Sociology final

Falsifiability, Alternative Hypotheses

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IQ and social patterns/forces

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Parenting culture

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One-drop rule

- If you have 3 white grandparents and 1 black grandparent, you will be considered black - If you have 1 white grandparent and 3 black grandparents, you will be considered black

social capital

- You don't possess social capital like you do money or credentials - It is only available through relationships - It mediates (is a vehicle to) access to educational, occupational, and economic opportunity. - (Ex: getting a job bc you have a friend that works there. You learn insider info) - This doesn't take away from merit. The social connection→ opportunity and insider info - It is unevenly distributed -who you know

Achieved status

- a social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects personal ability and effort - a status that you achieve - You work for it

In the second period (1981-2014), most people's incomes grew faster than in the first period (1946-1980).

false

The chart proposes a mechanism by which social class impacts reading and math scores at the start of kindergarten.

false

The racial wealth gap has been cut in half over the last two decades.

false, wealth gets bigger over time

Breadwinner liberalism

-A belief that government policies should encourage an economy in which the male head of household could make enough income to support a stay-at-home wife and children. -Promoted households headed by male breadwinners supporting dependent wives and children and was the organizing principle of the New Deal welfare state (1950s and 60s) -Ex. Nuclear families - Father makes all the money while the mother stays home to cook, clean, and take care of the children

Ascribed status

-A social position assigned to a person by society without regard for the person's unique talents or characteristics. -Born into -Parents money

cultural capital

-Benefits one receives from knowledge, abilities, and skills -the knowledge, habits, and tastes learned from parents and family that individuals can use to gain access to scarce and valuable resources in society - Knowledge of norms, values, beliefs, and practices - Also credentials that certify eligibility for membership in social and economic groups - Ex: College degree (formal piece of cultural capital) - Inherited (acquired frictionlessly) - Ex: table manors, music, taste, sports, etc..) these require money and planning - Formal and informal

Breadwinner Conservatism

-Combated the uncertainties of post-industrial life. These people saw government overreach in the new libertarian laws and was further fueled by anti-feminism, anti-statism, and homophobia. (1970s and 80s) -Ex. The push by some people (breadwinner conservatives) to cut national funding for Planned Parenthood and to outlaw abortions.

Racial Wealth Gap

-Drastic and growing difference in wealth accumulation between Black and White individuals. -The racial wealth gap essentially is composed of a private wealth management industry maintaining Whiteness to act as a barrier to prevent those of color from equal financial development. This disparity has been debated, but never disputed due to its "very real" implications it has on African Americans. -income and assets -ex/ being able to live in certain towns

Gender as Structure

-Every society has a gender structure, a means by which bodies are assigned a sex category from which gender as inequality is built. A gender structure has implications for individuals themselves, their identities, personalities, and therefore the choices they make. -Professor Barbara Risman explains the concept of gender as a social structure. She discusses how to examine gender from individual, interactional, institutional, and intersectional perspectives. Risman also describes particular gender scripts and schemas that men and women live with. -Gender is thus "socially constructed" in the sense that, unlike biological sex, gender is a product of society. If society determines what is masculine or feminine, then society can change what is considered masculine, feminine, or anything in between. ... Any individual is free to identify their gender as they see fit.

Transformative Assets

-He coins the term "transformative assets" as money that is acquired through family that allows for social mobility beyond what their current income level would allow for. -A transformative asset is when an advantage or disadvantage is passed on from one generation to the next. These can really help "transform" your life by giving you opportunities that other people do not get. -Transformative assets can contribute to racial disparities in wealth in many ways. -The notion of transformative assets is something beyond that, something outside the process of merit and achievement

Busing (and anti-busing)

-In the context of civil rights, the transportation of public school students from areas where they live to schools in other areas to eliminate school segregation based on residential patterns. -achieving racial balance by transporting students to schools across neighborhood boundaries -Ex. In Boston, police escorts were needed for buses transporting students from different areas to integrated schools/ -anti is opposing legislation that requires the busing of students to schools outside their neighborhoods, especially as a means of achieving socioeconomic or racial diversity among students in a public school Result of desegregation and the concept of it is easier to move people than money in schools and becomes the script for resistance to integration/desegregation (minimize inequality) failed experiment

