Socio 101
Scientific Method
-provide limitations and boundaries that focus on a study and organize its results -involves developing and testing theories about the world based on empirical evidence -defined by its commitment to systematic observation of the empirical world and strives to be objective, critical, skeptical, and logical -essential tool in research
negative sanctions
-punishments for violating norms -ex: getting arrested for shoplifting
social movements
-purposeful, organized groups that strive to work toward a common social goal -ex: antitobacco movement, and political uprisings in the Middle East
social stratification
-refers to a society's categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power. -used to describe the system of social standing
expulsion
-refers to a subordinate group being forced, by a dominant group, to leave a certain area or country -ex: FDR sending people of Japanese decent into concentration camps
intragenerational mobility
-refers to changes in someone's social mobility throughout the course of his or her lifetime -ex: the wealth and prestige experienced by one person may be quite different from his or her siblings
Field Research
-refers to gathering primary data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey -research method suited to interpretive framework rather than scientific method -sociologist must be willing to step into new environments and observe, participate, or experience those worlds -researcher interacts with or observes people and gathers data -takes place in the subjects natural environment -ex: restaurant, DMV, hospital, airport, mall, or beach resort
Reliability
-refers to how likely research results are to be replicated if the study is reproduced -increases the likelihood that what happens to one person will happen to all people in a group
Validity
-refers to how well the study measures what it was designed to measure -would reflect how well the resulting experience represents average adult crime rate during a full moon -would ensure the study's design accurately examined what it was designed to study
social mobility
-refers to the ability to change positions within a social stratification system -improve or diminish their economic status in a way that affects socia class
gender role
-refers to the attitudes, behavior, and activities that are socially defined as appropriate for each sex and are learned through the socialization process -based on norms, or standards
Xenocentrism
-refers to the belief that another culture is superior to one's own -ex: an exchange student that goes home after a semester abroad
hidden curriculum
-refers to the lessons taught in school that are unrelated to academic learning -reinforces the positions of those with higher cultural capital and serves to bestow status unequally
material culture
-refers to the objects or belongings of a group of people -ex: metro passes, bus tokens, automobiles, places of worship, stores, clothing, hairstyles, jewelry, school
popular culture
-refers to the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in mainstream society -includes a parade, baseball game, or season finale of a tv show -expresses and spread by commercial media such as radio, tv, movies, music industry, publishers, and corporate run websites -ex: American Idol
Institutional racism
-refers to the way in which racism is embedded in the fabric of society -ex: the disproportionate number of blacks arrested for minor crimes
cultural transmission
-refers to the way people come to learn the values, beliefs, and social norms of their culture -includes both formal and informal education -ex: Going to Egypt in the summertime as an Egyptian American to learn about Pharaonic culture
Alfred Kinsey
-regarded by some as the father of the scientific study of human sexuality. -Published a series of reports which described common sexual behaviors in the US -created a six-point rating scale that ranges from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual
agricultural societies
-relied on permanent tools for survival -3000 B.C.E was the Agricultural Revolution -farmers learned how to rotate crops and use fertilizer -known as "dawn of civilization"
pastoral societies
-rely on the domestication of animals as a resource for survival -pastoral groups were able to breed livestock for food, clothing, and transportation to create goods. -ex:Maasai villagers
Quantitative data
-research collected in numerical form, can be counted, and easy to tabulate -ex: question are with yes/no or multiple choice -count the # of yes/no or correct answers and chart them into percentages
qualitative data
-results that are subjective and often based on what is seen in a natural setting -harder to organize and tabulate -researcher would end up with a lot of responses -benefit includes the wealth of material that they provide -ex: answering questions anonymously
Positive sanctions
-rewards given for conforming to norms -ex: promotion at work for working hard
informal sanctions
-sanctions that occur in face-to-face interactions -ex: earring flip flops to an opera, or swearing loudly in church (negative) -ex: helping an old man carrying grocery bags, or a smile/pat on the back (positive)
Reform Movements
-seek to change something specific about the social structure -ex: antinuclear groups, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Dreamers Movement for immigration reform, and the Human Rights Campaign advocacy for marriage equality
interpretive framework:
-seeks to understand social worlds from the point of view of participants, which leads to in-depth knowledge -more descriptive or narrative in its findings -rather than forming and testing a hypothesis, an interpretive researcher will develop approaches to explore the topic at hand, and may involve a lot of direct observation or interaction with subjects
prognostic framing
-social movements that state a clear solution and a means of implementation -ex: "Civil Unions" instead of marriages
Dysfunctions
-social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society -In education it includes bad grades, truancy, dropping out, not graduating, and not finding a job
Social Solidarity (Durkheim)
-social ties within a group -Durkheim hypothesized that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religion based differences -found out that Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics -his work supports the utility of theory in sociological research
information societies
-societies based on the production of nonmaterial goods and services -sometimes known as postindustrial or digital society
hunter-gatherer societies
-societies that depend on hunting wild animals and gathering uncultivated plants for survival -10,000-12,000 years ago -Ex OC today=aborigines and bambutis
habitualization
-society is created by humans and human interaction -describes how any repeated action can become cast into a pattern to be performed in the future in the same manner and economical effort -not only do we construct our society, but we also accept it because others have created it before us
Conflict Theory
-society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for limited resources -macro -identified by Karl Marx -Social institutions like government, education, and religion reflect this competition in their inequalities and help maintain unequal social structures
Benefits of using the scientific method:
-sociologists can use it to interpret and analyze data -apply scientific logic and objectivity -provides a systematic, organized series of steps to ensure objectivity and consistency in a problem -provide meanings for accuracy, reliability, and validity
Ibn Khaldun
-some consider him to be the world's first sociologist. -from Tunisia -set a foundation for both. Modern sociology and economics, including a theory of social conflict, a comparison of nomadic and sedentary life, description of political economy, etc.
diagnostic framing
-states the problem in a clear, easily understood way -ex: Anti-Gay Marriage
School
-students spend 7 hrs daily, and 180 hrs annually -serves as a latent function in society by socializing children into behaviors like practicing teamwork, following a schedule, and using a textbook -teachers lead rituals as role models, and reinforce what society expects from children
John S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd
-studied the role of religion in small towns -realized the effect of industrialization and urbanization was more a more relevant topic of this social group
How do sociologists identify social trends?
-study how people use SNAP benefits and how people react. -studies show that their is strong stigma attached to the use of SNAP benefits across all backgrounds -stigma might prevent people who qualify for SNAP benefits
cultural deviance theory
-suggests that conformity to the prevailing cultural norms of lower-class society causes crime -violence was worse in inner cities and decreased as you move towards the suburbs -new immigrants who were poor and hardly spoke English lived in inner cities -as urban population expanded, wealthier people moved to the suburbs and left behind the disadvantaged
Importance of Sociology:
-teaches people how they can fit into te world/others perceiving them -people and society form a sociological perspective helps people connect with the world around them -teaches them to organize their thoughts and behaviors to think critically -shows that people worldwide have different opinions -prepares people to work in a diverse world
Beliefs
-tenets or convictions that people hold to be true -Ex: the American Dream
role strain
-tension among the roles connected to a single status -ex:responsibilities of a parent
Power Elite (Mills)
-term used to describe a relatively small, loosely knit group of people who tend to dominate American policymaking. -decisions affect everyone in a society -rules of society are stacked in favor of the privileged who decide who is a criminal and who is not -explains why famous celebrities like the Kardashians or politicians can commit crime and suffer little to know legal retribution
Colorism
-the belief that one type of skin tone is superior or inferior to another within a racial group -ex: dark African Americans=superior, white African Americans =inferior
motivational framing
-the call to action: what should you do once you agree with the diagnostic frame and believe in the prognostic frame? -ex: voting no on Proposition 8
intergenerational mobility
-the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next -ex: an upper-class executive may have parents who belonged to the middle class, and their parents may have been raised in the lower class
generalized other
-the common behavioral expectations of general society -an individual is Abe to imagine how he or she is viewed by one or many others -from a sociological perspective=have a "self"
manifest functions
-the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated -In college it includes learning, career preparation, and finding a good career that matches with your education plan.
