SOCY 101: Exam 1 Flashcards

sociology

the systematic study of human society and social interaction; examines how society shapes individuals and how individuals shape society.

basic human questions

Sociology is concerned with ______.

• i.e. why is there a big wage gap in this job? why is there a large population of homelessness here?

society

a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture.

• we can look at it at different levels (UofSC, SC, America, etc.)

micro-level

focuses on small-scale processes (i.e. individuals and small groups).

macro-level

focuses on large-scale processes (i.e. the societal, structural level).

culture

a group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs that influence how we think, act, and behave.

sociological imagination

the effort to see the relationship between the micro and the macro; the name of a book written by C. Wright Mills (1959).

• what happens to individual people is, in large part, the result of societal or macro factors

  • you can’t understand the individual without understanding the larger context around them

• seeing the connection between the micro and the macro doesn’t come easily to us

what are the main points made by C. Wright Mills about the sociological imagination?

society

Many of our choices are influenced by our ___ in ways we do not even realize. It shapes our attitudes and behavior even if it does not determine them altogether.

• ex. voting decisions, facing the door in the elevator

sociological perspective

the view that our social backgrounds influence our attitudes, behaviors, and life chances.

debunking motif

sociology looks beyond the surface-level understandings of social reality and helps us recognize the value of alternative understandings; “things are not always what they seem.”

• ex. who really has the power to make decisions at the state level, beyond what is said in state documents (i.e. governor)?

social structure

the social patterns through which a society is organized; can be horizontal or vertical.

horizontal social structure

the social relationships and social/physical characteristics of communities to which individuals belong.

• ex. houses close together or far apart

vertical social structure

ways in which a society or group ranks people in a hierarchy.

• ex. wealth, power, race, ethnicity, gender

personal troubles

a problem that affects individuals and is typically blamed on the individual’s own failing.

• ex. eating disorders, divorce, unemployment

public issues

social problems affecting many individuals; source of problem lies in the social structure and culture of a society.

public issue

Some issues are best understood as a ___ rather than a personal trouble.

• ex. lots of women deal with eating disorders, and a large part of the problem is the societal view of attractiveness being thinness

“blame-the-system”

A _____ approach rather than a “blame-the-victim” approach is ultimately needed to successfully deal with social problems today.

physis, nomos

Ancient Greeks drew a connection between ___ (nature) and ___ (law/custom).

• human social life was not a product of nature but a product of human creation

• led to philosophers like Plato and Aristotle building the foundation for sociology

ma tuan-lin

a 13th century Chinese historian who saw social dynamics as an underlying component of historical development.

ibn khaldun

14th century historian and philosopher who looked beyond history to build a modern view of society; pointed out a distinction between sedentary life of cities and the nomadic life of pastoral people.

• development of modern science from the 16th century onward

• emergence of democratic forms of government

• the industrial revolution beginning in the 18th century

what were some 19th century developments that led to the establishment of sociology?

disenchantment of the world

the focus of knowledge was shifted from intuiting the intentions of spirits and gods to systematically observing and testing the world using science and technology.

rationalism, empiricism

Modern science combined Plato’s ___ and Aristotle’s ___.

• Sociology used theory (rationalism) and experiments (empiricism), allowing it to move beyond common sense.

rationalism

Plato’s philosophical stance prioritizing reason as the primary source and test of knowledge.

empiricism

Aristotle’s theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience.

industrial revolution

the development of industrial methods of production, the introduction of industrial machinery, and the organization of labor.

unified

When sociology emerged as a crucial response to the new and unprecedented types of social problems in the 19th century, it wasn’t a ___ science as its founders brought lots of different perspectives to the science.

macrosociology

focuses on the “big picture”.

• ex. social structure, institutions, social/political/economic changes, etc.

• ex. Why are there lots of robberies in this area?

• functionalism

• conflict theory

what are the theoretical perspectives of macrosociology?

microsociology

studies social interactions.

• ex. How do small groups of people interact? Why do they interact like that? How do they interpret the meanings of their interactions? Etc.

• symbolic interactionism

• utilitarianism

what are the theoretical perspectives of microsociology?

• society is highly ordered and highly stable

• society consists of interrelated pieces that each serve a function

• society is largely characterized by consensus

what are the 3 main assumptions of functionalism?

• resources are scarce

• resources are zero sum

• society is a collection of groups that is held together by power relations

what are the 3 main assumptions of conflict theory?

power

the ability to control the behaviors of others against their will.

structure

many different elements woven together to form a seamless whole.

• ex. economic systems, customs, laws, institutions, status hierarchies, etc.

• the way things are configured socially or societally will shape individuals, behaviors, outcomes, how they act and what happens to them.

deterministic relationship

Structure is NOT a ___:

• a particular structure does not equal X event

• structure increases the likelihood of X over Y

interpersonal structure

structure as a recurring pattern of behavior and interaction.

• qualities of being constraining, pervasive, enduring, and invisible

• this makes social life predictable, orderly, and familiar

social science

a group of academic disciplines dedicated to examining human behavior and specifically how people interact, behave, develop, and influence the world.

• ex. sociology, psychology, economics, anthropology, history

ontology

what is real or considered to be most real.

nominalism

the social world is nothing more than names, concepts, and labels that construct your reality.

• if we did not create an idea, then it wouldn't exist

• ex. in criminology, labeling theory states that criminals are criminals because they are labeled as such.

realism

the social world exists; it is an empirical being that exists independent of your appreciation of it.

• even if we didn’t label/name things, they would still exist

epistemology

the branch of philosophy that studies the theory of knowledge, asking fundamental questions about what knowledge is, how we acquire it, its sources (like perception, reason, testimony), its limits, and how we justify our beliefs.

anti-positivism

the social world is relativistic and can only be understood from the perspective of the individuals directly involved.

nihilism

the belief that life is meaningless.

positivism

we should try to seek and establish causal laws; associated with Karl Popper.

voluntarism

behavior is completely governed by free will or is voluntary.