Corrective practices and disruptions

-avoid embarrassment to maintain social face · Compensate for discrediting occurrences · Defensive (face saving) (I didn't do that) · Protective (helping others save face) (oh I do that too) · Jokes (disruptions) · Co-management of interaction often protects ourselves

Rising debt

-Previously were able to pay for a college education but lower taxes and lower wages have caused rising tuition, lack of career opportunities, and higher living costs which have put many more young adults in debt (depicted as moral failings) Ex. Graduates used to be able to live independently after college but now it is very common to move back home because they can't find a job to pay off their loans or afford rent.

Positivism

-Scientific explanation based on observation, experiments and comparisons -Stages of social thought o Theological o Metaphysical o Positive -Adam Smith Thomas Malthus o Metaphysical (abstract philosophical speculation) o Human nature (social behavior) o Reification- treating the social as natural -William Graham Sumner Herbert Spencer o Social Darwinism o Essentialism o Racism -W.E.B. Debois Emile Durkheim · Sociology (actual science) · Observation, experiment, comparison · Dubois- the Philadelphia negro · Durkheim- suicide

gender

-The behaviors attached to each gender are not inherent · Gender is not biological - Masculinity · Tough, aggressive, masculine -Femininity · Nurturing, emotional, caring -Ex: Unsportsmanlike conduct at a pro game · NBA player yelling after a bad call: aggressive, tough · WNBA player yelling after a bad call: emotional, angry Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time.

Deindustrialization in the US

-The cumulative and sustained decline in the contribution of manufacturing to a national economy. -Loss of industrial activity in a region. -process by which companies move industrial jobs to other regions with cheaper labor, leaving the newly deindustrialized region to switch to a service economy and to work through a period of high unemployment -Caused by foreign competition and oil shocks of the 1970s triggered the deindustrialization in the US, Canada, and Western Europe. -shifting of manufacturing to cheap labor and unregulated locations - regionalization to globalization Caused by migration to the suburbs, overseas production of goods, and economic crisis in the 1970s. Some cities never recover and other are forced to convert to a finance, insurance, and real-estate based economy ex/Camden, NJ and Detroit, MI are still suffering from crime, poverty, and unemployment to the day. NYC however converted to the FIRE tactic and is thriving again

New Deal Programs and the Family Wage

-The name of President Roosevelt's program for getting the United States out of the depression -FDR's plan to help the US during the great depression. Included programs such as the; CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), NRA (National Recovery Act), WPA (Works Progress Administration), PWA (Public Works Administration), AAA (Agriculture Adjustment Act), SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) , and FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). Took place from 1930-70 and resulted in family wage, worker unions, movement to suburbs, infrastructure, and social programs. Created a self-sufficient attitude -ex/ A couple is able to raise two children in the suburbs on a single wage and retire with a pension at 60 years old family wage is Idea that employers were expected to provide their workers with a liveable wage (i.e. full employment) -ex. A white male is able to support himself fully as a full time employee at a factory

Race and gender as social constructions

-The social construction of gender is a theory in feminism and sociology about the manifestation of cultural origins, mechanisms, and corollaries of gender perception and expression in the context of interpersonal and group social interaction. -That's why we say race is a social construct: it's a human-invented classification system. It was invented as a way to define physical differences between people but has more often been used as a tool for oppression and violence.

