Sociology: Chpt. 1-4

heteronormative culture

culture where heterosexuality is accepted as normal, taken-for-granted mode of sexual expression

spurious relationship

false association between two variables that is actually due to the effect of some third variable

participant research

field researcher interacts with subjects

non-participant research

field researcher observes people without directly interacting with them and without them knowing they are being observed

How do many people try to explain an unhappy situation?

focus on the individual characteristics and attributes of people involved

feminist perspective

focuses on the gender as the most important source of conflict and inequality in social life

ascribed status

social position we acquire at birth or involuntarily later in life (ex. race, sex, ethnicity, family member names)

achieved status

social position we take on voluntarily or acquire through own efforts or accomplishments

content analysis

study of documented communications: books, speeches, poems, song lyrics, tv commercials, web sites, etc

WEIRD

western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic

non-material culture and examples

-"non-stuff" -all the non-physical products of society created over time and shared -ex.knowledge, beliefs, customs, values, morals, symbols

material culture and examples

-"stuff" -includes physical artifacts and objects that shape or reflect the lives of members of a particular society -ex. clothing, architecture, inventions, food, art, music

-fatalistic suicide

-occurs when people see no possible way to improve their oppressive circumstances -no possible change in future, eg. prisoner with life with no parole

anomic suicide

-occurs when the structure of society is weakened or disrupted and people feel hopeless and disillusioned; things you once knew are no longer true

Who is important in structural-functionalism?

-Emile durkheim -parsons and smelser

altruistic suicide and example

-occurs where ties to the group or community are considered more important than individual identity -eg. Jim Jones

Weaknesses of all 3 perspectives?

-SF: does not address power differential, inequality, social change -CP: doesnt address stability, lack of explanation of social harmony and cohesion -SI: has to be taken to macro-level to see connections of larger institutions

Egoistic suicide and example

-occurs in settings where the individual is emphasized over group or community connections -non-affiliated atheist

incorrigible proposition

-a belief that cannot be proved wrong and has become so much a part of common sense that one continues to believe it even in the face of vast contrary evidence

institutionalized norm (3)

-a pattern of behavior that becomes widely accepted within a particular social institution and taken for granted in society -establishes ways for people to discover preferences or see the world in a particular way -constrains behavior by making some lines of action unthinkable

What is the Tearoom Trade by Laud Humphreys?

-a study in 1970 on anonymous and casual homosexual encounters among strangers. -unethical because it was often done within bathrooms, he often wrote down license plate numbers and tracked them down( names and addresses)

What is sociological imagination? (3)

-ability to see impact of massive cultural and historical processes on our private lives -recognize solutions to most serious social problems lie not in changing individuals, but changing social institutions -encourages us to see that each individual has a role in forming a society and influencing the course of its history

sociological imagination

-ability to see the impact of larger societal forces on our private lives

Advantages and disadvantages of surveys

-advan.:large population and can generalize (if a representative sample!) -disadvan: respondent may not answer truthfully or may not understand the question; little in-depth information

Advantages and disadvantages of field research?

-advantages: detailed and descriptive understands; generally inexpensive to conduct -disadvantages: can be very time-consuming; limited number of interviews and observe limited number of people and events; difficult to replicate; can't generalize; susceptible to ethical issues

institutional review

-bring research to a board; has to pass through in order to get green light to go

Comparative method

-comparing existing official statistics and historical records across groups

What controls emotional display?

-cultural norms -there are unwritten rules about which emotions are appropriate to feel, which are appropriate to display and how intense the emotions should be

norms (4)

-culturally defined rules of conduct -specify what people should do and how they should pursue values -give a general framework that rarely tells us exactly what to do or how to act -may be ambiguous or contradictory

subculture

-culture existing in smaller, narrowly defined units consisting of values, behaviors, physical artifacts that distinguish it from a larger culture -"culture within a culture"

What can influence reality? (2 main branches)

-economics change society and social construction of reality -politics control public perception so that people will do things/think about issues in ways that political leaders want them to

What are personal billboards often used for?

