LSU SOCL 2001 EXAM 1 (CHAPTERS 1 & 2)
Sociology - Answers :- The study of human society
- Assumes that human actions are *patterned* and can be explained partly by social
forces
Sociological Imagination - Answers :- Coined by *C. Wright Mills*
- The ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual's life to
seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces
Social institution - Answers :- A complex group of *interdependent* positions that,
together, preform a social role and reproduce themselves over time
- Networks or structures in society that work to socialize the groups of people within
them
Social identity - Answers :- The way individuals define themselves in relationship to
groups they are a part of (or in relationship to groups they choose not to be a part of)
Auguste Comte - Answers :- Recognized as the *father of sociology*
- Believed that society could be studied *scientifically*, called *social physics* or
*positivism*
- Famous works: *Positive Philosophy*
Positivist sociology - Answers :- A strain within sociology that believes the social world
can be described and predicted by certain observable relationships
Harriet Martineau - Answers :- One of the *earliest feminist social scientists*
- Translated Comte's work to English
- Took on the *institution of marriage*, claiming that is was based on the assumption of
inferiority of women
- Famous works: *How to Observe Morals and Manners, Theory and Practice of Society
in America*
Karl Marx - Answers :- Theory of *historical materialism*, which identifies class conflict
as the primary cause of social change
- "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"
- Alternative to capitalism
- Famous works: *The Communist Manifesto, Capital*
Max Weber - Answers :- Emphasis on subjectivity became a foundation of interpretive
sociology
- Humans act on the basis of their own understanding of the situation
- Developed *verstehen*
- Famous works: *Economy and Society*
, Verstehen - Answers :- Understanding the social behavior by putting oneself in the
place of others
Emile Durkheim - Answers :- Positivist sociology
- Developed theory that division of labor helps to determine how social cohesion is
maintained, or not maintained, in that society
- Coined term *anomie*
- Famous works: *The Division of Labor in Society, The Elementary forms of Religious
Life, Suicide*
Anomie - Answers :- A sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no
longer reasonably expect life to be predictable, normlessness
Georg Simmel - Answers :- *Formal sociology*, or a sociology of pure numbers
- Small group interactions, network theory
- Famous works: *The Philosophy of Money, The Stranger, On Secrecy*
American sociology - Answers :- Became prominent at University of Chicago
- Perspective that emerged became known as the *"Chicago School"*
Chicago School - Answers :- Focused on the *empirical research*, with the belief that
people's behaviors and personalities are shaped by their *social* and *physical*
environments
Chicago thinkers - Answers :- Charles Horton Cooley
- George Hebert Mead
- W.I. Thomas
- W.E.B. DuBois
- Jane Addams
W.E.B. DuBois - Answers :- First African American man to get a PhD from Harvard
- First African American sociologist
- Coined term *double consciousness*
Double consciousness - Answers :- Refers to an individual's constant awareness of how
others perceive them and how those perceptions alter their own behavior
Functionalism - Answers :- The theory that various social institutions and processes in
society exist to serve some important function to keep society running
- Society is like a living organism, each part of which serves an important role in keeping
society together
Conflict theory - Answers :- The idea that *conflict* between competing interests is the
basic, animating force of social change and society in general
- The idea that *conflict drives social change*
Sociology - Answers :- The study of human society
- Assumes that human actions are *patterned* and can be explained partly by social
forces
Sociological Imagination - Answers :- Coined by *C. Wright Mills*
- The ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual's life to
seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces
Social institution - Answers :- A complex group of *interdependent* positions that,
together, preform a social role and reproduce themselves over time
- Networks or structures in society that work to socialize the groups of people within
them
Social identity - Answers :- The way individuals define themselves in relationship to
groups they are a part of (or in relationship to groups they choose not to be a part of)
Auguste Comte - Answers :- Recognized as the *father of sociology*
- Believed that society could be studied *scientifically*, called *social physics* or
*positivism*
- Famous works: *Positive Philosophy*
Positivist sociology - Answers :- A strain within sociology that believes the social world
can be described and predicted by certain observable relationships
Harriet Martineau - Answers :- One of the *earliest feminist social scientists*
- Translated Comte's work to English
- Took on the *institution of marriage*, claiming that is was based on the assumption of
inferiority of women
- Famous works: *How to Observe Morals and Manners, Theory and Practice of Society
in America*
Karl Marx - Answers :- Theory of *historical materialism*, which identifies class conflict
as the primary cause of social change
- "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"
- Alternative to capitalism
- Famous works: *The Communist Manifesto, Capital*
Max Weber - Answers :- Emphasis on subjectivity became a foundation of interpretive
sociology
- Humans act on the basis of their own understanding of the situation
- Developed *verstehen*
- Famous works: *Economy and Society*
, Verstehen - Answers :- Understanding the social behavior by putting oneself in the
place of others
Emile Durkheim - Answers :- Positivist sociology
- Developed theory that division of labor helps to determine how social cohesion is
maintained, or not maintained, in that society
- Coined term *anomie*
- Famous works: *The Division of Labor in Society, The Elementary forms of Religious
Life, Suicide*
Anomie - Answers :- A sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no
longer reasonably expect life to be predictable, normlessness
Georg Simmel - Answers :- *Formal sociology*, or a sociology of pure numbers
- Small group interactions, network theory
- Famous works: *The Philosophy of Money, The Stranger, On Secrecy*
American sociology - Answers :- Became prominent at University of Chicago
- Perspective that emerged became known as the *"Chicago School"*
Chicago School - Answers :- Focused on the *empirical research*, with the belief that
people's behaviors and personalities are shaped by their *social* and *physical*
environments
Chicago thinkers - Answers :- Charles Horton Cooley
- George Hebert Mead
- W.I. Thomas
- W.E.B. DuBois
- Jane Addams
W.E.B. DuBois - Answers :- First African American man to get a PhD from Harvard
- First African American sociologist
- Coined term *double consciousness*
Double consciousness - Answers :- Refers to an individual's constant awareness of how
others perceive them and how those perceptions alter their own behavior
Functionalism - Answers :- The theory that various social institutions and processes in
society exist to serve some important function to keep society running
- Society is like a living organism, each part of which serves an important role in keeping
society together
Conflict theory - Answers :- The idea that *conflict* between competing interests is the
basic, animating force of social change and society in general
- The idea that *conflict drives social change*
