UConn SOCI 1001 Exam 1

Reading - Mills

Personal Experiences and Public Issues

"Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both."

-His conceptualization of the SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION allows individuals to see the relationships between events in their personal lives, biography, and events in their society, history.

---In other words, this mindset provides the ability for individuals to realize the relationship between personal experiences and the larger society.

Reading - Macionis pp 2-14

Sociological perspective. Origins of sociology. Approaches to sociology.

If you need to miss class for an appropriate/excused reason (e.g., illness, family emergency, religious holiday), please contact Professor Munsch as soon as possible. True or false?

False

If you miss 15 or more reading assessment/ participation points—due to excused absences (e.g., illness, family emergencies, religious holidays), what should you do?

A. Email documentation to Professor Munsch within 24 hours of the event.

B. Email documentation to your TA within 24 hours of the event.

C. See Dr. Munsch, with documentation in hand, the last week of the semester.

D. Any of the above are fine.

C. See Dr. Munsch, with documentation in hand, the last week of the semester.

Sociology

"The systematic study of human society" (p. 4)

• A social science involving the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies

• The study of our behavior as social beings, covering everything from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes

• The scientific study of social institutions, the entities through which humans move throughout their lives

Confirmation Bias

The tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true.

How Does Sociology Differ from Other Social Sciences?

•All social sciences study some aspect of society.

•Umbrella term that includes fields outside of the natural sciences, including...

-Anthropology

-Economics

-Political Science

-History

-Psychology

-Communications

Sociological Perspective

Understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context. "Seeing the general in the particular" (Berger, 1963).

Sociological Imagination

Ability to see the connection between the larger world and our personal lives

"...understanding the private in public terms" (Mills, 1959).

Auguste Comte

"Father of Sociology". French philosopher who founded sociology, or the scientific study of society

-Course of Positive Philosophy (1830-1842)

-Saw sociology as the product of 3 stages of development

Harriet Martineau

"Mother of Sociology". Social theorist, first female sociologist, translated and condensed Comte

3 Stages of Sociological Development of a Society

-Theological Stage

-Metaphysical Stage

-Scientific Stage

Theological Stage

-Most of human history

-People believed that everything, including society, is the creation of the divine or supernatural.

•Fetishism

•Polytheism

•Monotheism

Metaphysical Stage

-Transitory stage

-People believe in God but do not attribute everything that happens to the will of God.

-Religious and scientific/rational explanations for social phenomenon co-exist.

Scientific Stage

-Phenomenon are explained by scientific findings and empirical research.

-First to apply scientific approach—used in study of the physical world—to the study of society.

-Believed society operates according to certain laws, just as the physical world operates according to gravity and other laws of nature.

Positivism

A scientific approach to knowledge based on "positive" facts as opposed to mere speculation.

True or False? Sociology is among the youngest of the academic disciplines.

True

Which of the following distinctions between countries is discussed in the Davis and Moore reading?

A. High-Income, Middle-Income, and Low-Income Countries

B. Developed and Developing Countries

C. First and Second World Countries

D. Authoritarian and Authoritative Countries

E. All of the Above

E. All of the Above

Reading - Davis and Moore

Some Principles of Stratification

-Social stratification (hierarchy)

-Structural functionalist

-Some jobs are more valued than others because of their training requirements, importance of function, and/or the scarcity of people to do them

(1) Certain positions in any society are functionally more important than others, and require special skills for their performance.

(2) Only a limited number of individuals in any society have the talents which can be trained into the skills appropriate to these positions.

(3) The conversion of talents into skills involves a training period during which sacrifices of one kind or another are made by those undergoing the training.

(4) In order to induce the talented persons to undergo these sacrifices and acquire the training, their future positions must carry an inducement value in the form of differential, i.e., privileged and disproportionate access to the scarce and desired rewards which the society has to offer.

(5) These scarce and desired goods consist of the rights and perquisites attached to,or built into, the positions, and can be classified into those things which contribute to (a) sustenance and comfort, (b) humor and diversion, (c) self-respect and ego expansion.

(6) This differential access to the basic rewards of the society has as a consequence the differentiation of the prestige and esteem which various strata acquire. This may be said, along with the rights and perquisites, to constitute institutionalized social inequality, i.e., stratification.

