Sociological Imagination
The application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions; Someone using the sociological imagination "thinks himself away" from the familiar routines of daily life
Social Structure
The underlying regularities or patterns in how people behave in their relationships with one another
Social Construction
An idea or practice that a group of people agree exists and that is maintained over time because people take its existence for granted
Socialization
The social processes through which children develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self
Social Fact
According to Emile Durkheim, the aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals. Durkheim believed that ______ _____ could be studied scientifically.
Organic Solidarity
According to Emile Durkheim, the social cohesion that results from the various parts of a society functioning as an integrated whole
Social Constraint
The conditioning influence on our behavior of the groups and societies of which we are members.
Division of Labor
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Anomie
A concept first brought into wide usage in sociology by Durkheim that refers to a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior
Materialist Conception of History
The view developed by Marx, according to which material, or economic, factors have a prime role in determining historical change
Capitalism
An economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested in order to produce profit
Bureaucracy
A type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and the existence of written rules of procedure and staffed by full-time, salaried officials
Rationalization
A concept used by Max Weber to refer to the process by which modes of precise calculation and organization, involving abstract rules and procedures, increasingly come to dominate the social world
Symbolic Interactionism
A theoretical approach in sociology developed by George Herbert Mead that emphasizes the role of symbols and language as core elements of all human interaction
Symbol
One item used to stand for or represent another, as in the case of a flag, which symbolizes a nation
Functionalism
A theoretical perspective based on the notion that social events can best be explained in terms of the functions they perform - that is, the contributions they make to the continuity of a society
Manifest Functions
The functions of a type of social activity that are known to and intended by the individuals involved in the activity
Latent Functions
Functional consequences that are not intended or recognized by the members of a social system in which they occur
Marxism
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Power
The ability of individuals or the members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold
Macrosociology
The study of large-scale groups, organizations, or social systems.
Postmodernism
The belief that society is no longer governed by history or progress
Feminist Theories
Sociological perspectives that emphasize the centrality of gender in analyzing the social world and particularly the uniqueness of the experience of women
Rational Choice Approach
More broadly, the theory that an individual;s behavior is purposive.
Microsociology
The study of human behavior in contexts of face-to-face interaction.
Ideologies
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