Chapter 1 Sociological Perspectives and Sociological Research

1. Chapter 1Sociological Perspectives and Sociological Research Key Terms

2. sociologyThe study of human behavior in society. • sociological imaginationThe ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.

3. social speedupChanges in society are placing additional stresses on people. • troublesPrivately felt problems that spring from events or feelings in one individual’s life.

4. issuesAffect large numbers of people and have there origins in the institutional arrangements and history of a society. • empirical approachConclusions are based on careful and systematic observations.

5. debunkingLooking beyond the facades of everyday life. • social structureThe organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions that together constitute society.

6. social institutionsEstablished and organized systems of social behavior with a recognized purpose. • social changeThe alteration of society over time.

7. social interactionA behavior between two or more people that is given meaning. • diversityThe variety of group experiences that result from the social structure of society.

8. EnlightenmentCharacterized by faith in the ability of human reason to solve society's problems. • positivismA system of thought in which accurate observation and description is considered the highest form of knowledge.

9. humanitarianismRests on the principle that human reason can successfully direct social change for the betterment of society. • verstehenUnderstanding social behavior from the point of view of those engaged in it.

10. social actionBehavior through which people give meaning. • organic metaphorConception of society as a metaphor, a system of interrelated functions and parts that work together to create the whole.

11. Social DarwinismApplication of Darwinian thought to society. • applied sociologyUse of sociological research and theory in solving real human problems.

12. functionalismInterprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole. • manifest functionsStated and open goals of social behavior.

13. latent functionsUnintended consequences of behavior. • conflict theory Focuses on the grounds of struggle in society—particularly inequalities based on class, race, and gender.

14. symbolic interactionTheory that considers society to be socially constructed through constant negotiation and human interpretation. • postmodernismBased on the idea that society is not an objective thing. It is found in the words and images that people use to represent behavior and ideas.

15. replication studyResearch that is repeated exactly, but with a different group of people, or in a different time or place. • qualitative researchLess structured research that is focused on the question being asked.

16. quantitative research Uses statistical methods. • hypothesisA tentative assumption that can be tested by research.

17. independent variableThe variable that is the presumed cause of something else. • dependent variableThe variable upon which there is a presumed effect.

18. validityThe degree to which it accurately measures or reflects a concept. • reliabilityThe degree to which a repeat of the measurement gives the same results.

19. data analysis Process of organizing collected data to discover the patterns and uniformities that the data reveal. • generalizationThe ability to draw conclusions from specific data and be able to apply them to a broader population.

20. participant observation (field research)A method by which the sociologist becomes both a participant in the group being studied and a scientific observer of the group. • controlled experimentsA method of collecting data that can determine whether something causes something else.

21. content analysisAnalysis of meanings in cultural artifacts such as books, songs, and other forms of cultural communication. • evaluation researchAssesses the effect of policies and programs on people in society.

22. probabilitiesThe likelihood that a specific behavior or event will occur. • sampleA subset of a population.

23. populationLarge collection of people that a researcher studies and about which generalizations are made. • random sampleGives everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected.