Sociology midterm

Sociology

Scientific study of society

Macro

Research approach focused on the big picture

C. Wright Mills

Originator of the Sociological imagination

Agency

Acting independently, doing what we want

August Comte

Father of sociology

Emile Durkheim

Founder associated with Functionalism

Symbolic Interactionism

Theory that depends on social constuction

W.E.B. Du Bois

American sociologist and NAACP founder, empirical methodology, systematic study of race and class

Jane Addams

Hull House

Quantitative

Numeric data

Secondary source

Type of data source

when someone else

collected it

Variable used to predict an outcome

independent

Hypothesis

predictive statement about expected outcome

Ethnography

A deep, immersive

study of a group of

people

Self-narrative

Our own origin story

Cooley

Originator of the Looking Glass Self Theory

Me

Object of thought in our minds

the principle that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than judged against the standards of another

Cultural relativism

Culture-as-values

our culture socializes us into specific morality

Cultural competence

Easily and comfortably

navigating culture

Social identities

Socially constructed categories

Stereotypes

Exaggerated attributes

applied to entire groups

Minimal group paradigm

Forming groups on the

most trivial of reasons

“doing”

Behaving according to

social identity

expectations

Intersectionality

Considering many identities together

Fathers of Sociology

Karl marx, Emile durkheim, Max weber

Conflict theory

• friction between disadvantaged and advantaged

• Far reaching social change needed now

• macro

• “He who has the most toys makes the rules”

• karl Marx

• half empty

• ex. feminisim

Functionalism

• social stability> everything

• organ/body analogy

• macro

• half full

• social change must be slow and methodical

• durkheim

• Manifest (intended) vs. latent (not)

• Emile Durkheim

Symbolic interactionism

• micro

• create society from ground up (interaction=perception)

• small change → big change

• symbols have shared meaning

• no good or bad (just water)

• Max weber

1960’s

• civil rights movement

• feminism

• anti war

• gay liberation

• People are accepting issues exist in society

• W.E.B. Du Bois, Jane Addams, Harriet Martineau

• conflict theory>funtionalism

Ethnography

• immersive field research

• unspoken norms, nuances, very accurate but not general

• interviews, text/audio, artifacts, notes

Independent variable

Changed or tested

Ethics

• objectivity/integrity

• privacy and dignity

• confidentiality

• informed consent

• acknowledge collaborators

• disclose financial support

C. Wright Mills

• wrote “The Power of the Elite”

• Developed Sociological imagination

Sociological imagination

separating yourself from the situation to analyze

• history and biography intersection

• personal trouble vs. societal issues

Personal trouble vs. societal issue

• economic opportunity shift (war, recession, etc)

• legal and social constraints (race, woman, disabled, etc)

• Cultural expectations

3 main questions of Sociological Imagination

• Where does it fit in society?

• Where did it come from?

• Who wins and who loses?

Theory of Mind

cognitive ability to understand that other people have beliefs, desires, intentions, and mental states different from one's own

Looking Glass Theory

• Cooley

• How the self image forms and how we think others see us

• Prep stage (0-3)

• play stage (3-6)

• game stage

George Herbert Mead

• I- subjective, impulsive, unique and unpredictable agency that decides how to act.

• Me- socialized conventional, habitual, internalized attitudes, expectations, and norms of society based on how we think others see us

Self- concept

how we see ourselves based on personality, physical traits, ancestory, and biographies

Social rules

adopting distinct behaviors based on what a specific setting requires

Social norms

unspoken rules in diff. groups ruling how you present yourself, dress, and communicate. Reference groups evaluate opinions and alter our perspective.

Homophily

tendency to connect with others like us → we develop a culture

Social sanctions

consequences of following or not following the norms

• folkway- small actions

• Mores- right and wrong, sometimes codified in law, protect group welfare and values (ex. cheating, stealing, disrespecting parents, etc)

How do corporations exist?

Exist as social/legal reality through institutional fact and collective agreement.

• We decided they exist so they exist (shared belief and collective action)

Social identities

socially constructed subcategories that impact interactions

Psychological wage

• W.E.B. Du Bois

• Percieved social status and prestige gives us systematic, social, and emotional benefits even without material or economic gains.

• selt esteem- “i’m part of the main group”

• public deference/societal privileges- unearned courtesies (ex. politeness, respect, lenience from authority, you are catered to)

• Political idealogical alignment- used by elites to prevent lower class uniting, convince them to vote against their own interests because they believe that they are part of the better group

Race vs. Ethnicity

• R= social category based on physical trains

• E= cultural identity rooted in common ancestry, religion, history, etc

Dramaturgy

• Erving Goffman’s theory

• social life is a performance on a metaphoric stage

• impression management- control image

• face- version of ourselves we want to protect (public)

• front stage- public environments where others percieve us

• backstage- me, alone

Social status

An individual’s rank, positon, or degree of social value

Social Identity Creation

1. Invent: major changes in life that lay the groundwork for identities (1a=subgroups)

2. Divide: different treatment (psychological wage, ex. 1-drop-rule {AA}, blood quantum rule {native}, and ethnicity

3. stereotyping: descriptions characterizing divisions (industrial revolution played a big part in gender roles)

4. Doing: Performing the identity society assigned you

Culture-as-rationale

we’re socialized to know a set of culturally specific arguments for our view of right and wrong

Harriet Martineau

• mother of sociology

• writer

• translated works from Comte into french