UCSB Soc 1 Tober Midterm

sociology

the study of human behavior in society

sociological imagination

the ability to see the connection between our individual identities and the social contexts

(family, friends, and institutions in which we find ourselves)

intersectionality

the way that our different identities meet to shape our social identity and our experience of inequality

social groups

a collection of individuals bound by a common social identity or by some shared goal or purpose

social institutions

patterned sets of interactions that work to meet collective needs that are not easily met by individuals working alone

(social arenas such as markets, families, schools, corporations, factories, and prisons)

social inequality

the social process by which valued goods, opportunities, and experiences are unequally distributed throughout a population

identity

the unique combination of group affiliations and social characteristics that each individual develops

"modernization theory" of name trends

stanley lieberson's explanation for the reduction in pressures associated with social institutions like extended family rituals or religious rituals associated with the naming of children

-trends that lead to more name diversity

industrial revolution

the rapid development of industry that occurred in numerous countries in the 18th/19th centuries

- large scale factory production

- reorganized the production and distribution of goods

latent functions

the unintended consequences of an action or event

manifest functions

the intended consequences of an action or event

paradigm

a model; an example

generalized other (Mead)

an internalized sense of the total expectations of others in a variety of settings - regardless of whether we've encountered those people or places before

social self (Mead)

the identity conferred upon an individual by the reactions of others

rationality (Weber)

the foundation of modern society- an escalating process of order and organization with dire consequences

- can free us from the theoretic past

iron cage (Weber)

how rationalization and bureaucracy traps individuals in rigid, goal-oriented systems from which they cannot easily escape

dramaturgical model (Goffman)

conception of social interaction as an actor preparing to perform a part in a play

symbolic interactionism

examines how individuals and groups interact, focusing on the creation of personal identity through interaction with others. Of particular interest is the relationship between individual action and group pressures.

mechanical solidarity (Durkheim)

traditional society where life is uniform and people are similar, they share a common culture and sense of morality that bonds them

organic solidarity (Durkheim)

modern society where people are interdependent because of the high division of labor

- they disagree on what is right/wrong, but share solidarity because the division of labor makes them dependent on each other

social fact (Durkheim)

the term for values, norms, and structures that transcend individuals, exercising control over them, and amendable to scientific study

social solidarity (Durkheim)

term for the moral bonds that connect us to the social collectivity

total institution (Goffman)

institution that completely circumscribes your everyday life, cutting you off from life before you entered and seeking to regulate every part of your behavior

social darwinism

a model of social change that saw each succeeding society as developing through evolution and "survival of the fittest"

american revolution

french revolution

between the 18th/ 19th centuries, european society underwent a dramatic change, replaced absolutist monarchs with republics, where power rested not on the divine right of kings and queens but on the consent of the people.

—politically, economically, and intellectually

—in part inspired by the work of enlightenment thinkers.

the enlightenement

"age of reason"

during the 17th/ 18th centuries when theorists challenged the established social order

- the idea of the "individual" took shape

double consciousness (DuBois)

meant that black americans have the sense of "two-ness," of being american and being african-american

- knowing two worlds at once

conflict theory

theoretical approach that stresses the competition for scarce resources and unequal distribution of those resources based on social status

social forms (Simmel)

recurring patterns, structures, and organized shapes that human interactions take, separate from the specific motives or feelings driving them

conspicuous consumption (Veblen)

term to describe a new form of prestige based on accumulating and displaying possessions

structural functionalism

sociological paradigm that contends that all social life consists of several distinct, integrated levels that enable society—and individuals who are within it—to find stability, order, and meaning.

cultural relativism

a position that all cultures are equally valid in the experience of their own members

cultural universal

one of the rituals, customs, and symbols that are evident in all societies

(language, kinship systems, religious rituals)

material culture

physical objects and spaces that people use to define their culture, including homes, cities, mosques, factories, works of art, clothes and fashions, books and movies, as well as the tools they use to make them.

mass media

any means of communication, such as books, newspapers, magazines, comic books, films and DVDs, radio, television, CDs and MP3s, and a range of digital and social media platforms, that reach large numbers of people.

nonmaterial culture

often just called "culture," the ideas and beliefs that people develop about their lives and their world.

subculture

group within a society that creates its own norms and values distinct from the mainstream and usually its own separate social institutions too

cultural diversity

vast differences between the cultures of the world as well as the differences in belief and behavior that exist within cultures

counterculture

subculture that identifies itself through its difference and opposition to the dominant culture

culture shock

feeling of disorientation when the cultural markers that we rely on to help us know where we are and how to act have suddenly changed

culture

both the material basis for social life and the sets of values and ideals that we understand to define morality, good and evil, appropriate and inappropriate

popular culture

a variety of popular music, non-highbrow forms of literature, any forms of spectator sports, and other forms of entertainment such as television, movies, and video games

cultural capital

any piece of culture that is used as a symbolic resource to exchange with others

symbol

anything—an idea, a marking, a thing—that carries additional meanings beyond itself to others who share in the culture. symbols come to mean what they do only in a culture; they would have no meaning to someone outside

value

tell us why we must behave accordingly, they constitute what a society thinks about itself and are among the most basic lessons that a culture can transmit to its young

folkway

relatively weak and informal norms that is the result of patterns of action, many of the behaviors we call "manners" are folkways

