Intro to Sociology Exam 1

Political Economy

“branch of science of a statesman or legislator”

• links between economic and sociopolitical factors associated with production, distribution, markets, and exchange and consumption

Political Science

theory and practice of government

Economics

production, distribution of resources, exchange, markets, consumption, incentives, rationality, decision-making (emphasis on scarce resources)

Anthropology

study of “what makes us human” both biologically and culturally

• interplay of rituals and forms of behavior are shaped by social, political organizations, gender relations, inequalities, etc

Psychology

how the individual mind works, individual and group behavior: studied from different standpoints

Sociology

the scientific study of human social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior

• sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people act within these contexts

National vs Subnational

national —> refers to the entire country as a whole

subnational —> refers to smaller units within the country

Social Scales

local —> focused on one specific area with no sales or operations outside of that specific area

transnational —> the main actors are non governmental action (people to people interaction rather than government to government or state to state)

• across border

international —> including multiple countries, and is government too government (unlike transnational)

global —> worldwide

Ex. Mcdonald’s is a local business that is a part of a global company

Sociological Imagination *

all about social context

• sociologists break free from personal experience and put things in a wider context

• think of yourself away from your familiar routine of your daily life

• unintended consequences of actions

Theory

a statement or series of statements that offer explanatory rationales for the studied phenomena

• use sets of concepts

• conceptual apparatus of a theory

Paradigm

intellectual framework that offers the basis for research in terms of the most fundamental assumptions and epistemological approach

• characterized by shared research, assumptions, consensus about relevant questions, methods, etc

• positivism vs critical perspectives

Self-evident Global

Mutual reconstitution of the global and local

when and how global processes and events of global repercussions shape what is happening locally and how they are constituted locally (there is no global without the local”)

• how global and local both affect each other

Social Agency

emphasis on human behavior and social interaction guided by motivations, values, norms, interests, identity, personality traits, etc

• acting independently and making your own decisions

Social Structure

studying patterns resulting from human interaction in a specific context

• not an emphasis on how people behave but the underlying patterns in how people behave in their relationships with others

Gidden’s Structuration Theory

• there is no structure without agency

• social autonomy of individuals is either restrained or enabled by social structures

• structures do not have permanent stability

ex. these researchers are studying…. is it structure or agency?

Components of Population Change

1. Fertility and mortality (births and deaths)

2. International migration (people come to live is immigration, people to live somewhere else is emigration)

do we need to know the general formula for population?

• take population at beginning plus births minus deaths add immigrants minus emigrants

Population Pyramid

reflects change in the number of births and fertility, in general, mortality, and migration for age and sex groups

• bulges or indentations

Social Groups *

consist of two or more people

• have regular interactions share a sense of unity and common identity

• interact regularly

Primary Groups

close knit groups with regular interaction

• close family and friends

Secondary Groups

small or large groups that tend to develop mostly impersonal and short-term interactions

• work and school groups

Social Network

a set of (socially relevant) nodes (actors or network members) that are tied by one or more types of relations

Social Network Analysis

social life is generated and socially reproduced by relations

• study of how patterns formed by human interaction and relations is critical to understand how society works

• mapping and measuring of relationships and flows between connected entities

• is it about method or theory? BOTH because you have methodologies and theory because there is a theory (if you are in a certain place in a network it implies they are in a better status)

Organizations

structures of social relationship, social actors arranged in positions and roles, usually…deliberately arranged and designed some ends or end

ex. for profit, not for profit, and governmental organizations

Socialization

lifelong process of learning

Institutions

organized, stable system of social behaviors, rules, norms, and roles that work together to meet fundamental societal needs

• persist for a long period of time

• very hard to be changed

Startups

brand new-company designed to grow very fast by solving a problem in a unique or innovative way

• fully new product, not something that has been done before

• social timing is a very big determining factor in whether the company does good or not

ex. uber

Sex verus Gender

Sex —> biological attributes of humans and animals, including physical features, chromosomes, gene expression, hormones, and anatomy

Gender —> the ways in which cultures imbue this biological difference with meaning such as demarcating between male and female domains in activities, tasks… (social identity)

Positivism Perspective (Comte)

Auguste Comte

• seen as one of the founders of sociology

• coined the word altruism (unselfish concern for the well-being of others, helping others with no personal benefit)

• positivism

Positivism

• social reality is objective and separated from the researcher

• social issues can be studied objectively, research is unbiased, and ethical guidelines are followed

• quantitive

• generalizations

Beyond Positivism (constructionism, interpretivism)

• social issues studied are constructed by the researcher and interpreted differently by the participants in research

• researcher acknowledges that bias may be present

• objectivity is not a measure of quality in research

• understand specific contexts

• qualitative research methods

Comte Three Stages of Knowledge

1. Theological Stage —> knowledge is based on fetishism, polytheism, and monotheism

2. Metaphysical Stage —> the role of a supreme entity, impersonal abstract entity ruling knowledge, production, and society

3. Positive or Scientific Stage —> scientific explanation and organization of society based on the scientific method: observation, data gathering, experiments, comparisons

• debates on science and religion are m ore complex during this period

Relativity

Culture

complex whole of material and non-material aspects of society that form a way of life

• has belief systems, languages, customs, etc

Norms

specific rules and expectations that guide human behavior within a specific social context

• explicit or implicit

• not fixed; can change

• differ based on societies

Symbol

anything carrying a specific meaning for members of a specific culture

Values

generally accepted standards that guide human behavior based on ideas of what is right and wrong

• associated with beliefs

Durkheim

established rules and methodologies for the study of society

• states of the collective mind

• currents of opinion

• social ways of being

States of Collective Mind

social aspects external to the individual, internalized through education and other means of socialization

• they shape individual behavior by imposing constrains on the individual

Currents of Opinion

commonly held opinions that also shape individual behavior and reflect on phenomena that may appear as very private individual decisions: lower birth rates, migration rates, suicide rates

Social Ways of Being

such as population size, geographical distribution of the population, living in urban or rural areas, transportation and communication