Sociology Exam 1 Prof-McDonough - Clemson

C. Wright Mills

- coined the term sociological imagination/ Perspective in 1959

- wrote that "the sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society"

Social Context

- Sociology is fundamentally concerned with how individuals participate in, and are influenced by, the society in which they live.

Stereotype

A simplified generalization about a group (for example, women or men) that is often false or exaggerated. Stereotypes are most often negative, although positive stereotypes can sometimes be found.

Social Institution

- "a complex group of interdependent positions that, together, preform a social role and reproduce themselves over time."

- EX= economy, family, the media, education , the state(government), healthcare

- "also defined in a narrow sense as any organization in a society that works to shape the behavior of the groups or people within it."

- EX= a university, a company

Institutionalization

a process by which certain social relationships and actions gradually come to be taken for granted and are embedded in social organizations or systems as established norms and customs

(the norm to be in a monogamous relationship)

Sociological Imagination

or Perspective

- perspective from which one sees and understands the connections between individuals and the broader social contexts in which they live

- see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society (how social forces shape individual action)

- discover the general in the specific

- Make personal troubles public issues

Manifest Function

The recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern (why did it emerge in the first place and its primary purpose)

Latent Function

The unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern (the things the education system does that wasn't its original function)

Social Dysfunction

Any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society (consequences that mess up society) (ex- teacher pay and bullying)

The main differences between Sociology and Psychology

- Sociology focuses on the influences of social forces on human life

- Psychology studies individuals and focuses on similarities and differences between individuals (larger social forces)

EX - suicide can be looked at from 2 ways

The 3 main perspectives of Sociology

structural-functionalism, social conflict, symbolic interactionism

Structural Functionalism

- composed of interrelated parts that work together to maintain stability

- balance and harmony

Social Conflict

- society is characterized by social inequality. social life is a struggle for scarce resources

- society is a constant struggle for power

- not about balance

symbolic interactionism

composed of symbols. Humans attach meaning to these symbols through interaction

- micro level

Quantitative methods

- seek to obtain information about the social world that is in, or can be converted to numerical form

- survey, analysis, experiment

Qualitative methods

- attempts to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form

- ethnography, in-depth interviews

Inductive approach

observation, then theory

Deductive approach

theory, hypothesis, observation, and analyze data

Concepts

mental constructs that represent some part of the world in a simplified form

Operationalization

the process of strictly defining concepts into measurable variables. The process defines fuzzy concepts and allows them to be measured, empirically and quantitatively

Variables

measures that can change (or vary) and thus have different values within a given population

Independent Variable

variable that is associated with or causes change in the value of the dependent variable

Dependent Variable

variable that changes in response to the independent variable

Hypothesis

a statement about the relationship between variables that is to be investigated

Control Variable/ group

not exposed to independent variable

Nominal variables

variable that characterizes an element of a population

Ordinal variables

a variable that incorporates an ordered position, or ranking

Discrete variables

a variable that can assume a countable number of values, with gaps between the values (the number of courses you have until graduation)

Continuous variables

variable that can assume any uncountable number of values, including every possible value between any 2 values (weight and time)

- we don't usually use in social science

Correlation

- a relationship in which change in one variable is connected to change in another variable

- a relationship where 2 or more variables change together

Positive Correlation

variables move in the same direction

Negative Correlation

variables move in opposite directions

Spurious Correlation

relationship between 2 variables is caused by a third factor

Causation

a relationship where one variable causes a change in another variable

The 3 necessary components to establish causation

- variables are correlated

- no indication of spuriousness

- the independant variable occurs before the dependent variable in time

Reliability

if you conduct the study again, will you get the same answer

Validity

does the study measure what it is intended to measure

Generalizability

does the findings of this study apply to some other population or group of people

Representative Sample

a sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole

Hawthorne Effect

- unintended influences of observers or experiments on subjects

Informed Consent

principle by which subjects in any study must know about the nature of the research project, any potential benefits or risk they may face, and that they have the right to stop participating at any time, for any reason

Survey

interview or questionare, provide sociologist with information about how people act or think

Interview

researcher obtains information through face-to-face or telephone questioning

Experiment

artificially created situation that allows researchers to manipulate variables

Observation/ Ethnography

efforts to describe entire social setting through extended systematic observation

Participant Observation

when sociologist joins a group for a period to get an accurate sense of how it operates

Field Study

data collection technique in which the researcher systematically observes some aspects of social life in its natural setting

Secondary data analysis

research techniques that make use of previously collected and publicly accessible information and data

Content analysis

example of secondary data analysis

Terror Management Theory

suggest that humans have something called "death anxiety" that motivates many observed belief and behavioral patterns

- promotes becoming an integral part of an entity greater than ourselves

- more likely to treat out-group members with more hostility and violence and more likely to engage in behaviors that support our own work view

Sociology

is the systematic study of society and social interaction

- taking a scientific approach no just relaying on personal experience

- how we explain pattern of behavior

- the systematic study of the relationship between individuals and society

Routine Activities Theory

Crime is more likely to occur when,

- motivational offender

- stable opportunity (VIVA Visible, Inertia, Valuable, Accessible)

- Lack of capable guardian or the absence of effective formal or informal self control

Social Theory

a set of principles and propositions that explains the relationships among social phenomena(the relationship we see between 2 or more variables)

who founded the conflict theory

Karl Marx - 2 different groups rich and poor

Sociologist study societies and social interactions to develop theories about?

how group life shapes individual behavior and beliefs and how individuals affect group life

Who said the important thing is not to stop questioning curiosity has its own reason for existing

Albert Einstein

multivariate analysis

to consider sets of 3 or more variables

Sample

part of the population that represents the whole

Generalize

describe patterns of behavior of a larger population based on findings from a sample

Random Sample

high-quality sample chosen randomly, so that every element of the population has an equal chance of being chosen