Sociology

Karl Marx's view on society structure

Base of structure is society and the superstructure rest on this. Superstructure (culture and social institutions)

Symbolic interactionism theory based on

Based on Weber's early ideas that emphasize the viewpoint of the individual and how that individual relates to society

Sociological Imagination

C. Wright Mills; how individuals understand their own and others' pasts in relation to history and social structure ability to see social forces affect individual lives and that individuals can alter the course of human history

People associated with conflict theory

C. wright mills, Lewis A. Coser, Karl Marx, Ralf dahrendorf

Looking glass self

Charles Cooley; base our image of ourself based on what we think other people see. We don certain clothes, prepare our hair in a particular manner, wear makeup, use cologne, and the like—all with the notion that our presentation of ourselves is going to affect how others perceive us.

Power-elite model

Coined by Charles W. Mills; small group of people (political, military, economic) who control a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, and access to decision-making of global consequence

Role strain

Conflict between roles of a single status; e.g. student has projects, test, reports due

Role conflict

Conflict between roles of different statuses; being a parent vs. an employee

Modernization theory

Conflict; elderly lose power and influence because of industrialization and modernization

Primary and secondary groups

Cooley Primary- smaller group made up of face to face relationships; serve expressive function (emotional); Family and SO Secondary- larger group and impersonal; serves an instrumental function meaning the role is task based; Classroom

Values

Culture's standards for determining what is good and just in society; portray ideal culture

Folkways

Direct appropriate behavior in the day-to-day practices and expressions of a culture. No formal punishments for breaking

Émile Durkheim

Durkheim laid out his theory on how societies transformed from a primitive state into a capitalist, industrial society. According to Durkheim, people rise to their proper levels in society based on merit. Durkheim believed that sociologists could study objective "social facts" (Poggi 2000). He also believed that through such studies it would be possible to determine if a society was "healthy" or "pathological." He saw healthy societies as stable, while pathological societies experienced a breakdown in social norms between individuals and society.

Social solidarity/social integration

Durkheim used to explain differing suicide rates; social ties within a group or what connects individuals within a group; holds society together

Mechanical vs organic solidarity

Emile Durkheim 1. Mechanical - links people together through similarity in beliefs or collective consciousness; prevalent in pre-industrial societies; simple society that maintains similar values and beliefs with low division of labor 2. organic - unite people though differences through interdependencies (people depend on each other because higher division of labor); complex industrialized societies with higher division of labor

Anomie

Emile Durkheim Collective norms are weakened; "without law" Specialization of labor leads to alienation Feeling of disconnection from the moral norms and rules of a society

functionalism is based on the writings of what 2 people?

Emile Durkheim and herbert spencer

Collective Conscience

Emile Durkheim; Communal beliefs of society

Social integration

Emile Durkheim; strength of ties people have to their social group

Role performance

Erving Goffman; how a person acts in their role

Lewis A. Coser

Focused on finding the functions of social conflict

cultural relativism

Frank Boaz principle of regarding the beliefs, values, and practices of a culture from the viewpoint of that culture itself; practiced to avoid cultural bias in research, as well as to avoid judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture

Georg Simmel

German art critic who took an anti- positivism stance and addressed topics such as social conflict, the function of money, individual identity in city life, and the European fear of outsiders (Stapley 2010). Much of his work focused on the micro-level theories, and it analyzed the dynamics of two-person and three-person groups. His work also emphasized individual culture as the creative capacities of individuals.

Verstehen

German term to understanding something in a deep way (Max Weber concept)

Concentric zone model

Human ecology; views city as a serious of concentric circles

Meads I and Me

I- Personal response to what society thinks; initiates action; response to social self Me- societies view on what I should do; social self

Thomas theorem

"If a person perceives a situation as real, it is real in its consequences" -- SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM Subjective construct of reality; similar to self-fulfilling prophecy

Davis-Moore Thesis

(functionalism) certain task in society are more valuable than others and people who complete those task should be rewarded more Degree of skill determine a job's importance

Quantitative sociology

-uses statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants. Researchers analyze data using statistical techniques to see if they can uncover patterns of human behavior.

