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SOCILOGICAL TERMS AND DEFINITIONS ESSENTIAL LEARNING: Students will be able to explain the four major theoretical perspectives and the historic foundation of sociology. What is sociology? Sociology is the systematic study of social behaviour and human groups. It focuses primarily on the influence of social relationships on people’s attitudes and behaviour and on how societies are established and change. The sociological imagination In attempting to understand social behaviour, sociologists rely on an unusual type of creative thinking. C. Wright Mills described such thinking as the sociological imagination – an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. A key element in the sociological imagination is the ability to view one’s own society as an outsider would, rather than from the limited perspective of personal experience and cultural biases. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sociology as a social science The term science refers to the body of knowledge obtained by methods based upon systematic observation. Just like other scientific disciplines, sociology engages in organized, systematic study of phenomena (in this case, human) in order to enhance understanding. In contrast to other social sciences, sociology emphasizes the influence that society has on people’s attitudes and behaviour, and examines the ways in which people shape society. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Mrs. Saunders: Sociology 120 Page 1 SOCILOGICAL TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Sociology and Common Sense Common sense knowledge, while sometimes accurate, is not always reliable, because it rests on commonly held beliefs rather than on systematic analysis of facts. Sociology relies on scientific studies in order to describe and understand a social environment. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sociological Theory Within sociology, a theory is a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behaviour. An effective theory may have both explanatory and predictive power. That is, it can help us develop a broad and integrated view of the relationship between seemingly isolated phenomena as well as understand how one type of change in an environment leads to others. An essential task in building a sociological theory is to examine the relationship between bits of data, gathered through research that may seem completely unrelated. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Definitions of Key Terms Sociology: The systematic study of social behaviour and human groups. Sociological Imagination: An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. Science: The body of knowledge obtained by methods based upon systematic observation. Natural science: The study of the physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change. Social science: The study of various aspects of human society. Theory: In sociology, a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behaviour. Mrs. Saunders: Sociology 120 Page 2