Sociology Exam 1

Sociology

The study of human society, including the social lives of individuals, social behaviors, social institutions, and groups.

Social inequality

A social issue sociologists study. Inequality is based on social class, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, geography, disability, and citizenship status.

Social change

A dimension sociologists study that includes social movements, revolutions, and deviance.

Examples of social issues sociologists study

Social inequality (class, race, gender), social change (social movements, revolutions, deviance), sexism in the media, consumerism, and inequality in college completion.

Sociological imagination

The ability to see how individual lives are connected to larger social and historical forces. Coined by C. Wright Mills, it encourages us to connect our "personal troubles" with "public issues."

Sociological imagination example

Two birth cohorts (born 1904-1910 and 1911-1917) had different job outcomes because they entered adulthood in different economic periods (the Great Depression vs. a booming post-war economy). An individualistic explanation would miss what was happening in the labor market.

Social institutions

Established systems of rules, roles, and relationships that organize social life and meet basic human needs. They create order and stability, for example the family ensures society continues.

Examples of social institutions

Family, education, work and the economy, health and medicine, the media, government, religion, and criminal justice.

Functionalism

A macro-level theory that sees society as one giant system of interrelated parts (institutions) that work together to maintain stability and order. It views everything in society, even crime and inequality, as serving some function. Talcott Parsons was a leading functionalist.

Conflict theory

A macro-level theory that sees conflict between competing interests among groups as the basic force of social change. Inequality is seen as unfair and as the result of political struggles between groups (classes). Karl Marx was a major proponent.

Functionalism vs. conflict theory

Functionalism stresses how institutions work together to keep society stable, while conflict theory stresses how competing groups struggle over power and resources and drive change.

Macrosociology

A branch of sociology concerned with social dynamics at a higher level, across the breadth of society. Functionalism and conflict theory are macro-level.

Microsociology

A branch of sociology that seeks to understand local, face-to-face interactions. Symbolic interactionism is micro-level.

Quantitative methods

Methods that gather information about the social world that is already numeric or can be converted to numbers. Example, surveys.

Qualitative methods

Methods that gather information that cannot be readily converted to numbers. Examples, interviews, ethnography, participant observation.

Quantitative vs. qualitative

Quantitative methods use numbers and statistics to find patterns, while qualitative methods explore meanings and experiences in depth through words and observation.

Agency

The capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices.

Structure

The recurrent, patterned arrangements that influence or limit the choices and opportunities available to individuals.

Agency vs. structure

Agency is individual choice and action, while structure is the patterned social arrangements that shape or limit those choices. Success is likely when the two align (as with the younger cohort in a booming economy) and failure is likely when they are misaligned.

Dependent variable

The outcome the researcher is trying to explain (the effect). Example, college graduation.

Independent variable

The measured factor the researcher believes affects the dependent variable (the cause). Example, parental SES or parental education.

Independent vs. dependent variable

The independent variable is the cause and the dependent variable is the effect.

Hypothesis

A tentative statement, usually with a stated direction, about the relationship between two variables.

Ethical guideline - do no harm

Studies should be designed so they cause no physical or psychological harm to participants.

Ethical guideline - informed consent

Participants have a right to know they are in a study, what they will be asked to do, and how the results will be used.

Ethical guideline - voluntary participation

People have the right to decide whether to take part in a study.

Ethical guideline - anonymity and confidentiality

Anonymity means keeping participants' identities unknown, and confidentiality means keeping the information they reveal secret.

Ethical guideline - IRB approval

A study should be approved by an Institutional Review Board before it begins.

Beneficence

The principle that researchers should minimize harm and maximize benefits to participants.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

Researchers studied untreated syphilis in about 60 Black men without informing them of their diagnosis and denied them treatment, telling them they had "bad blood." It violated informed consent and the right to withdraw, and it is the classic example of unethical research.

Material culture

Aspects of culture we can see and touch, including the constructed physical environment. Examples, technology, artwork, food, clothes.

Nonmaterial culture

Aspects of culture we cannot see but that show up in our activities. Examples, values, beliefs, social norms, ideologies.

Material vs. nonmaterial culture

Material culture is the physical objects of a society, while nonmaterial culture is the ideas, values, and norms behind them.

Values

Culturally shared beliefs about what is desirable, good, right, fair, or important. Examples, equal opportunity, freedom, individualism.

Norms

Socially expected rules for how people should behave, based on societal values.

Values vs. norms

Values are what we believe is important, and norms are how we are expected to behave because of those values.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture or group is superior to others, and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one's own. It creates pride in the in-group and contempt for the out-group.

Cultural relativism

Understanding a culture on its own terms (its own values, norms, and context) instead of judging it by your own culture's standards. It does not mean every practice is morally acceptable.

Ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism

Ethnocentrism judges other cultures as inferior by one's own standards, while cultural relativism tries to understand them in their own context.

Culture shock

The doubt, confusion, anxiety, or disorientation people feel when they encounter a cultural environment very different from what they are used to.

Sexism

Discrimination or unequal treatment based on sex or gender. Example, women in the media being described by their appearance while men are described by their achievements.

Gender stereotypes

Beliefs or overgeneralizations about the characteristics, abilities, behaviors, or roles supposedly appropriate for men or women. Examples, women as caring and nurturing, men as strong and rational.

Sexism vs. gender stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are the beliefs and overgeneralizations about men and women, while sexism is the discrimination or unequal treatment that can result from them.

Gender roles

Sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one's status as masculine, feminine, or other. Children are socialized into them early, for example through pink and blue.

Socialization

A lifelong process through which people learn and internalize the values, beliefs, norms, behaviors, and social skills needed to participate in society.

Nature vs. nurture

Nature refers to biology and genetics, and nurture refers to social environment and interaction. Together they shape human personality.

Agents of socialization

Institutions that teach us values, norms, and behaviors. The main ones are family, school, peers, media, and religion.

Family as an agent of socialization

The original and primary source of socialization. It is a two-way street, for example immigrant children may socialize their parents into the new culture.

School as an agent of socialization

Teaches behavioral norms such as raising your hand, waiting your turn, obeying authority, and conflict resolution.

Peers as an agent of socialization

Especially strong in adolescence. Peers can reinforce or contradict what is taught at home, and they expect conformity (peer pressure).

Media as an agent of socialization

Formats and platforms (TV, social media, books, etc.) that communicate messages and shape our ideas about gender, beauty, race, and family.

Adult socialization

How people are continuously socialized as adults, for example when taking on new roles and jobs.

Resocialization

The process by which a person's values, beliefs, and norms are reengineered, often deliberately, through an intense social process.

Total institution

An institution in which people are totally immersed and which controls all the basics of daily life, with all activity in the same place under a single authority.

Examples of total institutions

Prisons, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, military camps, and boarding schools.

Status

A recognizable social position a person occupies. Examples, professor, doctor, mother.

Role

The duties and behaviors expected of someone who holds a particular status. Example, a professor is expected to teach and know the course material.

Status vs. role

A status is the position you hold, and a role is the behavior expected of you because of that position.

Role strain

Incompatibility among the roles tied to a single status. Example, a professor must teach, publish, and present at conferences.

Role conflict

Tension between the competing demands of roles tied to different statuses. Example, a professor who is also a parent.

Ascribed status

A status you are born into, which is involuntary. Examples, race, ethnicity.

Achieved status

A status you enter into, which is voluntary. Examples, doctor, CEO.

Master status

One status in a person's status set that stands out and overrides all others.