SOC100 Final

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Sociology

Study of human society

Sociological Imagination

• Ability to connect basic intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal forces

• (Making the familiar strange)

• Created by C. Wright Mills

Stratification

Idea of inequality in society

Social Institution

• Complex group of interdependent positions that together perform a social role

• Reproduces itself over time

Social Institution Examples

1. Legal system

2. Labour market

3. Education system

4. Military

5. Family

Social Capital

Networks of relationships between people in society

Auguste Comte

• Created social physics/positivism: emphasises scientific method to study observable behaviour of individuals (doesn’t consider meanings of action to the individual)

• Said that the best way to understand society is by determining logic or scientific laws governing human behaviour

Positivism

• Sociological approach that emphasies scientific method to study observable behaviour of individuals

• Doesn’t consider meanings of action to individual

Harriet Martineau

• Translated Comte’s work to English

• Earliest feminist social scientist

Karl Marx

• Created Conflict Theory

• Focused on class, labour, and power dynamics

Conflict Theory

• Says that society’s structures are shaped by economic systems

• Capitalism leads to social inequalities

• Includes the bourgeoisie (capitalists) and proletariat (workers) —> bourgeoisie oppresses proletariat

Max Weber

Created idea of Verstehen and Interpretive sociology

Verstehen

Understanding meanings people attach to their actions

Interpretive Sociology

• Methodology of imagining oneself in social actor’s position (empathy > examination)

• Study of social meaning

• Traying to rationalise others’ actions

Emile Durkheim

• Interest in understanding societal cohesion (amid modern transformations)

• Effects of industrialization on social relationships (capitalism influence)

• Division of labour shapes social solidarity

• Created idea of anomie and suicide

• Used positivist approach

• Created idea of collective conciousness

Anomie

Key force leading to suicide: state of normlessness / lack of social cohesion

Collective Conciousness

• Shared understanding of behaving in the world

• Binds people together and creates social integration

W.E.B. Du Bois

• First sociologist to undertake ethnography in African American community

• Coined Double Consciousness

• Interested in anomie (Durkheim) to explain African American crime rates —> theorised that breakdown of norms from former slaves’ sudden freedom caused increased crime rates

Double Consciousness

Process in which African Americans constantly maintain two behavioural scripts

Functionalism

• Notion that best way to analyse society was to identify roles that different aspects or phenomena play

• Extension of organicism

• Function may be manifest (explicit) or latent (hidden)

Organicism

Notion that society is like living organisms; each part plays an important role in holding society together

Symbolic Interactionism

• Eschewed big theories in sociology (macrosociology), and instead focused on how face-to-face interactions create social world (microsociology)

• Groundwork laid by Erving Goffman’s theory of social interaction

• People react in response to meanings that signs and social signals hold for them

Erving Goffman’s Theory of Social Interaction

• Used theatre language to describe social facades

• Through devices such as tact, gestures, front-stage (versus backstage) behavior, props, and scripts

Post Modernism

Notion that shared meanings have eroded (meanings aren’t objective)

Midrange Theory

• Neither microsociology or macrosociology

• Attempts to predict how certain social institutions tend to function

• Generates falsifiable hypotheses

Feminist Theory

• Emphasize equality between men and women

• See women’s lives and experiences represented in sociological studies

Microsociology

• Seeks to understand local interactional contexts (face-to-face encounters)

• Relies on qualitative methods for data

Macrosociology

• Social dynamics at higher level of analysis across breadth of society

• Typically uses statistical analysis (but also uses qualitative methods)

Scientific Method

Procedure involving formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses based on systemic observation, measurement, and/or experiments

Theory

Abstracted, systemic model of how some aspect of the world works

Research Methods

• Approaches social scientists use for investigating or asking questions

  • Quantitative or Qualitative

Quantitative Methods

Methods that seek to obtain info about social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form

Qualitative Methods

Methods that attempt to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form

Dependent Variable

The outcome the researcher is trying to explain

Independent Variable

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

Hypothesis

• A proposed relationship between two variables, usually with a stated direction

  • Direction of relationship refers to whether variables move in the same direction (positive) or opposite directions (negative)

Positive Relationship

Both variables move in the same direction

Negative Relationship

Both variables move in opposite directions

Operationalization

• How a concept gets defined and measured in a given study

  • Measuring concepts

    • E.g.) How do we define ‘education’

Conceptualization

• Process by which researchers identify key concepts used in research and provide a unified explanation of those concepts

  • Broad ideas like ‘education’ impacting ‘income’ or ‘prejudice’

Concepts to Variables

• Converting ideas from conceptualization process into independent and dependent variables

  • E.g.) Defining ‘study hours’ and its effect on ‘exam grades’

Causal Story

• Why the hypothesis?

