sociology 101 exam 1

sociology

the study of human society

sociological imagination

the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individuals life to seemingly impersonel and remote historical forces-> C. Wright Mills

social institution

a complex group of interdependent positions that, together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time; also defined in a narrow sense as any institution in a society that works to shape the behavior of the groups or people within them

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

invented what he called "social physics" or "positivism"

- we could determine right and wrong without reference to higher powers or other religious concepts

positivism

arose out of a need to make moral sense of the social order in a time of declining religious authority

Karl Marx

Believed that it was primarily the conflicts between classes that drove social change throughout history. He saw history as an account of a mans struggle to gain control of and later dominate his natural environment

-all systems have their own fault lines of conflict.

Max Weber

Max Weber illustrated how social institutions are dependent on each other. In his major work, he showed that when a change occurred in the religious institution during the sixteenth century, it contributed to a change in the economic institution. Previously, most people thought of religion and economics being autonomous and completely separated from each other.

Verstehen

German for "understanding"..

The concept comes from Max Weber and is the basis of interpretive sociology in which researchers imagine themselves experiencing the life positions of the social actors they want to understand rather than treating those people as subjects to be examined

Durkheim

He wished to understand how society holds together and how modern capitalism and industrialism have transformed the ways people relate to one another.

"the division of labor"

Durkheim wrote this. refers to the degree to which jobs are specialized.

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.

- Durkheim argues that one of the main social forces leading to suicide is the sense of normlessness resulting from drastic changes in living conditions or arrangements.

Positivist sociology

a strain within sociology that believes the social world can be described and predicted by certain describable relationships (akin to social physics)

-----durkheim was is often considered the founding practitioner

Georg Simmel

he established what we today refer to as formal sociology - sociology of pure numbers.

~his work was influential in the development of urban sociology and cultural sociology.

~his work with small-group interactions served as an intellectual precedent for later sociologists who came ot study microinteractions.

~he provided formal definitions for small and large groups, a party, a stranger, and the poor.

Origins of American Sociology (chicago)

The emergence of American sociology was characterized by the latter, applied perspective, and was best embodied by what came to be reffered to as the chicago school.

~Humans' behaviors and personalities are shaped by their social and physical environments, a concept known as social ecology.

Cooley

Taught at the university of Michigan, is best known for the concept of "The Looking Glass- Self"

~he argued that self emerges from an interactive social process

The looking glass self

We envision how others perceive us; then we gauge the responses of other individuals to our presentation of self.

By refining our vision of how others see us, we develop self-concept that is in constant interaction with the surrounding social world.

Theory

a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.

Theoretical approach

a formulated hypothesis or, loosely speaking, any hypothesis or opinion not based upon actual knowledge

conflict theory

the idea that conflict between competing interests is the basis, animating force of social change and society in general

symbolic interactionism

a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people's actions.

- focus on how face-to-face interactions create the social world.

-Erving Goffman

Midrange Theory

a theory that attempts to predict how certain social institutions tend to function

-neither macrosociology or microsociology

**key is that it generates falsifiable hypotheses--- predictions that can be tested by analyzing the real world.

social constructions

an entity that exists because people behave as if it exists and whose existence is perpetuated as people and social institutions act in accordance with the widely agreed upon formal rules or informal norms of behavior associated with that entity.

microsociology

a branch of sociology that seeks to understand local interactional contexts; its methods of choice are ethnographic, generally including participant observation and in-depth interviews

focus on face-to-face encounters and the types of interactions between the individuals

macrosociology

a branch of sociology generally concerned with social dynamics at a higher level of analysis--- that is across the breadth of a society.

they might investigate immigration policy or gender norms or how the educational system interacts with the labor market,

**use qualitative methods

research methods

approaches that social scientists use for investigating the answers to questions

Quantitative method

method that seeks to obtain information about the social world that is already in, or can be converted to, numeric form.

-uses statistical analysis to describe the social world that those data represents.

-attempts to mimic the scientific method

Qualitative method

method that attempts to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form.

info is often used to document the meanings that actions engender in social participants or to describe the mechanisms by which social processes occur.

deductive approach

a research approach that starts with a theory, forms a hypothesis, makes empirical observations, and then analyzes the data to confirm, reject, or modify the original theory

inductive approach

a research approach that starts with empirical observations and then works to form a theory

theory

a set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based.

hypothesis

a proposed relationship between two variables

correlation or association

simultaneous variation in two variables

causality

the notion that a change in one factor results in a corresponding change in another

To establish causality, three factors are needed....

