First Midterm Exam:

Introduction to Sociology: 

Differences between Sociology and other Social Sciences: Comprehensive focus on society and social structures, emphasizing how groups shape human behaviour rather than solely focusing on individual minds. 

Macro vs. Micro: 

• Macro: Examines large scale social structures, institutions, and broad social patterns and trends across entire societies 

• Micro: Focuses on small scale, everyday interactions and individual behaviour 

Major Theories and their writers: 

• Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim: Structural functionalism - Society as a system with interdependent parts working for stability 

• Conflict Theory: Pioneered by Karl Marx and Max Weber - emphasizes power struggles and inequality 

• Symbolic Interactionism: George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley - Focuses on how shared meanings and symbols shape social interaction 

• Feminist Theory: Contemporary theories that highlight gender inequality and the contribution and experiences of women in society 

• Critical Theory: A broad approach that critiques society’s structures, systems of power, and seeks to promote egalitarian social change 

• Social Exchange Theory: Proposes that social interactions are based on a cost benefit analysis, where individuals seeks to maximise rewards and minimize costs 

Sociological Imagination: 

• Allows us to connect to our personal experiences to society at large and greater historical forces 

• The sociological imagination allows us to link seemingly mundane, uninteresting phenomena with larger PATTERNS or allows us to make generalizations 

Education: 

• Is a “sorting” mechanism 

• More education = more competition 

• Many people will have more education than they need to do a job 

• Employers increase requirements to screen out people 

• Consequence: people are now overqualified for their jobs 

Credentialism: 

• Overemphasis on credentials for signaling status 

History/Theory: 

Historical precursors for the rise of sociology: 

• The Scientific Revolution

• The Enlightenment

• The American and French Revolutions

• Industrial revolution 

Theory Writers and their concepts: 

• Karl Marx: Believed in critical sociology (the need for social change), 

• Emile: Durkheim: Believed in Positivist sociology - studies societies scientific observation of social behavior and social solidarity 

• Max Weber: Interpretive sociology - Sociology should discover the meanings that people attribute to their actions 

• W.E.B DuBois: “Double Consciousness” - African americans have multiple selves and must always view themselves through the eyes of the dominant group (whites) 

• Harriet Martineau: One of the first feminist sociologists, early person to study and criticize gender roles ( the idea men should be aggressive and women moral), critiqued women’s exclusion from educational and work opportunities and their seclusion in the domestic sphere

Anomie: State of “normlessness” or a breakdown of social standard and value. Leaning to disconnectedness and lack of clear guidance for individual behavior

Solidarity: Social bond that unites members of a group or society, creating a sense of unity and shared identity 

Class conflict: Tensions and antagonism that arise between different social class competing with their interests and unequal access to resources 

Verstehen: Sociology should discover the meanings that people attribute to their actions 

Collective Consciousness: The degree to which members of a society think and act alike 

Alienation: the way in which people are not fulfilled by work; but instead dehumanized by the work process 

Double Consciousness: Minorities have multiple selves and view themselves always through the point of view of white people

Individualism: the habit or principle of being independent and self reliant 

Methods: 

Operationalization: Process of translating abstract sociological concepts into concrete, measurable variables that can be observed and analyzed. 

Major kinds of research and their advantages: 

• Surveys: Excellent for gathering a lot of info from many people quickly 

• Experiments: Allow a cause and effect analysis 

• Observation/Field Research : Deep understanding of small groups 

• Secondary Data Analysis: Efficient for studying large populations using existing info 

Experiments: Controlled research methods used to test hypotheses and establish cause and effect relationships by manipulating an independent variable and observing its effect on a dependent variable 

Induction: research approach that moves from specific observations to general patterns and theory aiming to generate a new hypotheses and theories from collected data 

Deduction: Research approach that begins with a general theory and then tests it by forming a specific hypothesis and collecting data to see if that hypothesis is supported. 

Causation: Hard to establish 

Correlation: Easier to establish, when variables move or change at the same time 

Samples: Smaller group that represents the larger group (target population) 

Variables and how they are related ( independent, dependent) 

• Variable: an attribute that changes from person to person, and that can be measured: e.g., age of death, consumption of junk food…

• Independent Variable: factor that is predicted to cause change (often more than one in soc) 

• Dependent Variable: Factor that is changed by the independent variable 

Control group: Are not exposed to the independent variable 

Experimental group: Are exposed to the independent variable 

Ethnography: Observing people in their own environment to better understand how they act  

Mean: Average (outlier problem) 

Median: Middle unit of a set of figures 

Mode:: Occurs most often 

Reliability: Consistency in measurement (get same measurement if they redid the study) , Validity: measuring exactly what you want to measure 

Generalizability: the findings can be applied to larger or other groups

Stanley Milgram experiment: People’s disturbing willingness to obey authority figures, when commanded to perform action that conflicted with their conscience: 

Ex. Hitler said to shoot someone… would you do it since it is a command? 

Bias: a bias in the way control or comparison groups are selected. Might influence the outcome 

Predictors: good studies allow us to make predictions 

Proxy variables: Available measurement that stand in for a variable which is unobservable, difficult, or too expensive to measure directly. 

Selection: groups chosen for experiments 

Culture: 

Counterculture: Exists in TENSION with dominant society, and seeks to CHANGE it in some fundamental way 

Subculture: A group set apart by its distinctive values, norms, and lifestyle

High brow culture: Refers to those forms of culture usually associated with the elite or dominant classes 

Low brow culture: mass produced forms of popular culture that are perceived as having less cultural value compared to highbrow culture 

Ex. Horse riding - low culture compared to Equestrian riding- high culture 

Norms: expectations about how to behave (Formal or informal) 

Values: Shared beliefs about what a group considers worthwhile or desirable 

Social etiquette: specific set of unwritten rules, behaviors, and manners that are expected and accepted within a given social group, culture, or situation to ensure polite, respectful, and harmonious interactions 

Changes in cultural attitudes: The transformation of a society’s collective beliefs, values, normas, and practices over time, often driven by factors

Collective conscience: Set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes that operate as a unifying force within a society 

Folkways/mores: Everyday, customary behaviours that are part of a culture, like table manners or saying thank you. 

Mores: Serious and morally significant norms like prohibitions against stealing or lysing, with stricter penalties for violations. 

Bourdieu: Class is also about lifestyle and taste 

 Cultural capital: Tastes, habits, and expectations that children inherit from their parents