.

How do the structures of business 0rganizations affect productivity. job satisf action, and inequalities?

what are the causes 3nd consequences of contemporary

trends such as economic liberalization, declinifg unionzation. and increased consumer debt?

Mofir Economic orSanizalion (the means and relations of production) determines the major features of any society.
Functlonolist Theory: Functions of ecoTomic i'stitulions
include: production and distribution of goods, assr8nment
of individuals to different social roles such as occupations.

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identty and norms. Pluralism, a part cularly functional type

ol pottfl"al rn)ttuilon. enta ls drsrr buflol ol power among

Conflici Theory: Pluralism and democracy are illusions that

invite the powerless to believe that they have a voice in
gove,nance, when in fact thel connol is ourie I nrred.

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many groups so no one group can gain

control.

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.
.
.

How do political institutions differ across historacal periods

and societies?
How do different social groups participate in political institutions, and with what consequences?

How and why do individuals participate in political processes such as voting orjolning lobbying groups?
How are political institutions related to olher aspects ot
society. such as the economy and the mass media?

CONTROL, AND LAW

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Historicol Motedolism: Marx's theory of historical development. Class conflicts produce revolutionary societal transformations that yield higher and higher stages in the development of the mode of production. The last revolutlon is by
the capitalist proletariat againstthe bourgeoisie, producing
a classless communist society.
Rolionolizolion: see C/assicr/ s@iological Thinkers>s@ial
fheon*>Max weber>lron cage. weber saw the Seneral
trajectory of western society as one in which logic and
reason were coming to dominate faith and emotion in most

I
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h'/iolheges

Empiriaol Ooto: cacts we observe, measure, and verrfy wrth

our

senses.

Concept: A simple, abstract construct (idea) that represents

some aspect ol the world.
Iheory: A formal sratement ilat attempts to explain a phenomeron by attilbutnS rt to parflcular relaflonships amonB
a gtoup of

concepts.

Hypothesis: An educated Euess or proposition about the relationship between rwo or more p_e-omena that rs stared

form.

wi
in testable

eties grew they developed complex divisions of labor, Slving

way to organic solidaraty.

From Gemeinschofl

.
.

thepowelinequality,andconflict

Focuses on how people come to engage in deviant behaviors and assumed deviant identlties.
The labeling of devian$ as such silengthens their deviant
identities and may encourage further deviant behavioL

ln-Depih lnieryiews: People are asked to respond at length

differentiation among the various elements oI socjety, due

to elaboration of the social divasion of labor and increasinS
separation of social functions and institutions. Parsons saw
differentiation as a form of evolutionary process.

ended cliscussion.
i

Field Reseorch lPorticipont Obsenotionl: Researchersl

observe and talk to people in their ordinary settin8s while l

sometimes joining in thear activities.
I
Documenl Study: Oata is gathered from documents such as l
newspaper articles, mariage records, or diaries.
l
Expe.imentsr A method used to test a specific hypothesisl
about a cause and effect relationship. An experiment has l
three steps (1) measuring the elfectvariablej (2) exposingl
the effect variable to the cause variable; and {3) measuring i
rhe effect variabte again to see if a change has occurred..
Any factors that misht affect the two variables being mea-i
sured and that are not part of the causal relationship beangi
tested must be controlled.

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i4cst seai-^ingisis piobcrly iii+ themselves scmewh'l.e

Ferdinond Tonnies

Differentiotionr Functionalist Tolcolt Po15ons described

lonS-term soci3l change as a process of increasing

io a senes of quesfloTs poseo by the researcler. Questons i

may be fixed in advance or the interviewer may allow open-i

to Ges,rschofi

{1855-1936) used these two terms to describe pre-modern

and modern socreties, respectively. others argue that elements of both are present in all societies.
Gemeinschoflt Community. Relationshaps are personal,
enduring, and based on kinship or status; individuals are
motlvated by obliSations, customs, and loyalty.
Geserrrchot l society or association. Relationships are impersonal, contractual, and short-term; individuals are motivated by rational self-interest.

