FREE Sociology Study Guide Essay (original) (raw)

Sociology: the study of human behavior in society.
Conflict Theory: emphasizes the role of coercion and power, a person's or groups ability to exercise influence and control over others, in producing social order (Karl Marx) where fragmented groups compete for social and economic resources/domination/inequality (strife and friction).
3. Controlled experiment: .
4. scientific method: principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem; collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
5. dependent variable: a mathematical variable whose value is determined by that of one or more other variables in a function.
6. independent variable: a mathematical variable that is independent of the other variables in an expression or function and whose value determines one or more of the values of the other variables.
7. Functionalism: a theoretical perspective that interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society (cohesion).
8. Quantitative research: systematic empirical investigation of social phenomena via statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques.
9. Qualitative research: uses observation as the data collection method.
10. Social action: coined by Weber as a behavior to which people give meaning such as placing a bumper sticker on your car showing pride in the troops.
11. sociological imagination: the ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.
12. troubles vs issues: troubles: privately felt problems that come from events or feelings in one individual's life.
13. Issues: problems that affect large numbers of people and have their origins in the institutional arrangements and history of a society.
14. applied sociology: any use of sociological perspective and/or its tools in the understanding of, intervention in, and/or enhancement of human social life.

1. Sociology Reflection

Sociology is defined as the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society; it provides tools for understanding how and why society functions while enlightening individuals on the social impacts of life. ... One of the numerous abilities sociology obtains is the ability to aid understanding in human behavior guided by social and cultural forces. Through the sociological perspective, people are encouraged to realize how severely society guides thoughts and actions. ... With the ability to liberate people, sociology discovers the gears of society. Human behavior is guided ...

2. Where does Sociology come from

Sociology is the term used to explain the study of society. ... The meaning of the word "Sociology" is the "Science of Society" and the definition of the word "Sociology", according to the Oxford dictionary; is the study of development, structure and functioning of the human society. ... It could be argued that this discipline is closely related to sociology in that its involvement is in the study of human society and its culture. ... He believed in positive science and argued that in order to study society, certain methods of analysis should be used in collecting accurate data on tested an...

3. Paradigms In Sociology IIIII

The Sociological Paradigms The three sociological paradigms are all part of the sociological theory. More specifically, they are all "basic images of society that guides thinking and research" (Macionis 14). The three sociological paradigms are the structural-functional paradigm, the social-conflict paradigm, and the symbolic-interaction paradigm. ... Emile Durkheim used this approach to pioneer a study a study on suicide and found that white, single, rich protestant males were most likely to commit suicide. ... "[The Pew study] found that nearly half of all Americans believe that th...

4. Response Study - The Pathology of Imprisonment

This study demonstrates the importance of context, labeling, social reality, power structures, and the social aggregates of groups. ... Symbolic Interactionism Interactionism is a perspective of sociology that provides a framework for understanding society as a product of everyday social interactions of individuals and the use of symbols to create meaning. ... Role Theory is based on the position that human behavior is guided on expectations held by individuals and by others around him. ...

5. Cultural Diversity in Australian Schools

Sociology of Education – Social Dimension to Education In her article 'Educating Society' (2009) Julie McLeod's main focus is the sociology of education and how issues of class, race and ethnicity and gender intersect with education on a fundamental level. 'Sociological studies of education show how educational institutions are part of the social fabric and how what happens in school-scan both reflect and have consequences for social relations and social processes.'... Key Concepts and Debates within the Sociology of Education The big question raised by the stu...

6. American History X and Cultural Criminology

This quality of thinking is referred to as the "sociological imagination " that has been developed by Mills. ... Understanding the complexity of society in terms of all the institutions, contexts, and interpretations and how all these are related is an important milestone in the study of criminology; to further study in criminology one needs to accept the fact that everything in society is related to the criminological field. ... Mills (1959) explains "no social study that does not come back to the problems of biography, of history, and of their intersections within a society has completed i...

7. Contrast and compare notions of self/identity

Contrast and compare notions of self/identity as outlined in the two perspectives covered in topics 1-4 of your Study Guide (cultural theory and psychological personality theories). ... (Ryan & Wallace 2004 pg 37) As our society evolved with the rapid introduction of development, technology and globalisation our traditions, values and way of life that the Psychological theories of self/identity were based on have also evolved to keep up with the sociological developments of the post modern era. ... Alan Warde, Sociology) As discussed the Cultural and Psychological theories of I...

8. Durkheim and The Division of Labour

According to what the French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858 - 1917) says in his masterpiece, "The Division of Labour," sociology must study moral life in a more scientific way. ... It is possible to define Durkheim as a positivist for his ideas about the method to study sociology. ... Focusing on just the society would have meant to do mere philosophy, Durkheim instead, wanted to elevate it to sociology. ... It is also governed by the collective conscience, innate in each individual; this is represented as a system of beliefs that guides the entire society and provides values that must be fo...

9. Organizational Behavior

A study of the interactions can guide an organization to success if conclusions can be drawn from the study of organizational behavior, if they are valid and generalized top the business world and if the learning is applied. ... A number of fields of study contribute to the study of organizational behavior. Among these are psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology and political science. ... The study of organizational behavior is cyclical. First we study, then we apply, and then we study the results from the application. ...

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