Iron Cage (Weber)
-the culmination of industrialization, rationalization, and the like results -individual is trapped by institutions and bureaucracy -leads to a sense of "disenchantment of the world" -ex: Supermarkets instead of family-owned stores
cultural imperialism
-the deliberate imposition of one's own cultural values on another culture -going to another country to try to help because they see them as inferior -ex: Europeans traveling to the "new world" in the 16th century, and viewing the Native Americans as Savages
Genocide
-the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. -ex: te Holocaust, Native Americans, and Dafur Sudan
scapegoat theory
-the dominant group will displace its unfocused aggression onto a subordinate group -ex: blaming Chinese people for bringing an infectious disease to the US/causing a pandemic
universal access
-the equal ability of all people to participate in an education system -ex: providing services to students with disabilities in the US
hidden curriculum
-the informal and unofficial aspects of culture that children are taught in school -prepares children for the adult world -children learn how to deal va it's bureaucracy, rules, expectations, waiting their turn, and sitting still for hours daily -ex: U.S schools have built a sense of competition into the way grades are awarded and the way teachers evaluate students
social facts
-the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life -serves one or more functions within a society -ex: protecting society from violence (governments) , punishing criminal behavior (SDPD), and preserving public health (CDC).
social facts
-the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life, that may contribute to changes in the family -described by Emile Durkheim
existing social movement sector
-the multiple social movement industries in a society, even if they have widely varying constituents and goals -ex: Rosa Parks
Population
-the people who are the focus of a study -ex: college athletes, international students
sex
-the physical and biological differences between men and women -includes the reproductive system and height/muscularity
cultural relativism
-the practice of assessing a culture by its own standards, and not in comparison to another culture -requires an open mind, and a willing to adapt to new values and norms -when studying, sociologists may struggle to reconcile aspects of their own culture with aspects of a culture they are studying
Enthocentrism
-the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture -belief that one culture is better than the other -ex: Americans get grossed out when people from other cultures eat dogs and cats, saying that Brits drive on the wrong side of the road, and referring Asia as the "Far East"
Sexism
-the prejudiced belief that one sex should be valued over another -girls being treated differently than boys
anticipatory socialization
-the preparation for future life roles -ex: soon-to-be parents who read infant care books and prepare their home for the new arrival
figuration
-the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior -ex: practicing religion -people practice religion in an individual manner, religion exists in a larger social context. -described by German sociologist Norbert Elias
amalgamation
-the process through which a majority group and a minority group combine to form a new group -"melting pot" ideal that sees the combination of cultures -known as miscegenation
Social control
-the regulation and enforcement of norms -the goal is to maintain social order -ex: a driver caught speeding received a speeding ticket
Positivism
-the scientific study of social patterns -used by Comte -Described his philosophy in a series of books called The Course in Positive Philosophy and A General View of Positivism -believed that using scientific methods to reveal the laws by which societies and individuals interact would usher in a "positivist" age of history
ideal culture
-the standards a society would like to embrace and live up to -portrayed by values -differs from real culture -no crime, traffic accidents, racism, or poverty
model minority
-the stereotype applied to a minority group that is seen as reaching higher educational, professional, and socioeconomic levels without protest against the majority establishment -applied to Asian Americans
culture of prejudice
-the theory that prejudice is embedded in our culture -ex: racist imagery in grocery stores, or stereotypes in the media
class traits
-the typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class (also called class markers) -indicate the level of exposure a person has to a wide range of cultures -also indicate the amount of resources a person has to spend on items such as hobbies, vacations, and leisure activities
Norms
-the visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured -define how to behave in accordance with what a society has defined as good, right, and important
real culture
-the way society really is based on what actually occurs and exists -LAW AND ORDER
ascribed status
-those statuses that are assigned to a person by society regardless of the person's own efforts -ex: son, elderly person, or female
resistance movements
-those who seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure -ex: Ku Klux Klan, Minutemen, and pro-life movements
research existing sources
-to conduct background research though a literature review -helps researchers gain understanding of work previously conducted on the topic and to position their own research to build on knowledge -must cite sources
JD Foster
-top 20= upper -bottom 20= lower -60= middle
Ask a question:
-topic should be narrow enough to study within a geography and time frame -should be broad enough to have universal merit
exogamous marriages
-unions of spouses from different social categories -based on values such as love and compatibility rather than social standing or economics -people are not as pressured to choose marriage partners based on those elements
latent functions
-unsought consequences of a social process -In college it includes meeting new people, participating in extracurricular activities, finding a partner, and creating hierarchy of employment or education
Example of the way society influences individual decisions:
-use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (food stamps) -some people believe that SNAP recipients are lazy and low in life -percentage of SNAP recipients is higher in certain states than others -sociologists study the economies in each state (unemployment rates, food, energy costs, etc) to explain the differences
secondary data analysis
-used to contribute knowledge to the discipline -doesn't result from firsthand research collected by primary sources, but the completed work of other researchers -sociologists study works written by historians, economists, teachers, or early sociologists -sociologists interest findings in a new way -ex: to study how women behaved in the 1960s, they would watch shows or research behaviors resulting from television in the 1960s
Deviance in Functionalism
-view deviance as a key component of a functioning society -3 perspectives: strain theory, social disorganization theory, and cultural deviance theory
Deviance (Sumner)
-violation of established contextual, cultural, or social norms -minor as picking your nose in public, or major as committing a murder -fosters social change -ex: during the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks violated social norms by refusing to give her seat to a white man
Marx and Engels definition of Capitalism:
-way of organizing an economy so that the things are used to make and transport products (land, oil, factories, ships) owned by people instead of the government -use of child labor, and exposure to extreme conditions -"dictatorship of the bourgeoisie"
social control
-ways to encourage conformity to society's norms -ex: inexpensive crime control
formal sanctions
-ways to officially recognize and enforce norm violations -ex: student violating college's code of conduct, and getting expelled (negative) -ex: soldier who saves a life, and receives an official commendation(positive)
role conflict
-when one or more of an individual's roles clash -ex: deadlines and responsibilities
Inventions
-when something new is formed from existing objects or concepts -when things are put in a new manner -May shape a culture when people use them in place of older ways of carrying out activities, or as a way to carry out new activities -reflects and shapes cultural values, and use requires new norms - ex: late 1800s and early 1900s electricity was invented at a fast rate
victimless crime
-when the perpetrator is not explicitly harming another person -underage drinking, drug possession, and prostitution
Hawthorne effect
-where people change their behavior because they know they are being watched as part of a study -unavoidable in some research -people must be aware that they are being observed, and some artificiality may occur -not available to a researcher studying prison behaviors, early education, and the Ku Klux Klan -ex: researcher walking into a coffee shop telling the employees that they would've observed in a study.
nurture
-who we are -relationships and caring
Five ways people respond to a gap between having a socially accepted goal despite having no socially accepted way to pursue it:
1. Conformity 2. Innovation 3. Ritualism 4 Retreatism 5. Rebellion
5 characteristics to distinguish a minority group
1. Unequal treatment/less power 2. Distinguished physical or cultural traits (skin color or language) 3.involuntary membership 4. Awareness of subordination 5. High rate of in-group marriage
Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia
1972 - extended the right to special education to all children with disabilities. Reinforced the rights of all children with disabilities to a free public education.