I Symbolic lnteJoctiohlsm

GENERAL APPROACHES
reseir4h rs iroseC ori iiie i.ls4 oi efi i:iirr:Ql
dali) io suiitlcri?ioie.orlaei-jfs iri-:ij li-ieciieg i:ffd 1i) lesl

Devianceisoneaspectof
that prvade society.

c,assica,

sociological Thinkqs>Emile Dulthelm. Primitive societies

were characterized by mechanical solidarity; as these soci-

spurs social change.

one of the first social thinkers to explain deviance in social
rether than biologicel and psychologrcal terms. {Durkheim
only)

i Conflict Theory

tains a monopoly on the use of vrolence in ats territory.

see c/assrca/ sociological Thinkers>Max webet>Key
co rce p6 > Le gi t i m a re au t h u i ty.
Functionolist Theory: Functions of political institutions
include protection from external enemies, resolving Broup
conflicts, defining societal goals. and strengthening group

Scabaogi::.Ji

areas of social lire.

t,om Mechoni.ol to O,gonic solidorily: see

Functionolism, Dur*heim
. Deviance has positive flnctions: it provides opportunities
for society to reassen common values and norms, and t

i
weber: Defines the state as an authority that main-

Sir;iis ir, iin.;o!r o3F!cii oi srcletf, iniluCin-c bolh

lor;r- scclo lronsiormJi;irilrs ir sJario sirijcliiio, ai-jilLrre,
ofiil iisiiiLrlors onC !jr$ii-sarcle qioilg+!i iri io(ci
rri4orinEs si:d alerccliori

iDEVIANCE, soctAL

i oevionce: Behavior that violates established social norms.

5. POLITICAL lNsTlTUTlONs: lnstiiurions thoi I sociologists do not see any act as intrinsically deviant.
pertoin to the governonce of o sociely, its formol
i Sociol Control: social practices and mechanlsms that encoutr
I age conformity to established norms, prevent deviant
dislribution of oulhority, ils use of force, ond its
qnd
i behaviol and deal with the repercussions oI deviance.
politicol
unils.
relotionships lo other soaielies
i lowr A formal type of social control associated with complex
The slote, on impodoni politicol instituiion in
i soc eties: includes a system of rules and sanctions with
modern societies, is the oppqrolus of governonce
i specialized personnel and institutions to carry them out.
ove( o pqrliculor terrilory.

SOCIAL CHANGE

increases (decreases), the value of the other increases

(decreases). NeEotiye Correlotion: When the value of one
increases {dcreases), the other decreases (increases),
Spurious Relolionship: A false relationship between two variables (A, 8). A and B may appear to be causally related,
butthey are actually affected independently by a third variable (C). For example, suppose that the U.S. cities with the
hiShest number of art museums (A) also have the highest
concentrations of smog {B). Does this mean that aIt causes
smog? A more likely explanataon as that city size (C) is causally related to both the number of museums and the concentrationofsmog. A a C t I
lnle.vening Relotionship: A relationship between two variables (A, B) that is dependent on the actions ot a third
variable (C). For example, suppose that working class stu.
dents (A) perform poorly on sATs {B), Does thls mean that
working class students are less intelliSent? A more likely
explanation is that working class students go to low-quality schoo,s (C), Here a school-quality variable intervenes
in lhe relationship between student social class and SAT

