Sociology A Global Perspective (1)

sociology - Answer- the scientific study of human activity in society. social forces - Answer- anything humans create or take notice of that influence or pressure people to interact, behave, respond, or think in certain ways. biography - Answer- all the day-to-day activities from birth to death that make up a person's death sociological imagination - Answer- a point of view that allows us to identify seemingly remote and impersonal social forces and connect them to our biographies social facts - Answer- ideas, feelings, and ways of behaving "that possess the remarkable property of existing outside the consciousness of the individual" currents of opinion - Answer- the state of affairs with regard to some way of being. troubles - Answer- personal needs, problems, or difficulties that can be explained as individual shortcomings related to motivation, attitude, ability, character, or judgement issue - Answer- a matter that can be explained only by factors outside an individual's control and immediate environment mechanization - Answer- the process of replacing human and animal muscle as a source of power with external sources derived from burning wood, coal, oil, and natural gas. positivism - Answer- a theory stating that valid knowledge about the world can be derived only from sense experience or knowing the world through the sense of sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing and from empirical sensations. social statics - Answer- The forces that hold societies together such that they endure over time. social dynamics - Answer- The forces that cause societies to change. conflict - Answer- the major force that drives social change bourgeoisie - Answer- profit driven owners of the means of production proletariat - Answer- those individuals who must sell their labor to the bourgeoisie