1. correlation

2. time order

3. ruling out alternative explainations

dependent variable

the outcome that the researcher is trying to explain

independent variable

a measured factor that the researcher believes has a causal impact on the dependent variable.

operationaliization

the process of assigning a precise method for measuring a term being examined for use in a particular study

validity

the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure

ex: if u step on a scale and it measures your height it is not ________.

if i ask you how happy you are with your life and you tell me how happy you are at school it is not valid.

reliability

the likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measure.

ex: a scale that is off by 10 pounds might not be totally valid--- it will not give me my actual weight--- but the scale is reliable if every time i step on it, it reads exactly 10 pounds less than my true weight.

generalizability

the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied

reflexitivity

analyzing and critically considering our own role in, and effect on, our research

participant observation

a QUALITATIVE research method that seeks to uncover the meanings people give their social actions by observing their behavior in practice

population

an entire group of individual persons, objects, or items from which samples may be drawn

sample

the subset of the population from which you are actually collecting data

case study

an intensive investigation of one particular unit of analysis in order to describe it or uncover its mechanisms

*often used in qualitative research*

survey

an ordered series of questions intended to elicit information from respondents

historical methods

research that collects data from written reports, newspaper articles, journals, transcripts, television programs, diaries, artwork and other artifacts that date back to the period under study.

comparative research

a methodology by which two or more entities (such as countries), which are similar in many dimensions but differ on one in question, are compared to learn about the dimension that differs between them.

content analysis

a systematic analysis of the content rather than the structure of a communication, such as a written work, speech, or film.

-subtype of historical method

experimental methods

methods that seek to alter the social landscape in a very specific way for a given sample of individuals and then track what results that change yields; often involve comparisions to a control group that did not experience such an intervention

social regulation

the number of rules guiding your daily life and, more specifically, what you can reasonably expect from the world on a day-to-day basis

golden rules in research

1; do not harm~ physical, emotional, and psychological

2; informed consent~ have a right to know they are participating in the study and what it will consist of

3; voluntary participation~ ppl have the right to decide if they want to participate in the study

research ethics

The application of moral rules and professional codes of conduct to the collection, analysis, reporting, and publication of information about research subjects, in particular active acceptance of subjects' right to privacy, confidentiality, and informed consent. Until recently sociologists (and social scientists generally) often displayed arrogance in their treatment of research subjects, justifying their actions by the search for truth.

variable

not consistent or having a fixed pattern; liable to change.

social conflict theory

_______ sees social life as a competition and focuses on the distribution of resources, power, and inequality.

(Karl Marx)

Economic determinism

______ is a theory that economic relationships (such as being an owner or capitalist, or being a worker or proletarian) are the foundation on which all other social and political arrangements are built.

natural experiment

is an empirical study in which individuals (or clusters of individuals) exposed to the experimental and control conditions are determined by nature or by other factors outside the control of the investigators, yet the process governing the exposures arguably resembles random assignment.

research cycle

culture

a set of beliefs, traditions, and practices; the sum of the social categories and concepts we embrace in addition to beliefs, behaviors (except instinctual ones), and practices; everything but the natural environment around us.

ethnocentrism

the belief that one's own culture or group is superior to others, and the tendency to view all other cultures from to perspective of one's own.

nonmaterial culture

values, beliefs, behaiors, and social norms

material culture

everything that is part of our constructed, physical environment, including technology.

ideology

a system of concepts and relationships, an understanding of cause and effect.

ex: generally on airplanes youre not allowed to use the toilets in the first class cabins if you have a coach-class ticket.

cultural relativism

taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgement or assigning value.

ex: in the US you are expected to look someone in the eye when you talk to them. In China, this is considered rude, and you generally divert your gaze as a sign of respect.

cultural scripts

modes of behavior and understanding that are not universal or natural

subculture

the distinct cultural values and behavioral patterns of a particular group united by sets of concepts, values, symbols, and shared meaning specific to the members of that group distinctive enough to distinguish it from others within the same culture or society.

values

moral beliefs

~concept of equal oppurtunity

norms

how values tell us to behave

~ we value hygene so it is a norm to wash our hands after going to the bathroom

~when we are little we are taught by parents, teachers, peers, etc.

