MIDTERM Quiz Question Bank

Quizzes 1-7

basic characteristics of sociological theory

1. abstract

2. testable

3. explains, describes, predicts something about the social world

empirical

observable through the senses

positivism

understanding the world through science

operationalization

translation of theoretical ideas into methodological and real world observations

ideology

statements or beliefs about what the world ought to or should be

proposition

statement of the relationship between two concepts

sociological canon

theories thought to be the most valued, important ideas in sociology

sociological theory

oriented towards science and scientific testing. theories are developed and their validity is tested through scientific methods. often expressed in propositions.

sociological theory example

the more social ties a person has, the less likely they are to commit suicide or the less social ties a person has, the more likely they are to commit suicide.

social theory

oriented toward ideology, making statements about how the world could be or should be. politically motivated theory focusing upon consciousness raising and social change.

social theory examples

society is an iron cage of rationality - Max Weber

a new type of society has emerged, a disciplinary society of surveillance - Michel Foucault

everyday life is dominated by simulations - Jean Baudrillard

transformations in the 17th and 18th centuries that led to the development of sociological theory

• scientific revolution

• religious revolution

• educational revolution

• political revolution

• industrial/technological revolution

• economic revolution

• urban revolution

• revolution in social organization

• feminist revolution

• imperialism and colonialism

socio-political factors that affected the formation of sociological theory

• sociological theory is itself political

  • privileges certain perspectives (i.e., race, gender, class, region, etc.)

proletariat & bourgeoisie

associated theorist: Karl Marx

associated theoretical tradition: conflict theory

(associated theorist) Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

associated theorist: Max Weber

(associated theorist) society is symbolic interaction

associated theorist: George Herbert Mead

(associated theorist) social physics

associated theorist: Auguste Comte

(associated theorist) the division of labor in society

associated theorist: Emile Durkheim

(associated theorist) conspicuous consumption

associated theorist: Thorstein Veblen

(associated theorist) the stranger

associated theorist: Georg Simmel

(associated theorist) positivism

associated theorist: Auguste Comte

(associated theorist) mechanical solidarity

associated theorist: Emile Durkheim

(associated theorist) the means of production

associated theorist: Karl Marx

(associated theorist) social types and social forms

associated theorist: Georg Simmel

(associated theorist) collective effervescence

associated theorist: Emile Durkheim

(associated theorist) conflict can be functional

associated theorist: Georg Simmel

(associated theorist) class, status, power

associated theorist: Max Weber

(associated theorist) instead of focusing on production, business leaders focus on strategic financial strategies

associated theorist: Thorstein Veblen

(associated theorist) social control is self-control

associated theorist: George Herbert Mead

(associated theorist) had a silent debate with Marx

associated theorist: Max Weber

(associated theorist) the history of all society is the history of class conflict

associated theorist: Karl Marx

(associated theorist) conducted the first empirical study in sociology

associated theorist: Emile Durkheim

Suicide

(associated theorist) without language, we cannot have society

associated theorist: George Herbert Mead

(associated theorist) the blase attitude

associated theorist: Georg Simmel

(associated theorist) taking the role of the other

associated theorist: George Herbert Mead

(associated theorist) iron cage of rationality

associated theorist: Max Weber

(associated theorist) suicide

associated theorist: Emile Durkheim

(associated theorist) I, me, the generalized other

associated theorist: George Herbert Mead

(associated theorist) society is composed of exchange relationships

associated theorist: Georg Simmel

(associated theorist) bureaucracy

associated theorist: Max Weber

(associated theorist) economic class is the most important factor in understanding society

associated theorist: Karl Marx

(associated theorist) anomie

associated theorist: Emile Durkheim

(theoretical tradition) society is “like an organism”

associated theoretical tradition: functionalism

(theoretical tradition) the problem of intersubjectivity

associated theoretical tradition: phenomenology

(theoretical tradition) patriarchy is a primary system of domination

associated theoretical tradition: feminist theories

(theoretical tradition) systems of social inequality and stratification are main topics of investigation

associated theoretical tradition: conflict theory

(theoretical tradition) central topics include: the formation of identity and the nature of the self

associated theoretical tradition: symbolic interaction

(theoretical tradition) emphasis is on the whole and how parts contribute to the whole

associated theoretical tradition: functionalism

(theoretical tradition) interest convergence (Bell)

associated theoretical tradition: critical race theory

(theoretical tradition) maximizing gains and minimizing losses

associated theoretical tradition: exchange theory

(theoretical tradition) how do individuals create a sense of shared reality?

associated theoretical tradition: phenomenology

(theoretical tradition) interdependence and solidarity

associated theoretical tradition: functionalism

(theoretical tradition) the foundation of society is language

associated theoretical tradition: symbolic interaction

(theoretical tradition) intersectionality (Crenshaw)

associated theoretical tradition: feminist theories

(theoretical tradition) what is the basis for oppression in a society?

