Notes:
Sociological Perspective: the process of understanding and explaining how individuals and groups interact within society
Social Structures: the distinctive and stable arrangements of social patterns that form the society as a whole
Social Problems: societal conditions that harm segments of society
Sociological Imagination: the ability to see the details of our own lives in the context of larger social structures as opposed to merely personal choices or personal troubles
Social Change: the forces that change society’s organization and social structures
Auguste Comte
Positivism—authentic and valid knowledge of the social world is found only through scientific and empirical pursuit
– resulted in the industrial revolution in western europe
conflict, functionalist, and symbolic interactionism
Macrosociology focuses on social systems and populations on a larger scale
microsociology: individuals and small groups within the larger social system
conflict theory, a sociological perspective emphasizing the role of political and economic power and oppression as contributing to the existing social order
functionalist theory, a macro view of how the parts of society serve to maintain stability
manifest functions, intentional and formally sanctioned functions of social institutions and society
Latent functions, unintentional and informally sanctioned functions of social institutions and society that occur in education, include learning social skills, finding romantic partners, and even negative functions, such as bullying and learning how to cheat on exams.
Chaos=dysfunction
verstehen: an empathetic approach to understanding human behavior, loosely translated as \”understanding\” or \”interpretation\”