diss/diass

• Science can be described generally as an effort to understand, explain and make predictions about the world using distinct methods of inquiry in an attempt to construct theories.
• Main branches of science

  • Natural Science
  • Social Science
• Natural Science


  A branch of science that deals with the physical world
• Social Science


  A branch of science that deals with human society and relationships
• Humanities


  Academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture
• The term social science has been used to describe the systematic study of human interaction.
• Disciplines within social science

  • Economics
  • Politics
  • Psychology
  • History
  • Geography
• Demography


  The study of the social characteristics and statistics of a human population
• Social characteristics studied in demography

  • Age
  • Race
  • Ethnicity
  • Gender
  • Income
  • Education
  • Migration
  • Employment
• Conflict Theory


  A theory that society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources
• Feudal System


  A system in which people were given land and protection by people of higher rank, and worked and fought for them in return
• Gender Role


  The role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender
• Gender Ideology


  Concerned with normative beliefs about the proper roles and fundamental nature of women and men in human societies
• Gender Inequality


  The acknowledgment that men and women are not equal and that gender affects individual living experiences
• Structural Functionalism


  A framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability
• Social Structures


  The relationships or interactions between groups of different people in society
• Social Functions


  Any institution, norm, or practice that contributes to the stability and maintenance of society
• Levels of social structures

  • Macro Analysis
  • Meso Analysis
  • Micro Analysis
• Macro Analysis


  Looks at broad categories and systems like entire countries or economic systems
• Meso Analysis


  Studies communities or certain groups in society
• Micro Analysis


  Observes patterns and collects data from smaller groups like families or individuals
• Rational Choice Theory


  States that individuals use rational calculations to make choices that align with their personal objectives
• Marxism


  A method of socioeconomic analysis that views class relations and social conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development
• Socialism


  An economic, social, and political system based on public rather than private ownership of a country's means of production
• Capitalism


  An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit
• Social Status


  A person's standing in society in relation to others
• Social Class


  A group of people within a society who possess the same socioeconomic status
• Social Learning Theory


  The idea that children learn from observing others
• Psychoanalysis


  A theory founded by Sigmund Freud that emphasizes the role of unconscious psychological conflicts in shaping behavior and personality
• Institution


  A social structure that has attained a high degree of resilience
• Three Institutional Pillars


  • Cultural Cognitive
  • Normative
  • Regulative
• Cultural Cognitive Institutions


  Guide behavior through deeply entrenched assumptions and conceptions of the way the world is
• Normative Institutions


  Guide behavior through social norms of acceptability and morality
• Regulative Institutions


  Guide behavior through the force of formal rules and sanctions
• Id (Freud)


  Operates at an unconscious level and focuses solely on instinctual drives and desires
• Eros


  The instinct to survive that drives us to engage in life-sustaining activities
• Thanatos


  The death instinct that drives destructive, aggressive, and violent behavior
• Institution


  An approach that emphasizes the role of institutions in the Social Sciences
• William Richard Scott's definition of institutions

  Social structures that have attained a high degree of resilience
• Three Institutional Pillars


  • Cultural Cognitive Institutions
  • Normative Institutions
  • Regulative Institutions