Sociology Exam 1

What is sociology?

The study of human society.

Sociological imagination

The ability to connect intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly distant historical forces.

Social institution

A complex group of interdependent positions that perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time. Can change its name and still retain its identity

Class conflict

The primary cause of social change according to Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism.

Verstehen

German for 'understanding', a concept from Max Weber that emphasizes understanding the meanings behind individuals' actions.

Anomie

A sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we cannot reasonably expect life to be predictable; linked to normlessness. (Durkheim)

Double consciousness

The concept by W.E.B. Du Bois that describes having two behavioral scripts for navigating different cultural contexts.

Functionalism

The theory that various social institutions and processes exist to serve important functions in keeping society running.

Conflict theory

The perspective that conflict between competing interests is the basic animating force of social change.

Symbolic interactionism

A micro-level theory that focuses on shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions in people’s actions.

Postmodernism

A condition characterized by questioning the notions of progress and history, with multiple and conflicting identities.

Social construction

An entity that exists because people behave as if it exists and is maintained through social practices and institutions

Feminist theory

A theory that emphasizes the experiences of women and a belief that sociology and society in general subordinate women

Microsociology

A branch of sociology that seeks to understand local interactional contexts. Generally includes participant observations and in-depth interviews

Macrosociology

A branch of sociology that is concerned with social dynamics at a higher level of analysis across the breadth of society. Uses statistical analysis but also qualitative methods (historical comparisons and in-depth interviews)

Cultural relativism

Taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgment or assigning value.

Culture

The sum of the social categories and concepts we operate within in addition to beliefs, learned behaviors, and practices. Is everything but the natural environment that surrounds us

Ethnocentrism

The 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

Nonmaterial culture

values, beliefs, social norms, and ideologies

Material culture

Everything that is a part of our constructed physical environment, including technology

Cultural lag

The time gap between the appearance of a new technology and the words and practices that give it meaning

Values

Moral beliefs

Norms

How values tell us to behave

Ideology

A system of concepts and relationships. An underlying explanation of phenomena in society; a framework of causes and effect

Hegemony

A condition where a dominant group uses its power to elicit the voluntary “consent” of the masses

Cultural scripts

Modes of behavior and understanding that are not universal or natural. Margaret Mead introduced that this shapes our notion of gender

Subculture

The distinct cultural values and behavioral patterns of a particular group within a culture.

Counterculture

A large cultural group that opposes the norms and values of mainstream culture.

Culture war

a conflict between distinct cultures within a given society

Socialization

The process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a society.

Reflection theory

The idea that culture is a projection of social structures and relationships into the public sphere

Role strain

The incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status.

Media

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

Culture jamming

The act of turning media against themselves. Part of a larger movement against consumer culture and based on the notion that ads are a form of propaganda

Role conflict

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

Dramaturgical theory

The view that social life is essentially a theatrical performance where individuals are actors on metaphorical stages.

Social deviance

Any transgression of socially established norms.

Strain theory

The theory that deviance occurs when a society does not provide equal ability for all members to achieve socially accepted goals.

Labeling theory

The belief that individuals become what they are labeled by society, which shapes their self-identity.

Auguste Comte

Believed the best way to understand society is by determining the logic or scientific laws governing human behavior called “social physics”

Harriet Martineau

A sociologist who translated Auguste Comte’s written works into English and one of the earliest feminist social scientists who addressed topics like childhood education

Karl Marx

Proposed the theory of historical materialism, which identifies class conflict as the primary cause of social change. Created Marxism, an ideology alternative to capitalism and provides the theoretical basis for Communism

Max Weber

A German sociologist that believed in order to truly understand why people act the way they do, a sociologist must understand the meanings they attach to their actions. Known for Verstehen, a concept that’s the basis of interpretive sociology

Interpretive sociology

a type of scholarship where researchers imagine themselves experiencing the life positions of people they want to understand rather than treating them as objects to be examined

Emile Durkheim

Wanted to understand how society holds together and how modern capitalism and industrialization have transformed the ways people relate to each other. Believed phenomena could be studied using scientific method and created positivism

Positivist sociology

Emphasizes the scientific method as an approach to studying the objectively observable behavior of individuals irrespective of the meanings of those actions for the subjects themselves (Durkheim)

George Simmel

proposed a formal sociology based on pure numbers. Work influenced the development of urban sociology and culture sociology, and his work with small-group interactions served as a precedent for later sociologists who came to study micro interactions

The Chicago School

A group of sociologists based in Chicago in the early 20th century, known for their research on urban sociology, social ecology, and the study of social problems. Built on belief that people’s behaviors and personalities are shaped by their social and physical environments