-ex. t shirts or bumper stickers -often used as means of communicating group pride and identity (reinforce the reality and vitality of the groups they represent)

spin

-give a particular interpretation, often to speakers' advantage

triad (2)

-group with 3 people -more stable than dyads but have a potential risk of coalitions

What do others influence?

-influence our thoughts, likes and dislikes. -also influences popularity

What does sociology examine?

-interpersonal, historical, cultural, organizations and global environments that individuals inhabit

What has the power to transform well-educated "nice people" into violence?

-large-scale hatred and war

What does a chair define?

-may define your status or role -may carry a symbolic meaning

What does knowing cultural differences lessen the risk of?

-misunderstandings and perhaps even conflict

How do you evaluate the trustworthiness of social research?

-must examine the researchers samples, indicators used to measure important variables, the outline of experiment, and researchers own personal values, interests, ethics, etc.

What do technological achievements shape? what are they shaped by?

-non-material culture

mores

-norms that are taken seriously by society (sometimes codified into laws) -highly codified, formal, systematized, severe punishments

What is human behavior determine by?

-not the objective facts of a given situation, but by the symbolic meanings people attach to the facts

casual research

-observations -what we do every day as we observe our surroundings and draw conclusions about what we see

What are forces for change called?

Social dynamics

empirical research (2)

-operates on assumption that answers to questions about human nature can be ascertained through controlled, systematic observations in the real world -seeks generalizability

transsexuals

-people who identify with a different sex and sometimes undergo hormone treatment and surgery to change their sex

What does language give meaning to?

-people, objects, events and ideas in our lives -words evolve to reflect the phenomena that have practical significance

cultural relativism (3)

-principle that peoples beliefs and activities should be interpreted in terms of their own culture -may understand the function of something, but not think it's morally correct -may challenge the views of one's own culture

social construction of reality

-process through which facts, knowledge, truth, etc are discovered, make known, reaffirmed, and altered by the members of society -maintained and changed through culture, language

What is the ideal form of an experiment?

-randomly placing participants into 2 groups, then manipulating or introducing change to an environment of one group but not the other

what are the main assumptions of symbolic interaction-ism? (3)

-reality is a social construction -what one believes to be real is ones own reality and actions and reactions are based on this reality -meaning to situation based on past experiences

What does ethnocentrism result from? (2)

-results from the nature of human interaction; much of our lives are spent with those "like us", therefore those "not like us" are limited and seem foreign or mysterious -we develop loyalty to our particular culture or subculture, which is encouraged by institutional rituals or symbolism (sch as the pledge of allegiance)

what are pouring rights? (2)

-school district may sign a contract to sell coca cola to get money -some have cash bonuses if the school exceeds sales targets

What do all statuses come with?

-set of rights, obligations, behaviors and duties

dyad (2)

-smallest group consisting of 2 people -among the most meaninful and intense connections we have

What is the assumption of conflict perspective in regards to groups and benefits?

-some groups benefit more from existing social arrangements than others and will exercise their power to maintain the status quo

social institutions and examples

-stable set of roles, statuses, groups, and organizations -ex. education, family, politics, military, religion, healthcare, economy

Which of the 3 perspectives are macro-level? which is micro-level?

-structural functionalist; conflict perspective -symbolic interactionalist

Emile Durkheim

-studied the sociological view of suicide

counterculture

-subcultures that go beyond just being different from the dominant culture to actively opposing its values and behavior patterns

sociology (2)

-the systemic study of human societies -thoughts, actions, feelings, decisions, interactions, etc is a product of a complex interplay between societal forces and personal character

How does society influence the individual (3)?

-through other individuals -through social interaction -through social structure ( statuses/role+groups+orgs+social institutions+culture= society)

How do individuals structure society? (3)

-through structured social movements -through day-to-day communication (we construct, reaffirm, experience, and alter the reality of our society) -historical events don't change; meaning and relevance do

Our own culture is usually invisible. When is it not?

