SOC 100 Exam 1

Flashcards for vocabulary review for Sociology 100 Exam 1.

Social Construction

An idea or practice that a group of people agree exists and is maintained over time by people taking its existence for granted.

Sociology

Study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior; investigates the structure of groups, organizations, and societies and how people interact within these contexts.

Individualistic perspective of fallacy

The tendency to explain human behavior and outcomes solely based on individual traits, choices, and actions, assuming that people's successes or failures are entirely the result of their personal decisions, efforts, or abilities.

Sociological Imagination

The ability to understand the connection between individuals experiences and and larger social, historical, and structural forces

Theories

Systematic frameworks that explain how and why certain phenomena occur, involving interconnected concepts, hypotheses, and propositions

Rational Choice Theory

If people act rationally and weigh the costs and benefits of their choices/opportunities they can achieve success, seeking to maximize their personal advantage or utility; social structures emerge from the aggregation of individual choices

Functionalism Theory

Society is a system of interrelated parts, each serving a necessary function; social order and stability are desirable and maintained through shared norms and values; change occurs gradually and is often disruptive to the system.

Conflict Theory

Social order is maintained by domination; power in the hands of those who posses the greatest resources; power and inequality are central to understanding social structures; social change is often driven by the struggle between dominant and subordinate groups.

Symbolic Interactionism

Society is built and maintained through micro-level interactions between individuals; symbols and language are the core elements of human interaction; people actively shape their social environment rather than passively being shaped by it.

Micro Level of Analysis

Analyze the social world at the day to day level of social interaction between people

Meso Level of Analysis

Looking at units that are smaller than the nation but larger than the local-community

Macro Level of Analysis

Involves looking at entire nations, global forces, and international social trends

Nomothetic

Relating to the study of discovery of general scientific laws

Ideographic

Relating to the study or discovery of particular scientific facts and processes, as distinct from general laws

Dependent Variable

The outcome the researcher is trying to explain

Independent Variable

The measured factor that the researcher believes has causal impact on the dependent variable

Hypothesis

A proposed relationship between two variables, usually with a stated direction.

Surveys

Ordered series of questions intended to elicit information from respondents

Interview

One-on-one conversation between the researcher and the subject

Focus Group

Group interview involving small number of demographically similar people or participants who have common traits/experiences

Participant Observation

A qualitative research method that seeks to uncover the meanings people give their social actions by observing their behavior in practice

Ethnography

Researcher is immersed in natural setting of an entire social community to observe and experience their everyday life and culture

Experiments

A research method by which variables can be analysed in a controlled in a systematic way, either in an artificial situation controlled by the researcher or in a natural setting

Respect for Persons

Individuals should be treated as autonomous agents; persons with diminished autonomy entitled to protection

Beneficence

Do not harm in any way

Justice

Benefits and burdens of research should be equitably distributed; no individual or population is exposed to risks of harm while other individuals or populations receive the benefits

Culture

The shared beliefs, valves, norms, behaviors, and artifacts that shape a group’s way of life and are passed from one germ to another

Values

Ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad.

Norms

Roles of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given range of social situations.

Culture Shock

Doubt confusion, or anxiety arising from immersion in an unfamiliar culture

Code Switch

To flip fluidity between two or more languages and sets of cultural norms to fit different cultural contexts

Cultural Appropriation

When members of one culture group borrow elements from another groups culture

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one’s own culture or group is superior to others and the tendency to view all other cultures form perspectives

Cultural Relativism

Taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgement or value

Cultural Globalization

Diffusion of cultural practices, values, and products across national borders. Includes the spread of popular culture, such as music, movies, and fashion, as well the exchange of ideas, beliefs, and lifestyles

Media

Any formats, platforms, or vehicles that carry, present, or communicate information

Social Media

Technologies that allow users to produce, share, and consume media in a variety of formats

Socialization

The process by which we become culturally competent in different social environments and Internalize the beliefs, values, and norms of a given and learn to function as members of that society

Peer Group

A friendship group comprised of individuals of a similar age and social status

Resocialization

The process by which one’s sense of social values, belfies, and norms are reengineered, often deliberately, through an intense social process

Status

A position of a person occupies in society or a social group An recognizable social position that an individual occupies

Ascribed Status

A statues into which one is born: involuntary status

Achieved Status

A status into which one enters: voluntary status

Master Status

One status within a set that stands out or overrides all others

Role

The duties and behaviors expected of someone who holds a particular status

Role Strain

The incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status

Role Conflict

The tension caused by competing demands between two or more rules pertaining to different statuses

Dramaturgical Theory

The idea that social life is essentially a theatrical performance in which we are all actors on metaphorical stages with roles, scripts, costumes, props, and sets

Symbolic Interactionism (in relation to roles)

The process by which roles, ideas, concepts, and values are socially constructed

New Consumerism

Shift from middle class comfort to luxury consumption

Reference Groups

Groups we compare ourselves to for understanding our position in society. Shape what we perceive as necessary, desirable, or socially acceptable

Social Group

People with shared identity and regular interaction

Social Aggregate

People in same place, without interaction or shared activity

Social Category

People with common characteristics but no necessary interaction

Primary Group

Small, strong emotional ties, enduring (family, close friends)

Secondary Group

Larger, impersonal goal-orientated (coworker, classmates)

Dyad

A group of two people. Intimate but unstable, dependent on both members Contingent on the willingness of both parties to participate in the group

Triad

A group of three. More stable, allows for mediation Group not dependent on any one member

Social Network

A collection of people tied together by a specific configuration of connections

Embeddedness

The degree to which social relationships are reinforced through indirect ties

Structural Holes

A gap between network clusters or even two individuals, if those individuals (or clusters) have complementary resources

Social Capital

Information, knowledge of people or things, and connections that help individuals enter, gain power in, or otherwise leverage social networks

Capital

Any asset, either tangible or intangible, that can be used to produce an outcome

Economic Capital

Wreath and assets

Physical Capital

Tools, machines, equipment

Human Capital

Education, training, job experience

Cultural Capital

Tastes, manners, knowledge that signal social status

Organization

Any social network that is defined by a common purpose and has a clear boundary between its membership and the rest of the social world

Utilitarian Organizations

Provide income or personal benefit

Normative Organizations

Pursue moral goals, voluntary

Coercive Organizations

Membership is forced

Isomorphism

The process by which organizations within a specific field become increasingly similar in their structures, practices, and cultures due to pressures from regulation, imitation, and professional norms

Deviance

Any transgression of socially established norms

Crime

The violation of laws enacted by society

Social Control

Mechanism that create normative compliance in individuals

Formal Social Sanctions

Mechanisms of social control by which rules or laws prohibit deviant criminal behavior

Informal Social Sanctions

The usually unexpressed by widely known rules of group membership; the unspoken rules of social life

Labeling Theory

Deviance created by the social process of labeling Social groups create deviance eBay setting rules for what is right and wrong

Primary Deviance

The first act of rule breaking that may lead to a new label of “deviant” thus influencing how people think about and act toward you

Secondary Deviance

Subsequent acts of rule breaking that occur after primary deviance and as a result of your new deviant label and peoples expectations of you

Broken Windows Theory

Social context and social cues impact the way that individuals behave. Any sign of disorder in a community encourages more serious deviance

Incarceration

Legally imposed deprivation of personal liberty, typically in a facility specifically designed for a purpose

Retribution

Offender should pay for their actions

Deterrence

Dissuade from committing crime

Incapacitation

Remove offenders from society

Rehabilitation

Education to prevent further crime

Felon Disenfranchisement

The restriction or denial of voting rights for individuals convicted of felonies, often persisting beyond incarceration