Sociology Midterm IU Jacob Miller

Significant Symbol

gestures that convey the same meaning to the people transmitting them and receiving them

Dr. Miller definition of sociology

A scientific discipline dedicated to exploring the interaction between individuals and society

society

A community of people who share a common culture

Agency

Our ability to act and make decisions in the world as individuals

The sociological imagination:

The capacity to think systematically about how many things we experience as personal problems are really social issues that are widely shared by others born in similar times and social locations as us. "The interaction between history and biography"

Epistemology

What we think we can know about the world and how we can know it

empiricism

The branch of epistemology that holds that knowledge comes from sensory experience (observation)

Elements of empirical study

theory, hypothesis

Theory

A statement of how and why specific facts are related

Hypothesis

A prediction about what we are going to discover in our research

The three theoretical perspectives of sociology

functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism

Functionalism

Views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability

Conflict Theory

Views social structures as arising through conflict between opposing parties. Conflicts theorists focus on the ways groups dominate, control or resist other groups

Symbolic interactionism

views society as process-shaped and constructed through interactions between individuals, groups, and institutions

Scientific Method

A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.

Experimental Research

research designed to discover causal relationships between various factors

Limitations of experiments

- very controlled, sterile setting

- WEIRD (western educated industrialized rich democracy)

- tricky to experiment with people, why theory is important

Ethnography

the scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures.

Social Construct

A concept or practice that is construct of a group. Everybody in society agrees to treat a certain aspect a certain way regardless of its inherent value in nature.

Social Construct of Reality

the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction

The definition of the situation

The process of sense-making required to determine how one should act and to predict how others may act

Impression Management

the attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen

Expressions Given

expressions that one gives in order to intentionally convey information

Expressions given off

expressions that one gives off as a byproduct of behavior presumably exhibited for reasons other than conveying information

Front Stage

a region where one's performance is open to judgment by those who observe it

Back Stage

A region, where actors can discuss, polish, or refine their performance without revealing themselves to their audience

Self

an organized, stable sense of who you are

The three elements to the self-concept

-The imagination of our appearance to another person

-The imagination of their judgment of that appearance

-Some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or mortification

The "I"

the self that is able to do things and act (the agent)

The "Me"

-created through the ability to perceive yourself through another's eye

-Through other people

Generalized other

an organized and generalized attitude of a social group

The Internal Dialogue

The conversations we have with ourselves in our minds, both verbal (when your thoughts take the shape of words) and non-verbal (when they are just feelings and attitudes)----------- Generalized other -> objectified self "Me" -> Agent self "I" -> Generalized other

Culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.

Culture Shock

personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life

Material Culture

includes physical objects that members of a society create, use, and share and that influence the way in which people live

Values

our ideas of what is worthy if seeking in life, what is good or bad, and what is beautiful and ugly

Norms

more specific rules and expectations that arise out of our values and tell us what we should, ought, and must do

Four types of norms

folkways, mores, taboos, laws

Folkways

Norms that are not strictly enforced and not seen as critical for society's survival

Example: saying please and thank you

Walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk

If you break them you might receive a dirty look but that's it

Mores

Norms that are seen as essential to our core values, which must be conformed to protect the moral order

Example: not stabbing someone

Cheating on an exam

Cheating on your partner

Laws

Type of mores

Norms that are defined by a political authority that has the power to punish violators

Taboos

Type of mores

Norms that are so strongly ingrained that even the thought of their violation are greeted with revulsion

Examples: sexual assault of a child, racial slurs

Capital

any factor of production that is not wanted for itself but for its ability to help in producing other goods

Economic

economic resources such as money or property that can be exchanged or leveraged to obtain other goods

Forms of Capital

-Economic

-Human

The skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by workers, viewed in terms of their value or cost to an organization or country

-Symbolic

The resources available to an individual on the basis of honor, prestige, or recognition

-Social

Opportunities or resources gained through the networks to which one belongs

-Cultural

Wealth in the form of knowledge, tastes, ideas, or competencies that legitimates the maintenance of status and power

Cultural Capital

Wealth in the form of knowledge, tastes, ideas, or competencies that legitimates the maintenance of power. The resources you have that take the form of knowledge.

Three types of cultural capital

embodied, objectified, institutionalized

Objectified

Objects, often tangible, that can be transmitted directly

Embodied

Consciously acquired or passively "inherited" properties of one's self developed over time

Institutionalized

Recognition received from an institution, often through educational degrees or certifications

Nomos

an individual's fundamental assumptions about how the universe works, its purpose, and its order

Emile Durkheim

-Father of sociology, pioneer of modern social research and established the field as separate and distinct from psychology and politics

-Major proponent of functionalism

-Argued that modern society was more complex than primitive societies because they were all similar, shared a common language. Even when people were dissimilar, they relied on each other to make society function.

-Created Typology of Suicide

Egoistic Suicide

Arises from a lack of integration within a community

Prevalent among unmarried males

Altruistic Suicide

Arises when one is overwhelmed by the goals and needs of a group

Rare, except when individuals must sacrifice themselves for the benefit of their group (soldiers)

Fatalistic Suicide

Arises from too much regulation

Occurs in overly oppressive societies

Anomic Suicide

Arises from a lack of regulation, from moral confusion

Can come from both good and bad fortune

Anomie

a sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; too little social regulation; normlessness

Importance of revolutions

They disrupted the flow of society and how people worked to get it going again

Typification

A process of creating a standard (typical) social construction based on standard assumptions

Internal Dialogue

A character's internal thoughts and feelings.

Internal Dialogue diagram

IT'S A TRIANGLE

Generalized other —-------- objectified self "me"----------- Agent self "I"-----back to generalized other

Mead's 3 Stages of development

1. Preparatory Stage

2. Play Stage

3. Game Stage

Preparatory Stage

the first stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children mimic or imitate others

Play Stage

Mead's second stage in the development of role taking; children act in ways they imagine other people would

Game Stage

Mead's third stage in the development of role taking; children anticipate the actions of others based on social rules

Significant Other

an individual who significantly influences someone else

Sociology

The study of society and its people and how they interact