SOC 1305 Exam 1

What does the Baylor Honor Code state?

"Baylor University students, staff, and faculty act in academic matters with utmost honesty and integrity."

Karl Marx

- "Communist Manifesto" - Societies grow and change based off of struggles reinforced by class differences - Inequities > Revolution > Social Change

Auguste Comte

- "Father of Sociology" - Positivism; we have the most glorious society because we know why people act in certain ways, BUT not everyone is the same - Use scientific method to analyze societies and discover the rules that govern them

Georg Simmel

- "On Individuality and Social Forms" - Focused on the individual (dyads and triads) - Identity within urban life, how external impacts individual

Max Weber

- "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" - Culture cannot fully be explained by scientific method - Goal of research is to gain an understand of social world

Emile Durkheim

- Brought scientific rigor to sociology - Suicide and The Division of Labor - Mechanical Solidarity vs Organic Solidarity - Primitive vs Modern societies - Functionalism - Modern > increased specialization > increased dependence and solidarity

George Herbert Mead

- Social processes impact and shape the individual - Place in society depends on role you view you have among others

3 Requirements for Doing Sociology

1. Apply scientific principles in the study of society 2. Sociologist are writing for peers and other scholars. Journalists write for their peers/public 3. Applying theories

Verstehen

A German words that means to understand in a deep way

Population

A defined group serving as the subject of a study

To study the effects of fast food on lifestyle, health, and culture, from which group would a researcher ethically be unable to accept funding?

A fast-food restaurant

Society

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

Culture

A group's shared practices, values, and beliefs

Which would a quantitative sociologists use to gather data?

A large survey

Reliability

A measure of a study's consistency that considers how likely results are to be replicated if a study is reproduced · Tells: The extent to which the results can be reproduced when the research is repeated under the same condition · Assessed: By checking the consistency of results across time, across different observers, and across parts of the test itself

Interview

A one-on-one conversation between the researcher and the subject

Value Neutrality

A practice of remaining impartial, without bias or judgment during the course of a study and in publishing results

Theory

A proposed explanation about social interactions or society

Literature Review

A scholarly research step that entails identifying and studying all existing studies on a topic to create a basis for new research

Code of Ethics

A set of guidelines that the American Sociological Association has established to foster ethical research and professionally responsible scholarship in society

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

Dynamic Equilibrium

A stable state in which all parts of a healthy society work together properly

Random Sample

A study's participants being randomly selected to serve as a representation of a larger population

Meta-analysis

A technique in which the results of virtually all previous studies on a specific subject are evaluated together

Dramaturgical Analysis

A technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance

Hypothesis

A testable educated guess about predicted outcomes between two or more variables

Symbolic Interactionism

A theoretical perspective through which scholars examine the relationship of individuals within their society by studying their communication (language and symbols)

Dependent Variables

A variable changed by other variables

Macro-level

A wide-scale view of the role of social structures within a society

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

Scientific Method

An established scholarly research method that involves asking a question, researching existing sources, forming a hypothesis, designing and conducting a study, and drawing conclusions

Constructivism

An extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be

Content Analysis

Applying a systematic approach to record and value information gleaned form secondary data as it relates to the study at hand

Who coined the term positivism and is widely considered the father of sociology?

Auguste Comte

Which statement provides the best operational definition of "childhood obesity"?

Body weight at least 20 percent higher than a healthy weight for a child of that height

Which materials are considered secondary data?

Books and articles written by other authors about their studies

What does C. Wright Mills say about cherished values?

Cherished values are often in conflict with our structural values

Surveys

Collect data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire

Qualitative Data

Comprise information that is subjective and often based on what is seen in a natural setting. In-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources

Weber, Simmel, and Marx were all advocates of what theory?

Conflict Theory

Which theory helps define what a deviant in society is?

Constructivism (we are the creating the social norm so we define deviant activities)

What did Durkheim consider a social fact?

Customs, Religion, and Law

Primary Data

Data that are collected directly from firsthand experience

Why did Durkheim choose to focus on Bavaria?

Durkheim chose to focus on Bavaria because it contains a mixture of Protestant and Catholic religions

Which of the following was a topic of study in early sociology?

Economics

Which theorist claimed that people rise to their proper level in society based solely on their belief in a meritocracy?

Emile Durkheim (functionalism)

Why is choosing a random sample an effective way to select participants?

Everyone has the same chance of being part of the study

Empirical Evidence

Evidence that comes from direct experience, scientifically gathered data, or experimentation

Field Research

Gathering data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey

Who coined the phrase symbolic interactionism?

Herbert Blumer

Which statement illustrates value neutrality?

In 2003, states like Arkansas adopted laws requiring elementary schools to remove soft drink vending machines from schools

Case Study

In-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual

Symbolic Interactionism (micro)

Individuals and societies develop through people's interaction through symbols (ex: star stands for different things)

What lends support to the idea that statistics are socially produced?