No Child Left Behind Act
A U.S. law enacted in 2001 that was intended to increase accountability in education by requiring states to qualify for federal educational funding by administering standardized tests to measure school achievement.
teacher training
A form of behavioral consultation in which the therapist serves as a consultant to a teacher, who ultimately implements the behavioral interventions with the student in the school
Monarchy
A government in which power is in the hands of a single person (king or queen)
race
A group of human beings distinguished by physical traits, blood types, genetic code patterns or genetically inherited characteristics.
Redlining
A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries.
How do sociologists identify and study patterns related to all kinds of contemporary social issues?
-"don't ask, don't tell" policy, establishment of the Tea Party (far right group), and use of Twitter for everyday communication
religious/redemptive movements
-"meaning seeking," and their goal is to provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals -ex: Heaven's Gate ir Branch Davidians
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
-(1996) Defines marriage as man-woman. -No state is forced to recognize same-sex marriage
Ma Tuan-Lin
-13th century Chinese historian who first recognized social dynamics as an underlying component of historical development in his seminal encyclopedia, General Study of Literary Remains
Constitutional Monarchy
-A King or Queen is the official head of state but power is limited by a constitution. -ex: Great Britain
Dictatorship
-A form of government in which the leader has absolute power and authority. -ex: North Korea, and Iran
society
-A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture -bounded by geographical barriers
Democracy
-A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them -ex: Western Europe, Canada, and US
Rationalization (Weber)
-A rational society is one built around logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition -capitalism is entirely rational -leads to efficiency and merit-based success, but it can have negative effects if taken extreme
Representative Democracy
-A system of government in which citizens elect representatives, or leaders, to make decisions about the laws for all the people. -electoral college is used -ex: United States
Absolute Monarchy
-A system of government in which the head of state is a hereditary position and the king or queen has almost complete power -ex: Saudi Arabia and Oman
authority
-Accepted power -power that people agree to follow
Discrimination
-Actions against a group of people -can be based on age, religion, health, etc -ex: Help Wanted: No Irish Need Apply/Jim Crow Laws Whites Only
Globalization
-Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope. -integration of international trade and finance -increased communications and air travel have opened doors for international relations, facilitating flow of goods and information -ex: operators outsourcing in another country
Vivien Thomas
-African American who helped develop the surgical techniques used to save the lives of "Blue Babies." -These children suffered from a deadly congenital heart condition that made them blue.
innovation
-An object or concept's initial appearance in society. -it's new -2 ways: discover it, or invent it
functionalism on race
-Argues that newcomers must assimilate by adopting the dominant group's ways -Racial-ethnic inequality provides a large pool of cheap labor -It also maintains the dominant group's current status
Charles Cooley
-Asserted that people's self understanding is constructed by their perception of how other's view them -"the looking glass self"
Saphir-Whorf Hypothesis
-Based on the idea that people experience their world through their language, and they understand their world through the culture embedded in their language -if a person can't describe the experience, the Edson is not having the experience
Example of symbolic interactionism:
-Books are good -reading times with family, friends, schools, or church. -bedtime story -getting a library card as a special event
W.E.B. DuBois
-Critical figure in the development of sociology -studies introduced and implemented many of the principles that became the foundation for modern sociology. -scholar, civil rights activist, social scientist, and first African American to get a Ph.D at Harvard
Gehard Lenski Jr
-Defined societies in terms of technological sophistication -as society advances, so does it's use of technology
Mass media
-Distribute impersonal information to a wide audience, via television, newspapers, radio, and the internet -greatly influences social norms -people learn about objects of material culture (new technology and transportation), and nonmaterial culture (beliefs, values, and norms)
How did Durkheim apply Spencer's theory to explain how societies change and survive over time?
-Durkheim stayed that society is a complex system of interrelated and independent parts that work together to maintain stability, and society is held together by shared values, languages, and symbols -believed that individuals make up a society, and to study that they had to look beyond individuals to social facts
dependent variable
-Effect of the change -affected by level of education
Sociology and the Workplace
-Employers are looking for "transferrable skills" -they want to hire people whose knowledge and education can be applied in a variety of settings and whose skills will contribute to various tasks
Herbert Spencer
-English philosopher who published the Study of Sociology (first book with the term sociology) -social Darwinism -rejected Comte and Marx -favored a form of government that allowed market forces to control capitalism
dramaturgical analysis
-Erving Goffman's term for the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance -Goffman used theater, and recognized that people's interactions showed patterns of social scripts
Alienation from self
-Final outcome of industrialization is a loss of connectivity between a worker and occupation -nothing that ties a worker to her labor, and there is no longer a sense of self -instead of being able to take pride in an identity such as being a watchmaker or chef, a person is simply a cog in the machine
Harriet Martineau
-First female sociologist -first to translate Comte's writing from French to English -introduced sociology to English-speaking scholars -found the workings of capitalism at odds with the moral principles of people in the US -pointed out faults with the free enterprise system in which workers were exploited and impoverished while business owners became wealthy
code of ethics
-Formal guidelines for conducting sociological research donating of principles and ethical standards used in discipline -describes procedures for filing, investigating, and resolving complaints of unethical conduct.
Who was the first one to use the term sociology?
-French essayist Emmanuel-Joseph Seyes in 1780
Feminist theory on gender
-Gender is socially constructed -Attempt to identify the ways in which institutionalized and internalized norms limit women's behaviours and opportunities
Georg Simmel
-German art critic who wrote widely on social and political issues -took an anti-positivism stance and addressed topics such as social conflict, function of money, individual identity in city life, and fear of outsiders. -focused on micro-level theories, and analyzed the dynamics of two-person and three-person groups -work also emphasized individual culture as the creative capacity of individuals
Karl Marx
-German philosopher and economist. -founder of communism -rejected Comte's positivism. -believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production -predicted that inequalities of capitalism would become so extreme that workers would revolt. -would lead to collapse capitalism, which would be replaced by communism -also believed that social conflict leads to change in society is still used today in modern sociology
"Verstenen" (Weber)
-German word that means to understand in a deep way.