Science and Pseudoscience

-Whereas science relies on logical and systematic methods to answer questions, pseudoscience produces dubious but fascinating claims that are touted as "scientifically proven." -Theories that may change over time based on new evidence can be categorized as science whereas those that tend to remain fixed in spite of contradictory evidence (don't change) are generally considered pseudoscience

embedded market (and non-market forces)

-a market economy embedded within interlocking systems of oppression and privilege -social relationships among buyers and sellers change the way the market operates -market in which the social relationships among buyers and sellers change the way the market operates Polami -He believes that the economy is always dependent on social historical and policatal relationships - People are always going to use nonmarket forces to limit and regulate the economy · Child labor laws - Other option is force · Unemployment insurance -People will resist the commodification of society -Diembedded economy is a utopian idea can't exist without destroying man

The second wave of feminism and backlash

-a period of feminist activity that first began in the United States in the early 1960s and eventually spread throughout the Western world; later became a worldwide movement that was strong in Europe and parts of Asia, such as Turkey and Israel; focused on sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, and various legal and de facto inequalities -Women's rights movement that revived in the 1960s with a different agenda than earlier women's suffrage movements; second-wave feminists demanded equal rights for women in employment and education, women's right to control their own bodies, and the end of patriarchal domination. -The feminist movement starting in the 1960s, particularly in America, where women campaigned for social and economic rights in addition to the more basic rights they had won during first-wave. -Took place after suffrage and challenged traditional gender roles through fighting the issues of reproductive rights, equal pay, women in the workplace, etc. Backlash continues to this day and is a "culture war" over private vs. public issues Ex. A middle class white woman decides to legally have an abortion because she is not ready to have a baby but her traditional parents disown her for it.

Expressive individualism

-a style of life that emphasizes developing one's feelings and emotional satisfaction -Emphasizes developing one's feelings and emotional satisfaction -values the development of self and fulfilling emotional satisfaction Less emphasis on material acquisition, and more emphasis on the freedom to cultivate and express the self by exploring vast identities -ex/ disco fad in 1970's

Culture

-culture is shared beliefs and values (sometimes referred to as norms) and the social practices associated with those shared beliefs and values. -Culture is also not simply the sum of individual attitudes, but something that exists beyond any one individual. In other words, the norms around personal space in college classrooms are greater than the sum of individual attitudes. We will return to this ideas as we discuss specific systems and institutions and more broadly, how social forces work. -ex/ Seating in college classroom

Political opinions on abortion

-mid 19th century had declining female fertility -early feminists: abortion removed limits on men's sexual desires -mid 20th century and 2nd wave feminism -womens identity: mothers and caregivers? Or workers? -link between sex and procreation broken for first time -abortion and healthcare: with zika people switched support

Abortion safety/risk

-more common -safer -more complicated than pro-life/pro-choice -abortion is actually safer than birth and wisdom tooth removal -Gender predicts whether or not someone underestimates the prevalence of abortion. Again, here the independent variable is gender and the dependent variable is estimation of abortion rates. -if you have regular access to birth control you are less likely to get an abortion

Stagflation

-persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a country's economy. -a period of slow economic growth and high unemployment (stagnation) while prices rise (inflation) -A period of falling output and rising prices

Social trust

-social norms of reciprocity and social networks -a belief in the honesty integrity and reliability of others -trust that extends beyond one's own group or social network to include most people in a society

Intersection of history and biography

-sociological imagination -According to sociologist C. Wright Mills, we can always discover an intersection between autobiography and history. Each person's life unfolds within a particular historical period, and an individual can understand their own experience by locating their life within history. -He meant that "history" is the fact that society is located in a broad stream of events, and "biography" refers to an individual's specific experiences. -Mills says "the sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. ... ... Essentially, Mills is making the point that sociology connects an individual's circumstances (biography) with the larger institutional context (history).

Generalized other (Mead)

-we begin to take into account the attitudes and viewpoints of others in our society (developed through play and games) -the norms, values, attitudes, and expectations of people "in general"; the child's ability to take the role of the generalized other is a significant step in the development of a self -an internalized sense of the total expectations of others in a variety of settings - regardless of whether we've encountered those people or places before

Social movements and counter movements

1. social movement - a reference to a collection of individuals who organize together to achieve or prevent some social or political change a. ideal ◆ coherent, clear, and focused ◆ steady progress toward an end goal ◆ simple success or failure b. actual ◆ internal disagreement, variety of orgs ◆ progress uneven and uncertain ◆ success or failure is difficult to define 2. protest a. disrupt the routine of daily life b. gain attention, mobilize allies/opponents c. force neural parties to "take a side"