Individuals make decisions about how to define social problems

Which best describes the results of a case study?

Its results are not generally applicable

Which founder of sociology believed societies changed due to class struggle?

Karl Marx

Who believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different classes?

Karl Marx

Who believed that the history of society was one of class struggle?

Karl Marx

Which person or organization defined the concept of value neutrality?

Max Weber

Ethnography

Observing a complete social setting and all that it entails

What is an unethical sociological research practice?

Observing without consent

What research method did John S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd mainly use in their Middletown study?

Participant observation

Which research technique would most likely be used by a symbolic interactionist?

Participant observation

Social Institutions

Patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs

Why do people tend to accept statistics as "hard facts?"

People assume statistics are being derived from official sources

Paradigms

Philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them

What did Durkheim note?

Protestant areas have higher rates of suicide than Catholics

Functionalism (macro/mid)

Puzzle Pieces that all fit together - Social facts govern social life - Parts all work together

Which research approach is best suited to the scientific method?

Questionnaire

Quantitative Data

Represent research collected in numerical form that can be counted. Statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants

Samples

Small, manageable number of subjects that represent the population

Dysfunctions

Social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society

What are dysfunctions?

Social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society

Manifest Functions

Sought consequences of a social process

Operational Definitions

Specific explanations of abstract concepts that a researcher plans to study

Significant Others

Specific individuals that impact a person's life

Based on Durkheim's reasoning which change might lead to a decline in suicide rates?

Stronger social bonds

Which of these theories is most likely to look at the social world on a micro level?

Symbolic interactionism

Conflict Theory (macro)

The Haves and the Have Nots A theory that looks at society as a competition for limited resources

Sociological Imagination

The ability to understand how your own past relates to that of other people, as well as to history in general and societal structures in particular Benefit: its ability to make sense of how individuals act

Validity

The degree to which a sociological measure accurately reflects the topic of study · Tells: The extent to which the results really measure what they are supposed to measured · Assessed: By checking how well the results correspond to established theories and other measures of the same concept

Social Facts

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

Generalized Others

The organized and generalized attitude of a social group

Function

The part a recurrent activity plays in the social life as a whole and the contribution it makes to structural continuity

Figuration

The process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes the behavior

Positivism

The scientific study of social patterns

Social Solidarity

The social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion

Which of the following best describes sociology as a subject?

The study of society and social interaction

Micro-level

The study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups

Sociology

The systematic study of society and social interaction

Experiment

The testing of a hypothesis under controlled conditions

Latent Functions

The unrecognized or unintended consequences of a social process

Antipositivism

The view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they work to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values

In a study, a group of ten-year-old boys are fed doughnuts every morning for a week and then weighed to see how much weight they gained. Which factor is the dependent variable?

The weight gained

What is not a purpose of the American Sociological Association's code of ethics?

To ensure the financial gain of the researchers

Secondary Data Analysis

Using data collected by others but applying new interpretations

Nonreactive Research

Using secondary data, does not include direct contact with subjects and will not alter or influence people's behaviors

Independent Variables

Variables that cause changes in dependent variables

What method did researchers John Mihelich and John Papineau use to study Parrotheads?

Web Ethnography

Correlation

When a change in one variable coincides with a change in another variable, but does not necessarily indicate a causation

Participant Observation

When a researcher immerses herself in a group or social setting in order to make observations from an "insider" perspective

Hawthorne Effect

When study subjects behave in a certain manner due to their awareness of being observed by a researcher

What are questions to ask to accept statistics at face value?

Why was the statistic created? Who created the statistic? How was the statistic produced?

The main difference between ethnography and other types of participant observation is:

ethnography isn't based on hypothesis testing

Kenneth and Mamie Clark used sociological research to show that segregation was:

harmful

Seeing patterns means that a sociologist needs to be able to:

identify similarities in how social groups respond to social pressure

C. Wright Mills once said that sociologists need to develop a sociological __________ to study how society affects individuals.

imagination

A sociologist defines society as a group of people who reside in a defined area, share a culture, and who:

interact

Studying sociology helps people analyze data because they learn:

interview techniques, to apply statistics, to generate theories (all of the above)

Berger describes sociologists as concerned with:

monumental moments in people's lives and common everyday life events

Using secondary data is considered an unobtrusive or ________ research method.

nonreactive

A measurement is considered ______ if it actually measures what it is intended to measure, according to the topic of the study.

reliable

A symbolic interactionist may compare social interactions to:

theatrical roles

Weber believed humans could not be studied purely objectively because they were influenced by:

their genetic makeup

Sociological studies test relationships in which change in one ______ causes change in another.

variable

The difference between positivism and antipositivism relates to:

whether sociological studies can predict or improve society