Sociology Basics
The scientific study of social structure and human groups.
What is sociology?
This perspective views society as a set of interrelated parts that work together.
What is functionalism?
Rules that define appropriate and inappropriate behavior
What are norms?
Physical objects created by human groups.
What is material culture?
Process of finding something that already exists.
What is discovery?
This person is considered the “Father of Sociology.”
Who is Auguste Comte?
This perspective focuses on competition and power struggles.
What is conflict theory?
Norms with little moral significance, such as table manners.
What are folkways?
Abstract human creations, like beliefs, ideas, and language.
What is nonmaterial culture?
Process of creating something new.
What is invention?
A statement that predicts the relationship between variables.
What is a hypothesis?
This perspective focuses on the meanings individuals attach to their own and others’ actions.
What is symbolic interactionism?
Norms that are morally significant, like prohibitions against theft or murder.
What are mores?
The belief that one’s own culture is superior to others.
What is ethnocentrism?
Process of borrowing ideas and material objects from other cultures.
What is diffusion?
The observable facts or events that sociologists collect and analyze
What is data?
Who developed the concept of “verstehen,” or empathetic understanding?
Who is Max Weber?
Formalized norms that are enforced by the state.
What are laws?
The idea that a culture should be judged by its own standards
What is cultural relativism?
When cultures become more alike, often due to technology or globalization.
What is cultural leveling?
The ability to see the connection between the larger world and your personal life.
What is the sociological imagination?
Karl Marx’s theory about the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is an example of this perspective.
What is conflict theory?
Shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong
What are values?
A culture within a culture, often with its own values and norms.
What is subculture?
A subculture that deliberately opposes certain central aspects of the dominant culture.
What is counterculture?