Perhaps the most powerful of all human symbols is.......

language—a system of verbal and sometimes written representations that are culturally specific and convey meaning about the world.

media

any formats, platforms, or vehicles that carry, present, or communicate information

mass media

any of the means of communication, as television or newspapers, that reach very large numbers of people.

hegemony

a condition by which a dominant group uses its power to elicit the voluntary "consent" of the masses

~ stands in contrast to domination

~important for understanding media

Gramsci

-believed that everyone, no matter what their

occupation, their interests, or their education, is able to work out their own coherent ideas of how the world really works.

-dded another dimension to the definition of

hegemony: domination by consent.

-Gramsci's point is that

we have been conditioned by our language to think -- and feel about

that thinking -- in ways that serve the dominant ideology. And if

that dominant ideology insists that poverty is the fault of the

individual while systematically keeping certain groups or classes of

people poor, that hegemony must be dislodged by substantive,

revolutionary change.

-hegemony locks up a society even more

tightly because of the way ideas are transmitted by language. The

words we use to speak and write have been constructed by social

interactions through history and shaped by the dominant ideology of

the times. Thus they are loaded with cultural meanings that

condition us to think in particular ways, and to not be able to think

very well in other ways.

consumerism

the steady acquisition of material possessions, often with the belief that happiness and fulfillment can thus be achieved.

short-term intended

advertising

long-term intended

a single theme reinforced through repeated exposure as in public service announcements

- generally used by not-for-profit organizations to educate the public

short-term unintended

when teenagers play violent video games and then go out and commit crimes almost identical to those portrayed in the game, or, when a kid listens to heavy metal music with violent lyrics and then commits a school shooting

long-term unintended

desensitized to violence, sexual imagery, and other content that others consider inappropriate for mass audience.

socialization

the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society

limits of socialization

However, it cannot explain everything about a person's development and personality.

Biology is also a very important component.

It is a combination of biology and social interactions that makes us who we are.

Charles Horton Cooley

Theorized that the "self" emerges from our ability to assume the point of view of others and imagine how those others see us.

looking glass self

Cooley's term to refer to the process by which our "self" develops through internalizing others' reaction to us.

self

the individual identity of a person as perceived by that same person

I

ones sense of agency, action, or power.

Me

the self as perceived as an object by the "I"; the self as one imagines others perceive one

Other

someone or something outside of oneself

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

George Herbert Mead

he further elaborated by which the social self develops. "I, Me, Other"

infants only know the I, through social interaction they develop the me, then we realize other people have wants, needs and desires so we understand the other.

Agents of socialization: family

**most important one

-almost exclusive control of person during first years of life and majority of control in childhood and adolesence years.

-parent- control emotional bond motivates child to be socialized and parents to do difficult job

-learn from intentional teaching and behavior of parents (unintentional)

Agents of socialization: school

-official curriculum (subjects, tradition)

-hidden curriculum (rules of behavior, conformity)

-social curriculum (sports, clubs)

Agents of socialization: peers

-without direct supervision of adults: reinforce or contradict messages of family

-conformity of peers expected (peer pressure)

-anticipatory socialization

~ learning that helps a person achieve a desired position or role

Agents of socialization: Media

-through characters, images, story lines

-may challenge family as an agen

~children spend as much time infront of TV/Computer as interacting with family

~messages carried by media are powerful/seductive

~media influence strengthens in adolesence

adult socialization

refers to the ways in which you are socialized as an adult

resocialization

the process by which ones sense of social values, beliefs, and norms, are "reengineered

~ could be through movement to a foreign country

~ or living in total institution

total institution

one is totally immersed and controls all the basis of day-to-day life; all activities occur in the same place, under same authority (jail, monastery)

status

a recognizable social position that an individual occupies

role

the duties and behaviors expected of someone who holds a particular status

role strain

the incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status

role conflict

the tension caused by competing demands between two or more roles pertaining to different statuses

ascribed status

a status into which one is born; involuntary status