Symbols
-Gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words used to help people understand the world -provide clues to understand experiences by conveying recognizable meanings shared by societies -ex: logos, sport uniforms, traffic signs, and gold ring for marriage -most common= language
Brown vs. Board of Education
-Integrating schools, and disagreeing on separate-but equal education -sociologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted research, and stated that segregation was harmful, and the court found it unconstitutional
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
-International organizations that operate outside of the formal political arena but that are nevertheless influential in spearheading international initiatives on social, economic, and environmental issues. -ex: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (FOAM)
False Consciousness (Marx)
-Is a condition in which the beliefs, ideas, or ideology of a person are not in the person's own best interest -ideology of the dominant class (Bourgeoisie) is imposed upon the proletariat -workers are less likely to question their place in society and assume individual responsibility for existing conditions
Jean Piaget
-Known for his theory of cognitive development in children -recognized that the development of self evoked through a negotiation between the world as it exists in one's mind and the world that exists as it is experienced socially
standard of living
-Level of wealth available to a certain socioeconomic class in order to acquire the material necessities and comforts to maintain its lifestyle -based on factors such as income, employment,class, poverty rates, and housing affordability -related to quality of life
value neutrality
-Max Weber's term for objectivity of sociologists in the interpretation of data -practice of remaining impartial, without bias or judgement, during the course of study/publishing results -sociologists are obligated to disclose research findings without omitting a lot of data -means striving to overcome personal biases when analyzing data
Herbert Blumer
-Meads student who coined the term "symbolic interactionism. -outlines 3 basic premises: humans interact with things based on meanings of those things, meaning comes from our interactions with others and society, and meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things on life
Barbara Ehrenreich
-Nickel and Dimed -left her home to join the working class -was a waitress, cleaning woman, and a retail employee in Florida. -during her participation, she used her income to pay for food, clothing, transportation, and shelter
achieved status
-Obtained by choice -ex: high school dropout, self-made millionaire, or nurse
Sigmund Freud
-One of the most influential modern scientists to put forth a theory about how people develop a sense of self. -believed that personality and sexual development were linked -divided maturation processes into psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital -oral= overeating and binge drinking -anal=neat freak -phallic=promiscuous or emotionally immature
Caste System
-People are born into their social standing and will remain in it their whole life. -people are assigned occupations regardless of their talents, interests, or potential -no opportunities to improve a social position -ex: India
gender identity
-Person's deeply held internal perception of ones gender
Self (Mead)
-Person's distinct identity that is developed through social interaction -individual has to be able to view him or herself through the eyes of others -we are not born with it -through socialization, we learn to look at the world through their perspective
sexual orientation
-Physical, mental, emotional, and sexual attraction to a particular sex -divided into several categories: heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, pansexuality, and queer
Janet Saltzman Chafetz
-Presented a model of feminist theory that attempts to explain forces that maintain gender inequality, and a theory of how it can change -critical race theory looks at structural inequality based on white privilege and associated wealth, power, and prestige
de jure segregation
-Racial segregation that occurs because of laws or administrative decisions by public agencies. -ex: Jim Crow Laws in the South
de facto segregation
-Racial segregation that occurs in schools, not as a result of the law, but as a result of patterns of residential settlement -ex: Black South Africans
Mass
-Relatively large number of people with a common interest -ex: players of FarmVille
Lab experiment
-Research an be controlled, and more data can be recorded in a certain amount of time -sociologists create artificial situations that allow them to manipulate variables
participant observation
-Rothman's study in which researchers join people and participate in group routine activities for the purpose of observing them within the context -method lets researchers experience a scientific aspect of social life -researchers temporarily put themselves in roles (working as a waitress, living as a homeless person, or riding with a police) -researchers might question "what really goes on in the kitchen of the most popular diner on campus?", "what is it like to be homeless?"
Enforcing rules in sociology:
-Sanctions -can be positive, negative, informal, and formal
Control Theory (Hirschi)
-Social control is directly affected by the strength of social bonds and deviance results from a feeling of disconnection from society -individuals who believe they are part of a society are less likely to commit crimes against it
Organic Solidarity (Durkheim)
-Social order based around an acceptance of economic and social differences. -industrial societies -division of labor becomes more specialized, and people are doing different things -allows people with differing values to coexist -laws exist as formalized morals and are based on restitution rather than revenge
Robert Merton
-Social processes have many functions -manifest functions and latent functions
preindustrial society
-Societies that are small, rural, and dependent on local resources -economic production was limited -first occupation=hunter-gatherer
Diffusion
-Spread of material and nonmaterial culture -integration of international cultures -ex: middle-class Americans flying overseas to experience other cultures, and twitter feeds from public protests in one nation encourage protesters in other countries
Racism
-Stronger type of prejudice used to justify the belief that one racial group is superior or inferior to others -set of practices used by a racial majority to disadvantage a racial minority -Ex: Ku Klux Klan
Differential Association Theory (Sutherland)
-Suggested that individuals learn deviant behavior from those close to them who provide models/opportunities for deviance -ex: a tween whose friends are sexually active is more likely to view sexual activity as acceptable
Ethnicity
-Term that describes shared culture-practices, values, and being of a group -includes language, religion, and traditions
Class Consciousness (Marx)
-The awareness of one's rank in society -in order for society to overcome false consciousness -proletariat must become a "class for itself" in order to produce social change -instead of being an inert strata for society, the class could become an advocate for social improvements
Alienation (Marx)
-The condition in which the individual is isolated and divorced from his/her society, work, or self -there are 4 types
Symbolic Interactionism theory on Deviance
-Theoretical approach that can be used to explain how societies/social groups come to view behaviors as deviant or conventional -labeling theory, differential association, social disorganization theory, and control theory
Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf
-These two anthropologists argued that language not only reflects thoughts and perceptions but that it actually shapes the way people think and perceive the world. -ex: U.S 13= bad luck, Japan 4= bad luck
Criticism of Conflict Theory
-Too focused on conflict to the exclusion of recognizing stability -Social structures have remained stable or progressed rather than changing too much like the conflict theory
Primary Deviance (Lemert)
-Violation of norms that does not result in any long- term effects on the individuals self-image or interactions with others -ex: speeding/getting traffic ticket
postconventional morality
-When people begin to think of morality in abstract terms -ex: Americans believing everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
cultural change
-When something new opens up new ways of living and when new ideas enter a culture as a result of globalization -ex: railroads, smartphones
Culture Lag
-William F. Ogburn's term for the period of maladjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions -can cause problems -ex: US has a big population problem, and it has problems supporting to control our fast-paced lives -ex: rising fuel prices, air pollution, and traffic jams
Alienation from the process of one's labor
-Worker can't control the conditions of her job because she does not own the means of production -if a person is hired at a fast food restaurant, she is expected to make the food the way she is taught -everything is decided by the bourgeoisie who dictate orders to the laborers
Alienation from others
-Workers compete, rather than cooperate. -Employees vie for time slots, bonuses, and job security -when a worker clocks out at night and goes home, the competition doesn't end
US family structure today:
-a "typical" family is different than in the past when most U.S. families consisted of married parents living in a home with their unmarried children. -percent of unmarried couples, same-sex couples, single-parent, and single-adult households is increasing -mothers are still the majority of single parents -number of single fathers is increasing -over 1 million single fathers have never been married -percent of extended family households are also increasing
crime
-a behavior that violates official law and is punishable through formal sanctions -ex: driving with a high blood alcohol percentage
self-report study
-a collection of data acquired using voluntary response methods, such as questionnaires or telephone interviews -self-report data are gathered each year, asking approx 160,000 people in the US about the frequency and types of crime they experience in their daily lives
gender dysphoria
-a condition listed in the DSM-5 in which people whose gender at birth is contrary to the one they identify with. -This condition replaces "gender identity disorder"
Values
-a culture's standard for discerning what is good and just in society -deeply embedded and critical for transmitting and teaching a culture's beliefs
downward mobility
-a decrease in social class -results in unemployment, illness, or business setbacks
self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton)
-a false belief or prediction that produces behavior that makes the originally false belief come true -ex: bank run
Tracking
-a formalized sorting system that places students on "tracks" (advanced, low achievers) that perpetuate inequalities -leads to self-fulfilling prophecies in which students live up/down to teacher and societal expectations
social placement
-a function of education-funneling people into a society's various positions -ex: college majors and pathways
Culture
-a group's shared practices, values, and beliefs. -group's way of life, from routine, everyday interactions to the most important parts of lives. -includes everything produced by a society, including all of the social rules.
