SOC 100 Exam 1

sociology

the study of human society

sociological imagination

the ability to see the connections between our personal experience and the larger forces of history

social institution

a complex group of interdependent positions that perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time

positivism

first sociology, social physics, invented by Auguste Comte

verstehen

german for understanding, basis of interpretive sociology, Max Weber

interpretive sociology

the study of social meaning, Weber

anomie

the sense of normlessness resulting from drastic changes in living conditions or arrangements, Dukheim

positivist sociology

believe the social world can be described and predicted by certain observable relationships, Durkheim founded

double consciousness

maintaining two behavioral scripts, one that anyone has, and one that takes the external opinions into consideration, Du Bois

functionalism

the theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some necessary function to keep it running, Parsons

conflict theory

conflict between competing interests is the force of social change and society, Marx

symbolic interactionism

micro-level theory where shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people’s actions, Blumer

postmodernism

the questioning of the notion of progress and history, the imitation of other work in the service of satire or subversion, conflicting identities resulting from unconnected affiliations

social construction

an entitiy that exists because people behave as if it exists

midrange theory

attempts to predict how certain social institutions tend to function

microsociology

seeks to understand local interactional contexts

macrosociology

social dynamics at a higher level of analysis over the breadth of a society

ethnography

qualitative, studying people or a social setting through observation, interaction, and sometimes formal interviewing

theory

a systematic, generalized model of how some aspect of the world works

research methods

approaches to investigating questions

quantitative methods

seek to obtain information about the social world that can be represented in numeric form

qualitative methods

collect information about the social world that isn’t represented in numeric form

causal relationships

the idea that one factor influences another

deductive approach

broad to detailed

inductive approach

detailed to broad

correlation/association

when two variables track together positively or negatively

natural experiment

something that takes place in the world that affects people in a way that is unrelated to any other preexisting factors

causality

change in one factor causes change in another

reverse causality

thinking A causes B, when B really causes A

dependent variable

the outcome a researcher is trying to explain

independent variables

measured factors that are believed to have a causal impact on the dependent variable

hypothesis

a proposed relationship between two variables

operationalization

the process of assigning a precise definition for measuring a concept being examined in a particular study

validity

the experiment measure what it is intended to measure

reliability

the ability to repeat the experiment and get the same results

generalizability

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

white coat effects

the effects that researchers have on the processes and relationships they are studying by being there

reflexivity

analyzing and critically considering the possible white coat effects

feminist methodology

systems or methods that treat women’s experiences as legitimate empirical and theoretical resources

participant observation

qualitative, seeks to uncover the meanings people give their social actions by observing their behavior in practice

surveys

an ordered series of questions intended to elicit information from respondents

representative sample

a particular slice of social observation captures in an accurate way the larger set of those phenomena

population

the group of individuals being studied

sample

the subset of the population from which you are collecting data

case study

qualitative, an in-depth look at a specific phenomenon in a particular social setting

historical methods

collecting data from written reports, newspaper articles, etc

comparative research

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

content analysis

a systematic analysis of the content in written or recorded material

experimental methods

altering the social landscape and observing what changes it creates

socialization

the process by which you learn how to become a functioning member of society

idea of self

the identity one person perceives themself as

idea of I

one’s sense of agency, action, or power

idea of me

the self as a distinct object to be perceived by others

idea of other

someone or something outside of oneself

generalized other

an internalized sense of the total expectations of others in a variety of settings

resocialization

process where one’s sense of social values, beliefs, and norms are reengineered through an intense social process

total institution

an institution that controls all the basics of day-to-day life

status

a recognizable social position that an individual occupies

roles

duties and behaviors associated with 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 within different statuses

status set

all the statuses you have at a given time

ascribed statuses

status you have at birth that are unchanged

achieved status

a status one enters

master status

one status that stands our or overwhelms all others

gender roles

set of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s identity as masculine, feminine, or other

dramaturgical theory

theory that social is like a play, Goffman

face

the esteem in which an individual is held by others

ethnomethodology

focuses on how we make sense of our world

stratification

the hierarchical organization of society into different groups

social equality

a condition in which no differences in wealth, power, prestige, or status based on nonnatural bases exists

dialectic

a two-directional relationship

dialectic materialism

a notion of history that privileges conflict over economic, material resources as the central struggle and driver of change

structural functionalism

emphasizes the economy and society as an organized system that efficiently allocated individuals to their most suitable occupations

equality of opportunity

everyone has an equal chance to achieve anything because the rules are the same for everyone

bourgeois society

a society of commerce in which maximization of profit is primary business incentive

equality of condition

everyone has an equal starting point

equality of outcome

everyone must end up the same regardless of how the “game” went

free rider problem

the notion that when more than one person is responsible for getting something done, people shrink their responsibility and hope others will pull extra weight

estate system

politically based system characterized by limited social mobility

caste system

religious based system characterized by no social mobility

class system

economically based characterized by cohesive oppositional groups and loose social mobility

proletariat

working class in Marx capitalist society

bourgeoisie

employing class in Marx capitalist society

contradictory class locations

people can occupy locations in the class structure that fall between the two main classes, Wright

status hierarchy system

social prestige based, lifestyle based, Weber

elite-mass dichotomy system

a few leaders hold the power in society

meritocracy

status and mobility are based on individual attributes, ability, and achievement

socioeconomic status

an individual’s position in a stratified social order

upper class

the group of individuals at the top of the socioeconomic food chain

middle class

individuals with non-manual jobs that make significantly more than the poverty line

social mobility

the possibility of members changing their social position in the hierarchy

structural mobility

changes in the distribution of jobs

exchange mobility

if one person moves up, one must move down

status-attainment model

ranking individuals by socioeconomic status

Comte

social physics, morality (person)

Martineau

early feminist, translated Comte (person)

Marx

communism, conflict theory (person)

Weber

interpretive sociology, verstehen, symbolic interactionism, status hierarchy system (person)

Durkheim

positivist sociology, anomie, structural functionalism (person)