Midterm Vocab

Subculture

culture within a culture (ex: Korean Americans)

Field Notes

detailed notes taken by an ethnographer describing her activities and interactions, which later become the basis of the analysis

Labeling Theory

deviance is not inherent in any act, belief, or condition; instead, it is determined by the social context

simple random sample

each member of the larger target population has an equal chance of being included in the sample based on random number generation (like drawing names from a hat)

Role-taking emotions

emotions that require that we bleed able to see things from someone else's point of view (ex: sympathy)

Verstehen

empathic understanding (Weber)

Hegemony

ideas of the dominant group are accepted by all

Innovators

individuals who accept society's approved goals but not society's approved means to achieve them

Ritualists

individuals who have given up hope of achieving society's approved goals but still operate according to society's approved means

Rebels

individuals who reject society's approved goals and means and instead create and work toward their own (sometimes revolutionary) goals using new means

Retreatists

individuals who renounce society's approved goals and means entirely and live outside conventional norms altogether

Total Institutions

instituions in which individuals are cut off from the rest of society so that they can be controlled and regulated for the purpose of systematically stripping aways previous roles in order to create new ones (ex: jail)

Counterculture

norms and values that are often incompatible with or in direct opposition to the mainstream

Mores

norms that carry a greater moral significance and are more closely related to the core values of a culture group (ex: cheating on a spouse)

Crowd

not considered a group, since people are together briefly and may interact but won't stay in contact

mechanical solidarity

Durkheim's term for the unity (a shared consciousness) that people feel as a result of performing the same or similar tasks

Superego

It is composed of two components- the conscience (keeps us from engaging in socially undesirable behavior) and the ego-ideal (upholds our vision of who we believe we should ideally be).

Self

Our experience of a distinct, real, personal identity that is separate and different from all other people

Microsociology

The study of human behavior in contexts of face-to-face interaction.

Macrosociology

The study of large-scale groups, organizations, or social systems.

Iron cage

Weber's pessimistic description of modern life, in which we are caught in bureaucratic structures that control our lives through rigid rules and rationalization

Rationalization

Weber's process about the application of economic logic to all sphere of human activity

Backstage

Where we prepare for our performance (ex: a prof at home)

Deviance

a behavior, trait, or belief that departs from a norm and generates a negative reaction in a particular group

Group

a collection of at least two people who not only share some attribute but also identify with one another and have ongoing social relations

False Consciousness

a denial of the truth on the part of the oppressed when they fail to recognize the interests of the ruling class are embedded in the dominant ideology

secondary deviance

a deviant identity or career

Likert scale

a format in which respondents can choose along a continuum (ex: strongly agree to strongly disagree)

In-Group

a group a member identifies with and feels loyal towards

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

a group of scholars who meet regularly to review the research proposals of their colleges and make recommendations on how to protect human subjects

Reference Groups

a group that provides standards by which a person evaluates their own personal attributes (ex: one's peers)

Out-Group

a group toward which an individual feels opposition, rivalry, or hostility (ex: UCLA vs USC)

Stereotype promise

a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which positive stereotypes, such as the "model minority" label applied to Asian Americans, lead to positive performance outcomes

Stereotype threat

a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which the fear of performing poorly - and confirming stereotypes about their social groups - causes students to perform poorly

Sanctions

a means of enforcing norms (rewards for conformity and punishments for violations)

content analysis

a method in which researchers identify and study specific variables - such as words - in a text, image, or media message

Participant Observation

a methodology associated with ethnography whereby the researcher both observes and becomes a member in a social setting

Ethnography

a naturalistic method based on studying people in their own environment in order to understand the meanings they attribute to their activities; also the written work that results from the study

Structural Functionalism

a paradigm based on the assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures (Founder: Émile Durkheim)

Group Cohesion

a sense of solidarity or team spirit that members feel toward their group

Paradigm

a set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that make up a way of understanding social reality

Hidden curriculum

a set of behavioral traits such as punctuality, neatness, discipline, hard work, competition, and obedience (ex: these are not the purpose of going to school, but they are something you learn while there)

Role Conflict

a situation in which two or more roles have contradictory expectations

conversation analysis

a sociological approach that looks at how we create meaning in naturally occurring conversation, often by taping conversations and examining their transcripts

Hawthorne effect

a specific example of reactivity, in which the desired effect is the result not of the independent variable but of the research itself

Moral Holiday

a specified time period in which some norm violations are allowed (ex: going to Las Vegas)

Master status

a status that seems to override all others and affects all other statuses that one possesses