Student subcultures

Clark & Trow (1966) Collegiate Vocational Academic Rebel Students move in and out of different subcultures at college and individual schools have one main culture. Type of subculture does not determine type of student. collegiate, academic, vocational, nonconformist Ex. Party schools as collegiate; Princeton as academic; community college as vocational; art school as rebel

Ideal v. real social movements

Coordinated action aimed at changing/preserving a part of culture or structure (Must be divisive) Ex. The Civil Rights movement which aimed to end segregation Ex. The Confederate states during the Civil War who wanted to preserve slavery a. ideal ◆ coherent, clear, and focused ◆ steady progress toward an end goal ◆ simple success or failure b. actual ◆ internal disagreement, variety of orgs ◆ progress uneven and uncertain ◆ success or failure is difficult to define

Sexual Scripts

Following the gender guidelines set forth through doing gender -Sexual Scripts are ideas of how males and females are supposed to interact with each other, including how each gender should behave in sexual or romantic situations. -Sexual scripts are based on shared cultural ideals and social norms. -Sexual scripts are guidelines for appropriate sexual behavior and sexual encounters. Research on sexual scripts and sexual script theory have concluded that sexual scripts are gendered. -Thus, sexual scripts have been described by researchers as a form of social construction.

Free-rider problem

For a group, the problem of people not joining because they can benefit from the group's activities without joining. If one person thinks it is okay to sit something out it is fine but when this happens on a larger scale bad things can happen Vaccines, and refusal then sickness If one person doesn't pay taxes and other people join in economic downfall

How is class an ascribed status? What are social capital and cultural capital and why do they matter?

How is class an ascribed status? What are social capital and cultural capital and why do they matter? -Class is an ascribed status because it is not a part of human nature. Class does not exist in the same way that it does with people in any other species and only exists because people put it into place. Social capital is the relationships that people form that allow them to work among other people effectively. Cultural capital is much like social capital but is confined within a sect of a social group, usually high society. 1. One thing you learned from today's lecture and 2. One question you have and/or thing you are confused about. One thing I learned from today's lecture is that interesting fact about the wine glasses at restaurants. My dad is a real wine connesouir and he often does this ritual of swirling the wine and smelling the cork. It was interesting to me that this is not a learned practice as this was a custom I had gotten so used to. One question that I have is if there are these cultural capitals in all cultures. Are there differences in what is considered "high class" around the world or are the same customs passed across borders?

What does Polanyi mean by "fictitious commodities" and why does this depiction matter?

I think that fictitious commodities explain the embedded market by explaining how these ideas were created for the embedded market. Things like land, labor, and money are fictitious in nature because these things did not have monetary value until people gave them a monetary value. 1. One thing you learned from today's lecture and 2. One question you have and/or one thing you are confused about. One thing I learned from today's lecture is the dynamics of supply and demand. When people talked about a self-sustaining market before I never really knew what they meant until these concepts were explained to me here. One question that I still have is how things like land and labor became commoditized. When in history did land suddenly obtain monetary value like it never had before?

Is this evidence of newsroom racism (or racism in the media)? Why or why not?

I think that this is less evidence of racism in the media and more evidence of racism within this specific media group or outlet. This is not a representative sample of the media.

abortion in Turkey and the US

In Turkey, women no longer have access to this contraceptive care because the government is worried about population rates. In India, common employment options for women are to join the factory line or sell eggs, or both. Pregnancy offers an escape and a chance for a great purpose through surrogacy. In both Turkey and India, the stance on abortion is decided by the countries financial goals for women.

I'm going to use, what I think, is an easier example. Imagine I have a small class of ten students and I want to know the typical age of students in the class. So, I collect data and their ages are: 18, 18, 18, 19, 18, 18, 18, 19, 20, 19. Does it matter if I use the median or the mean? Why or why not?