• social behavior is too complicated to really be known

determinism

human beings are created by the external stimuli around them.

• descartes introduced the idea of external stimuli– placed the determinants for our behavior outside of us

subjective methodology

the way to test reality claims is to get inside of social life and become part of the situation.

• ex. to understand getting clean from alcohol, you would need to experience alcoholism and attending AA meetings

objective methodology

basic canon of science that uses rigorous protocol, experimentation, survey data, etc. to make testing reality claims more quantifiable.

• industrial revolution

• expansion of the colonial empires of europe

• the rise of natural sciences

what 3 historical events contributed to the rise of sociology?

theory growth

the development of social and natural theories.

testability

you must be able to make observations against the claim, not just support it.

• equals falsifiability

1. ask a question/find a research topic

2. research existing sources

3. formulate a hypothesis

4. design and conduct a study

5. draw conclusions

6. report results

what are the 6 steps in the scientific method?

hypothesis

an explanation for a phenomenon based on a conjecture about the relationship between the phenomenon and one or more causal factors.

• clear statement about what you think will happen

• must be testable, therefore these statements must be falsifiable

• should be written before a study takes place

reliability

how likely research results are to be replicated if the study is reproduced.

validity

how well the study measures what it was designed to measure.

• extent to which the instruments used in the study measure what we want them to measure.

accuracy

increased or decreased based on the measurement tools that we are using.

survey

subjects respond to a series of questions about behaviors/opinions.

• can be quantitative and/or qualitative.

secondary data analysis

the method of re-examining data originally collected by others for new research questions.

• ex. Large-scale survey = the US Census

• ex. The General Social Survey (GSS)

laboratory

experiments that researchers use to identify cause and effect relationships.

• highly controlled settings.

• control or manipulate independent variables to measure an effect on a dependent variable.

• participants may not act as they do in everyday life.

field

experiments that occur in real world settings.

• participants often do not know they are a part of an experiment.

• less control but more natural contexts.

focus groups

bring together small groups of participants to answer questions asked by a researcher.

• researcher acts as a moderator and listens to the conversation between a small group of people about a specific topic.

interviews

one-on-one conversation between researcher and participant.

ethnographies

researcher is immersed in a particular social setting for an extended period of time.

method

the mode of collecting data.

• ex. surveys, interviews, experiments (examples above)

dimensions

qualities or characteristics of the research design that can be used to distinguish different kinds of studies.

longitudinal

multiple measurements taken over time.

cross sectional

data collected at one single time point.

quantitative

collecting and analyzing numerical data.

• can be used to find patterns, calculate averages, make predictions, test causal relationships, as well as to generalize to larger populations.

qualitative

collecting and analyzing non-numerical data.

• can be used to understand concepts, opinions, and experiences on a deeper level.

mixed-method approach

combination of both quantitative and qualitative.

observational

observe what actually happens in real life.

• no researcher manipulation.

procedural control

manipulation of independent variable to test the effect on a dependent variable.

correlation

one thing relates to another.

causation

one thing causes another.

causal

Correlation and causation can exist simultaneously, but correlation alone is not sufficient for determining ___ relationships.

• The two variables must be correlated. There must be a relationship between the variables.

• The cause must produce its influence before the outcome occurs.

• Other possible explanations must be ruled out.

What conditions must be met to establish that one variable causes another?

independent variable (IV)

potential causes.

dependent variable (DV)

potential outcomes.

confounding variable

“joint root cause.”

random assignment

chance determines who gets into what condition.

• every eligible participant needs to have the same probability of ending up in any of the conditions.

procedural control

between conditions there is a difference in the protocol (manipulation of the IV).

1. sampling issues

2. failure rates

3. low on mundane reality

4. ethical issues

5. cost of experiments

what are 5 limitations of experiments in sociology?

experimental sampling issues

When choosing a sample for an experiment, it is unlikely to find a completely random sample of the population of interest.

• must rely on people’s good will or want to participate.

• often use non-random samples, making it harder to generalize the results.

• may eliminate parts of the population.

vulnerable populations

experiments often exclude pregnant women, children, the elderly, or other disadvantaged populations (the poor/prisoners/etc.).

failure rate

when participants drop out of the treatment group before completion.

• might generate a selection bias in terms of the types of people who choose to drop out of a study.

low on mundane reality

in-lab experiments give us more control over the setting and help to reduce potential noise, but it takes away from the feel of reality.

1. confidentiality

2. voluntary participation

3. avoidance of harm or distress

4. debriefing

what are the 4 main ethical rules researchers need to follow?

confidentiality

the identity of the participant is known to the researcher but the researcher takes action to protect the identity of their participants in the results of that research.

anonymity

the identity of the participant is unknown, even by the researcher themselves.

informed consent

the participant knows what they are signing up for.

voluntary participation

participants are able to withdraw from the study at any time with no consequences.

institutional review board (IRB)

a committee at a university or research institution that reviews studies involving human participants to make sure the research is ethical, minimizes harm, and protects participants’ rights, privacy, and consent before the research begins.

• scientists from multiple disciplines

• a non-scientist

• a community member

who is a part of an IRB?

hawthorne experiment

• conducted in the late 1920s through early 1930s

• separated a small group of female workers to test how different working conditions impact levels of productivity

hawthorne effect

individuals modify their behaviors because they know (or think) that they are being watched.

bystander effect

individuals are less likely to help in an emergency when other people are present.

diffusion of responsibility

people think another person will intervene, which makes them feel less responsibility to take action.

pluralistic ignorance

since nobody else is reacting to the emergency, my help is also not needed.