SOC 173 MIDTERM 1

Symbolic interactionism

How society is created and maintained through individuals’ repeated interactions (agency over constraint)

The Chicago School (Blumer) on symbolic interactionism

Believes that the self emerges from an INTERACTIVE process where individuals constantly create and recreate experiences in their interactions.

emphasizes social interaction, interpretation, and the development of the self.

Iowa school (Kuhn) on symbolic interactionism

The self can be studied scientifically and MEASURED systematically

Uses more quantitative and structured research methods, including surveys and standardized tests.

Developed the Twenty Statements Test

Indiana school (Stryker) on symbolic interactionism

Argues that social structure influences IDENTITY, and identity influences behavior. Argues that people develop identities through the social positions they occupy.

Rosengren (1961)

Assessed how self-meaning changes over time based on how they think others see them

ex: being stigmatized or judged based on socially constructed views (homeless people)

Psychological social psychology

How group settings can influence individuals’ behaviors, thoughts, and feelings.

Sociological social psychology

Focuses on how larger social structures can influence individuals’ behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. (uses quantitative survey data)

Social structure and personality (SSP)

How social inequality affects people’s experiences in social settings (uses QUANTITATIVE survey data focused on constraint and structure over agency)

Group processes and structures (GPS)

Focused on the effect of power on the exchange of resources on the relations between groups and on the effects of social stratification on perceptions and behaviors in group contexts (QUANTITATIVE)

According to Blumer, what are the three premises of the symbolic interactionist perspective?

1. People act based on meaning.

2. Meaning develops through social interaction.

3. People interpret and sometimes change meanings.(meanings are subjective)

Frame analysis

The definition provided by society as to how situations are interpreted (pro life vs pro choice)

Social scripts

The thoughts feelings and behaviors tied to frame analysis/ how to behave in social situations ex: dressing professionally for an interview

George Herbert Mead’s “self”

The interaction between the 2 phases, the “I” and “me”

I: the spontaneous, impulsive, and unpredictable part of the self. It represents how we respond to social expectations in new or creative ways.

Me: the part of the self that reflects society's expectations and norms that we have internalized.

Role taking

viewing oneself as an object from the perspective of another individual, group, or society

The dramaturgical approach (Goffman)

Focused on the self-concept. Self-presentation strategies people use to convey to others that they are who they claim to be (impression management)

Front stage view

Where all social interactions take place

Back stage view

Situations that are low in normative regulation (individuals don’t have to worry about how they are presenting themselves to others.

Ethnomethodology (Garfinkle)

Emphasizes the ways that people create meaning in their day to day lives. Uses breaching experiments (violating social norms)

What are the 3 principles that guide research in SSP?

1. Components principle: how different parts of social structure shape an individual's personality, attitudes, and behavior.

2. Proximity principle: being closer to certain social structures, groups, or social environments can influence a person's experiences and behavior.

3. Psychology principle: social structures influence individuals through their psychological experiences, including their attitudes, beliefs, emotions, and personality.

What do class differences in work experiences explain?

The difference in parenting styles.

Working-class parents value and instill conformity and obedience in their children, while middle-class parents value and instill independence and discipline

Why does alienation occur in work?

When individuals lack control over their work and become estranged, or when work is meaningless and they have no autonomy.

Bottom of hierarchy —> less autonomy—> alienation

SSP and schools (tracking)

The placement of students into different classes or courses of study based on their perceived ability

Primary groups

serve important socialization and support functions (intimacy groups)

Secondary groups

serve specific purposes (secondary groups)

What characteristics do small groups have?

1. Propinquity (physical proximity)

2. Perceived similarity

3. common outcomes (a shared fate)

What are the 3 frameworks of Group processes and structures?

1. Expectations state- how status structures emerge in groups

2. status structures- ranking of group members

3. self-fulfilling prophecy- when someone is labeled as something and then are more like that label

Status characteristics theory

How do these structures arise based on different characteristics.

1. Diffuse: race gender, ethnicity. which gives someone an idea of who you are (unrelated to task)

2. specific: related to task ex: asking if someone in the group plays the piano and one person does

social exchange theory

patterns of interaction within both primary and secondary groups using punishments and rewards (ex: giving someone capital for participating)

social identity theory

views groups as cognitive constructs, shapes your self-concept

Quantitative methods

The deductive research process, reasoning from the general (theory) to the specific (observations/ data)

Operationalization

defining a variable and how it’ll be measured

Theoretical approach

using a theory to explain why something happens.

ex: Using the Social Structure and Personality (SSP) perspective to explain why middle-class parents often encourage their children to be independent.

Atheoretical approach

Not guided by a specific theoretical framework.

