Sociology 001 UVM Exam 1, Macias
Verstehen
"understanding" subjective meaning, placing yourself in someone else's shoes
Median household income lowest qunitile
$11,656 -Technically living in poverty "working poor" -Unskilled manufacturing and service jobs -very few assets -2/3 are white but a high percent of blacks and latinos -do not typically participate in politics at all
Median household income of highest quintile
$171,057 -many would consider themselves middle class -have much invested in property, stocks and bonds -may send their children to private school -may have political influence at the state and local level -The very top includes the highly influential "super healthy" CEOs and celebrities
Median household income 2nd quintile
$29,517 -retail, repair, factory -High school graduates, didn't complete college -High percent of black and latinos -many people rent instead of own a home -children unlikely to attend college
Median Household income of Middle Quintile
$50,132 -Skilled workers:teachers, nurses, firefighters, public sector -almost all completed high school, some college degrees -May send kids to college -political activity often limited, voting
Median Household income of 4th quintile
$79,760 -College educated -jobs historically been secure -Children usually graduate from college -Have comfortable homes, some real estate investments -involved in local governments and civic organizations
Sociobiology
*E.O. Wilson -Altruism, aggression, nurturing- all comes down to evolutionary strategies to pass on genes -Vast coverage of animal species -Starts healthy dialogue about our relationship with nature and the nurture vs nature argument
Income growth from 1917-1948
*growth income was two times the rate among bottom 90% as the top 10% Why? -Great Depression -social security -unions -the GI bill (free education for veterans) -a highly redistributive tax system
Nickel and Dime, Barbara Ehrenrich
-After 1996 welfare reform -study of the working poor -typically "pink collar" jobs -Can she survive on low skilled wages??
Imagined Ethnicity
-Benedict Anderson, Imagined communities, 1982 -The emergence of the non-state in 18th century Europe -How can large groups of people who don't know each other feel social connection? Answer: World exploration, standardized time, print media
Sociological neglect of Culture
-Emphasis on social Facts -mainstream American culture taken as a given "work ethic and assimilation" -In sociology culture was very abstract
Mestizo in America: Interpret the Results
-Factors impacting strength of Mexican ethnicity -Relative levels of education between Mexican Americans and dominant population -Mexican cultural context also bolsters Mexican ethnicity
Emilie Durkheim (1858-1917)
-First sociologist -Viewed sociology as strictly a science
Rise and fall of American Growth, Rober Gordon
-Growth has sowed from the 70's -picked up in the early part of the century -top 10% has benefitted the most
Mestizo in America: Formulate a Hypothesis
-Historial and socio factors reinforce Mexican ethnic identity key factors: A.Proximity to Mexico B.Size of Mexican origin population in S.W and CA C.SES differences between Mexican Americans and other groups
Income growth from 1948-1972
-Historically high across all class lines -5X as high -peak of unionized manufacturing -why go to college?? -immigration was at an all time low -structural mobility rate of job growth outpaced that of new workers available
Mestizo in America: Define the Problem
-How strong is Mexican ethnicity by the 3rd generation? -What social factors determine the strength of Mexican ethnicity by 3rd gen
Ethics and Human Subjects
-Institutional approval= informed consent -Nuremberg code, 1947 Syphilis study, Tuskegee Al 1932-1972 * ethical concerns restrict experimental research *The concerns impact all human subject research *Social science has access to subject meaning
Mestizo in America: Research design
-Strength of ethic ties (rates of Mexican American intermarriage with outside groups -SES progress over generations and educational attainment -Meaning of ethnicity (50 face to face interviews)
Cultural Turn in Sociology
-The civil rights movement--->questioned unified nature of American culture, anti colonialism and era of multiculturalism -Aftermath of WWII
Karl Marx
-Used sociology for political goals -value=human beings provide the labor for producing material goods -Capitalism demands economic growth but eventually runs out of profits -His theory of society implied a social revolution (radical but possible)
Mestizo in America: Review the literature
-symbolic ethnicity--->3rd and 4th generation European Americans are not grounded in ethnic community life (Ethnic options) -New immigration---> since 1965 "new" immigrants from Latin America and Asia are seen as radically distinct
Dispositional Hypothesis
-the conditions of prisons are due to the nature of the prison guards and prisoners. -it is not the prison environment that makes people act in the ways that they do but rather the dispositions (character traits) of those who live and work there.