It matters because the high amount of 18s would skew the data

Victim frame

Looking at a situation and framing it through the view of a victim - how people excuse what they do either as a nation or as an individual, blame victim Ex. America trying to make itself a victim in the Vietnam War by the way it depicted the Gulf of Tonkin, she shouldn't dress this way

Social interaction as performance

Maintain social face Help others maintain theirs Frontstage -Do to maintain social face Backstage -Things we do outside of maintaining social face Situations don't define themselves -How people react Institutions exist only in peoples minds -your social interactions are where your statuses, roles, and all of the expectations that they entail, come together for you to give, literally, the performance of your life. And that performance is the stuff of social reality. Today we learned about social interaction

What does Mead mean when he says, "Selves can only exist in definitive relationship to other selves?"

Mead means that we need other people to shape an important part of who we are. The experiences one has with others shape a significant part of the memories that affect the person you become. Without an "other" one can have no way to shape themself. 1. One thing you learned from today's lecture and 2. One question you have and/or one thing you are confused about. One thing that I learned about in today's lecture is how our physical qualities or things that we are born with dominate how the components of self factor into peoples judgement of us. One question I have is how someone misjudging how you fit in one of these categories would affect your sense of self? If we perceive ourselves based on our interactions with others than how would one how is misjudged on these physical qualities react

Private troubles

Obstacles that individuals face as individuals rather than as a consequence of their social position. ex/ A factory worker losing their job

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Schwalbe argues that facts don't speak for themselves. What does he mean?

One fact or statistic that would mean something very different in another context is the fact that 34% of college students in the US have an anxiety disorder. This changes context when one thinks about the societal, cultural, and academic stress and expectations that are often placed upon college students to achieve to the highest caliber. After watching the lecture one thing that I learned and thought was really interesting was the road rage statistic and how data can be skewed so easily without looking at the broader population. This makes me question my statistic on college students and anxiety and what the data would really look like if replicated with a sample group at rutgers.

Jaywalking is an individual act. How does the article link it to social context?

One thing that I learned from today's lecture was how one person can go through multiple widely different sociological communities in one lifetime. This was really interesting to me and was something that I would have never expected to have been possible as people can be occasionally stubborn when it comes to social change. One thing that confused me was how this society still works after going through multiple societal changes. Wouldn't there be people who still believe in the old systems of power? I am hesitant to assume that an entire society as a whole can shift their views on major socio-political issues in the span of a few decades without there being people with majorly outlying beliefs.

Reflexive self

Our ability to engage in self-perception, self-evaluation, and self-control much in the way we perceive, evaluate, or control others Self-reflective We think of ourselves as both an object and a subject o Me and I o I do something o Something happens to me The self develops through social experience o Standpoint of others o Respond to ourselves -Think, talk to yourself, rehearse self-reflexive means that we can see ourselves as we imagine others see us

public issues

Problems we face as a consequence of the positions we occupy within the larger social structure ex/ Unemployment rate dropping 20%

Gender Socialization

Process by which individuals learn culturally-accepted behavior -Ex: Child falls, skins knee, cries · Daughter: baby her · Son: "be a man!" -Ex: Student behavior · Girls praised for being passive and quiet and patient, penalized for speaking without permission · Boys not penalized for speaking without permission -Ex: Gender presentation · Pink became a girl color in the 1950s · Heels originally for men (soldiers, aristocrats) · Wigs about status; worn by men -Ex: Same toy material, some toy company, some toy abilities · Girls: "Doll" · Boys: "Action figure" - Remember, our agents of socialization are frequently unaware!

If I wanted to know whether Rutgers students support the Big Ten resuming sports this semester. Which method would yield a representative sample?