sapir-whorf hypothesis

a theory that language shapes our reality because it gives us a way to talk about the categories of life that we experience

norm

the rules a culture develops that defines how people should act and the consequences of failure to act in the specified ways

ritual

enactment by which members of a culture engage in a routine behavior to express their sense of belonging to the culture

law

norm that has been organized and written down. breaking these norms involves the disapproval not only of immediate community members but also of the agents of the state, who are charged with punishing such norm-breaking behavior

language

organized set of symbols by which we are able to think and communicate with others; the chief vehicle by which human beings create a sense of self

mores

informally enforced norms based on strong moral values, which are viewed as essential to the proper functioning of a group

taboos

norms that a society holds so strongly that violating them results in extreme disgust (and sometimes expulsion from society)

culture wars

often symbolic clashes of ideas, symbols, values between groups who support certain changes and those who resist certain changes

laws

norms that are written down and enforced by agents of the state

culture lag

the gap between technology and material culture and its social beliefs and institutions

- gradual process by which nonmaterial elements of culture catch up with material culture

cultural diffusion

the spreading of new ideas through a society, independent of population movement

- can also bring forth tension by a society imposing its values on others

- culture spreads unevenly and unequally often is accompanied by significant opposition and conflict

media

plural form of "medium," it is the term for the ways that we communicate with each other, from voice to gestures to methods of mass communication like publishing, broadcasting and the internet

looking- glass self (Cooley)

term for the process of how identity is formed through social interaction, we imagine how we appear to others and thus develop our sense of self based on the others' reactions, imagined otherwise

ethnocentrism

the belief that one's own culture is not only different from others, but superior to others

cultural tool kit

a repertoire of habits, skills, and styles from which people construct their identities

cultural imperialism

deliberate imposition of one country's culture on another country

interaction

traditions and rituals are handed down from generation to generation as "this is how our culture works" which makes you feel more firmly rooted in place

inductive reasoning

analysis and observations

research methods

processes used to systematically collect and analyze information from the social world for the purposes of sociological study and understanding

survey

research method in which one asks a sample of people closed-ended questions and tabulates the results

operationalization

process of attempting to define the topic of your study into measurable factors

social desirability bias

a form of response bias wherein people being studied tend to present themselves in a manner they believe will be perceived favorably

bias

systematic prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another

triangulation

research technique that uses cross-verification to ensure the validity of conclusions, when several research methods are used to the study of the same phenomenon, researchers can be more confident with a result

qualitative methods

inductive and inferential means to drawing sociological understanding, usually about less tangible aspects of social life, such as the actual felt experience of social interaction

deductive reasoning

theory and hypothesis

subjectivity

complex of individual perceptions, motivations, ideas, and emotions that give each of us a point of view

quantitative methods

numerical means to drawing sociological conclusions using powerful statistical tools to help understand patterns in which the behaviors, attitudes, or traits under study can be translated into numerical values

compositional fallacy

an error in logic that results when comparing two groups that are different, assuming they are the same, and drawing an inference based on that false assumption

confirmation bias

the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of our existing beliefs

content analysis

research method in which one analyzes artifacts instead of people

detached observation

perspective that constrains the researcher from becoming in any way involved in the event he or she is observing. This reduces the amount that the researchers' observations will change the dynamic that they are watching

discourse analysis

Is more interested in patterns of portrayal evident in a collection of "texts" that might be difficult to quantify

ehtnography

researcher inserts him- or herself into the daily world of the people he or she is trying to study to understand the events from the point of view of the actors themselves

field

any site where the interactions or processes you want to study are taking place, such as an institution like a school or a specific community

interview

researcher asks a small group of people open-ended questions

observer effect

direct effect that observation can be shown to have on the phenomenon being observed

participant observation

sociological research method in which one observes people in their natural habitat

interval variables

variables capable of taking on any value between a stated minimum and maximum value

categorical variables

contain integer values that indicate membership in one of several possible categories. The range of possible values for such variables is usually limited.

(religious affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, etc)

purposive sample

sample in which respondents are not selected randomly and are not representative of the larger population but are selected precisely because they possess certain characteristics that are of interest to the researcher

secondary analysis

analysis conducted using data previously collected by others for other reasons

types of research methods

content analysis, ethnography, discourse analysis, experiments, field experiments, survey, participant observation, network analysis

systematic sample

starts at a random position on a list and selects every unit of a population until the desired sample size is reached

stratified sample

research subjects are divided into proportions equal to the proportions found in the population at large

random sample

chosen by an abstract, arbitrary method

purposive sample

respondents are not selected randomly and are not representative of the larger population, but are selected precisely because they possess certain characteristics that are of interest to the researcher

representative sample

scientifically designed to accurately reflect a larger population

causal relationship

relationship between two or more variables in which one (independent) variable can be shown to cause a change in a dependent variable or variables in reliable ways

causality

term used when one variable causes another to change

needs:

- correlation

- time order

- ruling out alternative explanations

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

committee established to review and approve research involving human subjects; works to ensure that researchers comply with standards and ethics in conducting research

different variables

Independent

Dependent

Control groups

Confounding variables

Correlation vs causation

control group

in an experiment, the comparison group that will not experience manipulation of thee independent variable (the experimental group)

having a control group enables sociologist to compare the outcomes of the experiment to determine if the changes in the independent variable had any effects on the dependent variable

nature

physical makeup, our genes and chromosomes