Sociology: An Introduction

1
Chapter 1

• SociologyAn Introduction

2

• Sociological imaginationSeeing the relationships
  between social conditions and ones own situation
  in life.
• Social conditionsThe realities of the life we
  create together as social beings.

3

• Sociology The scientific study of human
  societies and human behavior in the many groups
  that make up a society.
• Micro-level sociology An approach to the study
  of society that focuses on patterns of social
  interaction at the individual level.

4

• Macro-level sociology An approach to the study
  of society that focuses on the major structures
  and institutions of society.
• Middle-level sociology Studies the effects of
  communities and organizations on individual lives
  or behaviors.

5

• Scientific methodThe process by which theories
  and explanations are constructed through repeated
  observation and careful description.
• Human ecologyA sociological perspective that
  emphasizes the relationships among social order,
  social is organization, and the distribution of
  populations in space and time.

6

• Interactionism A sociological perspective that
  views social order and social change as resulting
  from repeated interactions among individuals and
  groups.
• FunctionalismA sociological perspective that
  focuses on the ways in which a complex pattern of
  social structures and arrangements contributes to
  social order.

7

• Conflict perspectiveA sociological perspective
  that emphasizes the role of conflict and power in
  society.
• PowerThe ability to control the behavior of
  others, even against their will.