Sociological Theory and Method

Chapter 1

1. How do our authors define as to what constitutes the discipline of “sociology.” 2. We, on the other hand, for practical reasons, came to define “sociology as the interrelationship between _______, ________ and _______. 3. August Comte wanted to study societies in their _______ form, so that it could be made better, in their _______ form. 4. Karl Marx is seen by many as the ultimate sociologist who sets up the scientific categories for research. In his sociology __________ will constitute as his culture, __________ will constitute as his society, which is made up of _______ and ________ as the individuals in conflict with one another. a. Whenever these two classes of people come together, _____________ becomes a common reality, that is profiting off of the labor of one, while not having made any actual effort to earn that profit. b. Continuous profiting and greed become a part of the nature of capitalism. Such realities however will lead to the _______________ of capitalism, since this is a system that cuts expenses from every corner including at the expense of their workers. The workers, who also possess the buying power, no longer can afford to ____________ the products that the owners make available to them, even if they are as cheap as possible. c. Replacing capitalism is _______________. This is a system that rids itself of greedy profiting, and distributes those profits to everyone __________. 5. Emile Durkheim, who strongly disagrees with Marx argued that we can now escape collective reign and are finally freed. In his sociology __________ will constitute as his culture, __________ will constitute as his society, which is made up of _____________ laborers. a. This level of individuality is only possible in modern ________ societies. Since these are societies that operate alike like an organism, every institution ____________ on all the others. The individuals in organic societies, now go to work as ___________ laborers. Working alongside with others of their kind, they form myriads of group ______________. So many in fact, where none of them has any excessive ______over them, leading them into freedom, individuals who make their own decisions and choices. 6. Max Weber, borrowed some of Marx’s arguments and added more to properly describe modern day societies. In his sociology __________ will constitute as his culture, __________ will constitute as his society, which is made up of individuals who are separated from one another by _______ and ________ . a. ____________ is a key concept in Weber’s writings, because he claims that it is what has led into the development of capitalism. China and India were ready for capitalism, because they lacked it, as a result never were able to lead into it. b. By this it is meant that modem societies operate with _________ and ____________, leading to high profits. To assure such high profits, organization now begin to invest in ________ that are most rational and progress motivated. Hiring most qualified personnel, these systems become now __________. This shouldn’t be mistaken with ___________, since these same personnel will perform their duties in the hierarchy of the organization, therefore securing varying incomes and status for their jobs. c. In continuous completion, driven by rational motives, such organization invest more and more into rules and laws that make most sense. Such aggressive investments lead us more and more into the ____________. 7. DuBios added to Weber’s analysis by explaining that the problem of modern day societies is the problem of the _______ _______. 8. The _________ perspective theorists argue that society is like an organism where all the parts are interrelated to finally hold that society together. 9. ____________ perspective theorists argue that the basis of oppression in society are exploitation, struggle for scarce resources, inequality, stratification and social class. 10. ________ ________ perspective theorists explain that things could be looked from more micro levels to explain interaction between persons in face to face settings. 11. _________ ________ theorists explain that the basis of all human interaction is self interest. 12. Feminists add to Marx’s line of thought and explain that oppression still exists in the ______ gap. 13. _________ disagree with all the sociological perspectives and argue that no truth exists. We are in a state where “grand narratives” are only the simulations of our imaginations. 14. Sociology is not a science in _________, but only is a science in ________. 15. In order to conduct a sociological research, sociologists follow the _________ _________. 16. ____________ as a form of data gathering, entails the idea of observing small group social interaction. The problems of it are that it is too detailed and not generalizeable to larger audiences. 17. _________ allow researchers to collect data from large groups of population. 18. _________ are a good way for sociologists to collect data in controlled environments. It is limited to well defined concepts.