since society/culture is not fixed
Sociological Theories - correct answer ✔maintain research focus and
develop analytical framework needed in order to draw conclusions from data
Sociological Theories: Structural Functional Theory - correct answer ✔view
society as system of interrelated parts to maintain system as a whole (must
contribute as a whole or won't move on); emphasize moving through states of
equilibrium (focus on widespread consensus/stability)
> social solidarity/stability = variables that bind societies together
, Manifest vs Latent Functions: Robert K. Merton - correct answer ✔intended
and/or overtly recognized by the participants in a social unit
vs
unintended functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged by
participants
Sociological Theories: Social Conflict Theory - correct answer ✔[macro]
agree with system of interrelated parts (structural functional theory), but argue
we can understand social relationships through problems and tension;
variables of competition/inequality shape/maintain society
> view society as dynamic process generating social change =
competition/inequality
Sociological Theories: Symbolic Interaction Theory - correct answer ✔[micro]
generalize interactions as humans live in a world of meaningful objects
(actions, relationships, symbols); examine member's ways of developing and
sharing meaning of symbols
Study of Suicide: Emile Durkheim - correct answer ✔"The bond attaching
[people] to life slackens because the bond which attaches [them] to society is
itself slack." = societal strains
> intensified job anxiety, higher expectations, and more pressure for individual
achievement
> Social bonds have been weakened or dissolved as people move away from
their families and their community
> newer technologies = contributed to the breakdown of traditional family units
as communication has become more impersonal and fragmented.
Sociology - correct answer ✔systematic and scientific study of human
society, social structure/institutions/interactions
> social structure and change = social processes and interactions
> building blocks = interactions and behaviors of individuals
Sociological Problems - correct answer ✔1. social order
2. social change
3. indviduals and society
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - correct answer ✔the phenomenon whereby a
person's or a group's expectation for the behavior of another person or group
serves actually to bring about the prophesied or expected behavior
> prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's belief or
expectation that said prediction would come true
Face-Saving Behavior - correct answer ✔Erving Goffman's term for the
strategies we use to rescue our performance when we experience a potential
or actual loss of face
Social Imagination: C. Wright Mills - correct answer ✔ability to see one's
society in the context of history and culture/understand their roles in shaping
the individuals
> one cannot separate history from culture or society
,Social Imagination: Peter Berger - correct answer ✔1. view the general in the
particular; discovering each new layer changes perception of the whole
2. view the strange in the familiar; detach self from the "familiar" interpretation
of human behavior and accept "strange" notions that behavior is a production
of social forces
Social Imagination: Overall - correct answer ✔individuals bear responsibility
of their own behavior, but it can impact families to political structures
Social Imagination: Helps - correct answer ✔avoid applying simple answers
to complex issues; encourage critical thinking to see broader picture
Theory - correct answer ✔a set of logically interrelated statements that
attempts to describe, explain, and (occasionally) predict social events.
> provides a framework in which observations may be logically ordered (=
overall perspective)
Sociology as Social Science - correct answer ✔> observer and observed
> unique perspective/insight
> world = laboratory
> studies = matter of interference as humans as the actors (can infer
causality, but event needs to occur)
> ensures maximum objectivity/consistency in researching problems
Sociology as Social Science: Method - correct answer ✔1. problem (stated
to be researched)
2. background (review relevant-previous research to see what has been said)
,3. testable hypothesis (unverified relationship among variables)
4. research design (methodology; collection/analyzation of data)
5. data collection (laying out data)
6. conclusion (report findings and offer suggestions for additional search)
Method: Additional Terms - correct answer ✔> empirical data = information
verified through senses and subject to observation, measurement, and
replication
> variables = conditions are subject to change in response to other variables
(independent vs dependent)
General Designs - correct answer ✔> surveys (questioners based on a scale
or range)
> existing sources (secondary analysis)
> participant observation (ethnography or field search)
Limited Experimental Design - correct answer ✔variables too unpredictable
since society/culture is not fixed
Sociological Theories - correct answer ✔maintain research focus and
develop analytical framework needed in order to draw conclusions from data
Sociological Theories: Structural Functional Theory - correct answer ✔view
society as system of interrelated parts to maintain system as a whole (must
contribute as a whole or won't move on); emphasize moving through states of
equilibrium (focus on widespread consensus/stability)
> social solidarity/stability = variables that bind societies together
, Manifest vs Latent Functions: Robert K. Merton - correct answer ✔intended
and/or overtly recognized by the participants in a social unit
vs
unintended functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged by
participants
Sociological Theories: Social Conflict Theory - correct answer ✔[macro]
agree with system of interrelated parts (structural functional theory), but argue
we can understand social relationships through problems and tension;
variables of competition/inequality shape/maintain society
> view society as dynamic process generating social change =
competition/inequality
Sociological Theories: Symbolic Interaction Theory - correct answer ✔[micro]
generalize interactions as humans live in a world of meaningful objects
(actions, relationships, symbols); examine member's ways of developing and
sharing meaning of symbols
Study of Suicide: Emile Durkheim - correct answer ✔"The bond attaching
[people] to life slackens because the bond which attaches [them] to society is
itself slack." = societal strains
> intensified job anxiety, higher expectations, and more pressure for individual
achievement
> Social bonds have been weakened or dissolved as people move away from
their families and their community
> newer technologies = contributed to the breakdown of traditional family units
as communication has become more impersonal and fragmented.