master status
-a label that describes the chief characteristic of an individual -ex: some people see themselves as doctors, artists, or grandfathers/others as beggars, convicts,or addicts
crowd
-a large number of people gathered together -ex: people attending a concert, tailgating at a patriots game, or attending worship service
Primogeniture
-a law stating that all property passes to the firstborn son -women couldn't inherit property, and their social standing was determined through marriage
Social construction of race
-a more sociological way of understanding racial categories -race is not biologically identifiable and previous racial categories were arbitrarily assigned, based on pseudoscience/used to justify racist practices
collective behavior
-a non-institutionalized activity in which several people voluntarily engage -ex: commuters traveling home from work and a population of teens adopting a favorite singer's hairstyle
Role-set
-a number of roles attached to a single status -status refers to the rank in social hierarchy, while role is the behavior expected of a person holding a certain status
interview
-a one-on-one conversation between the researcher and the subject -way of conducting surveys on a topic -researcher asks short answer questions -in back-and-forth conversations, researchers can ask for clarification, spend more time on a subtopic, or ask additional questions -no right or wrong answers
literature review
-a review of any existing similar or related studies -a visit to the library and online research will uncover research about the topic
Anomie (Durkheim)
-a situation in which society no longer has the support of a firm collective consciousness -means "without law" -time of chaos -experiences during times of uncertainty such as war or upturns/downturns in the economy
Oligarchy
-a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution. -they do not achieve their statuses based on ties to noble ancestry -ex: Russia, US
Subculture
-a smaller cultural group within a larger culture -ethic and racial groups share language, food, and customs of their heritage -Biker culture is the dedication to motorcycles -ex: tattoos, piercings, and certain forms of plastic surgery
Court
-a system that has the authority to make decisions based on law -once a crime has been committed and violator has been defined by the police
looking-glass self
-a term coined by Charles Horton Cooley to refer to the process by which our self develops through internalizing others' reactions to us -people's reactions to us are like a mirror in which we are
grade inflation
-a term used to describe the observation that the correspondence between letter grades and the achievements they reflect has been changing (in a downward direction) over time -C student earning an A or B
Mechanical Solidarity (Durkheim)
-a type of social order maintained by the collective consciousness of a culture -preindustrial societies -act in a mechanical fashion when things are done in a certain way
Countercultures
-a type of subculture that rejects some of the larger culture's norms and values -might actively defy larger society by developing their own set of rules and norms to live by, and creating communities that operate outside of greater society -ex: a cult
resource mobilization theory
-a way to explain movement success in terms of the ability to acquire resources and mobilize individuals -ex: civil rights movement, Woman's Suffrage, and Labor Movements
Functionalism
-a.k.a structural-functional theory. -society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet biological and social needs of the individuals in that society -evolved from Herbert Spencer -Spencer saw similarities between society and our bodies -organs work together to keep the body functioning -various parts of society work together to keep society functioning
dynamic equilibrium
-all parts work together to maintain stability in a healthy society
Social order
-an arrangement of practices and behaviors on which society's members base their daily lives -ex: when a worker violates a workplace guideline, the manager steps in to enforce the rules
Constructivism
-an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be -we develop social constructs based on interactions, and they last overtime -constructs that have meanings are widely used in society -used to define a deviant in a society -different societies have different meanings for deviance
Homophobia
-an extreme or irrational aversion to homosexuals -stereotyping and discrimination
Totalitarian Dictatorship
-an extremely oppressive form of dictatorship in which most aspects of citizens' lives are controlled by the leader -ex: Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Adolph Hitler, and Saddam Hussein
Meritocracy
-an ideal system in which personal effort—or merit—determines social standing -high levels=high social position
moral development
-an important part of socialization -refers to the way people learn what society considered to be "good" and "bad" -important for a smoothly functioning society -prevents people from acting on unchecked urges, instead of considering what's eights for others -Lawrence Kohlberg was interested in how people learn to decide what is right and what is wrong -3 levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconvencional.
upward mobility
-an increase—or upward shift—in social class -rags-to-riches
criminal justice system
-an organization that exists to enforce a legal code -3 branches: police, courts, and the corrections system
public
-an unorganized, relatively diffuse group of people who share ideas -ex: libertarian party
Davis-Moore thesis (Functionalism)
-argued that the greater the functional importance of a social role, the greater must be the reward -social stratification represents unequal values of different work -certain tasks are more valuable than others -ex: firefighter's job is more important than a grocery store cashier's
Steps involving the scientific method:
-ask questions -research sources -come up with a hypothesis
Social Disorganization Theory
-asserts that crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control -an individual who grew up in a poor area with high crime rates, teenage delinquency, and deprived parenting is more likely to become a criminal than someone who grew up in a affluent neighborhood with good schools, and good families
Hypothesis
-assumption about how two or more variables are related -predicts how one form of human behavior influences another
4 types of social bonds (Hirschi)
-attachment -commitment -involvement -belief
hate crime
-attacks based on a person's race, religion, or other characteristics -scapegoating, prejudice, and xenophobia
class system
-based on both social factors and individual achievement -open -people are free to gain a different level of education or employment than their parents -can socialize with and marry members of another class -occupation is not fixed at birth -people can form exogamous marriages or endogamous unions
violent crimes
-based on the use of force or the threat of force -"crimes against a person" -rape, murder, and armed robbery
prejudice
-belief about an individual or a group that is not subject to change on the basis of evidence -not based on experience -It is a prejudgement
Émile Durkheim on Deviance
-believed that deviance is a necessary part of a successful society -argues that it challenges people's present views -when deviance is punished, it reaffirms currently held social norms, also contributes to a society
Criticism of structural-functional theory
-can't explain social change very well -and the nature is very repetitive in terms of behavior -dysfunctions do occur many times
informal norms
-casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to -people learn them by observation, imitation, and socialization -no need of written rules -define personal interactions -ex: waiting in line to order food at a fast food restaurant -ex of direct: kiss your aunt
independent variable
-cause of the change -how is social class?
Sorting
-classifying students based on academic merit or potential -most capable students are identified early in schools through testing and classroom achievements
Legal codes
-codes that maintain formal social control through laws -rules adopted and enforced by a political authority -those who violate them incur negative formal sanctions
survey
-collects data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions in the form of a questionnaire -one of the most widely used -individuals can express their personal ideas -Ex=U.S. Census -Ex of question: "Were the staff helpful?"
Benefits of studying sociology
-college graduates with a degree in sociology are employed by government agencies and corporations in fields such as social services, counseling, community planning, health services, marketing, market research, and Human Resources. -people with a small training in sociology can be employed in sales, public relations, journalism, teaching, law, and criminal justice
global stratification
-compares the wealth, economic stability, and power of various countries -highlights worldwide patterns of social inequality
What did Georg Simmel believe based on the conflict theory?
-conflict can help integrate and stabilize a society. -state's that the intensity of conflict depends on the emotional involvement of the parties, degree of solidarity of the opposing groups, and clarity/limited nature of goals
nonmaterial culture
-consists of the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society -ex: capitalism, paying for transportation, wearing clothes for certain events, and teaching methods.
feudal societies
-contained a strict hierarchical system of power based around land ownership and protection -19th century -lords= in charge -fiefdoms=cultivated by lower class -peasants= low class workers
corporate crime
-crime committed by white-collar workers in a business environment -embezzlement, insider trading, fraud, and identity theft
Acting crowds
-crowds of people who are focused on a specific action or goal -ex: protests or riots
How do Sociologists View Society?
