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Sociological Perspective
understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context
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Society
people who share a culture and a territory
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Social Location
the group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society
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Science
the application of systematic methods to obtain knowledge and the knowledge obtained by those methods
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Natural Sciences
the intellectual and academic disciplines designed to explain and predict events in our natural environments
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Social Sciences
the intellectual and acedemic disciplines designed to understand the social world objectively by means of controlled and reapeated observations
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Generalization
a statement that goes beyond the individual case and is applied to a broader group or situation
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Patterns
recurring characteristics or events
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Common Sence
those things that "everyone knows" are true
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Scientific Method (the)
using objective, systematic observations to test theories
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Positivism
the application of the scientific approach to the social world
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Sociology
the scientific study of society and human behavior
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Class Conflict
Marx's term for the struggle between capitalists and workers
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Bourgeoisie
Marx's term for capitalists, those who own the means of production
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Proletariat
Marx's term for the expoited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production
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Social Integration
the degree to which members of a group or society feel united by shared values and other social bonds: also know as social cohesion
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Value Free
the view that a sociologist's personal values or biases should not influence social research
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Values
the standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly
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Objectivity
total neutrality
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Replication
repeating a study in order to test its findings
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Verstehen
a German word used by Weber that is perhaps best understoond as "to have insight into someone's situation"
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Subjective Meanings
the meanings that people give their own behavior
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Social Facts
Durkheim's term for a group's patterns of behavior
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Basic or Pure Sociology
sociological research whose purpose is to make discoveries about life in human groups, not to make changes in those groups
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Applied Sociology
the use of sociology to solve problems - from the micro level of family relationships to the macro level of crime and pollution
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Theory
a general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another
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Symbolic Interactionism
a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another
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Functional Analysis
a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society's equilibrium; also know as functionalism and structural functionalism
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Conflict Theory
a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources
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Macro-level Analysis
an examination of large-scale patterns of society
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Micro-level Analysis
an examination of small-scale patterns of society
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Social Interaction
what people do when they are in one another's presence
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Nonverbal Interaction
communication without words through gestures, use of space, silence, and so on
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Globalization
the growing interconnections among nations due to the expansion of capitalism
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Globalization of Capitalism
capitalism (investing to make profits within a rational system) becoming the globe's dominant economic system
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Auguste Compte (1798-1857)
- First proposed Positivism after the French Revolution.
- Is often credited w/ being the founder of Sociology.
- He stressed that this new science would not only discover social principles but also would apply them to social reform.
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Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
- The second founder of sociology.
- Disagreed w/ Compte about social reform.
- He coined the "survival of the fittest" - meaning that to help the lower class would interfere w/ the natural process.
- His views of the evolution of societies became know as Social Darwinism.
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Karl Marx (1818-1883)
- Thought people should try to change society.
- Believed the engine of human history is class conflict.
- Did not think of himself as a sociologist.
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Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
- Goal was to get sociology recognized as a separate acedemic discipline.
- Received the 1st academic appointment in sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1887.
- Researched suicide and identified Social Integration as they key factor.
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Max Weber (1864-1920)
- is one of the most influential of all sociologists (w/ Marx & Durkheim).
- believed religion was the force in social change - Protestant Ethic (bringing about the "sign" and receiving spiritual comfort, they began to live frugal lives, saving their money and investing the surplus in order to make even more, brought the birth of capitalism)
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Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
- Published "Society in America".
- Translated Compe's ideas into English.
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