WEB Du Bois

First African American to receive a PhD from Harvard and first sociologist to undertake ethnography in the African American Community. Created the idea of double consciousness

Jane Adams

found the Hull House, where the ideas of the Chicago school were put into practice. Work was influential in development of the Chicago School’s theories but was never afforded the same respect as male contemporaries

Dramaturgical theory

the view of social life is essentially a theatrical performance, where we are all actors on a metaphorical stage with roles, scripts, costumes, and sets

Egoistic suicide

occurs when one is not well integrated into a social group

Altruistic suicide

Occurs when one experiences too much social integration

Anomie suicide

A sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we cannot longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; when we have too little social regulation normlessness

Fatalistic suicide

Occurs as a result of too much social regulation (doing the same thing every day)

Conformist

An individual who accepts both the socially accepted goals and strategies to achieve goals

Ritualist

Individual who rejects socially defined goals but not means ex. doing whats needed to get by, don’t care about money as long as bills are paid

Innovator

Social deviant who accepts socially acceptable goals but rejects socially acceptable means to achieve them. Ex. making money to pay for life but doing it through selling drugs

Retreatist

One who rejects socially acceptable means and goals by completely retreating from, or not participating in society

Rebel

Individual who rejects traditional goals and means and wants to alter or destroy the social institutions from which they are alienated (ex. Marxism)

Symbolic interactionist theories

take a micro view of society, examining the beliefs and assumptions people bring to their everyday interactions to find the causes of deviance

Being puzzled by how people in another country greet one another and then thinking about why they might do it that way

What is an example of using one’s social imagination?

A way in which individuals define themselves in relation to other groups

Social identity is

The environment in shaping people’s behavior and personalities

The Chicago School of American Sociology emphasized the importance of

Functionalist

The statement, “Universities provide stability in society by instilling core values and distinct social positions within a complex system,” is an example of the application of _____ theory.

Conducting a statistical analysis of when professional men and women choose to start families

What is an example of a study that might be undertaken by a macrosociologist?

Buddhist temple, music website, and English garden

Identify an example of material culture

A system of concepts and relationships that guides an individual or large group

Ideology can be described as

modes of behavior and understanding that are not universal or natural

Cultural scripts are

Self (social development theory)

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

I (social development theory)

one’s subjective sense of having a consciousness, agency, action, or power 

Me (social development theory)

the self perceived as an object by the “I” the self as one imagines others perceive one 

Other (social development theory)

someone or something outside of oneself

Self

When a child covers their eyes and says, “You can’t see me,” they have not yet developed a sense of:

A covenet

What is an example of a total institution?

Symbolic interactionism

Which theory argues that people’s choices about how to act are based on shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions?

Family

Identify the primary agent of socialization for babies

understood by members of a social group without being openly expressed.

Informal social sanctions are

paying for a meal in a restaurant with pennies, nickels, and dimes/telling the hostess of a dinner party that you disliked the main dish/dyeing your hair purple and orange

Identify an example of an informal deviance

Attending parenting classes while in prison

Identify a type of rehabilitative justice

organic solidarity

Type of social cohesion that is based on differences and interdependence and characterizes modern society

White collar crime

__________ refers to crimes committed by a professional against a corporation, agency, or other business.

Midrange theory

a theory that attempts to explain generalizable patterns of behavior that are neither all-encompassing of society as a whole nor focused on very particular groups or individuals 

Primary deviance

the first act of rule breaking that may lead to a new label of deviant, thus influencing how people think about and act toward you

Secondary deviance

subsequent acts of rule breaking that occur after primary deviance and as a result of your new deviant label and people’s expectations of you 

Stigma

a negative social label that changes others’ behavior toward a person and therefore alters that person’s own self-concept and social identity 

Street crime

Crime committed in pubic and often associated with violence, gangs, and poverty. Can be reduced by making it harder to work in the illegitimate economy and making it easier to work in the legitimate economy

White collar crime

offense committed by a professional or professionals against a corporation, agency, or other institution 

Corporate crime

a particular type of white-collar crime committed by the officers of a corporation

Deterrence theory

Philosophy of criminal justice arising from the notion that crime results from a rational calculation of its costs and benefits

Recidivism

When an individual who has been involved with the criminal justice system reverts to criminal behavior

Panopticon

circular building composed of an inner ring and outer ring designed to serve as a prison in which the guards, housed in the inner ring, can observe the prisoners without the detainees knowing whether they are being watched

Mechanical solidarity

social cohesion based on sameness

Social cohesion

social bonds; how well people relate to each other and get along on a day-to-day basis

Irving Gottesman

Created position that genes and environment play a role in schizophrenia