(7) Therefore, social inequality among different strata in the amounts of scarce and desired goods, and the amounts of prestige and esteem which they receive, is both positively functional and inevitable in any society

The recognized and intended consequences of a social pattern are referred to as ________.

A. Latent functions

B. Manifest functions

C. Sociofunctions

D. Dysfunctions

E. Feminist functions

B. Manifest functions

Latent Funcitons

Functional consequences that are not intended or recognized by the members of a social system in which they occur

Manifest Functions

The recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern

Dysfunctions

Social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society

The "framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change" is the ________.

A. Structural-functional approach

B. Social-conflict approach

C. Structural-change approach

D. Conflict-change approach

E. None of the above

B. Social-conflict approach

Theory

A statement of how and why specific facts are related.

Theoretical Approach

A basic image of society that guides thinking and research

Structural Functionalism

-Society is a system of interdependent parts

-Parts work together to promote stability, equilibrium, and balance.

-Over time, society evolved from simple to complex w/ highly specialized parts.

-Each part fulfills different needs or functions of the social system.

-Research can and should be unbiased.

Structural Functionalism: Critiques

• Just because something exists, doesn't mean it's functional for society.

• Presumes that society benefits everyone.

• Teleological - appears causal, but beyond human ability to empirically test

• It is impossible to be unbiased, neutral and value-free.

Conflict Theory

• Society is made up of groups that have opposing interests.

• Coercion and attempts to gain power are ever-present aspects of human relations.

• Those in power attempt to hold onto their power by whatever means necessary.

• The study of the social world can not be value-free. Research can and should be politically motivated.

Conflict Theory: Subtypes

•Gender-Conflict Theory (or Feminist Theory)

•Race-Conflict Theory

Symbolic Interaction

Framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals.

• People transmit and receive symbolic communication when they socially interact.

• People create perceptions of each other and social settings.

• People largely act on their perceptions.

• How people think about themselves and others is based on their interactions.

• As a result, each person's reality is variable and changing.

• Society is formed/changes based on this ongoing process.

Ideal/Pure Types

General traits that describe a social phenomenon rather than every case

• Structural Functionalism

• Conflict Theory

• Symbolic Interaction

• Max Weber (1864-1920)

• Sociological tool

• Ideal types are formed from characteristics and elements of the given phenomena, but it is not meant to correspond to all of the characteristics of any one particular case.

It is meant to stress certain elements common to most cases of the given phenomena.

Which research orientation focuses on the meanings people attach to their social world?

A. Positivist sociology

B. Negativist sociology

C. Interpretive sociology

D. Piscursive sociology

E. Hermeneutic sociology

C. Interpretive sociology

True or False? When two variables change together, we know they have a cause-and-effect relationship.

False. Correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

Spurious Correlation

An apparent but false relationship between two (or more) variables that is caused by some other variable

Reading - Tumin

Some Principles of Stratification: A Critical Analysis

• Response to Davis and Moore

• Argues Davis and Moore are wrong. Social inequality is not inevitable and functional.

• Lays out D&M propositions (pp. 47-48) and then examines critically each proposition in turn (pp. 48-52).

Reading - Joel Best

Telling the Truth about Damned Lies and Statistics

- Points out that the statistics can be poorly constructed, misinterpreted, and misunderstood

- Encourages people to be critical consumers of statistics by thoughtfully considering both the limits of and the uses for statistical claims

Reading - Correll et al.

Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?

- Tests if there is a motherhood penalty on wages and performance evaluations by using two studies: a laboratory experiment with student participants and an audit study of actual employers.

- Given that all else is equal, people tended to prefer hiring/paying fathers, then women without children, then mothers.

- Good workers can drop everything for their job, and good mothers can drop everything for their kids

True or False? In the article you read for today, Tumin argues that, because social inequality has existed in all societies, it must be inevitable, practical and useful.

False. He believed almost the exact opposite.

According to Tumin, which of the following are dysfunctions of stratification systems (i.e., social inequality)?

A. They limit the possibility of discovery.

B. They provide elite people with political power.

C. They distribute favorable self-images unequally among people in a population.

D. They unequally motivate people in a population to participate in society.

E. All of the above.

E. All of the above.

8 Dysfunctions of Stratification

1. Social stratification systems (SSS) limit the possibility of discovering the full range of talent available in a society.