• Might describe or report a pattern without using a theory to explain why it occurs.

Example: Observing that middle-class parents frequently enroll their children in extracurricular activities.

- You identify a pattern.

- You report what you observe.

- You do not use a theory to explain why the parents do this.

Population

ALL of the individuals in a group of interest

Sample

A subset of the population that researchers collect data from

What are examples of quantitative research?

experiments; a method of data collection to help the researcher determine if the IV causes the DV (usually 2 or more groups)

Random assignment

participants are randomly placed into different groups in an experiment, giving each participant an equal chance of being assigned to each group.

Lab experiments

conducted in a lab where the researcher has all of the control over the conditions and participants experience

Field experiments

conducted outside a lab, the researcher has less control

what are the 3 criteria for quantitative studies?

1. validity: refers to the accuracy of the studies findings

2. generalizability: the extent to which the studies findings can be applied beyond the individuals who participated in the study

3. reliability: the degree to which other researchers can replicate this study

Internal validity

Does the IV cause the DV

External validity

Does this relate to the population?

Qualitative methods

uses inductive research (specific to broad) such as interviews, observations, and open-ended questions.

How do you establish causality?

1. there needs to be a correlation

2. time order: one thing needs to happen before the other (IV precede the DV)

3. non spuriousness: not some other variable explaining this

Surveys

If the sample is representative of the population of interest, then the findings are generalizable

Experiments

Generalizability is a potential weakness as most of these take place at research universities the sample is usually 18-24 years old

Is reliability considered problematic when data is gathered using a survey or experiment

NO

Participant observation

interacting with individuals in a study and observing their behaviors in a natural environment

Covert observation

participants don’t know they’re being watched

Overt observation

The participants know they’re being watched

In depth interviews

informal (probing) or formal questions

snowball sampling

informants introduce researchers to more participants and so forth

Positionality

the way researchers acknowledge how social inequality and their identities effect the research process

Reflexivity

The process in which a researcher reflects on how their positionality might impact their research and how they interpret data

social influence

occurs when peoples perceptions and behaviors are shaped by others

conformity

Exhibited when an individual changes his/ hers behavior to match the other group members

ex: Milgram’s shock study

What are the 2 forms of social influence?

1. normative influence: peoples behaviors are shaped by others expectations. people conform to avoid negative evaluations

   1. ex: Asch-line matching experiment

2. Informational influence: occurs when others serve as a source of information about the nature of reality

Is there a gender that exhibits more conformity?

Yes some evidence exhibits that women may be somewhat more likely than men to show conformity

Fashions

Involve rapid increase and then a decrease in the popularity of a particular style or product

Fads

less systemic that fashions are defined by their episodic nature ex: a short-lived toy

conspiracy theories

“elaborate fables” about the underlying causes of injustice and suffering

mass hysteria

a collective behavior that occurs when people behave in ways that are perceived by others as unconventional or irrational

somatoform epidemics

when a group of individuals exhibit physical symptoms that are social and physiological rather than physical

(socially contagious) ex: dancing mania which was caused by ergot poisoning

What was the main argument in Ridgeway (2014)

The importance for considering status, and how status can drive inequality without looking at resources

Why does status matter?

Social capital, race-based biases, applying individual characteristics to groups, and the relationship between status and power.

social movement

provide opportunities for individuals to interact with others and to form new relations

• as we develop new identities it affects our self concept and participation in movements

• movements that align with your self-concept will pull you in

social identity theory

argues that social identities emerge through the process of self-categorization (US VS THEM)

Free rider

Even if you don’t benefit from an action, you tend to feel you do because you benefit from the success of your collective group.

Deviance

A violation of contextual, cultural, or social norms. May be considered “in the eye of the beholder” or relative

Labeling theory

Deviance happens when a negative characteristic becomes an aspect of a persons identity

What are the 2 forms of deviance in labeling?

1. primary: the initial act of deviance

2. secondary: behaving in ways we see ourselves can be a label given to us

What is the 3-stage process of becoming an outsider?

1. commits a deviant act and gets caught

2. begins to accept a status which then becomes a master status

3. joins a deviant subculture, solidifying the deviant status, and starts a deviant lifestyle

Strain theory (Merton)

When there is a gap between the cultural goal and the means for achieving this goal within society

Strain theory (Agrew)

Strain can result from a number of different social conditions including

1. failure to achieve goals

2. removal of positive stimuli

3. presence of strain increases individuals level of stress

Social control theory (Hirschi)

Deviance occurs when bonds with conventional society are weakened: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

Differential association theory

deviance is learned through interaction and criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others

deterrence theory

the certainty and severity of being punished for a crime