RU students random 100th name

Reconstruction Era

Reconstruct the south that was devastated by the war and the end of slavery, which was the entire economic system of the south Remake the South as a democracy 1. Extend voting rights and basic civil rights to everyone Jim Crow Different economic systems but the same racial ideas serve political ends 1. Period white supremacy, authoritarianism, and lack of democracy after that brief period of reconstruction

party pathway

Robust, university-supported Greek System Array of easy majors Designed to attract and serve affluent, socially-oriented students -substandard education for students whose family resources/connections set them up for jobs after graduation, allow them to have easy majors/spend more time drinking. attracts upper/middle class, hurts low-income students. -Romanticized images in media of partying lifestyles/ college parties can lead students astray from academics Ex. Party schools that are classified as collegiate can offer inviting "party pathways" by endorsing Greek Life, sports, etc. Pushing parties off campus ( dangerous environment)

individualist parenting vs collectivist parents

Studies show that parents from individualist cultures (such as middle class and upper-middle-class families in the U.S.) overwhelmingly value making their children independent, both socially and economically. Self-worth and self-esteem are developed by focusing on individual achievement. look at things like shopping, what is best for my kid? -ex/ vaccines, tutors, school research, consumerism different from Parents from collectivist cultures see their children's primary role as being contributing members of the family unit. Children are expected to understand and act on a strong sense of responsibility toward their immediate and extended family and their community. Self-worth and self-esteem are not terms that are commonly used in collectivist cultures, because the individual's wants and needs are always subordinate to the needs of the family or community.****** -

Lifecourse

The culturally defined categories of life that people are expected to go through-social constructs - has changed over time Ex. Infancy, Pre-School Age, Childhood, Adolescence, Young Adulthood, etc. (before children were expected to work)

lifeboat ethics

The dilemma of trying to decide if a person should get some essential resource/if they should live or die Ex. If a soldier is captured during a war should you risk the lives of more soldiers to go try and save him?, Brazil mothers times of stress and poverty ethics are changed and focus on people who will survive (dire times)

Desegregation

The ending of a policy of racial segregation Ex. Brown v. Board of Ed, busing - sending students to certain schools in order to reduce segregation

Choice and Power

The more power one has, the more choices they have -Power is the ability to get someone to do what they would otherwise not do ******

concerted cultivation

The parenting model, or style, according to which parents often praise and converse with their children, engage them in extracurricular activities, take them on outings, and so on, with the goal of cultivating their child's talents and abilities. is a style of parenting. The expression is attributed to Annette Lareau. This parenting style or parenting practice is marked by a parent's attempts to foster their child's talents by incorporating organized activities in their children's lives.

Expressions and Impressions (Goffman)

The presentation of one's self and how you express and present yourself to others to make a good impression -We create impressions through what Goffman calls sign vehicles which includes both our language as well as our body language. We create impressions by our expressions. And there are two different kinds of expressions: 1. The expressions we give, primarily the things we say, and the intentional poses, facial expressions (smiles, surprise, etc.), and other controlled body languages we emit; 2. The expressions we give off, which are the elements of our expressiveness over which we have less control; the inconsistencies between what we say and what we actually do, the body language which "gives us away" in some situations.

Herd immunity

The resistance of a group to an attack by a disease to which a large proportion of the members of the group are immune o When ___% of the population is vaccinated then the population will have herd immunity -Even if there are a few cases the general population will be fine

Armstrong et al. hookup culture

There is a significant gendered double standard placed on the ability to engage in casual sex outside of a relationship. The manmade gender norms that are put in place extend to sex culture as men can engage in the same acts as women without being labeled negatively for it. Women are more likely than men to be monogamous because the sex within relationships is more skewed to their needs alongside the fact that sex outside of the relationships would label them as promiscuous because of gender norms in place.After reviewing the article I think that Armstrong's main point is essentially that hook-up culture hasn't really changed in the past decades although people believe that it has and he uses multiple other viewpoints on sex to solidify that point.

Fictitious commodities

Treated as market commodities which hare not created for the market, specifically land, labor and money. Land, labor, money -We give these things value, they have no value of their own -Difference is that with something like a pen, it has no say in what happens to it -With the other things like labor there is a say if the price drops

How do wealth disparities condition life chances?