Nature vs Nurture and Gender differences Evolution of desire - David Buss
-women prefer strong loyal and intelligent providers -Men prefer beautiful, strong, faithful and many partners -Its all hard wired
Culture-based system
1. Categories based on economic differences between groups 2.Boundries between categories are not clear cut 3. your class position is to some extent achieved 4. Based on personal relationships -"free labor" U.S. system
Sociological Questions from C. Wright Mills "The Promise"
1. What is the structure of Society (Social Institutions: Work, school) 2. How does society change over time (Capitalism, social movements) 3.What kind of people Make up Society (SES, Race/ethnicity, gender, deviants)
Zimbardo et. al Prison experiment
1/2 participants guards, 1/2 prisoners -Mundane realism -By just assigning roles, do people take on a different character -Challenges the dispositional hypothesis -Was it ethical?(was deception and emotional trauma)
George Mead
1863-1931 Thought of symbolic interactionism
Max Weber
A critic of Karl Marx Wanted to look beyond class conflict -The protestant Ethic and the spirit of capitalism -Believed we have become disenchanted by our society
Anomie
Aimlessness, despair and lack of social intregration
Social Facts
Aspects of social life external to individuals
Childhood experiences in nature
Being in nature is very educational for children and even adults -Allows children to experience first hand and feel different things they cannot from playing a video game or playing inside
Nature and the Life-course
Being in nature when you are Younger is healthier for your adult life -Sets good groundwork for learning and nature interaction
Non-spurious
Cause and effect are not caused by something else
Time order
Cause must occur before its effect
Communist Society
Everyone works, property is communally owned
Adult environmentalism
Food equity social integration Natural Human capital (Community gardens, Intervale, CSA)
Rahilly - The Gender Binary Meets the Gender Variant Child
How parents unconsciously present their children to the world and figure out how to protect them while letting them be who they want to be/ are
Frankfurt School of Social research
How was mass culture used to sustain nazi Germany
Measuring Social class
Income, wealth, education, occupational prestige
Rationalization
Modern Society increasingly concerned with efficacy, calculability, predictability
Ethnography
Participant observations and interviews Advantages-in depth studies disadvantages- time consuming, few cases, potential bias when going native
Sanctions
Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm
Cultural drag
Period of maladjustment when nonmaterial culture is struggling to adopt new material conditions -Factory conditions and industrial work laws -Online dating and relationships -Material limits of the natural environment and industrial capitalism
Material Culture
Physical or material aspects of daily lives -Food -Houses -Factories -Computers
Mestizo in America: Do the research
Population data Intermarriage info
Caste System
Social norms and culture maintain strict boundaries between groups
Functionalism
Society is similar to a living organism, it is harmonious (People getting along)
Dunier's Sidewalk
Sociologist befriends sidewalk workers to get a since of what their lives are like Gives proceeds for book to people who he studied -Public character
slavery
The ownership of human beings -unstable -Persists today
Nonmaterial Culture
Ways of using material objects as well as -values -social organization/government -Patterns of communication
False Consciousness
a distraction form political action
Ideology
a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy
Documentary Research
based on archival information or oral histories Advantages- highly detailed and historical disadvantages-depends on existing sources, few cases
Unmediated Culture
based on direct relationships with an ethnic community
Correlation
cause and effect must vary together
Play Stage
children try taking the role of another, often of a significant other
Values
collective notions of what is good, desirable and proper, or what is bad undesirable or improper -Influence behavior -Are subject to change
occupational prestige
consistent with max weber's focus on status
Organic Solidarity
cooperation and basic values in modern society
Gender hedging
creative efforts to curb their child's nonconformity (protect and recognize needs)
Wealth
difficult to measure but key (especially from a marxist perspective) can be viewed differently -investments, assets, property -stocks and bonds
Truth Regime
dominant cultural presumption
Income
easy to measure but may be misleading -not the best measure
Gender Literacy
gender and sexuality are separate distinct parts of our overall identity
Social construction of gender- Judith Lorber
gender is socially constructed -Physiology gives us sex, age and skin color, but culture and society gives us gender "youth" and racial categories -we are constantly "doing" gender
Agents of socialization: Family
gender, language and religion
Informal Norms
generally understood by not precisely recorded, informal shame or praise
Formal Norms
generally written, specify strict punishment, a law
Preparatory Stage
imitating others with gestures and symbols
Agents of socialization: Peer groups
intense socialization, acceptance/rejection
Alienation
lack of a meaningful connection between workers and their work 1.From work (only work for wage, don't love job) 2.From other workers (competition, not many jobs) 3.From what they produce "Commodity fetishism"
"I" vs "Me"
language allows us to be both subjective and objective -Allows us to have internal conversations (to think) -Maturity= Socially grounded ability to engage in the world with others
Surveys
large number of people respond to a questionnaire Advantages-random sample reduces bias, allows us to generalize Disadvantages-data gathered is superficial, survey fatigue, technology facilitates surgery avoidance
Mediated Culture
largely based on consumer relations
Stratification
layers of ranked social categories within a society -tied to social order in complex societies -hunter-gather societies were more egalitarian
Agents of socialization: Media and technology
more time with technology, less time with people
Agents of socialization : School
national identity, social mobility, class legitimation
education
parent's education is a good predictor of a child's social class
Generalized Other
recognition of social norms and appropriate behavior
Status
reflected in distinctive lifestyles; tastes and consumptions
Experiments
test hypotheses under highly controlled conditions Advantages- variables are directly controlled, may be repeated Disadvantages- Not like real life
Durkehim and Suicide
the lack of social integration is associated with higher rates of suicide -Urban vs. Rural difference -Married vs Unmarried Protestant vs. Catholic (did not record bc suicide is a sin)
Symbolic Interactionism
there can be no self apart form social interaction -requires that we imagine how others perceive us (flexibility) -The self emerges from this process and requires a social language
Game Stage
they learn rules and interdependence with others
Cultural Industry
used by elites o spread ideology through mass media
Playing along/head games
when is it okay to correct others on gender identity?
Casual relationship
where one event or situation produces another
Agents of socialization: Work place
where we spend most of our adult lives