Native American %

.9

Demographic theories

1) Malthusian theory- war, famine, and disease are positive factors that control human population 2) Zero population growth- number of people entering a population equals number leaving; environment will play crucial role in planet's health 3) cornucopian theory - human ingenuity will solve all population problems 4) demographic transition theory

Weber's three types of authority

1) Traditional Authority- Legitimized through long standing customs (queens and kings) 2) Charismatic authority- based on the leader's personal qualities (Hitler, Winston Churchill) 3) Rational-legal authority - power is vested in a doctrine (constitution)

Levels of society in chronological order

1. Hunter gatherer 2. Pastoral societies- relied on domestication of animals 3. Horticultural - started growing stable crops 4. agricultural- "dawn of civilization"

Marx's types of alienation from industrialization

1. alienation from the product of one's labor- workers don't relate to product because they often do not see the finished product and only work on a specific subset of the product process 2. Alienation from the process of one's labor- workers do not control the conditions of their jobs 3. Alienation from others- workers compete with each other instead of cooperate 4. Alienation form one's self- worker doesn't take pride or identity in what they do

Mead stages of development or stages of self

1. preparatory: Children imitate 2. Play stage: Roleplaying adult behaviors 3. game stage: understand interactions with different people with a variety of roles; generalized other occurs in this stage

Jean Piaget cognitive theory of development stages

1. sensorimotor- infants construct understanding 2. preoperational- cognitive development with symbolic understanding 2-7 3. concrete- logical concrete reasoning 7-11 4. formal operational - increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas

dyad

2; most cohesive with close and intense interactions but runs risk of splitting up

triad

3; not as cohesive and strong as dyad

Society

A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture.

Culture

A group's shared practices, values, and beliefs.

Reliability

A measure of a study's consistency that considers how likely results are to be replicated if a study is reproduced.

Symbolic Interactionism - Interactionist view

A micro-level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society. Relating to specfic things that hold meaning to the socialization you make with others. Ex: If you love books, for example, a symbolic interactionist might propose that you learned that books are good or important in the interactions you had with family, friends, school, or church.

George Herbert Mead

A philosopher and sociologist whose work focused on the ways in which the mind and the self were developed as a result of social processes. He argued that how an individual comes to view himself or herself is based to a very large extent on interactions with others One of the founders of symbolic interactionism.

Conflict Theory - Marx aspect

A view of society as a competition for limited resources. Influenced by writings of German philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx (1818-1883), who saw society as being made up of individuals in different social classes who must compete for social, material, and political resources such as food and housing, employment, education, and leisure time Just as structural functionalism was criticized for focusing too much on the stability of societies, conflict theory has been criticized because it tends to focus on conflict to the exclusion of recognizing stability. Many social structures are extremely stable or have gradually progressed over time rather than changing abruptly as conflict theory would suggest.

Dynamic equilibrium

All society parts which work together to maintain stability in a healthy society.

Reification

An error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence.

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 with others, and those constructs that last over time are those that have meanings which are widely agreed-upon or generally accepted by most within the society. This approach is often used to understand what's defined as deviant within a society.

Criticism of Structural Functionalism (OR Functionalism)

It can't adequately explain social change. Also problematic is the repetitive behavior patterns that are assumed to have a function, yet we profess to know that they have a function only because they are repeated.

Conflict Theory

Macro Theory The way inequalities contribute to social differences and perpetuate differences in power.

Structural Functionalism Theory

Macro or Mid Theories The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the whole.

False Consciousness

Marx; person holds beliefs that our not in their own best interest, and, in fact, hold the ideology of the dominant class Overcome with class consciousness

Rationalization

Max Weber; rational society built on logic and efficiency rather than morals or traditions Capitalism is rational according to weber

Iron cage

Max weber; individual trapped by institutions and bureaucracy. leads to "disenchantment of the world".