2. By limiting the range of talent available, SSS limit the possibility of expanding the productive resources of society.

3. SSS provide the elite with the political power necessary to achieve acceptance and dominance of an ideology that rationalizes the status quo as "natural," "morally right," etc.

4. SSS distribute favorable self-images unequally throughout the population which are necessary to the development of the creative potential inherent in humans.

5. SSS encourage hostility, distrust, and suspicion among various segments of society, limiting the possibilities of extensive social integration because the inequalities cannot be made fully acceptable to the less privileged.

6. Since the sense of significant membership in society depends on one's place on the social ladder, SSS distribute unequally this sense of membership in the population.

7. Since loyalty depends on a sense of significant membership in society, SSS distribute loyalty unequally in the population.

8. Since participation and apathy depend on the sense of significant membership in society, SSS distribute the motivation to participate fully in society unequally in the population.

True or False: Sociologists tend to agree that survey research is better than other research methods.

False. While surveys tend to be the cheapest and easiest, it has been found that people may lie (especially in regards to personal matters such as infidelity).

Which of the following is a research method for investigating cause and effect under highly controlled conditions?

A. Survey

B. Experiment

C. Secondary Data Analysis

D. Field Research

E. None of the above

B. Experiment

According to Best, what is innumeracy?

A. The inability to understand cultures without being fully immersed in them

B. The inability to understand languages other than one's own

C. The inability to read and write scientific social science research

D. The inability to understand scientific notation

E. The inability to understand numbers and statistics

E. The inability to understand numbers and statistics

Three Ways to do Sociology

• Positivist Sociology -> Structural Functionalism

• Critical Sociology -> Social Conflict

• Interpretive Sociology -> Symbolic Interaction

Positivist Sociology

• The study of society based on scientific observation of social behavior

• Quantitative

-concepts, variables, measurement, cause and effect

-experiments, surveys

• Objective, Value-Free Research

• Replication

Concept

A mental construct that represents some part of the world in a simplified form

-Examples: aggression, love, life satisfaction, poverty

Interpretive Sociology

- The study of society that focuses on discovering the meanings people attach to their social world

• Reality is subjective

• Favors qualitative data

Critical Sociology

-The study of society that focuses on the need for social change

• The point of sociology is not just to research but also to change society

• Quantitative or qualitative

Research Methods

• Experiments

• Surveys

• Secondary Data Analysis

• Interviews

• Field Research

• Content Analysis

Quantitative Research

Research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form

• Experiments

• Surveys

• Secondary Data Analysis

Qualitative Research

Research that relies on what is seen in field or naturalistic settings more than on statistical data

• Interviews

• Field Research

Experiments

• Research in which the researcher manipulates conditions for some research participants but not others and then compares group responses to see whether doing so made a difference.

Experiments - Benefits

-High Control

-Cause and effect can be established

-Can be replicated

Experiments - Disadvantages

-Artificiality

-Expensive and time consuming

Reading - Williams

The Social Organization of Toy Stores

-Conflict Theory

-This article explores race, gender, and class inequalities in the social organization of retail work.

-Reports on a participant-observation study of two toy stores.

---One store was located in a low-income redevelopment zone

---The other, a unionized store, in an upscale downtown shopping district.

-Describes working conditions at the two stores, including the segregation of jobs, scheduling practices, pay and benefits provisions, and promotion policies.

-Also explores some of the reasons people stay at these jobs, despite oppressive working conditions.

-Despite their differences, Williams finds that both toy stores perpetuate social inequality in a variety of ways. She observes that workers are often assigned to different tasks and functions on the basis of gender and race; that racial dynamics between black staff and white customers can play out in complex and intense ways; and, that unions can't protect workers from harassment from supervisors or demeaning customers even in the upscale toy store. And she discovers how lessons that adults teach to children about shopping can legitimize economic and social hierarchies.

The Belmont Report - 3 Ethical Principles

1) Respect for people: Research subjects must give informed consent and be treated with respect. They should also be able to decide whether or not to participate.

2) Beneficence: Studies must include a careful assessment of risks and benefits. They should maximize benefits and minimize harm.