  • Reasons why the independent variable may influence the dependent variable.

Hypothesis Testing Process

1. Conceptualization

2. Operationalization

3. Concepts to Variables

4. Hypothesis

5. Causal Story

Causal Relationship

The idea that one factor influences another through a chain of events; such a dynamic is different from two factors being merely associated or correlated, in which case they may appear to vary together but that could be due to chance or a third factor causing both

Causality

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

3 Factors to Establish Causality

1. Correlation

2. Time order

3. Ruling out alternative explanations

Reverse Causality

• A situation in which the researcher believes that A results in a change in B, but B in fact is causing A

• Makes it important to establish time order

Validity

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

Reliability

The likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measure

Generalizability

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

Experimenter Effects

White coat effect and Reflexitivity

White Coat Effect

The phenomenon wherein a researcher’s presence affects their subjects’ behaviour or response, thereby disrupting the study

Reflexitivity

• Analyzing and critically considering our own role in, and effect on, our research

  • What is your relationship to your research subjects?

Feminist Methodology

Set of systems or methods that:

• Treat women’s experiences as legitimate empirical and theoretical resources

• Promote social science for women

• Take into account the researcher as much as the overt subject matter

Types of Data Collection

1. Participant observation

2. Interviews

3. Survey research

4. Historical methods

5. Comparative research

6. Content analysis

7. Experimental methods

Golden Rules of Research

1. Do no harm → Design research projects so that subjects will encounter no more risk than that associated with everyday life

2. Get informed consent → Subjects have a right to know they are apart of a study, what they are expected to do, and how results will be used

3. Ensure voluntary participation → People have a right to decide if they want to participate in your study; they must be allowed to drop out at any point with no penalty

Deductive Approach

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

Inductive Approach

Starts with empirical observations and then works to form a theory

Correlation

When there appears to be a dependent relationship between two variables; two variables appear to change at the same time

Survey

• Ordered series of questions intended to elicit information from respondents

• Powerful method of data collection

• May be done anonymously and distributed widely → can reach larger samples

• Generally converted into quantitative data for statistical analysis

Representative Sample

A subset of a larger population that accurately reflects its characteristics.

• The idea that a particular slice of social observation captures in an accurate way the larger set (or universe) of those phenomena that is meant to stand in for

Ethnography

A qualitative method of studying people or a social setting that uses observation, interaction and sometimes formal interviewing to document behaviours, customs, experiences, social ties, etc.

Sample

Subset of the population from which you are actually collecting data

Case Study

• In-depth look at a specific phenomenon in a particular social setting

  • Findings have very low generalizability

  • Obtain very detailed information

• Often used in qualitative research

Historical Methods

Collecting data from written reports, newspaper articles, journals, transcripts, television programs, diaries, artwork, and other artifacts that date back to the period they want to study

• Content Analysis → System analysis of the content in written or recorded material

Comparative Research

Methodology by which a researcher compares two or more entities with the intent of learning more about the factors that differ between them

Content Analysis

• Distinct subtype of historical methods

• Systemic analysis of the content in written or recorded material

Participant Observation

Approach that aims to uncover the meanings people give to their own social actions (and those of others) by observing their behaviour in practice, in contract to just asking them about it after the fact

Population

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

Culture

• Vague term used to rationalize many behaviours and describe all sorts of peoples and patterns

• Casually used as shorthand for many things, ranging in meaning from innate biological tendencies to social institutions, and everything in between

• Is the sum of the social categories and concepts we recognize in addition to our beliefs, behaviours (except instinctual), and practices → everything but nature

• Both the technology by which humans have come to dominate nature and the belief systems, ideologies, and symbolic representations that constitute human existence

