Sociology Exam 1

Sociologists do:

Study multiple people, offer multiple answers to one question, can’t offer easy answers

Sociology

the scientific study of human society

Social sciences

study the social features of humans and how they interact and change

Natural Sciences

study physical features of nature and the ways they interact and change

Theory

a perspective or framework that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior and predict how one change will lead to others

Methods

mechanisms through which a topic can be researched with scientific rigor

Auguste Comte

Coined the term sociology in 1838, believed that sociology should be a science,

Positivism: Auguste Comte

the belief that there are scientific laws that govern the social world

Harriet Martineau

First recognized woman sociologist, translated Comte into English, wrote the first book on sociological methods, undertook critical studies of slavery, women’s rights, and gender inequality

Herbert Spencer

Social Darwinist, “survival of the fittest”, social inequality is seen as natural

Karl Marx

Access to means of production, bourgeosie vs. proletariat

Karl Marx: Historical materialism

the study of human history as viewed through material conditions or the social relations that result from production

Marx’s Blind Spots

Growth of service sector, religion and politics, higher wages, better working conditions, and welfare-state benefits

Max Weber

studied and critiqued Marx, verstehen= understanding, “pure types” or “ideal types”

Weber: interpretive sociology

approach sociology from the perspective of people involved in social behavior

Emile Durkheim

Division of labor, created anomie and positivist sociology

Durkheim: anomie

feeling of aimlessness or despair that results from life becoming unpredictable

Durkheim: Positivist sociology

belief that the social world can be described and predicted

“Chicago School”

American sociology began at University of Chicago

Social ecology

how humans are shaped by their social and physical environments

Looking-glass self: Cooley

“Just like the reflections in a mirror; the self depends on the perceived responses of others; or as he puts it each to each a looking glass reflects the other that doth pass”

Self: Mead

the ability to take others people’s point of view

Generalized other: Mead

internalized view of society as whole

Jane Addams

Sociologist, social reformer, and activist, co-founded Hull House

Thomas Theroem

“If situations are defined as real, they are real in their consequences”

W.E.B Du Bois

Co-founded NAACP, Atlanta Sociological Laboratory, first sociologist to undertake an ethnography studying African Americans

Double Consciousness

looking at oneself through the eyes of others

Macrosociology

examines the wider structures, interdependent social institutions, global and historical processes of life

Microsociology

action, interaction, and the construction of meaning within small groups

Mesosociology

intermediate level of analysis embracing study of formal organizations and social movements

Functionalism

each part of society is related and each part serves an important purpose, social order is maintained through cooperation and consensus focuses on the macro-level

Social Institutions

networks of structures in society that work to socialize groups of people within them

Manifest function

explicit/intended consequence

Latent function

hidden/unintended consequence

Dysfunction

an element or process of society that may actually disrupt the social system or reduce its stability

Conflict theory

conflict and competition are the animating forces of society, focuses on the macro-level

Symbolic Interactionism

symbols and meanings within interactions, micro-level (interpersonal interactions)

Postmoderism

belief in subjectivity, emphasizes social constructs, views society as lacking consensus, often self-referential

Sociological Imagination

the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces

Research methods

the tools we use to examine social phenomena ethically and with scientific rigor

Reliability

the degree to which research yields consistent results

External reliability

can the study be replicated by an outside researcher

Internal reliability

have all the researchers in your team interpreted data in the same way?

Validity

the degree to which the research measures accurately reflect the phenomena under study

External validity

can the results be generalized beyond this study?

Internal validity

did the instruments and procedures measure what they are supposed to measure?

Qualitative research

focuses on in-depth understanding of motivations or perspectives, ideal for exploratory or investigative projects, provides detail and complexity, generalizations are unwise

Quantitative research

ideal for large data asking narrowly-defined questions, goal is to transform data into numbers so statistical tests can be performed, provides indications of overall trends, generalizations are accepted

Generalization

a claim that your findings are indicative of a larger group that the one studied

Research designs

a detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically

Survey research

relatively large group of people, standardized set of questions, range of standard answers, responses transformed into numbers

Population

everyone who could participate in your study, based on the parameters of your study

Sample

everyone who does participate in your study

Random sampling

every member of an entire population being studied has the same change of being studied

Snowball sampling

a type of nonrandom sample in which the researcher begins with one case then based on information about interrelated relationships from that case, identifies other cases and then repeats the process

Convenice sampling

a type of nonrandom sample in which the researcher includes those whom the researcher includes those whom are most accessible to participate in your study

Anoymity

participants are unidentifiable to the researcher

Confidentiality

researcher is able to identify participants, but will not disclose their personal information

Social desirability bias

occurs in survey research in which respondents give a “normative” response or socially acceptable answer rather than a truthful answer

Correlation

does a relationship exist between variables?

Casuality

does a change in 1 variable cause a change in another variable?

Hawthorne effect

what happens when we know we are being watched?

Positionality

recognition of where you stand with respect to relative power in interactions

Reflexivity

analyzing and critically considering our role in and effect on our research

Interviews

a conversation between a researcher and participant in which the researcher seeks to understand the meaning participants make as well as the central themes in their lives

Content analysis

researchers examine patterns of meaning within written text, audio, visual, or other communication mediums

Ethnography

the study of the entire social setting through extended systematic fieldwork

Field notes

accounts describing experiences and observations the researcher has made while participating in an intense and involved manner

Historical-comparitive

researchers examine different cultures or historical time periods in order to better understand the social world

Positionality

recognition of where you stand with respect to relative power in interactions

Reflexivity

analyzing and critically considering our role in, and effect on our research

Culture

patterns of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by traditions, technologies, practices, languages, symbols, beliefs, values, ideologies, and material objects that people create to deal with real life problems

Society

the totality of people and social relations in a given geographic space, who share and actively produce a common culture

Material culture

all of the things that humans make or adapt from raw stuff of nature, includes technology

Non material culture

intangible elements of culture: symbols, social norms, values, beliefs, and ideologies

Symbols

gestures, objects, and words that form the basis oh human communication, can evoke emotion

Language

abstract system of word meaning and symbols for all aspects of culture

Sapir-Whorf theory

the language we speak directly influences and reflects the way we think and experience the world

Social norms

established standards of behavior maintained by a society

Sanctions

rewards or punishments that serve to enforce social norms

Positive sanctions

rewards

Negative sanctions

punishments

Formal sanctions

carried out by a regulatory body (usually codified or written)

Informal sanctions

usually occuring in interpersonal interactions, not punishable by authority

Folkways

casual norms or customs typically used for convenience

Mores

strict norms that reflect important societal values

Taboos

norms that society holds so closely that any violation would elict extreme disapproval

Values

general or abstract ideas what is good vs. bad

Beliefs

ideas about what is real and what is not

Ideology

comprehensive vision drawing upon a shared set of beliefs and values

Dominant ideology

the set of cultural beliefs and practices that help to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests

Conspicuos consumption

the practice of accumulating certain goods in order to increase one’s social prestige and/or standing

Ethnocentrism

the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others

Cultural relativism

viewing people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture, placing a priority on understanding other cultures

Cultural appropriation

occurs when members of a dominant group appropriate the culture of a less privileged group

Cultural hegemony

the idea that those in power can manipulate societal views and mores so that the view of the powerful becomes the dominant worldwide view within society

Socializtion

the lifelong, dynamic process by which society molds its members into being properly social beings

Role conflict

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

Role strain

incompatability among roles corresponding to a single status

Looking glass self

“self” emerges from assuming the perspective of others and imagining how they see us