3) Justice: Those conducting studies must consider both individual and collective benefits and burdens when selecting subjects. There should be a fair distribution of research costs and benefits

The Belmont Report

Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Research Involving Human Subjects

A. Boundaries Between Practice and Research

B. Basic Ethical Principles

1. Respect for Persons

2. Beneficence

3. Justice

C. Applications

1. Informed Consent

2. Assessment of Risk and Benefits

3. Selection of Subjects

Surveys

• Quantitative research in which the researcher systematically asks a large number of people the same questions and then records their answers.

Ask questions about...

•Behaviors

•Opinions/Attitudes

•Characteristics

•Expectations

•Self-Classification

•Facts/Knowledge

•Beliefs

•Interviewer Characteristics and Impressions

Surveys: Benefits

-Relatively easy to administer

-Relatively cost effective and efficient

-Broad range of data can be collected

Surveys: Disadvantages

-Restricts possible answers, less nuanced

-Subjects can lie

Surveys: Univariate Analyses

Analyze one variable

Surveys: Multivariate Analyses

Analyze the correlations between multiple variables

Correlation

Variables change together

Positive Correlation

• Association between variables such that high scores on one variable tend to have high scores on the other variable

Negative Correlation

• Association between variables such that high scores on one variable tend to have low scores on the other variable

Secondary Data Analysis

• The use of data that was collected by someone else for some other purpose. In this case, the researcher poses questions that are addressed through the analysis of a data set that they were not involved in collecting.

-Examples: Census Data, NYSY, GSS

Secondary Data Analysis: Benefits

-Available and free.

-Many are conducted on a nationally representative sample.

Secondary Data Analysis: Disadvantages

-Less familiar w/ the data.

-Limited questions can be asked.

Interviews

• Research method by which the researcher asks people questions and follows up or probes their answers.

Interviews: Benefits

-Less Restrictive

-High Credibility and Face Validity

-Flexible

Interviews: DIsadvantages

-Interpersonal Dynamics

-Expensive, Time Consuming

-Not Generalizable -> means what?

-More Subjective

Participant Observation

• Research method in which the researcher takes on a role in a social setting and directly interacts with real people in a natural setting in order to provide a very detailed description of a different culture from the viewpoint of an insider and to facilitate understanding.

Participant Observation: Benefits

-Close and intimate familiarity, thick description

-High face validity

-Affordability

Participant Observation: Disadvantages

-Time consuming

-Not generalizable or replicable

-Difficult to record data

-Impact of researcher involvement/ethical issues

Content Analysis

• Quantitative and Qualitative

• The study of recorded human communications

Examples?

books, newspapers, magazine articles, advertisements speeches, official documents, films, music lyrics, photographs, articles of clothing, website content, art

Content Analysis: Benefits

-Unobtrusive

-Untainted, Complete Information

-Affordable

-Replicable

Content Analysis: Disadvantages

-Skewed Data à only contains info intended to be shared

-Restrictive in Questions It Can Ask

-Time Consuming

Manifest Content

Quantitative

• The concrete terms contained in a communication

• Code: Race/Ethnicity

• Definition: "Code any mention of a specific race or ethnicity with this code."

Latent Content

Qualitative

• The underlying meaning of communications as distinguished from their manifest content.

• Code: Deception

• Definition: Use this code when you read anything along the lines of deception, secret, lied, tricked, misled, avoid detection, really a woman/man, double life, etc.

Example:

• Class will rarely be mentioned explicitly. Instead, you will need to interpret one's class from various context clues. For example, an article might talk about a seedy part of town or someone attending a gala or art opening.

Triangulation

•The use of two (or more) methods in a study in order to check the results. The idea is that one can be more confident with a result if different methods lead to the same result.

-Experiment + Interviews

True or False? For the most part, workers at both "Diamond Toys" and "Toy Warehouse" did not have children.

False

Interpellation

The communication process by which one is pulled into the social forces that place people into a specific identity

Which of the following is an example of a result of interpellation?

A. A woman wants to work in finance to combat gender stereotypes.

B. A man doesn't want to cashier because cashiering is stereotypically a woman's job.

C. A manager waits to post workers' schedules until the day before.

D. A manager posts workers' schedules 2 weeks early so parents have plenty of time to arrange for childcare.

B. A man doesn't want to cashier because cashiering is stereotypically a woman's job.