Wealth disparities condition life chances by changing the equity by which someone can succeed. Wealth can influence every part of where someone ends up in life. 1. One thing you learned from today's lecture and 2. One question you have and/or one thing you are confused about. One thing I learned from today's lecture is how important a factor in wealth disparity is in where you go in life. I also thought it was interesting how these wealth gaps vary by race, with you even saying that baby boomers make 13 cents for every dollar. One thing I am still confused about is how banks were able to even sell homes with high interest rates when they were bankrupt themselves?

What does it mean to say that race is a social construction? Why do you think many people continue to think of race as biological?

What is meant by saying that race is a social construction is that race would not have the prevalence it has today without people giving it that importance. It is not a biological difference in people but people think of it as biological because it is easy to assign stereotypes to someone based on how they look. 1. One thing you learned from today's lecture and 2. One question you have and/or one thing you are confused about One thing I learned from today's lecture is that people in the north during the civil war believed that slaves were actually happy being a property which was obviously incredibly false. One question I have is where these ideas of race as biology originated from? Who started these divides?

Presentation of self

a person's efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others Seek best response Seek information abt others to get that response Make assumptions based on social setting

Representative sample

a sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole -Must represent the whole of the group, not a section Our class does not represent Rutgers Must be random

Vocational pathway

a path towards a future career or job

The Self

a person's distinct sense of identity as developed through social interaction One has to be a member of a community to have a self

Confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions Only look at evidence that supports idea The plural of anecdote is not evidence

agency

ability to do what you want

What kind of an explanation is "lack of will power"?

agentic

Which of the following do you think represents the way most Americans see the racial system?

as a black white binary with most minority groups outside of the system

Why do the more highly educated tend to eat healthier than the least educated?

can afford for kids not to eat

what is gathering examples that support a pre-existing claim?

confirmation bias

What kind of an explanation is "not getting enough support from family/friends"?

cultural

Per the "Law of Supply and Demand," if the supply of a product increases without an increase in demand, the price should go

down

Ethnocentrism v. Moral Relativism

ethno -Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group. -evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture. --Judging by the standards of one's own culture (lacks social context) Ex. The U.S thinking of themselves as more powerful, more economically sound, or just generally "better" than other nations. moral -The view that there is no absolute or universal moral law or truth, resulting in a morality determined by cultural factors or personal preference. -The belief that there are no absolute truths, and that morality changes with each new situation. --Judging by the standards of the culture being studied (understanding why social problem is occurring in a culture), understanding moral decisions of their context (situation not same as yours) Ex. While doing a study in Columbia, taking into consideration the high value and importance of religion in their society.

Everyone's income went down in the second period, except for the very rich.

false

Shapiro argues that income disparities derived from job discrimination are the primary reason for the racial wealth gap.

false, would exist if incomes were equalized

Immigration and Assimilation

four factors to access the complete ness of the assimilation socioeconomic status geographic distribution language attainment intermarriage ******

If a friend of yours tells you they don't understand how they did poorly on an exam and you say, "well, that class is super hard and your taking on a lot of credits this semester." Goffman would argue that in addition to trying to make your friend feel better, you are

helping your friend maintain face

adulthood

independence from the extended family → nuclear family (single household) result of institutional changes 1. low-interest mortgage 2. GI Bill 3. social security 4. unemployment insurance 5. family wages Thought of as biological but is considered the time when an individual is independent from extended family. Recent financial hardships (like college costs) have delayed adulthood Ex. A modern day 25 year old doesn't consider himself an adult because he still lives with his parents and can't afford rent while paying off student debt

Commodification

is the process by which something becomes a commodity. For example, think about how childcare is traditionally performed by relatives (without a monetary arrangement), but how in recent years more and more parents need to hire someone to care for their children. In other words, childcare is increasingly commodified. The examples with the environment refer to treating land like a commodity rather than a public resource we all share. So, shrinking public space can be a form of commodification.