Intervening Variable

a third variable that explains the relationship between two other variables

Triad

a three person social group

Taboos

a type of more, the most powerful of all norms (ex: cannibalism)

organic solidarity

a type of social order based around an acceptance of economic and social differences

Theories

abstract propositions that explain the social world and make predictions about the future

Deductive approach

an approach whereby the researcher formulates a hypothesis first and then gathers data to test that hypothesis

Inductive Approach

an approach whereby the researcher gathers data first, then formulates a theory to fit the data

self-fulfilling prophecy

an inaccurate statement or belief that, by altering the situation, becomes accurate; a prediction that causes itself to come true

Grounded theory

an inductive method of generating theory from data by creating categories in which to place data and then looking for relationships among categories

Material Culture

any physical object to which we give social meaning (Ex: driving a certain car might say something about your status)

Stigma

any physical or social attribute that devalues a person or group's identity and that may exclude those who are devalued from normal social interaction

Personal front

appearance, manner, and style of dress, gender, race, and age

Cooling out the mark

behaviors that help others to save face or avoid embarrassment, often referred to as civility or tact

Emobdied Status

one that is located in our physical selves

Achieved status

one that we have earned through our own efforts (ex: occupation, hobby)

Ascribes status

one we are born with that is unlikely to change

Real Culture

patterns of behavior that actually exist

Category

people who fit into the same "box", they don't normally interact with each other (ex: everyone who is 18 years old)

Aggregates

people who happen to find themselves together in a particular physical location (idk how this is different from crowd tbh)

Praxis

practical action (conflict theory)

Deviance Avowal

process by which an individual self-identifies as deviant and initiates her own labeling process (ex: in AA, they have to admit that they need help)

Applied research

putting into action what is learned (to create social change)

Unobtrusive measures

research methods that rely on existing sources and where the researcher does not intrude upon or disturb the social setting or its subjects

Comparative historical research

research that uses existing sources to study relationships among elements of society in various regions and time periods

Agents of Socialization

social groups, institutions, and individuals that provide structured situations in which socialization takes place (ex: family, schools, media)

Feelings rules

socially constructed norms regarding appropriate feelings and displays of emotion

Replicability

the ability to repeat or replicate the research

Sociological Imagination

the ability to see the link between society and self (individual circumstances vs larger social forces)

Spurious Correlation

the appearance of causation produced by an intervening variable

Social Ties

the connections between individuals

Culture

the entire way of life of a group of people

Generalized other

the expectations and perspectives of a network of others

Particular or significant other

the expectations and perspectives of a particular role that a child learns and internalizes

Deception

the extent to which participants are unaware of a project of goal

Social Control

the formal and informal mechanisms used to elicit conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

the idea that language structures thought and that ways of looking at the world are embedded in language (toddlers don't know/remember anything because they don't know language)

Dual Nature of the Self

the idea that we experience the self as both subject and object, the "I" (subjective) and the "me" (objective)

Nonmaterial Culture

the ideas associated with a cultural group, including ways of thinking and ways of behaving (ex: what side of the road to drive on)

Cultural imperialism

the imposition of one culture's beliefs and practices on another culture through mass media and consumer products rather than by military force

Manifest Functions

the obvious, intended functions of a social structure of the social system

Folkways

the ordinary conventions of everyday life about what is acceptable or proper and are not always strictly enforced (ex: not wearing flip-flops with a suit)

Group Dynamics

the pattern of interaction between groups and individuals (dyads, triads, etc)

Thick Description

the presentation of detailed data on interactions and meaning within a cultural context, from the perspective of its members

Social construction

the process by which a concept or practice is created and maintained by participants who collectively agree that it exists

Emotional labor

the process of evoking, suppressing, or otherwise managing feelings to create a publicly observable display of emotion (ex: peppy flight attendant)

Socialization

the process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group, by which we become functioning members of society

Class Consciousness

the recognition of social inequality on the part of the oppressed, leading to revolutionary action

Resocialization

the replacement of previously learned norms and values with different ones

Norms

the rules and guidelines regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable; they develop out of a culture's value system

Basic Research

the search for knowledge for its own sake with no agenda

Role

the set of behaviors expected from a particular status position

Values

the set of shared beliefs that a group of people considers to be worthwhile or desirable in life

Front

the setting that helps establish a particular meaning (ex: a classroom for teaching)

Dyad

the smallest possible social group, consists of only two members (ex: romantic couple)

Region

the specific social setting (includes location, scenery, decor, and props)