associated theoretical tradition: conflict theory

(theoretical tradition) focus is on the “means of mental production” instead of the “means of production”

associated theoretical tradition: critical theory

(theoretical tradition) it is through symbols that humans create society, meaning, and reality

associated theoretical tradition: symbolic interaction

(theoretical tradition) calls for inclusion of women’s voices

associated theoretical tradition: feminist theories

(theoretical tradition) counter-storytelling

associated theoretical tradition: critical race theory

(theoretical tradition) social life is composed of transactions controlled by a cost-benefit analysis

associated theoretical tradition: exchange theory

(theoretical tradition) emphasizes “lived experiences”

associated theoretical tradition: phenomenology

(theoretical tradition) the culture industry

associated theoretical tradition: critical theory

(theoretical tradition) standpoint epistemology

associated theoretical tradition: feminist theories

(theoretical tradition) race as a social construction

associated theoretical tradition: critical race theory

Parson’s theory of the unit act

actors are constrained by social conditions and cultural values

acts are not individual; they are very social

What makes Parsons’ theory of the unit act a sociological theory?

Parsons attempts to explain the act through a scientific approach that can be empirically observed/tested and analyzed in a social context. It is also presented as a proposition.

What are Parsons’ four functional imperatives that every social system has?

• adaptation

• goal attainment

• integration

• latency (pattern maintenance)

What are Parsons’ four action systems that help to solve the functional needs of a society?

• behavioral organism

• personality system

• social system

• cultural system

cultural system

patterned system of symbols, values, norms that create social integration

social system

organized around social structures (status-role complex)

behavioral organism

the material source of energy for the action systems

personality systems

provides the motivational (goal) orientation for the systems

Parsons’ theory of functional needs and their action systems

L[atency] = cultural system

I[ntegration] = social system

G[oal attainment] = personality system

A[daptation] = behavioral system

Merton’s strain theory

• conformity: accepts means and goals

• innovation: rejects means and accepts goals

• ritualism: accepts means and rejects goals

• retreatism: rejects means and goals

• rebellion: new means and goals; challenges means and goals

How is Marx’s (conflict) theory a specific instance of Weber’s (conflict) theory?

• Marx believes that economic class causes all aspects of stratification, so class creates social groups which then creates power groups (class —> status —> power).

• Weber believes that class, status, and power are all distinct dimensions of stratification (class/status/power).

Ralf Dahrendorf critiques Marx’s theory of conflict by arguing that contemporary conflict is not organized around social class. Instead, it is organized around…

authority

Dahrendorf argues that tensions in the modern workplace are not primarily between owners and workers. Instead, they are between which two groups?

• superordinates (order givers)

• subordinates (order takers)

For Dahrendorf, every social setting has a social structure (status-role complex) as well as a distribution of power. What does Dahrendorf call these social structures?

imperatively coordinated association

Dahrendorf argues that group conflict emerges as a result of a conflict of interests. The structure of authority relations produces three groups…

• quasi groups: unorganized but similar roles

• interest groups: organized, united by interests [unions]

• conflict groups: actively mobilized for interests [striking unions]

Parsons’ unit act that includes the action systems

actor = behavioral organism

goal = personality system

culture = cultural system

social conditions = social system

(theorist) imperatively coordinated associations

associated theorist: Ralf Dahrendorf

(theorist) contradictory class locations

associated theorist: Erik Olin Wright

(theorist) split labor market theory

associated theorist: Edna Bonacich

(theorist) the power elite

associated theorist: C. Wright Mills

(theorist) dual systems theory

associated theorist: Heidi Hartmann

(theorist) conflict shows itself in interaction

associated theorist: Randall Collins

(theorist) exploitation stems from control over production, labor power, and investments

associated theorist: Erik Olin Wright

(theorist) the cheerful robot

associated theorist: C. Wright Mills

(theorist) racial and ethnic divisions are exploited by employers to keep wages low

associated theorist: Edna Bonacich

(theorist) patriarchy and capitalism intersect

associated theorist: Heidi Hartmann

(theorist) quasi group, interest group, conflict group

associated theorist: Ralf Dahrendorf

(theorist) winners in conflict gain emotional energy

associated theorist: Randall Collins

More and more people in the US are earning college degrees.

1. What does this pattern do to the value of a college degree in the US?

2. What does Randall Collins call this process?

Credential inflation is as more people earn bachelor’s degrees, the less value it has. As a result, people need to have more credentials to qualify for the same positions.

limitations in Marx’s theory of conflict and how a contemporary theorist has worked to improve this limitation

• Hartmann: the workers in Marx’s theory were only men, so she elaborated on the interconnection between capitalism and patriarchy through her dual systems theory

• E.O.Wright: Marx (as generally articulated) did not account for a middle class who are both the oppressed and the exploiters in the labor system, contradictory class locations

groups who make up the power elite

• corporate leaders

• military leaders

• political leaders

• celebrities

stocks of knowledge

social recipes for making sense of and navigating the world

problem of intersubjectivity (def.)

how do we know that we share the same basic reality?

lifeworld

the everyday taken-for-granted world that human beings occupy

natural attitude

the world of common-sense assumptions we have about the world

Phenomenological theory argues that our experience of the world is separated into two different categories of experience…

• lived (personally observed)

• taken-for-granted (external knowledge)