-cultural patterns and social forces put pressure on people to select one choice over another. -Sociologists try to identify these things by examining behavior of large groups of people living in the same society and experiencing the same societal pressures
operational definition
-defining the concept in terms of the physical or concrete steps it takes to objectively measure it -identifies an observable condition of the concept -used when forming basic questions -must be valid, appropriate, meaningful, and reliable -ex: "a driver who has never received a traffic violation"
status consistency
-describe the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual's rank across these factors. -caste systems=higher -class system=lower
high culture
-describe the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in the highest class segments of a society -intellectualism, political power, and prestige -America=wealth, expensive/formal lifestyle -ex: attending a ballet, seeing a play, or listening to a live symphony performance
informal education
-education that involves learning about cultural values, norms, and expected behaviors through participation in a society -ex: dressing, shopping, cooking, and hygiene
Credentialism
-embodies the emphasis on certificates or degrees to show that a person has a certain skill, has attained a certain level of education, or has met certain job qualifications -ex: certificates and degrees
sociological imagination
-how sociologists study culture -Pioneer sociologist C. Wright Mills describes it as an awareness of relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the culture "at-large" that shaped the person's choices and perceptions. -a way of seeing our own and other people's behavior in relation to history and social structure
Examples of cultural universals
-in Asian culture family in all generations live in one household until marriage -in the US individuals live independently, and form a family, and be parents in the future
case study
-in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual -researcher examines existing sources such as documents/archival records, conducts interviews, and engages in direct/participant observation -researcher might use this to study a singer case of a foster child, drug lord, cancer patient, criminal, or rape victim -does not provide enough evidence to form a generalized conclusion -sociologists don't use it as a primary research methods -useful when a single case is unique -ex: a feral child (wild child) who grew up without social contact and language, and who display behaviors/language like animals -very few feral children out there
Transgender
-individuals whose gender identity differs from the sex of their birth -not the same as homosexual -2-5% of the U.S population is transgender -some change their bodies through surgery, and some don't
Alienation from the product of one's labor
-industrial worker has no experience in his/her job -instead of training for years to be a watchmaker, an unskilled worked can get a job at a watch factory pressing buttons to seal pieces together -worked doesn't know what he/she is doing
What did Max Weber believe based on the conflict theory?
-inequalities in a capitalist system would lead to conflict, but there could be more than one source of conflict, such as conflict over inequalities in political power and social status -noted that certain groups were affected disproportionately based on education, race, gender, and people's reactions to inequality were moderates by class differences/social mobility rates
Experiments
-investigating relationships to test a hypothesis -one way researchers test social theories -if-then statements
Crowdsourcing
-inviting broad communities of people - customers, employees, independent scientists and researchers, and even the public at large - into the new product innovation process -ex: Wikipedia
nonviolent crimes
-involve the destruction or theft of property but do not use force or the threat of force -"property crimes" -car theft and vandalism
Criticism of Symbolic Interactionism:
-it varies -some say the focus on symbolic interactions are narrow
Industrial Revolution
-jobs were created due to advancements in technology -great time for social life and politics -societies and cultures began to develop -people moved into cities and many people turned away from their religious beliefs
corrections system
-known as the prison system, is charged with supervising individuals who have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced for criminal offenses -U.S has 25% of the world's inmates (largest prison population in the world)
conflict theory of deviance
-looks at deviance in terms of social inequality and power. -The rich and powerful use their positions to determine which acts are deviant and how deviants should be punished. -Supporters of this theory believe that minorities receive unequal treatment in the American criminal justice system.
Structural Functionalism
-macro -way each part of society functions together to contribute to the whole
peer group
-made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests -socialization begins in early years, when kids on a playground teach younger children the norms about taking turns, rules of a game, and how to shoot a basket -important to adolescents when they begin to develop an identity separate from their parents and exert independence -provide their own opportunities for socialization when kids engage in different activities with their peers than with family
Discoveries
-make known previously unknown but existing aspects of reality -ex: Christopher Columbus coming to America, it changed European culture/New World Culture -potatoes and tomatoes transformed Europe and horses from Europe changed hunting for the Native Americans
Sample
-manageable number of subjects who represent a larger population -success of a study depends on how well a population is represented by it
Carol Gilligan
-moral development studies to follow up Kohlberg. -She studied girls and women and found that they did not score as high on his six stage scale because they focused more on relationships rather than laws and principles. -Their reasoning was merely different, not better or worse -boys= justice perspective -girls=care and responsibility perspective
family
-mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents, and extended family -teach a child what they need to know -show the child how to use objects (clothes, computers, eating utensils, books, bikes) -how to relate to there (family, friends, strangers, teachers, or neighbors) -and how the world works (real, imagined)
revolutionary movements
-movements that seek to completely change every aspect of society -ex: 1960s counterculture movement, Weather Underground, and anarchist collectives
Erik Erikson
-neo-Freudian, humanistic; 8 psychosocial stages of development: theory shows how people evolve through the life span. -Each stage is marked by a psychological crisis that involves confronting "Who am I?"
degradation ceremony
-new members lose the aspects of their old identity and are given new identities -ex: to enter a senior care home, an elderly person must save a family home and give up many belongings which were part of their identity
Folkways
-norms that are not strictly enforced -ex: Canada=women smile and say hello to men, and in Egypt it's not acceptable -ex: U.S= holding door for a stranger, or giving someone a birthday gift
Mores
-norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance -violating then can result in serious consequences -ex: writing must be in your own words, and work must be cited to avoid plagiarism
Strain Theory (Merton)
-notes that access to socially acceptable goals plays a part in determining weather a person confirms or deviates -person may have the socially acceptable goal of financial success, but lack s socially acceptable way to reach that goal -ex: an entrepreneur who can't afford to launch his own company may be tempted to embezzle from his employer to start-up funds
secondary deviance
-occurs when a person's self-concept and behavior begin to change after his or her actions are labeled as deviant by members of society -ex: student cutting class to fight in school, and suffering consequences
sanction
-official permission or approval -form of social control -ex: getting good grades and praised by parents and teachers, or going against societal values and being punished
Resocialization
-old behaviors that were helpful in a previous role are removed because they are no longer of use -necessary when a person moves to a senior care, goes to boarding school, or serves time in jail -common way occurs in a total institution where people are isolated from society and are forced to follow others rules
Nature
-our temperaments, interests, and talents are set before birth -based on genetics
Stereotypes
-oversimplified ideas about groups of people -can be based on race, gender, and sexual orientation -can be positive or negative
Roles
-patterns of behavior that are representative of a person's social status —associated with a different status -ex: daughter, neighbor, and teacher
Social Institutions
-patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs -parts of society according to Spencer -ex: governments, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the economy.
cultural universals
-patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies -ex: family (regulation of sexual reproduction and care for children)
Conventional crowds
-people who come together for a regularly scheduled event -ex: religious service
casual crowd
-people who gather unexpectedly or spontaneously for a short time -ex: people lining at the post office
expressive crowds
-people who join together to express emotion -ex: at funerals, weddings, or the like
Thomas Theorem
-people's behavior can be determined by their subjective construction of reality rather than by objective reality -ex: a teenager given a label-overachiever, player, or bum might live up to the term despite that it was not part of his character
culture shock
-personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life -ex:traveler from Chicago might find the silent nightlife of rural Montana no peaceful, and an exchange Student from China might find raising hands and asking questions rude
George Herbert Mead
-philosopher and sociologist whose work focused on the ways in which the mind and self were developed as a result of social processes -argues that how an individual comes to view himself or herself is based to a very large extent on interactions with others
Paradigms
-philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them -3 paradigms come to dominate sociological thinking because they provide useful explanations: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.
charismatic authority
-power legitimized by extraordinary personal abilities that inspire devotion and obedience -ex: Hitler
rational-legal authority
-power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations -ex: constitution
3 forms of collective behavior
Crowd, mass, and public
Cultural Capital (Bourdieu)
Cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as currency that helps us navigate a culture, alters the experiences and opportunities available to French students from different social classes
Status
Describes the responsibilities and benefits that a person experiences according to their rank and role in society
Conflict Theory (social stratification)
Elite control over society's resources Rich stay rich
Precipitating factors spur collective belief
Emergence of a dramatic event
Theory
A way to explain different aspects of social interactions and create a testable proposition called a hypothesis
conventinal morality
Becoming aware of others feelings and taking those into consideration when determining good and bad
Gender
Behaviors, personal traits, and social positions that society attributes to being female or male
How is GDP calculated?