Social Control Theory

the stronger one's social bonds, the less likely one is to commit crime

Ethnomethodology

the study of "folk methods" and background knowledge that sustains a shared sense of reality in everyday interactions (Garfinkel)

Primary deviance

the thing that gets a person labeled as deviant in the first place

Reactivity

the ways that people and events respond to being studied

Social network

the web of direct and indirect ties connecting an individual to other people who may also affect the individual

In-Group Orientation

they reject the standards that mark them as deviant and may even actively propose new standards in which their special identities are well within the normal range

Signs

things designed to represent something else (ex: traffic signals, logos)

Ethnocentrism

thinking of our own culture as being the normal one

Expressions of Behavior

tools we use to project our definitions of the situation to others

Laws

type of norms that are formal and officially codified

Expressions Given Off

typically nonverbal but observable in various ways and may be intended or unintended

Expressions given

typically verbal and intended

Differential association theory

we learn to be deviant through our associations with deviant peers

Tertiary deviance

when a person labeled deviant rejects the notion of deviance entirely and attempts to redefine their "deviant" attributes or behavior as normal

Cultural diffusion

when different groups share their material and nonmaterial culture with each other (ex: McDonalds going to Japan)

Copresence

when individuals are in on another's face-to-face physical company

Frontstage

where we play a particular role and perform for an "audience" of others (ex: prof teaching in class)

Anomie

"normlessness"; term used to describe the alienation and loss of purpose that result from weaker social bonds an increased pace of change

Primary Groups

Families and close friends, people who involve more face-to-face interaction and deeper feelings of belonging

Reflexivity

How the identity and activities of the researcher influence what is going on in the field setting

Sociology

Scientific study of human society and behavior

Symbolic Interactionism

a paradigm that sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction (Founder: George Herbert Mead)

Conflict Theory

a paradigm that sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change, and emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change (Founder: Karl Marx)

Postmodernism

a paradigm that suggests that social reality is diverse, pluralistic, and constantly in flux

Status

a position in a social hierarchy that comes with a set of expectations

Saturated self

a postmodern idea that the self is now developed by multiple influences chosen from a wide range of media sources

Focus Group

a process for interviewing a number of participants together the also allows for interaction among group members

Dramaturgy

an approach pioneered by Goffman in which social life is analyzed in terms of its similarities to theatrical performance

Midrange Theory

an approach that integrates empiricism and grand theory

prepatory stage

children imitate others (mead)

Game Stage

children play organized games and take on the perspective of the generalized other (mead)

Play Stage

children pretend to play the role of the particular or the significant other (mead)

Culture Wars

clashes within mainstream society over the values and norms that should be upheld

Thomas Theorem

classic formulation of the way individuals determine reality, whereby "if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences"

Id

composed of biological drives, is the source of instinctive psychic energy. Its main goal is to achieve pleasure and avoid pain

Passing

concealing stigmatizing information (ex: "passing" as white in the 60s)

Psychosexual stages of development

four distinct stages of the development of the self between birth and adulthood, according to Freud; personality quirks are a result of being fixated, or stuck, at any stage

Target population

group that is the focus of a study; the researcher would like to generalize

Groupthink

highly cohesive groups may demand absolute conformity and punish those who threaten to undermine the consensus

Ego

it operates on the basis of reason and helps to mediate the demands of the id and superego

Secondary Groups

larger, less intimate groups that include co-workers, college students, and political parties (usually organized around a specific activity)

Impression Management

like actors, we play our parts and use all our communicative resources to present a particular impression to others

Role Exit

occurs when a person leaves behind a role they once occupied

Cultural leveling

occurs when cultures that were once distinct become increasingly similar to one another (ex: when Walmarts take over diverse mom and pop shops)

Role Strain

occurs when there are contradictory expectations within one single role a person plays

Negative questions

questions that ask respondents what they don't think instead of what they do

Double-barreled questions

questions that involve too many issues at one time, answers are confusing

Leading questions

questions that predispose a respondent to answer in a certain way

Probability sampling

random number generators used to select participants

Cultural Relativism

seeing each culture as simply different, not better or worse but on its own terms

Gestures

signs made with the body (ex: clapping, nodding, smiling)

Structures

stable, ordered system made up of interrelated parts (ex: family, economy, religion)

Latent Functions

the less obvious, perhaps unintended functions of a social structure

Ideal Culture

the norms and values that members of a society believe should be observed in principle

Looking-Glass Self

the notion that the self develops through our perception of others' evaluations and appraisals of us (Cooley)