score.a+caB
i Vorioble Reseorch: Entails choos ng variables to represent
bel!'Jeen ihese tvr'c ocs:iiciis::
i
relevant concepts, measuring the vaiables, and analyzingl
Soclology os S.ien@r Sociological research is a systematic i
the results. Data is often Sathered throuSh surveys; analymethod of d,rect observation oI the world, samilar to the i
Ti_e fc;loulinE aonaeiiis cre rlevont lg all scai+lcgtccl
sts rs staflsltcal,
narural sctences. which proouces objective knowled8e of i . Voriobl:
ieseaicii:
A concept that can take on more than one value.'
social phenomena and, in some cases, general social laws. i
For example, the variaole ethnicrty may take on t_e values. Reliobililyr consastency of obseruation, such that the samE
Associated with vanable research.
i
results are obtained each time the observation is repeated.
Afilcan-American, Lairno, Asran, etc.
lnterp.elive Sociology: Sociological research examrnesi . ,!l@su7menl: lhe procedure by which the value of a vari- Volidiiyr There are many types of valadity; one important
the meanrngs rhat acrors attach to social phenomena. i
type is construct validity, which addresses the question of
able rs derermined in a specitic case. For exarple, one could
MeaflinSs are subjective and not governed by univer- i
whether the researcher s measuring exactly what he or
measure ethnicity by lookinS at each individual person or byl
sal laws; hence, sociology differs from natural science. i
she claims to measure.
asking each person what their ethnic identjfication is.
i
Assocratedwth quatttative research.
Quolilorlve Resoach: Entails selection of quesilons, con-. Generqliuobility: Most sociologists can only observe a few
of the smloloSical phenomena about which they wish to
cepts, and relevant data sources. Data is often gatheredl
make empirical claims, so they generalize f.om this few
through intervjews orfield research. Analysis involves iden-l
patterns
to the larger group. The most common way of doing this
tification of categories and
in the data and contin-l
Cnae lhe resecr(lei hos c qilesiiori orid sarryre
ls to select the smaller group of cases by systematically
ual 'eassessmeni of ouestions and concepts.
concepls ond;ileori+s, -rh-= oi he murt piak, level .)l
sompllng them from the larger group or popuiation. lf the
..clysis, c iire.i.qme. ond o nrelhcd ol qothe.ing
sample represents the population well, conclusions about
Ca!8, cnd ciecide whci type ol doio crolvs:5 v,,iil be
it are Eenrolizoble, if not, they are bio$d. Typically, the
,tnsi tpli.ctr,oie
Kl
bestway to achieve generalizability is by using a large, ranMuah.rjr(icijr$rloi rasrnr(h r.n1i cr,li,nbiijiinn
domly selected sample.
1ne piegelce ci ccij$il i+lcii,nsh;irs cming snc:ci
I
Volue-tie
R6ecrch ond Obie.rivfy: Many believe that
Unit of Ah!lysis: The specific socaal entity about whach data i Lieirofrenar ! i Ie i.:lla!v;i,i; Jriiu!t;o11 ossur)-;s
sociologists should strive to produce objective, value-free
vrii0bl-=
reseori:h.i
l
willbeSarhered ano empincal clajms made. some possible .
analysis;
they should avoid introducing their own
Cousol Anolysls: The goal is to establish (or refute) the exisunits ofanalyss: indiuc,uals, careers, cty brrth rates. unionvalues into their research. others claim that it is impossible
izatjon votes, nations, business establishmentsi tence of a causal relationship beueen Mo or more vari-l
and undesirable for researchers to completely supables. To establish causation, the research must demon-l
Cro$-ectlonol Sludy: Uses data from one tame point only. i
press thelr values; values are an importatt impetus lor
strate that: (1) the variables are correlatedj {2) the causal
LonEitudihol Study: Uses data gathered at several points in i
socioloSical research.
i variable precedes the effect variable in time; and (3) al Reseorch
time. Permits conclusions about change.
Ethi6: sociolo8ists agree that some research
i change in the causalvariable results in a change in the effect
methods can harm or pose risks to participants, For this
Wlvaia6leregardlessofchan8esinotherfactoriproving(s)is
reason,
most
socioloSists adhere to established guidelines
dlfflcultbecauseofthebroadpoGntialforunmeasuredspuSufrey.r people are asked to respono to i piepireo iei oi i
for conducting research in a manner that will reduce risks
questionsorstatementsineitheraveroaiinierv,"wo'ai
i
and
conform
to
widely accepted ethical standards.
-lloY:-9'intll:"ll-8l"l:li"-:ryp:l:ll:-::"i11Y:'J9,
Correlotion:
Two variables are correlated af they changei

RESEARCH DESIGN

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wltten questionnaire.

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together. Posilive CorElolion: When the value

of

one

o:9

;3
F s!

2
S
B

r.9r;
tr,t i