1.6: Key Terms

Introductory Sociology 3e · LibreTexts

0%

Contents

    Text

    Size
    100%
    Theme
    Typeface
    Line length
    Spacing

    From LibreTexts, under CC BY 4.0, as the source states it; its equations are written in TeX, which the PDF shows typeset. This page at LibreTexts.

    Example and Directions
    Words (or words that have the same definition) The definition is case sensitive (Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages] (Optional) Caption for Image (Optional) External or Internal Link (Optional) Source for Definition
    (Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...") (Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity") Illustration The infamous double helix https://bio.libretexts.org/ CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen
    Glossary Entries
    Word(s) Definition Image Caption Link Source
    antipositivism the view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values        
    conflict theory a theory that looks at society as a competition for limited resources        
    constructivism an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be        
    culture a group's shared practices, values, and beliefs        
    dramaturgical analysis a technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance        
    dynamic equilibrium a stable state in which all parts of a healthy society work together properly        
    dysfunctions social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society        
    figuration the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior        
    function the part a recurrent activity plays in the social life as a whole and the contribution it makes to structural continuity        
    functionalism a theoretical approach that sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals that make up that society        
    generalized others the organized and generalized attitude of a social group        
    grand theories an attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change        
    hypothesis a testable proposition        
    latent functions the unrecognized or unintended consequences of a social process        
    macro-level a wide-scale view of the role of social structures within a society        
    manifest functions sought consequences of a social process        
    micro-level theories the study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups        
    paradigms philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them        
    positivism the scientific study of social patterns        
    qualitative sociology in-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of its data        
    quantitative sociology statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants        
    reification an error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence        
    significant others specific individuals that impact a person's life        
    social facts the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life        
    social institutions patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs        
    social solidarity the social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion        
    society a group of people who live in a defined geographical area who interact with one another and who share a common culture        
    sociological imagination the ability to understand how your own past relates to that of other people, as well as to history in general and societal structures in particular        
    sociology the systematic study of society and social interaction        
    symbolic interactionism a theoretical perspective through which scholars examine the relationship of individuals within their society by studying their communication (language and symbols)        
    theory a proposed explanation about social interactions or society        
    verstehen a German word that means to understand in a deep way        

    1.6: Key Terms is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.