-times of social upheaval -when traveling or returning home

What are some privileges that heterosexuals receive in a heteronormative culture?

1) positive media images of people w/ the same orientation 2) not having to lie about who you are, what you do, where you seek entertainment 3) not having to worry about losing a job due to orientation 4) receiving validation from religious community 5) able to legally marry and adopt children

How many continued to the full 450 volts in Milgram experiment?

65%

How does sociology compare to biology and psychology?

Bio &psych focus on processes within an individual Bio- focuses on innate characteristics (genetics) Psych- focuses on personal characteristics (the mind) -sociology studies among individuals, groups, and society as a whole; systematic study of human interaction

Who came up with Sociological Imagination?

C. Wright Mills

How is society structured? (from largest to smallest)

Culture->social institutions->organizations->groups->statuses/roles

taarof

Iranians are expected to give false praise and make insincere promises in order to avoid conflict or offer hope (when clearly there is none)

Who is a key person in the conflict perspective?

Karl Marx -dahrendorf and conflict-feminist theorists

Conflict perspective (2)

Main assumption: various institutions promote inequality and conflicts among groups -focuses on power, inequality, conflict, dominance

What are forces for stability called?

Social statics

How does US healthcare differ from European?

The US is more aggressive with a "can do" spirit; British more subdued -US doctors are more likely to prescribe drugs and resort to surgery

According to Durkheim, what decreases the likelihood of suicide?

a balance of social connection

sanction

a direct social response to some behavior that discourages breaking social norms

negative sanction

a sanction that punishes or discourages violations of social norms and symbolically reinforces a culture's values and morals

What is culture?

a society's personality

nadle

a third sex is assigned to those whose sex-typed anatomical characteristics are ambiguous at birth in Navajo culture

What is much of everyday knowledge based on?

accepting as real the existence of things that cant be seen, touched, or proved; may not be true for everyone or be replaced by different truths tomorrow

What are the advantages and disadvantages of an experiment?

advantages: can directly control all relevant variables; easy to replicate; able to study casual relationships disadvantages: artificial nature may make subjects behave differently than in natural settings; hard to measure many sociological concepts in a lab

folkways

an informal norm that is mildly punished when violated

variables

any characteristic, attitude, behavior, or event that can take on two or more values or attributes

dysfunctional

aspect of social life that doesn't contribute to survival, it will eventually dissappear

self fulfilling prophecy

assumption or prediction that, purely as a result of having been made, causes the expected event to occur and thus confirms the prophecy's own accuracy

individualistic explanations

attributing peoples achievements and failures to their personal qualities

sexual dichotomy

belief that the 2 biological sex categories, male and female, are permanent, universal, exhaustive, and mutually exclusive

culture

consists of language, values, beliefs, roles, behaviors and physical artifacts of a society

nocebo effect and example

creation of expectations that make people worse -ex. harmless plant is called poison ivy-many people break out in rash

bottom-up

each individual has a role in forming a society and influencing the course of its history

hierarchical division of labor

each person occupies position with specific duties and responsibilities, these positions can be ranked according to relative power and importance

indicators

events, characteristics, behaviors, that can be observed or quantified

Without norms, what would need to be done in every situation?

every situation would need to be interpreted, analyzed, and responded to as if it were an entirely new occasion

roles

expected or encouraged (rights, obligations, behaviors, duties) to perform in statuses

What is the Stanley Milgram experiment?

experiment to see how far people would go under authority; done by the increasing of electric shocks (from the teacher) when the "learner" got an answer wrong (fake shocks) it went from 15-450 volts

independent variable

factor presumed to influence or create change in another variable

in-groups

groups to which we belong and toward which we feel a sense of loyalty

out-groups

groups we don't belong to and toward which we feel a certain amount of antagonism

What are moral entrepreneurs?