By multiplying the price times the quantity of each good and service sold in the current period, then adding the results
Systems of Stratification
Class, caste, and meritocracy
2 forces driving social change
Collective behavior and social movements
Structural functionalism on sexuality
The process of labeling and defining sexual deviance serves the social function of clarifying broader societal norms and values
Modernization
The process of reforming political, military, economic, social, and cultural traditions in imitation of the early success of Western societies, often with regard for accommodating local traditions in non-Western societies.
social change
The way in which society has changed and is changing (and also the possibilities for future change)
Michael Brown/Ferguson
Unarmed black teen shot by police man in Ferguson, MO
secondary data analysis
Using existing sources
Most crucial elements of culture
Values and beliefs
Types of Crime
Violent, nonviolent, street, corporate, hate, and victimless
Mary Wollstonecraft
Wrote about women's conditions in society
police
a civil force in charge of regulating laws and public order at a federal, state, or community level
one person, one vote
a concept holding that each person's vote should be counted equally
Head Start Program
a federal program that provides academically focused preschool to students of low socioeconomic status
value-added theory
a functionalist perspective theory that posits that several preconditions must be in place for collective behavior to occur
subordinate group
a group of people who have less power
flash mob
a large group of people who gather together in a spontaneous activity that lasts a limited amount of time
income
a person's wages or investment dividends
growth and spread of a generalized belief
a problem is clearly identified and attributed to a person or group
Common core
a proposed set of standards in language arts and mathematics that all American schools would be expected to use
anarchy
a state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority.
bilingual education
a strategy in which school subjects are taught in both the learner's original language and the second (majority) language
emergent norm theory
a theory of collective behavior that assumes individual members of a crowd make their own decisions about behavior and that norms are created through others' acceptance or rejection of these behaviors
new social movement theory
a theory that attempts to explain the proliferation of postindustrial and postmodern movements that are difficult to understand using traditional social movement theories
Busing
achieving racial balance by transporting students to schools across neighborhood boundaries
grand theories
an attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change
Reification
an error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence
intersection theory
analysis of the interplay of race, class, and gender, which often results in multiple dimensions of disadvantage
assembling perspective
another system for understanding collective behavior that credited individuals in crowds as rational beings
George Murdock
anthropologist that examined hundreds of different cultures in an attempt to determine what general traits are common to all cultures
minority group
any group of people who are singled out from the others for differential and unequal treatment (Louis Writh)
content analysis
applying a systematic approach to record and value information gleaned from secondary data as it relates to the study at hand
sexuality around the world
attitudes vary within a country, Sweden - most liberal
Heterosexual
attracted to the opposite sex
sendimentation of racial inequality
Interrogational impact of both practical and legalized racism that limits the abilities of black people to accumulate wealth
endogamous union
Marriage to a partner from the same social background
Politics
Means to understand the underlying social norms and values of a group
Models of Global Stratification
More developed, less developed, developing
social control (value added theory)
Only way to end the collective behavior episode
Generalized others (Mead)
Organized and generalized attitude of a social group
Assimilation
Process by which people of one culture merge into and become part of another culture
Macro-level analysis example:
Research ways that language use has changed over time or in social media outlets
Way societies put values into action through:
Rewards, sanctions, and punishments
Institutional agents
School, workplace, religion, government, mass media
Symbolic Interactionism on education
Schools are the site of several important micro-level interactions
class
Set of people who share similar status with regard to factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation
What do sociologists study?
Social events, interactions, and patterns. They also develop a theory in an attempt to explain why things work as they do.
Anti positivism (Weber)
Social researchers would strive for subjectivity as they work to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values.
Significant others (Mead)
Specific individuals that impacted a person's life
social inegration (Durkheim)
Strength of ties that people have to their social groups, and key factor of social life
4 methods of sociological investigation used in planning studies:
Survey, field research, experiment, and secondary data analysis
language
Symbolic system through which people communicate and culture is transmitted
racial steering
real estate agents advising customers to purchase homes in neighborhoods depending on their race
Types of Social Movements
reform, revolutionary, religious, alternative, resistance
Pluralism
represented by the ideal of the United States as a "salad bowl:" a mixture of different cultures where each culture retains its own identity and yet adds to the "flavor" of the whole
latent functions of education
restricting some activities, matchmaking and production of social networks, creating a generation gap
sexuality in the US
restrictive towards gender attitudes, men have—or have the right to—more sexual urges than women creates a double standard
Voter Participation
result of an expanded electorate; also a result of a growing interest in politics and a strengthening of party organization and party loyalty
industrial societies
rooted in the production of material goods
qualitative sociology
seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and analysis of content sources
Conflict theory on sexuality
sexuality is another area in which power differentials are present and where dominant groups actively work to promote their worldview as well as their economic interests
micro-level
small scale patterns of society
manifest functions of education
socialization, transmission of culture, multicultural education, social control, social placement, change and innovation
quantitative sociology
statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants
Social stratification and inequality
system of inequality in which people/groups have varying access and privileges to resources; divided into layers (multi-layered) based on one's access to resources
home schooling
teaching children in the home as an alternative to enrolling them in a public or private elementary, middle, or high school
causes of social change
technology, social institutions, population, environment
Megan Meier
teenage girl who committed suicide at 13 after being bullied and dumped by online boyfriend who was really a neighborhood mom, Lori Drew, who made the fake bf; created a law that banned online harassment of minors by an adult
Power Elite (Mills)
term used to describe a relatively small, loosely knit group of people who tend to dominate American policymaking.
Power (Weber)
the ability to exercise one's will over others
Institutionalization
the act of implanting a convention or norm into society
biological determinism
the belief that men and women behave differently due to inherent sex differences related to their biology
white privilege
the benefits people receive simply by being part of the dominant group
Social movement industry
the collection of the social movement organizations that are striving toward similar goals
collective conscience (Durkheim)
the communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society
Dominant group
the group with the most power, greatest privileges, and highest social status.
Proletariat (Marx)
the laborers in a society
Wealth
the net value of money and assets a person has
How did Alfred Radcliffe Brown define function of our activities?
the part is played in social life as a whole, and the contribution it makes to social stability and continuity.
Segregation
the physical separation of two groups, particularly in residence, but also in workplace and social functions
education
the social institution through which society provides its members with important knowledge, including basic facts, job skills, and cultural norms and values
Sociology
the study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups
micro-level theories
the study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups
judicial system
the system of law courts that administer justice and constitute the judicial branch of government
socialization of gender roles
the way in which society tells people what behavior is expected of males and females
How did Herman and Reynolds via symbolic interactionism
they saw it as people being active in shaping the social world rather than being acted upon
sex education
understanding sexual behavior and learning to make responsible choices can lead to a healthier and richer life.
Social classes in the US
upper class, middle class, lower class
Non-reactive research
using secondary data, does not include direct contact with subjects and will not alter or influence people's behaviors
Sexuality
viewed as a person's capacity for sexual feelings
Doing Gender (West and Zimmerman)
when people perform tasks based upon the gender assigned to them by society and, in turn, themselves
4 types of crowds
casual, conventional, expressive, acting
Ludwig Gumplowicz
expanded upon Marx' ideas about conflict theory by proposing that society is shaped by war and conquest and that cultural and ethnic conflicts lead to certain groups becoming dominant over other groups
4 major agents of socialization (Gender)
family, school, peer group, mass media
Auguste Comte
father of sociology (reinvented the term)
Transphobia
fear of or discrimination toward transgender or other gender-nonconforming people
preconventional morality
first level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the child's behavior is governed by the consequences of the behavior
George Herbert Mead and symbolic interactionism:
founded it but, he never published his work on it
Conflict theory on gender
gender roles result from male dominance
heterosexism (Herck, 2000)
ideological system that denies, denigrates, & stigmatizes among nonheterosexual forms of behavior, identity, relationships, or community.
