SOCI 1010 Lecture Notes - The Sociological Imagination, Scientific Revolution, Solidarity
16 Oct 2011
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Document Summary
Social solidarity: refers to: the degree to which group members share beliefs and values, intensity and frequency of their interaction. Social structures: relatively stable patterns of social relations. Personal problems are connected to social structures at all levels. Sociological imagination: quality of mind that enables a person to see the connection between personal troubles and social structures (c. wright mills 1959) The difficulty of developing quality of mind. Theory: tentative explanations of some aspect of social life that state how and why certain facts are related. Research: the process of carefully observing reality to assess the validity of a theory. Values: ideas about what is right and wrong; help sociologists formulate and favour certain theories over others. Functionalism: stresses that human behaviour is governed by relatively stable social structures. Underlines how social structures maintain or undermine social stability. Emphasizes that social structures are based mainly on shared values or preferences. Suggests that re-establishing equilibrium can best solve most social problems.