Generalized other

Mead; internalization of the norms and values of a culture

Strain theory

Merton's theory that posits that people experience strain and frustration when they are prevented from achieving culturally approved goals through institutionalized means

Symbolic Interactionism

Micro Theory One-to-one interactions and communications.

amalgamation

Minority and majority group combine to form a new group often through marriage

Figuration

Norbert Elias process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior

Mores

Norms that embody the moral views and principles of a group (laws and rules). Have formal consequences imposed for breaking.

Social institutions

Patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs, such as government, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the economy.

Social construction of reality

Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann; process by which individuals creatively shape reality through social interaction Habitualization- society is habit

Antipositivism

Philosophy in which social researchers would strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values. This approach led to some research methods whose aim was not to generalize or predict (traditional in science), but to systematically gain an in-depth understanding of social worlds.

Material culture

Physical elements

Theoretical analysis of politics models

Power elite model marxist political-economy pluralist model

Dysfunctions

Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society. In education, examples of dysfunction include getting bad grades, truancy, dropping out, not graduating, and not finding suitable employment.

Micro-level

Studying small groups and individual interactions. ex: conversation among work employees, children, teenagers.

Macro-level

Studying trends among and between large groups and societies. ex: language use across decades, slang words.

Hawthorne effect

Subjects change their behavior because they know they are being watched

Manifest Functions

The consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated. A manifest function of college education, for example, includes gaining knowledge, preparing for a career, and finding a good job that utilizes that education.

Auguste Comte

The father of sociology, conducted study of positivism.

Harriet Martineau

The first woman sociologist, retranslated Comte's texts of positivism from French to English. An early observer of social practices, including economics, social class, religion, suicide, government, and women's rights

Social facts

The laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life (Durkheim 1895). Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a society.

Social Facts

The laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life.

anticipatory socialization

The learning of new norms and values in anticipation of a future role

Sociology

The study of groups and group interactions, societies, and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups.

Latent Functions

The unsought consequences of a social process. Latent functions of your college years include meeting new people, participating in extracurricular activities, or even finding a spouse or partner. Another latent function of education is creating a hierarchy of employment based on the level of education attained. Latent functions can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful.

Grand theories

Theories attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change.

Dramaturgy

Theory of Erving Goffman; People use "impression management" to present ourselves how we want to be perceived. we present ourselves differently in different situation and around different people.

latency function

Unintended function. e.g. newspaper used as flyswatter.

Interpretive framework

a sociological research approach that seeks in-depth understanding of a topic or subject through observation or interaction; this approach is not based on hypothesis testing

Theory

a way to explain different aspects of social interactions and to create a testable proposition (hypothesis) about society. Theories vary in scope depending on the scale of the issues that they are meant to explain. Macro-level theories relate to large-scale issues and large groups of people, while micro-level theories look at very specific relationships between individuals or small groups

Nonmaterial culture

abstract ideas & symbols

Authority

accepted power

instrumental leaders

achievement motivated

Institutionalization

act of implanting convention or norm into a society

expressive leaders

affiliation movtivated

senescence

aging process and its changes

demographic transition theory

alternating pattern of stability in three stages: 1. stable population growth where fertility rate = mortality rate 2. rapid population growth where fertility rate increase and mortality rate decreases 3. stable population growth falling fertility rate (due to contraceptives) and decrease in mortality due to technological advances technology holds the key to population control

Communism

an economic system under which there is no private or corporate ownership: everything is owned communally and distributed as needed. Karl Marx believed that communism was a more equitable system than capitalism.

case study

an in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual. To conduct a case study, a researcher examines existing sources like documents and archival records, conducts interviews, engages in direct observation, and even participant observation, if possible.

