Untitled Flashcards Set

• Key tenets

• Most interaction involves interpretation 

• The meaning of objects and actions are contextual 

• Societies are categorized by shared meaning (middle finger= fuck you, saying good morning even if you’re in a bad mood and it has not been a good morning)

• Social constructionism

• People construct their own understanding of things, people, and events.. Regardless if it’s accurate

• Symbol

• An object in which meaning is agreed upon (US flag represents the US, toxic waste sign signals waste)

• Self

• A person’s understanding of themselves  

• Socialization

• The process where we learn about society and our roles in it

• Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self

• The process in which we imagine how we look to others and how they are judging us, and then perceive ourselves based on that judgment 

• Deals with perception and how we react to that perception

• Goffman’s Dramaturgical approach

• We imagine life as a play, where we play an idealized character of ourselves on the “front stage” aka in public spaces and interactions 

• We are more true to ourselves in private spaces, or “back stage” 

• Impression management: when a person manages how they present themselves to others

• Performance breakdown

• When others don’t buy our performance of an idealized version of ourselves

• Saving face

• Ignoring the performance breakdown and finishing the interaction still “in character” 

Chapter 3:

• Relationship between theory and data

• Data either supports or refutes theory

• Research process

• The scientific method

• Develop question, study existing research, develop hypothesis, develop research design, collect data, analyze data, report data and publish

• Basic research vs. applied research

• Basic research is conducted for the sake of expanding a knowledge base. It’s audience is other academics. Its slightly inaccessible to the everyman. Its also theoretical.

• Applied research is data conducted for a solution. The audience is those affected by a system/problem as well as decision makers (often government or policy makers). Its practical.

• Quantitative vs. qualitative approach

• Quantitative research collects data based on numerical information, surveys, experiments, observations, and content analysis. Great for measuring social phenomena and identifying patterns and trends

• Qualitative research collects data from interviews, discussions with focus groups, case studies, and ethnographies. Great for studying social interaction and understanding meanings, perspectives, in-depth situations. 

• Surveys

• Series of questions that have set answers 

• Given to a large group of population (representative sample)

• Analyzable

• Observation

• Watching the subject while conducting research

• Participant-observation

• Working directly with and engaging with participants in an immersive experience

• Balances power in an experiment

• Ethnography

• A person-first approach to research 

• Qualitative data 

• Reliability

• A consistency and stability of research findings

• Control group

• A group that does not experience the treatment in a study

• Content analysis

• A method of studying text and its cultural, social, and political context

• Validity

• The accuracy of research results

• Generalizability

• Patterns and relationships in the sample holding true for the broader population

• Random vs. purposive sampling

• Random sampling: a random sample unbiasedly picked

• Purposive sampling: picking a specific group you want to know more about to study

• Mixed methods

• Using multiple methods 

• Three levels of analysis

• Macro: large scale social processes and structures (ex: how immigration impacts America)

• Meso: intermediate social processes and structures (ex: how immigration impacts business in Vermont)

• Micro: group interactions and individual experiences (ex: how a group of farmers is impacted by immigration)

• Sociological research and social constructionism

• Sociological research should be done from different perspectives (teacher vs student views, doctor vs patient views)

• More perspectives mean a better complete understanding in the research

• Sociologists should study people that are often misrepresentations 

• Research ethics

• Informed consent

• Minimal risk

• Reduced coercion 

• Belmont report and three principles - 

• principle of respect for persons - gives participants autonomy, informed consent, ability to withdraw from the research, protects confidentiality 

• principle of beneficence - minimizes the risks of the experiment, assures benefits to the participant, maintains integrity of study

• principle of justice - fairness, inclusion 

• Informed consent

• Tells participants that they can leave

• Lay out what the research will be used for

• Institutional Review Board (IRB) - who you give the research applications to to review if your research violates or protects the ethical rights of participants

Chapter 4:

• Culture definition

• A lens through which people see the world

• Mainstream

• Accepted by the majority of people and enforced by socialization 

• Subcultures

• Coexists with mainstream culture, but a different segment

• Countercultures

• Cultures that is in OPPOSITION to mainstream culture

• Non-material culture

• Norms

• Values

• Symbols

• Language 

• Values

• refer to specific characteristics or acts a group cherishes; what is right or wrong, good or bad

• Norms
  - serve as rules or regulations to uphold acceptable or appropriate behavior in a given culture

TYPES OF NORMS

• Laws

• - norms asserted by the government

• Folkways 

• - Rules and routines for many routine interactions

• Mores 

•  Norms that are widely observed within a society with great moral significance.. Ensure the stability of society, dont cheat, pay your taxes, often turned into laws 

• Taboos 

• strongest form of norms that is completely unacceptable

• Sanctions 

• A reaction to a person’s behavior that either encourages or discourages them from following social norms.. (formal or informal, negative or positive)

• Formal sanctions are enforced by institutions or the government 

• Ex: receiving a diploma at graduation, getting a fine for a parking violation, receiving a bonus at work for working hard

• Beliefs

• The ideas that people hold to be true

• Hidden curriculum

• In schools, the subtextual curriculum that teaches kids proper protocols and routines

• Ex: raising hands, respecting authority, making friends, managing school-work and play

• Material culture

• Artifacts: tools, clothing, artwork

• Architecture: Buildings, monuments, and other structures

• Technology: Machines and gadgets

• Cultural conformity

• Individuals align their values, beliefs, and behaviors with the dominant culture 

• When people make sure their values, beliefs, and behaviors are the same as those in dominant culture

• Assimilation

• Process by which individuals or groups adopt the cultural traits of another group

• Cultural appropriation

• Members of a dominant culture adopt elements of a minority culture in a disrespectful or exploitative way

• Ethnocentrism

• The belief that one’s own culture, ethnic group, or nationality is superior to others

• Judging other cultures by your own cultural standards 

• Multiculturalism

• Respect for cultural diversity 

• Cultural relativism

• Opposite of ethnocentrism 

• Judging a culture by its own standards 

• Cultures cannot be ranked as worse or better than another

• Cultural capital

• the non-economic social assets that individuals possess, which can help them achieve success in society. 

• It’s cultural knowledge and skills, cultural objects people own and display, peoples education status

• Culture as a toolkit

• Depending on the context, we choose certain cultural equipment

• Culture provides a set of tools that people use in their everyday life, such as language, non-verbal communication, appearance, etiquette and mannerisms, and routines and daily activities