• Relative to the global world

Ethnocentrism

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

Cultural Lag

• Occurs when culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations

• Delay in aligning cultural values and norms with new technologies

Code Switch

• Skill often developed by individuals who adeptly move between different cultural settings

• Involves seamlessly transitioning between sets of meanings, values, languages, and behaviours as they shift from one cultural context to another

Culture Shock

• Phenomena that occurs when moving between cultures

• Entails feelings of confusion and anxiety, often stemming from unfamiliarity with the meanings, signs, and symbols in the new cultural context

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

• Theory in linguistics that sheds light on the intricate relationship between language and culture

• Language isn’t merely a tool for conveying ideas; it actively shapes and reflects our though processes and experiences

Language

• Fundamental aspect of culture, extending far beyond communication

• Key component in shaping our perceptions and experiences of the world

Nonmaterial Culture

• As a society, we determine values, beliefs, behaviours, and social norms we find appropriate

• Includes language, meanings we attach to words, and concepts

  • E.g.) Class, inequality, and ownership

Ideology

• System of concepts and relationships

• Offers understanding of cause and effect, helping to interpret the world around us

• Not a monolithic structure; complex web of interconnected beliefs

  • If core beliefs are challenged, entire _____ can fall apart

• Can shatter under certain circumstances (E.g. Former Soviet Union)

Gender

• Concept that encompasses more than just being male or female; includes a complex set of social roles, expectations, and identities

• Can influence family dynamics and career choices

Cultural Relativism

• Taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgement or assigning value

• Can be difficult when local traditions conflict with universally recognized human rights

Cultural Scripts

Modes of behaviour and understanding that are not universal or natural

Margaret Mead

Introduced the idea that cultural scripts shape our notions of gender

Subculture

• The distinct cultural values and behavioural patterns of a particular group in society

• Historically: defined as a group united by sets of concepts, values, symbols, and shared meaning specific to the members of that group and distinctive enough to distinguish it from others within the same culture or society

Values

Moral beliefs

Norms

How values tell us to behave

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

Reflection Theory

Proposes that culture acts as a projection screen for the underlying social structures and relationships in a society

Marxist Perspective

• Cultural objects are seen as mirrors reflecting the material labour and production relationships that shaped them

  • E.g.) Luxury cars reflect wealth status

Media

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

Hegemony

• A condition by which a dominant group uses its power to elicit the voluntary ‘consent’ of the masses

  • In contrast to domination or getting people to do what you want through the use of force

• Important for understanding the impact of the media

Media Effects

Placed into four categories according to duration and intention:

1. Short-term and deliberate (advertising)

2. Long-term and deliberate (campaign)

3. Short-term and unintentional (violence in media encourages violent behaviour)

4. Long-term and unintentional (prejudices, stereotypes, desensitization to violence)

Consumerism

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

Material Culture

• Physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture

• Aspect of culture manifested by the physical objects and architecture of society

Dominant culture

• Refers to the cultural practices, beliefs, values, and norms that are most widely accepted and practiced within a particular society or group

• Represents the mainstream or majority culture that often holds power and influence over other subcultures or minority groups

• Varies across different regions, countries, or even within smaller communities

• Shapes social norms, language, traditions, and societal expectations.

Socialization

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

Key Aspects of Socialization

1. Internalizing values: we learn what’s important and meaningful in our culture

2. Embracing beliefs: we adopt the cultural beliefs that guide our thinking

3. Accepting norms: we follow societal norms, the unwritten rules that govern behaviour

Limits of Socialization

• Cannot explain everything about a person’s development and personality

• Biology is an important component of who a person is

• Combination of biology and social interactions that make 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

• Coined the idea: The looking glass self

Looking Glass Self

• The process wherein individuals base their sense of self on how they believe others view them

• Using social interaction as a type of ‘mirror’, people use the judgements they receive from others to measure their own worth, values, and behaviour

George Herbert Mead

• Developed a theory about how the social self develops over the course of childhood

• Infants only know ‘I’, but through social interaction they learn about ‘me’ and the generalized other

• Children develop a concept of the generalized other, which allows them to apply norms and behaviours learned in specific situations to new situations

• Stressed importance of imitation, play, and games in helping children recognize one another, distinguish between self and other, and grasp the idea that other people can have multiple roles