sociological imagination
an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past
how do we measure concepts?
we turn them into measurable variables using an operational definition
operationalize
to list the steps we take to turn a concept into an operational definition
flow chart
1. concept
2. operational defintion
3. operationalize
4. variable and attributes
culture
- important, influential
- the foundation of how we see the world
- determines how we see the "physical" world and the "social world"
ethnocentrism
everyones culture looks strange to outsiders
applied sociology
the application of sociological theories and methods to real-world problems and social issues
dependent variable
the outcome that a researcher is trying to explain or predict, which is believed to change in response to variations in another variable
Sociologist have an advantage over other students/scholars because?
no matter where they are, there is always something to study
Personal trouble - example
being unemployed; someone who needs work to pay the the bills cannot find a job
what causes someone to develop an eating disorder?
body image. diet, friends or family body shaming, tramautic events, depression, body dismorphia etc
concept
a mental image that summarizes a set of similar observations
socialization
life long process by which people learn the attitudes, values, behavior and knowledge appropriate for members of a particular culture
agents of socialization
groups in which socialization takes place
experiment
a research method that tests a hypothesis by manipulating variable and observing the outcomes
hypothesis
a statement that predicts a relationship between two or more variable
independent variable
the factor that a researcher controls in a study to observe its effect on another variable
scientific method
an objective approach to study social phenomena by formulating a research question, gathering data through observation and analysis, testing hypothesis, and drawing conclusions based on evidence
value neutrality
a principle of sociology that requires researchers to remain unbiased when collecting and analyzing data
suicide
the most individual, personal event
The sociological imagination is the ability tosee the connection between biography, on theone hand, and history on the other. Given thefollowing two events, which one is most likelybiography, and which is history?
1. is history and 2. is biography
brainstorming
a method of shared problem solving in which all members of a group contribute ideas
When one person is unemployed, itis a _________. When thousandsare unemployed, it is a _________
a personal trouble; public issue of social structure