groups working to have their moral concerns translated into law; skillful use of publicity, neutralizing opposition, initiative, access to decision makers

jargon

groups/professions that develop a distinctive language

intersexuals

individuals in whom sexual differentiation is either incomplete or indistinct

euphemism

innocuous expression substituted for one that might be offensive

manifest functions

intended, obvious consequences of activities designed to help some part of social system

Who is important in symbolic interaction-ism?

irving goffman and Blumer

Sociological explanations

look at external factors that shape individual choices and opportunities

Structural-functionalist (2)

main assumption: social institutions are structured to maintain stability and order in society -focuses on dysfunctions and social stability

Symbolic interactionist (2)

main assumption: society is structured and maintained through everyday interactions and peoples subjective definitions of their words -focuses on language, gestures and symbols and assigning meaning

what is the news essential tools for?

maintaining social order;it is a constructed reality

visual sociology (2)

method of studying sociology through photos, video recordings, and film -some gather it to tell a story, others analyze the meaning and purpose

secondary group

more formal and impersonal (ex. coworkers)

probabilistic

most prefer to the state that under certain conditions a particular phenomena likely to occur

organizations

networks of statuses and groups created for a specific purpose

unobtrusive research

no contact with people at all; examination of evidence of social behavior that people create or leave behind

qualitative

non-numeric info that describes peoples, actions, events

quantitative

numeric data that relies on precise statistical analysis

dependent variable

one assumed to depend on, be influenced by, or change as a result of the independent variable

Society

population living in the same geographic area who share a culture and common identity and whose members are subject to the same political authority

statuses

positions that individuals within a society occupy

field research

qualitative sociologists observe events as they actually occur, without selecting experimental and control groups or purposely introducing any changes to the environment

analysis of existing data

relies on data gathered by someone else for some other purpose -ex. Emile Durkheim

historical analysis

relies on existing historical documents as a source of research info

egocentric coordinates

rely on location of our body relative to destination

hypothesis

researchable prediction that specifies the relationship between 2+ variables

Surveys (2)

researcher poses a series of questions to respondents either orally, electronically, or on paper -should be clear and measure what the researcher wants to measure

autonomy

right to make decisions about future or treatment (of members of family)

group

set of people who interact more or less regularly with one another and who are conscious of identity as a group

theory

set of statements or propositions that seeks to explain or predict a particular aspect of social life

role conflict

situations in which people encounter tension in trying to cope with demands of incompatible roles

Role strain

situations in which people lack the necessary resources to fulfill the demands of a particular role

primary group

small number of members who have direct contact with each other over relatively long period of time

top-down

society influences its members through certain identifiable structural features and historical circumstances

symbol

something used to represent or stand for something else

values

standard of judgment by which people decide on desirable goals and outcomes

geographic coordinates

stay the same no matter which way we're facing (N, E, S, W)

placebo

tendency for patients to improve because they are led to believe they are receiving treatment even though they are not

ethnocentrism

tendency to judge other cultures using one's own as a standard (because many take pride in their religious, racial, ethnic, etc group)

globalization

the process through which peoples lives all around the world become increasingly interconnected-economically, politically, environmentally, and culturally

What has contributed to the swapping of cultural elements?

transnational media, global communication, transportation systems, international migration

coalitions

two individuals pair up and perhaps conspire against a 3rd person

experiment

typically a research technique designed to elicit some sort of behavior under controlled lab circumstances

latent fuctions

unintended, sometimes unrecognized, consequences of actions that coincidentally help the system

reactivity

very act of intruding into peoples lives may influence the phenomena being studied; calls into accuracy of data

Macrolevel

way of examining human life that focuses on broad social forces and structural features of society that exist above the level of individual people

Microlevel

way of examining human life that focuses on immediate, everyday experiences of individuals

sick role

widely understood set of rules about how people are supposed to behave when sick

hawthorne effect

workers responded more to the attention they were receiving from researchers than to changes in work conditions