Unit 1: Intro
What is the difference between a SOCIAL science and a NATURAL science?
SOCIAL focuses on social features of humans
NATURAL focuses on physical features of nature
What is the definition of "culture?"
Socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior
What is the term for a person’s typical patterns of characteristics and behavior?
Personality
What is the difference between ascribed status and achieved status?
Ascribed: assigned to a person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics
Achieved: comes largely through one’s own efforts
An organized collective activity to bring about or resist fundamental change in an existing group or society is called what?
Social Movement
Which of the 3 major perspectives of Sociology views society as a set of interrelated parts that work together to produce stability?
Functionalism
What is the term for a segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of customs, rules, and traditions that differs from the larger society?
Subculture
What is the common name for the debate over whether heredity & genetics (nature) or how one is taught (nurture) is more important?
Nature vs. Nurture
"A set of expectations for people who occupy a given social position" defines which term from this unit?
Social Role
What is the term for the conscious feeling of a negative discrepancy between expectations and the way things actually are, which is a reason why many social movements start?
Relative Deprivation
Which of the 3 major perspectives focuses on individuals and their interaction with each other?
(Symbolic) Interactionism
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent what is superior to others... What is the opposite of ethnocentrism?
Cultural Relativism
A distinct identity that sets us apart from others
What is the ultimate goal of a bureaucracy?
Hint: They use strict rules and hierarchy to achieve this...
Efficiency
When nonmaterial culture struggles to adapt to new material culture because of new technology, it can cause resistance to social change. What is this referred to as?
Culture Lag
Which of the 3 major perspectives looks at how people in society with more power control others with less power?
Conflict
What is the definition of a "norm?"
Established standards of behavior maintained by a society
List 4 of the 6 agents of socialization.
1. Family
2. School
3. Peer Group
4. Mass Media/Technology
5. Workplace
6. Religion/Government
A group is any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis.
What special kind of group is temporary and is assembled to achieve a specific goal?
Coalition
An example of these is when landowners lose part of their property because their government wants to build something in that area. What is the term used to describe people or groups who will suffer during social change?
Vested Interests
Who first coined the term "Sociology?"
Auguste Comte
What is a value?
Collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper
Why is socialization important to human beings?
It teaches them how to interact with others in their group/culture/society.
One of Weber's ideal aspects of bureaucracy means that members of the organization do not let their personal feelings or biases get in the way of doing their job. What is this called?
Impersonality
What was the name of the social movement that emerged during the Industrial Revolution and destroyed machinery to protest losing their jobs to new technology?
Luddites