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Social Science

Social Science

Encompasses the study of society, culture, and language using a scientific method.

History of Social Sciences

Emerged during the Age of Enlightenment in the 1700s, questioning human behavior and societal norms.

Impact of Enlightenment

Encouraged intellectual exchange, scientific discoveries, and revolutions like the American and French Revolutions.

Scientific Method in Social Sciences

Basis for studying social behavior, applying laws of nature to understand human behavior.

Anthropology

Studies human beings as a species and cultural groups, aiming to understand human origins and development.

Psychology

Focuses on mental processes, behavior triggers, and underlying causes, using experiments to understand behavior.

Sociology

Studies human social behavior, social structures, and institutions, examining how social structures influence human behavior.

Schools of Thought in Anthropology

Encompass various theories like Functionalism, Structuralism, and Cultural Materialism.

Structural Functionalism

Emphasizes societal equilibrium through shared beliefs and values, focusing on manifest and latent functions of social institutions.

Neo-Marxism/Conflict

Links social change to economic power struggles, focusing on class struggles and exploitation.

Symbolic Interactionism

Humans construct meanings through symbols and interpretations in social interactions, emphasizing meaning, language, and thought.

Feminist Theory

Studies power in relation to gender, highlighting women's systematic oppression and various feminist perspectives.

Social Exchange Theory

Individuals maximize rewards and minimize costs in interactions, structured by reciprocity and past experiences.

Technology and Social Change

Drives cultural change through invention, discovery, and diffusion, with both positive and negative consequences on society.

Sociological Theories of Social Change

Include Evolutionary Theory, Cyclical Theories, Functionalist/Dynamic Theories, and Conflict Theories.

Forces/Impediments of Social Change

Forces like technology, charismatic leaders, and grassroots movements influence change, while impediments include tradition and expenses.

Psychology and Social Change

Focuses on individuals changing thoughts/behaviors to initiate social change, resolving cognitive dissonance through behavior or cognition change.

Fertility and Fecundity Trends

Population trends significantly impact society, with changes in fertility rates leading to population growth or decline.

Factors Affecting Fertility

Physical/environmental and sociocultural factors influence fertility rates, including infertility and delayed parenthood.

Government Policies and Programs

Governments implement policies to control populations, like Russia and China's initiatives, and recent programs to encourage higher fertility rates.

Economics and the Decision to Parent

Socioeconomic factors influence the timing of having children, including financial considerations and the impact of parental leave benefits.

Involuntary Childlessness

Couples facing obstacles to having children due to matelessness or fertility issues, with solutions like reproductive technologies and adoption.

Voluntary Childlessness

Couples choosing not to have children due to personal reasons, career focus, and societal stigma, with different categories identified by researchers.

Cryopreservation

People using cryopreservation for future family planning, preserving reproductive cells for later use.

Attitudes Towards Childlessness

Social attitudes view motherhood as a natural duty, with stigma around voluntary childlessness and a preference for the term "child-free."

Trends in Life Cycle

Life cycle stages vary across cultures, with adolescence as a transitional period influenced by various factors.

Delayed Transitions of Young Adulthood

Factors like living with parents, higher education, and increased fertility rates contribute to longer transitions to adulthood.

Poverty

Affects access to basic needs, healthcare, and social inclusion.

Green Revolution and International Business

Three components impacting international business are not discussed in the provided transcript.

Attitudes towards tolerance in Canada

Changed in the 1960s due to laws like the Bill of Rights, Official Multiculturalism, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Prejudice

Opinion based on irrelevant considerations.

Subtle Prejudice

Less obvious but still felt.

Stereotypes

Overgeneralizations about groups.

Discrimination

Actions stemming from prejudice.

Racism

Prejudice or discrimination based on race or cultural background.

Stages of Prejudice

Antilocution, Avoidance, Discrimination, Semi-violence or violence, Extermination.

Perception and Paradigms

Kenneth Boulding's concept of perception and Joel Barker's addition of paradigms influence opinions based on personal experiences.

Systemic discrimination

Exists in entire systems like corporations or countries.

Deviance

Hate and Hate Crimes.

Causes of Hate

Intense, based on prejudice and power, directed at scapegoats, can lead to genocide.

Characteristics of Hate

Intense and personal, based on prejudice and power, directed at scapegoats, can lead to genocide.

Genocide

Extreme expression of national hatred.