Notes: Sociological Perspective: the process of understanding and explaining how individuals and groups interact within society (HP).
Social Structures: the distinctive and stable arrangements of social patterns that form the society as a whole (HP).
Social Problems: societal conditions that harm segments of society (HP).
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 (HP).
Social Change: the forces that change society’s organization and social structures
sociological theory, a set of interrelated ideas that provide a systematic understanding of the social world.
macro sociology, a level of analysis focusing on social systems and populations on a large scale. The meadow is an example of micro sociology, a level of analysis focusing on individuals and small groups within the larger social system.
proletariat, the majority, who were the poor, property-less industrial working class, and the land and business owners referred to as the bourgeois, the small minority who were the wealthy class (C-19)
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
dysfunction, the undesirable disruptions of social patterns resulting in negative consequences within society
socialized self, which states that the self cannot develop apart from society
symbolic interaction, a micro view of how society is the product of interactions between people, which occur via symbols that have distinct meanings