How do Sociologists View Social Structures?
individual and society are inseparable.
teaching to the test
instruction that is driven by the requirements or characteristics of a test rather than the needs of students or the substance of a particular subject
queer theory
interdisciplinary approach to sexuality studies that identifies Western society's rigid splitting of gender into male and female roles and questions the manner in which we have been taught to think about sexual orientation
2 types of experiments
lab and field
Macro-level
large scale patterns of society
Macro-level theories
large-scale social processes, such as social stability and change
mobilization for action
leaders emerge to direct a crowd to action
formal education
learning that takes place within an academic setting such as a school, which has a planned instructional process and teachers who convey specific knowledge, skills, and thinking processes to students
Levels of Social Movements
local, state, national, global
Correlation
much of data gathered in field research
structural conduciveness
occurs when people are aware of the problem and have the opportunity to gather, ideally in an open area
frame alignment process
occurs when social movement organizations link their goals to the goals of other organizations
street crime
offenses committed by ordinary people against other people or organizations, usually in public spaces
Bourgeoisie (Marx)
owners of the means of production
structural strain
people's expectations about the situation at hand being unmet, causing tension and strain
charter schools
public schools run by private entities to give parents greater control over their children's education
Symbolic Interactionism on race
race and ethnicity are part of our identity as displayed through our presentation of self
Feminist theory on education
Inequalities are based not just on social class but also on gender. Research reveals the persistent replication of gender relations in schools, evidenced by the privileging of males, their voices, and their activities in the classroom, on the playground, and in hallways
role performance
-how a person actually plays a role -Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage -each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present -ex: way you behave around coworkers vs way you behave around grandparents
Max Weber
-established a sociology department in Germany at the Ludwig Maximillians University of Munich in 1919. -wrote on many topics related to sociology including political change in Russia and social forces affecting factory workers -known for his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism -believed that it was difficult to use standard scientific methods to accurately predict the behavior of groups -In his book The Nature of Social Action, describes sociology as striving to interpret the meaning of social action and give a casual explanation of the way in which action proceeds and effects it produces
formal norms
-established, written rules. -They are behaviors worked out and agreed upon in order to suit and serve the most people -ex: laws, employee manuals, college entrance exams, drunk driving, and no running signs
random sample
-every person in a population has the same chance of being chosen for a study -in probability, random samples represent population as a whole -Gallup Poll should provide an accurate estimate of public opinion from 2,000-10,000 people
labeling theory
-examines the ascribing of a deviant behavior to another person by members of society -what is considered deviant is determined not so much by the behaviors or people who commit them, but by reactions of others to these behaviors
Ken Barger
-experienced a culture shock when conducting an observation of Inuits -hesitated to join a snowshoe race, caribou hunts, learned how to take shelter in storms, and went days with little to know food -Inuit community stayed that he tried despite the fact he lost in a snowshoe race
Ethnography
-extended observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire social setting -involve objective observation of an entire community -focuses on how subjects view their own social standing and how they understand themselves in a community -might observe a fishing village , boarding school, Inuit community, a village in Thailand, or a Buddhist monastery -people have to behave certain ways and respect the culture norms -sociologist studying a tribe in the Amazon might Watch te way villagers go about their daily lives and write a paper about it
Institutional Ethnography
-extension of basic ethnographic research principles that focuses intentionally on everyday concrete social relationships -developed by Dorothy E. Smith -considered a feministic approach to social analysis and considers women's experiences within male-dominated societies and power structures
Social Group Agents
-family, peer groups -people learn to use tangible objects of material culture, and be introduced to the beliefs and values of a society
alternative movements
-focused on self-improvement and limited, specific changes to individual beliefs and behavior -ex: transcendental meditation or macrobiotic diet
Symbolic Interactionism
-focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society -micro-level -communication is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds -social scientists look for patterns of interaction between individuals -studies are more likely to be qualitative (ex:in-depth interviews or participant observation) to understand the symbolic worlds
horticultural
-formed in areas where rainfall and other conditions allowed them to grow stable crops -similar to hunter-gatherers because they depended on their environment for survival, -they didn't have to abandon their location to grow crops
structural mobility
-happens when societal changes enable a whole group of people to move up or down the social class ladder -is attribute to changes in society as a whole, not individual changes
Emile Durkheim
-helped establish sociology as a formal academic discipline by establishing first European department of sociology at the university of Bordeaux in 1895 and by publishing his Rules of the Sociological Method in 1895 -in Division of Labour in Society, he laid out his theory on how societies transformed from a primitive state into a capitalist, industrial society. -believed that people rise to their proper levels in society based on belief in a meritocracy. -also believed that sociologists could study objective "social facts" -also believed that through such studies it would be possible to determine if a society was "healthy" or "pathological" -healthy=stable -pathological= breakdown in social norms between individuals and society
Peter L. Berger
-his book Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective, describes a sociologist as "someone concerned with understanding society in a disciplined way." -argues that sociologists have a natural interest in the monumental moments of people's lives -described the "aha" moment when a sociological theory becomes understandable
3 types of field research
1) participant observation 2) Ethnography 3) case study
upper class
A social class broadly composed of the more affluent members of society, especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold large numbers of stocks (shares).
lower class
A social class comprised of those who work part time or not at all and whose household income is typically lower than $17,000 a year.
middle class
A social class made up of skilled workers, professionals, business people, and wealthy farmers
Micro-level study example:
Accepted rules of conversation in various groups such as teenagers or business professionals
Functionalism on Education
Education is the social institution through which society provides its members with important knowledge, including basic facts, analytical skills, job skills, and cultural norms and values; Manifest functions vs. latent functions
Symbolic Interactionism (Gender)
Gender is learned through the process of socialization; gender inequalities are reproduced through interactions with family, peers, schools, and the media
field experiment
Generation of data cannot be controlled but the information might be considered more accurate since it was collected without the inference or intervention by the researcher
conspicuous consumption (Symbolic Interactionism)
Purchase and use of certain products to make a social statement about status
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
Queer theorist who explored homosocial bonds (especially marriage as an exchange between men) in literature.
Conflict theory on race
Racial inequality reflects a power struggle among multiple racial groups in society
de facto segregation
Racial segregation that occurs in schools, not as a result of the law, but as a result of patterns of residential settlement
Social construction of sexuaity
Refers to the way in which socially created definitions about the cultural appropriateness of sex-linked behavior shape the way people see and experience sexuality
feminization of poverty
The increasing concentration of poverty among women, especially unmarried women and their children
Structural Functionalism on gender
Theoretical tradition claiming that every society has certain structures (family, gender) that exist to fulfill some set of necessary functions (reproduction of the species, production of goods)
Douglas Massey
This sociologist has studied the impact that immigration is having on Miami, predicting that the city will become the first "truly bilingual" city.
conflict theory of education
bias and inequality are underlying aspects of education
Theoretical Perspectives on Gender
biological, psychoanalytic, social learning, cognitive
Ira Reiss
defined the double standard as prohibiting premarital sexual intercourse for women but allowing it for men.
Talcott Parsons
developed abstract models of society that influenced a generation of sociologists