functions

beneficial consequences of people's actions

conspicuous consumption

buying things to make statement about status

three social stratifications

caste- social stratification based on ascription; closed Class- open system based on achievement Meritocracy- merit determines social standing

Independent variable

cause

structural mobility

changes in society as a whole that enable a whole group of people to move up or down in social classes (e.g. industrialization)

Weber's dimensions of stratification

class, status, power

Karl Marx

coauthored the Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engles, presenting Marx's theory of sociology. He believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production, therefore disapproving of Comte's positivism. Marx predicted that inequalities of capitalism would become so extreme that workers would eventually revolt. This would lead to the collapse of capitalism, which would be replaced by communism

social group

collection of people that share similar characteristics and interact with each other

aggregate

collection of people who are in the same place but who do not interact or share characteristics

social category

collection of people who share similar characteristics but do not interact with each other

global stratification

compares standard of living across the world

exchange theory

conflict; relationships based on mutual exchanges

age stratification theory

conflict; society stratifies by age (ageism)

dysfunctions

consequences that harm a society

superego

consist of conscience and ideal self

Social disorganization theory

crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control

ego

decision making component operates on reality principle reasonable

Power

defined by Weber; ability to exercise one's will of another

Labeling theory

deviant behavior determined by society (interactionism); therefore, deviances changes from society to society

intergenerational mobility

difference in social class between different generations of a family

intragernerational mobility

difference in social class between different members of the same generation (siblings); changing social class during your lifetime

general deterence

discourages crime through punishment

core nations

dominant capitalist countries that are highly industrialized

Scapegoat theory

dominant group (majority) will place their unfocused aggression on subordinate groups (minority)

mercantilism

economic policy where control foreign and domestic markets through taxes and tariffs

Dependent

effect

Marxist political economy

explains politics in economic terms

ethnography

extended observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire social setting. Ethnographies involve objective observation of an entire community.

sociometry

finding out who is interacting with whom; used by moreno for figuring out the direction of interaction in a small group

secondary data anlaysis

firsthand research collected from primary sources, but are the already completed work of other researchers. Sociologists might study works written by historians, economists, teachers, or early sociologists. They might search through periodicals, newspapers, or magazines from any period in history.

total institutions

forced resocialization (prisons)

activity theory

functionalism; More involved and active an elderly person is the happy they will be

continuity theory

functionalism; elderly make specific choices in order to maintain consistency with earlier in their lifes

disengagement theory

functionalism; withdrawing from society and relationships is a natural part of growing old

Human ecology

functionalist field of study that focuses on the relationship between people and their environment

dependency theory

global inequality is caused by core nations exploiting peripheral nations

cohort

group of people who share a statistical or demographic trait

out-group

group you don't belong with

In-group

group you feel you belong with

secondary socialization

happens after primary

Feudal societies

hierarchical system of power based on land ownership

Semi-Peripheral nations

in between nations that are not as powerful as core nations but have major source of raw materials and expanding middle class. Also exploit peripheral nations

differential association theory

individuals learn deviance from those close to them (interactionism)

Modernization theory in globalization

inequalities due to differing levels of technological development

manifest function

intended function

subculture of aging theory

interactionism; shared community created by the elderly when they are excluded from other groups due to age

selective optimization with compensation theory

interactionism; successful personal development throughout the life course and subsequent mastery of the challenges associated with everyday life are based on the components of selection, optimization, and compensation

utilitarian organization

join for material reward; high school, job

Max Weber

known best for his 1904 book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber argued that the beliefs of many Protestants, especially Calvinists, led to the creation of capitalism. Weber believed that it was difficult to use standard scientific methods to accurately predict the behavior of groups as people hoped to do. In his book The Nature of Social Action (1922), Weber described sociology as striving to "interpret the meaning of social action and thereby give a causal explanation of the way in which action proceeds and the effects it produces."

