Chapter 1, Developing A Sociological Perspective Key Terms

Sociology The study of human behavior in society. Sociological imagination The ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.

Social speedup Changes in society are placing additional stresses on people. Troubles Privately felt problems that spring from events or feelings in one individual’s life.

Issues Affect large numbers of people and have there origins in the institutional arrangements and history of a society. Empirical approach Conclusions are based on careful and systematic observations.

Debunking Looking beyond the facades of everyday life. Social structure The organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions that together constitute society.

Social institutions Established and organized systems of social behavior with a recognized purpose. Social change The alteration of society over time.

Social interaction A behavior between two or more people that is given meaning. Diversity The variety of group experiences that result from the social structure of society.

Enlightenment Characterized by faith in the ability of human reason to solve society's problems. Positivism A system of thought in which accurate observation and description is considered the highest form of knowledge.

Humanitarianism Rests on the principle that human reason can successfully direct social change for the betterment of society. Social facts Conceptualized by Durkheim as those social patterns that are external to individuals.

Verstehen Understanding social behavior from the point of view of those engaged in it. Social action Behavior through which people give meaning.

Organic metaphor Conception of society as a metaphor, a system of interrelated functions and parts that work together to create the whole. Social Darwinism Application of Darwinian thought to society.

Applied sociology Use of sociological research and theory in solving real human problems. Functionalism Interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole.

Manifest functions Stated and open goals of social behavior. Latent functions Unintended consequences of behavior.

Power The ability of a person or group to exercise influence and control over others, in producing social order. Conflict theory Focuses on the grounds of struggle in society—particularly inequalities based on class, race, and gender.

Symbolic interaction Theory that considers society to be socially constructed through constant negotiation and human interpretation. Postmodernism Based 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.