Economic capital

money and material that can be used to access valued goods and services - Money, wealth -Often needed to ensure other types of capital

If I observed/interviewed a random sample of homeless people who slept on the streets in New Brunswick and found that the majority were alcoholics. Could I accurately claim: Most homeless people are alcoholic?

no

Is a survey of students in this class a representative sample of Rutgers students?

no

If I observed/interviewed a random sample of homeless people who slept on the streets in New Brunswick and found that the majority were alcoholics. Could I accurately claim: Alcoholism is correlated with homelessness?

no, not representative

Historical narratives

not just stories of the past, but stories of who were are (our identity as people and a country) something that represents the American identity shape and condition the present

Doing Gender

o The way you cross vs man spread when you sit o Pink for girls, blue for boys o Who takes care of the baby?

Food scarcity v. security

overproduction of food, no distribution food stamps create income inequality ******

Which of the following is an example of Mead's concept of the "generalized other"?

picking out clothes for a class you have never attended

sale - expenses =

profit

which of the following variables might a sociologist test to see if it explains variations in suicide rates for different cities?

rates of gun ownership

A survey on who you plan to vote for placed on Rutgers student newspaper's website would likely yield a representative sample of

readers of the daily targum

What kind of explanation is "healthy foods not convenient, affordable, available?"

structural

What kind of explanation is "unhealthy foods are too convenient, affordable, or available"?

structural

structure

structure are those factors of influence (such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, ability, customs, etc.) that determine or limit agents and their decisions.

Wheel of Science

theory --> hypothesis --> observations --> empirical generalizations

Why doesn't equalizing income or college education make the wealth gap between whites and racial minorities disappear?

this is because they may not have the family security to take on the loans if there is wealth disparity between minorities as well

In the second period, people's incomes grew at a slower rate compared to the first period, except for those with the highest incomes.

true

Parent's social class helps predict reading and math levels of children entering kindergarten?

true

According to the "Law of Supply and Demand," if the demand goes up for a product and the supply goes down the price should go

up

Per this "law," when prices go up due to an increase in demand, next the supply should go _____________ and prices eventually go _______.

up, down

Which quote from Mills speaks to this idea, that the fluctuations in this chart are not attributable to individual choices?

when in a city of 100,000

natural growth

working class The parenting style of working- and lower-class families that leaves children largely to their own devices, except when parents demand obedience to authority is the type of childrearing that working class and poor parents practice, and not necessarily by choice. They are less involved with the structure of their child's after school activities and generally have less education and time to impress values upon their children that will give them an advantage in school. This type of childrearing involves less organized activities and more free time for their children to play with other children in the neighborhood (Annette Lareau)

The self

· Does not exist outside of society · Societies create and organize selves · Social orders set interaction rituals and condition social behavior -the self is a relatively stable set of perceptions of who we are in relation to ourselves, others, and to social systems. The self is socially constructed in the sense that it is shaped through interaction with other people -Sociologist George Herbert Mead believed that people develop self-images through interactions with other people. He argued that the self, which is the part of a person's personality consisting of self-awareness and self-image, is a product of social experience

Why Do We Study Race?

· History shapes the present and the future. · Understand race as an unstable and "decentered" complex of social meanings constantly being transformed by political struggle. · Even though race is not biological and is a social construction, we cannot stop paying attention to it and hope that it will go away because race MATTERS and has real life consequences.

Omi & Winant: Social Construction of Race

· Is not biological (ex: racist eugenics science) · Is a socio-historical concept. Meaning racial categories are given different and concrete meaning by specific social relations and the historical context they are embedded in. -*in this process racial categories are formed, transformed, destroyed, and reformed. · Socially created to sort people into highly unequal status and legitimate (verb) systems of domination such as colonization and slavery.

Omi & Winant: racial formation

· Is the process of signifying the extension of racial meaning to a previously racially unclassified relationship, social practice, or group. · In U.S., this begins at the point of contact with native populations and enslavement of Africans. · Racial ideology and identity: a set of interpretive codes and racial meanings which operate in the interactions of daily life. *these rules shape the perception of self identity. · (media's ability to reify the system of racial meanings, stereotypes, and ideology)