Sociological Pioneers
The thinker who coined the term "sociological imagination" to describe connecting personal choices to broader societal forces.
C. Wright Mills
Research data expressed in numerical form, as opposed to descriptive, narrative-based data.
Quantitative data
The required practice of ensuring research subjects understand the risks and voluntarily agree to participate.
Informed consent
Non-physical elements of culture, such as the ideas of freedom and bravery symbolized by a national flag.
Nonmaterial culture
The sociological perspective that views society as a complex system of interconnected parts working together to maintain stability.
Functionalism
Recognized as the "father of sociology," he championed positivism and applying scientific rigor to society.
Auguste Comte
In an experiment testing how eating fast food daily alters a student's weight, the weight change serves as this variable.
Dependent
Observing and gathering data on human subjects without their knowledge or consent violates this basic standard.
What are research ethics (or informed consent / privacy)?
Shared traits or behaviors found in virtually every human culture, such as music and laughter.
The paradigm that examines micro-level interactions, shared symbols, and how individuals create social reality.
Symbolic Interactionism
The Hull House founder who advanced applied sociology by studying Chicago immigrants and championing women's experiences.
Jane Addams
The entire target group being studied, such as all high school football players in Nebraska.
Population
The infamous Alabama medical study that unethically withheld treatment from African American men infected with a specific disease.
Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
Cultural norms carrying severe moral significance, distinguishing them from basic, everyday folkways.
Mores
The theoretical view that sees culture as a battleground rooted in power dynamics, class struggles, and economic control.
Conflict Theory
The author of The Souls of Black Folk who pioneered sociology focused on race and racial inequality.
W.E.B. Du Bois
The primary reason researchers study a sample rather than surveying an entire population.
Time and money
Which medicine could have been administered to save lives during the Experiment?
Penicillin
A group whose values, beliefs, and behaviors directly oppose the dominant culture, such as the KKK.
Counterculture
The foundational functionalist scholar who authored The Division of Labor in Society.
Emile Durkheim
Author of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, who examined how religious beliefs shape economic systems.
Max Weber
Developing hypotheses, reviewing literature, and reporting results are steps in this framework, though securing field support is not.
Scientific Method
The research ethic that prevents emotional/physical suffering inflicted upon participants.
Do No Harm
The practice of judging another culture solely by the standards of one's own, often believing one's nation is inherently superior.
Ethnocentrism/Xenocentrism
The conflict theorist who authored Capital and argued that economic inequality drives historical change.
Karl Marx