Intro Soc Midterm
media's influences on us
control over attention, language, and social ideas
principles of culture
culture is shared, learns, and socially constructed
deviance vs crime
deviance is breaking informal norms while crime is breaking laws (formal norms)
closed social mobility system
does not allow for movement between classes
echo chamber
environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own
ideas
ex: bigger is better, The American Dream, masculinity > femininity
macrosociology
examines large-scale social structures to see how they shape/impact groups and individuals
microsociology
examines small-group interactions to see how they impact larger institutions in society
intersectionality
idea that multiple systems of stratification play a role in an individual's life
leisure
in contrast to paid labor or other obligatory activities, or the opposite of work
physical stigma
including physical or mental impairments
sanctions
means of enforcing norms, rewards for conformity and punishments for violations
social stratification
members of a given society are categorized and divided into groups, which are then placed in a social hierarchy
tribal stigma
membership in a discredited or oppressed group
authoritative power
1 v 1 , landlord vs tenant, teacher vs student, physical power
power elite
C. Wright Mills, holding the power within few elite, the inequality that is caused by this
strain theory of deviance
Merton, some deviance is inevitable in society, individual's position in the social structure will affect his experience of deviance and conformity
psychologism
a basic mindset that you can explain behavior by looking solely at individual trait and characteristics
relative deprivation
a comparative measure of poverty from one group to another
absolute deprivation
a measure whereby people are unable to meet minimal standards for food, shelter, clothing, and health care
minority group
any group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they life for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination
religion
any institutionalized system of shared beliefs and rituals that identify a relationship between the sacred and the profane
material culture
any physical object to which we give social meaning: art, tools, utensils, machines, weapons, clothing, furniture, etc.
stigma
any physical or social attribute that devalues a person or group's identity, which may exclude people who are devalued from normal social interaction
social institution
any social situation that teaches social norms/expectations
triangulate
approach to research a question from a variety of different angles, useful in order to get multiple perspectives and more in-depth look at the data, strengthens arguments
qualitative data
based on actual data in forms of answers in word form, more detailed but more difficult to work with
quantitative data
based on numerical data, usually less detailed but more economical and statistically manageable
deviance
breaking the norms
causation
one variable causes another
functions of religion for society
organizes our feelings, gives meaning to life, group identity - provides the opportunity to come together with others to share in group activities and identity, defining factor of identity that helps define the boundaries of social groups
deviance avowal
potential deviants may actually initiate the labeling process against themselves to provoke others to do so, labeling themselves as deviant as a role rather than in one act may be beneficial
labeling theory
proposes that deviance is not inherent in any act, belief, or condition; instead, it is determined by the social context
cultural capital in relation to social mobility
social class status is passed down from generations because each generation acquires its own cultural capital which helps people to gain advantages in society
symbolic interactionism
society is produced and reproduced through our interactions with each other by means of language and our interpretations of that language
structural functionalism
society is seen as a complex system whose parts work together to promote stability and social order
generalizability
the ability to generalize the data to a wider population
vertical social mobility
the ability to move up and down between classes
socially constructed
the concept is not innate, it is a learned behavior/interaction that is created by society, not necessarily on purpose but it is ingrained in society and it'll usually take a social movement to overcome it
culture
the entire way of life of a group of people
low culture/popular culture
the opposite of high culture, normal people activities that are not what the elite do
correlation
there is an indirect connection between two variables
in-group orientation
they reject the standard that marks them as deviant and may even actively propose new standards in which their special identities are well within normal range
high culture
those forms of culture expression usually associated with elite or dominant classes
media concentration
very few companies own the vast majority of media outlets
ethnocentrism
we think of our own culture as the normal one
Weberian theory of class
wealth, power and prestige are interrelated and can be converted into the other; sometimes a person can have one of these aspects and not the others; generally, the most powerful/successful people have all three
confounding variable
3rd variable that causes the relationship between 2 other variables, making the other variables appear to be correlated; the root cause of the correlation, what causes both other variables
sociological imagination
a quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our particular situation in life and what is happening at a social level
power to control beliefs and desires
advertising/media
open social mobility system
allows for movement between classes
spurious correlation
coincidental correlation, not actually directly related although it appears as though they are
passing
concealing stigmatizing information
socioeconomic status affects life chances in terms of:
family, health, education, work/income, crime
language
form of communication
power to control the agenda
gerrymandering, making political choices to influence political outcomes
four principles of stratification
it is a characteristic of society, not a reflection of individual differences; persists over generations; different societies use different criteria for ranking their members; maintained through beliefs that are widely shared by members of society
digitizaiton
leisure now involves more technology than ever, this allows for more leisure time b/c aspects of work are easier but we also have work on our phones so the line between work and free-time is blurred
latent functions
less obvious, perhaps unintended functions of a social structure
operationalize
making a variable measurable by stating the parameters of the concept
conflict theory
marxism, emphasis on social inequality as the basic characteristic of society, helped to answer critiques of structural functionalism
material objects
material culture, things that improve or decline your ability to fit into culture from appearance/objects
manifest functions
obvious, intended functions of a social structure
factors that determine generalizability
random sampling/population sample, size of population, stratification of participants, etc.
symbolic culture
reflects the ideas and beliefs of a group of people
norms
rules and guidelines regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable, developed directly out of a culture's value system
cultural relativism
seeing each different culture as different, rather than wrong or right
pluralism
sharing the power between the whole population
moral stigma
signs of a flawed character
sociology vs psychology
sociology demonstrates how social life is patterned by social forces and emphasizes the need to consider social context when trying to explain social phenomena while psychology looks at the individuals and their thoughts/actions/motives
sociology
studies society, social interaction, and the interplay between individuals and society
cultural capital
tastes, habits, expectations, skills, knowledge, etc.
hidden curriculum
the lessons that students learn indirectly but that are an implicit part of their socialization in the school environment