Primary socialization

learning through family relationships at a young age

degradation ceremony

lose old identity and given new identity to fit into a new society e.g. going to old folks home, prisoners

polygyny

man has more than one wife

Welfare capitalism

market based economy with government programs that provide for people's basic needs

endogamous marriage

marrying inside social category

exogamous marriage

marrying outside of your social category

gatekeeping

media decides what public is exposed too

market socialism

mix between socialism and capitalism; let market control prices and have private businesses but heavy regulation

Patrimonialism

modern form of traditional authority; all power flows directly from the leader (ancient Egypt)

Pluralism

multicultural environment of acceptance; cultural identity is retained in minority groups

Discrimination

negative actions towards a group of people based on prejudice beliefs

Id

operates on pleasure principle instincts unreasonably

Stereotypes

oversimplified ideas about a group of people

cultural universal

pattern or trait common to all societies

Paradigms

philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them. Three paradigms have come to dominate sociological thinking, because they provide useful explanations: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.

halo effect

physically attractive people are perceived as having more positive characteristics

Information societies

postindustrial societies focused on production of information

Pluralist model

power is dispersed among many competing interest

cultural imperialsim

practice and process of promoting ones culture over another

institution

practice or relationship which is of importance in the life of a society; marriage, family, established organizations

resocialization

process of discarding behavioral practices and adopting new ones

dependency ratio

productive working citizens to non-productive citizens

Herbert Spencer

published The Study of Sociology, the first book with the term "sociology" in the title. Rejected Comte's and Marx's theories, favored a form of government that allowed market forces to control capitalism. His work influenced many early sociologists including Émile Durkheim.

Status

recognized social position a that an individual occupies. can have many statuses; husband, father, employee, student

field research

refers to gathering primary data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey. the sociologist must be willing to step into new environments and observe, participate, or experience those worlds. In field work, the sociologists, rather than the subjects, are the ones out of their element. Includes ethnography, participant observation and case studies

gentrification

renovating lower class areas to middle class appeal

filial piety

respect to one's parents and ancestors in all things (china)

Qualitative sociology

seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and analysis of content sources (like books, magazines, journals, and popular media). Comes from Antipositivism

Functionalism

sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society. Functionalism grew out of the writings of English philosopher and biologist, Hebert Spence (1820-1903), who saw similarities between society and the human body

Convergence theory

similar to modernization theory; as the economy grows its societal organization changes to become more like that of industrialized societies

Gemeinschaft

small communities with primary group relationships

Primary deviance

small violation of norms (speeding ticket)

culture

social comfort

control theory

social control is affected by social bonds; deviance results from feeling of disconnection from society

reference group

social group used to provide a standard for our we evaluate ourselves

gesellschaft

social relations based on impersonal ties or secondary groups; contractual and goal based relationships

social stratification

society's categorization of people into socioeconomic tiers base on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power Open and closed stratification systems

Significant Others

specific individuals that impacted a person's life

validity

study measures what it was meant to measure

gerontology

study of aging

demography

study of populations

Expulsion

subordinate group forced to leave an area by dominant group

thanatology

systematic study of death and dying

Generalized Others

the organized and generalized attitude of a social group

Positivism

the scientific study of social patterns researched by Auguste Comte, who believed that using scientific methods to reveal the laws by which societies and individuals interact would usher in a new "positivist" age of history. term used to describe an approach to the study of society that relies specifically on scientific evidence, such as experiments and statistics, to reveal a true nature of how society operates

Prejudice

thoughts and feelings about a group; biased thinking

class traits

typical behaviors and norms that define a class

Peripheral nations

very little industrialization and often exploited by core nations for factories and means of productions.

secondary deviance

when people start to look at the person as a deviant, they begin to look at themselves as one and act according to that label Gives them a master status

Participant observation

which researchers join people and participate in a group's routine activities for the purpose of observing them within that context

global feminization of poverty

women are becoming a disproportionate percentage of the burden of poverty

polyandry

women has more than one husband