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