Intro to Sociology S100 Midterm 2025

Sociological imagination

The ability to connect personal aspects or outcomes of someone's life to broader social patterns and focus

Dualisms

the division of an object of study into two paired elements

Social Structure

a pattern of organized relationships among groups of people within a society

Agency

an individual's or group's capacity to act independently, make choices, and exert influence to shape their own lives and the social world around them

Independent Variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

Dependent Variable

The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is interested.

Sampling on the dependent variable

Looking at only instances of failure rather than success & failure

Collective effervescence

an intense energy in shared events where people feel swept up in something larger than themselves

Rituals

Interactions between multiple people

What are the requirements for a successful ritual?

Bodily co-pressure

Barriers to outsiders

Mutual focus of attention

Shared Mood

Network Graphs

Composed of Nodes brought together by ties

Symmetrical ties

Have no direction, implies the relationship is both ways

asymmetrical ties

has arrows or directions show any one way relationships

Dyadic Relationship

relationship between 2 people

EX:A-B-C

Triadic Relationship

Relationships between 3 people

EX: A - B

\ /

C

Structural Holes

Gaps between network clusters

Social Capital

The connections you have to others and the results (usually benefits) they can bring

Economic Capital

money and material that can be used to produce goods and services

Anomie

a sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; too little social regulation; normlessness (being lonely in a crowd)

Ascribed Characteristics

attributes that people possess at birth, develop over time, or possess through no effort or fault of their own

Achieved Characteristics

attributes a person acquires through some combination of personal choice, effort, and ability

Heterogamy

marriage between people with differing social characteristics

Homogamy

marriage between people with the same social characteristics

Impression Management

the attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen

Goffman's Dramaturgical Approach

a view of social interaction in which people are seen as actors on a stage attempting to put on a successful performance

Collective Representations

A set of images and words that represent a particular culture

Social Norms

expected standards of conduct, which influence behavior

Breaching Norms

Breaking expected standards of conducts

Deviance

Any transgressions of socially established norms

Stigma

a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.

Socially Constructed

a concept developed by society that is maintained over time through social interactions that make the idea seem "real"

Types of Stigma

Bodily

Character

Family/Lineage

Functionalist Approach

Looks at society as if it were a single, complex organism

Conflict Approach

Looks at society as a system shaped by power, people have more rights than others, people, use the power to serve themselves

Labeling Theory

We routinely assign people labels, we often come to see all people's characteristics & behaviors in light of that label

Collateral Effects

Labels can also affect how the person labeled see themselves, potentially causing them to live up to the label