Download Chapter 1 | SOC - Contemporary Sociological Theory and more Quizzes Contemporary Sociology in PDF only on Docsity!
archival research
use of existing records that have been produced or maintained by persons or organizations other than the researcher TERM 2
class conflict
DEFINITION 2 society is divided into those who own the means of producing wealth and those who do not, giving rise to struggle between classes TERM 3
constructed reality
DEFINITION 3 experience of the world. it is the property that derives from the actions of everyday life from people. TERM 4
control group
DEFINITION 4 group that affords a neutral standard against which the changes in an experiment group can be measured. TERM 5
correlation
DEFINITION 5 change in one variable associated with a change in another variable
dependent variable
variable that is affected in an experimental setting TERM 7
dialectical materialism
DEFINITION 7 notion in the Marxist Theory that development depends on the clash of contradictions and the creation of new, more advanced structures of these clashes TERM 8
dysfunctions
DEFINITION 8 observed consequences that lessen the adaptation or adjustment of a system TERM 9
economic determinist
DEFINITION 9 a believer in the doctrine that economic factors are the primary determinants of the structure of societies and social change TERM 10
experiment
DEFINITION 10 technique in which researchers work with two groups that are identical in all relevant aspects. They introduce a change in one group but not in the other. The procedure permits researchers to test the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable
macrosociology
study of long-term and large-scale social processes TERM 17
manifest functions
DEFINITION 17 consequences that are intended and recognized by the participants in a system TERM 18
microsociology
DEFINITION 18 detailed study of what individuals say, do, and think moment by moment as they go about their daily lives TERM 19
operational definition
DEFINITION 19 definition developed by taking abstract concepts and putting them in a form that permits their measurement TERM 20
participant observation
DEFINITION 20 technique in which researchers engage in activities with the people they are observing
power
ability to control the behavior of others, even against their will TERM 22
random sample
DEFINITION 22 sampling procedure in which researchers select the subject on the basis of chance so that every individual in the population has the same opportunity to be chosen TERM 23
secondary data analysis
DEFINITION 23 analysis of data collected by others TERM 24
social Darwinism
DEFINITION 24 application of evolutionary notions and the concept of survival of the fittest in the social world TERM 25
social dynamics
DEFINITION 25 those aspects of social life that pattern institutional development and have to do with social change
stratified random sample
sampling procedure in which researchers divide a population into relevant categories and draw a random sample from each TERM 32
survey
DEFINITION 32 method for gathering data on people's beliefs, values, attitudes, perceptions, motivations, and feelings. Data can be derived from questionnaires and interviews TERM 33
unobtrusive observation
DEFINITION 33 a technique in which researchers observe the activities of people without intruding or participating in the activities TERM 34
value free sociology
DEFINITION 34 view of Max Weber that sociologists must not allow their personal biases to affect the conduct of their scientific research TERM 35
variable
DEFINITION 35 concept that can take on different values: the term scientists apply to something they think influences (or is influenced by) something else
Verstehen
an approach to the study of social life developed by Max Weber in which sociologists mentally attempt to place themselves in the shoes of other people and identify what they think and how they feel; translates roughly as "understanding."
