Chapters 1 & 2 Sociology
Types of Questionnaires
-closed ended: quantitative, yes/no, answers limited -open-ended: qualitative, answer in anyway, no limitations
Hebert Spencer
-compared society with the human body in that all parts are needed for the function as a whole -Social Darwinism, believed that if society was left alone it could correct it's own problems; it tends naturally toward health and ability
Microsociology
-concentrates on interactions between individuals and how that constructs larger patterns, processes, and institutions of society
Robert Merton
-considered founding father of modern sociology -he came up with concepts of manifest and latent functions
JaneAdams
-created a sociology placing ethics at the center of its analysis of society and social life-major variable in social theory
Harriet Martineau
-critiqued democracy as flawed and hypocritical for condoning slavery and denying full citizenship for women -first woman sociologist
Hawthorne Effect
-data in which results are skewed to the point of reflecting only the effect of being studied
Iron Cage
-describes the increased rationalization inherent in social life it "traps" individuals in systems based on theological efficiency and control
Field Notes
-detailed, written account of observations made
Covert
-dishonest and deceiving -participation observations
Karl Marx
-encouraged social change and access for all people
Sample Random
-everyone has an equal chance of being selected
Symbolic Interactionism
-face to face interaction, resulting in a meaningful reality -symbols with meaning attached -examples: stop signs
Max Weber
-focused on rationalization, understanding and explaining social action
Bourgesoisie
-higher class -capitalists -owned means of production
C. Wright Mills' Sociological Imagination
-his concepts involve being able to look beyond the individual to see the cultural and historical context -it brings to light how larger social forces influence individual lives
Rationalization
-how much modern society has become obsessed with efficiency -(maximum results/minimum effort)
Manifest
-intended/obvious functions of a social structure (education)
Interviews and Questionnaires
-interview: direct contact of interview and respondent -questionnaire: questions set already, no carry on conversation
Comparative Historical Research
-involves comparing different regions or time periods
Leading Questions
-leading or directing someone to answer in a particular way
Proletariat
-lower/working class -used means of production -they rose up and violently over threw the bourgeoisie -used socialism: everyone was equal... it worked well until communists made it into something it should have never been
Research Ethics
-moral issues in research, researchers some time question their responsibilities (sex offenders, trafficking, etc.)
Overt
-open and honest -participation observations
Probability Sampling
-random people being selected
Issues in Sociological Research
-reactivity- the way that people respond to being studied
Organic
-results in division of labor, interdependence, trade/bargain
Mechanical
-results in people engaging in similar behaviors which results in shared views and values (hunter and gathering societies)
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
-review ethics or each research proposal
Structural Functionalism
-social structures working together to function (interrelated parts) -marcosociological theory
Class Conscience
-social, political, economic relationship between workers and owners in a capitalist society
Conflict Theory
-society is an area of conflict and change motivated by struggle over resources and power
Weberian Theory
-sociological perspective, deriving from the work of Max Weber, focused on understanding and explaining social action
Ethnography
-studying people where they are/ natural environment
Target Population
-studying small group within a big one, samples from within samples
Informed Consent
-subjects are aware of details or the study including risks and benefits of participation
Applied Sociology
-to understand, intervene, or enhance human social life -typically addressing a social problem or issue
Latent
-unintended/less obvious consequences of a social structure -example: sex, drugs, cheating, etc.
Emile Durkheim
-used empirical study mechanical v. organic solidarity, study of suicide, anomie, religion as social solidarity, sacred and protane, collective conscience -father of sociology -major proponent of functionalism
Existing Sources
-using material created for a different reason, then using them as data
Content Analysis
-using only visual or written material you can find (media)
Scientific Method
1. select a topic and define a problem 2. review literature 3. formulate a hypothesis 4. choose research method 5. collect data 6. analyze data 7. share results
Macrosociology
-approaches society looking at large-scale social structure to determine how it affects the lives of smaller groups and individuals
Double-Barreled Questions
-asking two questions in one
Bureaucracy
-believed to be the most efficient way to set up an organization administration
Interview and Questionnaire Advantages and Disadvantages
-advantages: collect data easily and quickly, cheap not a lot of bias -disadvantages: can be untruthful, interviews are timely, not as efficient, many questionnaires use double barreled questions and can't do follow up questions
Social Inequality
-bourgeoise v. proleteriats -the unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society
Survival of the Fittest
-Charles Darwin suggested that organisms best adjusted to their environment are most successful in survival and reproduction -Spencer initiated "Social Darwinism" he was a supporter of Darwin's theory and believed it was applicable to human society
Anomie
-a condition of instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values from a lack of belonging, feel disconnected from society
Comparative Historical Research Advantages and Disadvantage
-advantages: can study different time periods, cultures, work with info that was not obtainable first hand -disadvantages: studying things that were never meant to be research, may have been interpreted differently
Ethnography Advantages and Disadvantages
-advantages: get close/into difficult to study groups -disadvantages: replicability, representativeness, different observations, learning of only one group, may be bias
Experiments
formal tests of specific variables and effects, performed in a controlled setting where all aspects of the situation can be controlled setting, there is a differing independent variable