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| According to Marx, a state of disillusionment and unhappiness caused by capitalism. According to Blauner, a lack of work satisfaction. |
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| The term, a state of confusion and normlessness, first used by Durkheim, to describe a breakdown of social expectations and behaviour. It was later used in a different way by Merton to explain reactions to situations where socially approved goals were impossible for the majority of the population to reach by legitimate means. |
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| (Generally called 'micro' or 'interpretive' approaches) - sociological theories that analyse society by studying the ways in which individuals interpret the world. |
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| Owners of business and the dominant class in capitalists society |
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| Owners of the means of production whose primary purpose is to make a profit |
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| A term used by Durkheim to describe the core, shared values of society. |
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| A society without social classes or class conflict. The means of production is owned by everybody. A political system and set of beliefs that stresses shared ownership of property by the group or community. |
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| The breaking down of a taken-for-granted subject to uncover the assumptions within it. |
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| The Marxist view that the proletariat are not aware of the fact that they are being exploited. |
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| The process whereby scientists seek to disprove their hypotheses, rather than prove them. |
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| An approach within sociology that stresses that society is based on an general agreement of values. |
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| Domination by consent (used to describe the way in which the ruling class project their view of the world so that it becomes the consensus view). |
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| An initial plausible guess concerning the causal realtionship between events. |
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| A term first suggested by Weber. In real life, ideas and concepts are often rather unclear and overlap with other concepts. This can lead to confusion. An ideal type is the 'perfect' example which contains all the traits that a concept ought to exhibit. This helps distinguish and clarify the concept, even if it is rarely, if ever, found in this form. |
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| Interpretative sociologists |
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| Those whose approach to sociology and research emphasises understanding society by exploring the way people see society. |
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| Malestream (theory and methods) |
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| Originally a feminist term implying criticism of traditional sociology for excluding women from the subject both as sociologists and as the subjects of research. |
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| Marxist or critical sociology |
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| An approach within sociology that stresses the exploitation of the majority of the population by a small and powerful 'ruling class'. |
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| A large-scale theory which purports to be generalisable across societies. |
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| Refers to the period in history dominated by rational thought, the development of industrialisation, the classification of the physical and social worlds. Generally accepted as having started in Europe in the mid-eighteenth century and arguably began to decline in the latter part of the twentieth century. |
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| A framework of thought that provides the way in which we approach and understand an issue. |
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| The oppression of women by men. |
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| Refers to a belief that we have moved into a period in which the dominance of rational, scientific thought and the significance of experts is being challenged. |
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| The working class in capitalist societies |
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| A term used by Durkheim to claim that certain objective 'facts' exist in society that are not influence by individuals. Examples include the existence of marriage, divorce, work, etc. |
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| A term used by Merton and other functionalists to describe a lack of balance and adjustment in society. |
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| Structural model of society |
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| Theories based on the idea that society has some 'structure' over and above the interactions of people. |
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| A theory of society associated with Giddens which seeks to bridge the gap between structural and interactionist approaches, by showing they are interrelated. |
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| A theoretical approach stressing how people construct and respond to symbols in everyday life. A theory derived from social psychology which argues that people exist in a social world based on symbols that people interpet and respond to. Labelling theoriests tend to substitute the term 'label' for 'symbol'. |
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| (Often called 'macro' or 'structural' approaches) - sociological theories that believe it is important to look at society as a whole when studying it. |
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| A term first used by Weber in sociology, to suggest that the role of sociology is to understand partly by seeing through the eyes of those who are being studied. Similar to 'empathy' in English. |
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| The view that sociology should aim to uncover the relationship between the wider structures that determine the way we relate to other people in everyday life. |
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| Defined as 'way of life' and refers to the norms, values and customs of different societies. |
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| Theory associated with G.H. Meads and H. Blumer which argues that people constantly work via symbols (language, writing, and so on) to construct society through the process of social interaction. |
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| Metaphysical explanations |
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| Explanations that rely on assuming that objects and powers exist beyond the 'physical realm'. |
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| Structural-functionalist school |
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| A version of society that starts by asking what function for a society a social phenomenon performs, for example 'what does the family do for society?' Associated with Talcott Parsons. |
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