Chapter 1 Sociology-101

What is the scientific method?

A standard procedure to acquire and verify empirical data.

What are theories?

Abstract proportions about how things are and how they should be.

What is the sociological imagination?

the ability to understand the connections between biography and history, or the interplay of the self and the world

Herbert Spencer:

the first great english speaking sociologist. Started the phrase "survival of the fittest." He believed that societies evolve through time by adapting to their changing environment. His philosophy is called social Darwinism.

Sociology is:

the scientific study of society and social behavior

According to Becker sociology is:

the study of people doing things together because neither the individual nor society exist independently of one another.

Karl Marx

was a German philosopher and political activist

Who is Max Weber?

was also interested in how society was becoming industrialized.

Émile Durkheim

worked to establish sociology as an important academic discipline.

Bernard McGrane suggests that we should practice using a beginner's mind, the opposite of an expert's mind. Usually it's good to be an expert. Why should we try to think like beginners instead?

An expert's mind is so full of facts and assumptions that it has difficulty learning anything new.

What are existing sources?

Available material for some other research, which can be used.

The social sciences include all of the following except:

Biology

The sociological imagination was put forward by:

C. Wright Mills

What was George Herbert Mead interested in?

He was was interested in the connection between thought and action—or between the individual and society.

Who coined the term social Darwinism?

Herbert Spencer

Which sociological theory suggests that our connection to members of society leads us to conform systematically to society's norms?

Interactionist theory

Charles Horton Cooley famously said, "each to each a looking-glass reflects the other that doth pass." What about this quote exemplifies symbolic interactionist theory?

It focuses on individual, face-to-face interaction.

Which of the following has NOT been offered as a critique of symbolic interactionism?

It has trouble understanding the meaning that individuals give to their actions.

What is Sociology?

It is the study of society

What are paradigms?

Schools of thought or ways of thinking. Broad theoretical perspectives (models)

Postmodernism:

Social reality is diverse and best explored via mini-narratives.

Conflict Theory: Modern School of Thought

Society exists with patterns of inequality and dominance. Sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change.

What does structural functionalism state?

Society is a unified and stable whole made up of interdependent structures.

Structural Functionalism:

Society is an orderly and unified system. Emile Durkheim

Micro-Macro Continuum:

Society, Culture, Social Institutions (Economics, Politics, Education, Religion), Social Inequality (class, race, gender), groups, roles, socialization, interaction, self.

According to C. Wright Mills, what one quality of mind do all great sociologists possess?

Sociological Imagination

Sociology can help you develop a ________________________ ________________________.

Sociological perspective

Why are there disagreements within sociology about how to define the discipline?

Sociology encompasses a large intellectual territory of potential subject matters.

The divorce rate has steadily increased over time, and now more than a quarter of all marriages end within the first four years. What sort of factors would C. Wright Mills suggest investigating to explain this increase?

Structural Issues

What theory was the most influential in the 20th century?

Symbolic interactionism

Culture Shock: Behavior:

That are typical in one society or culture may seem very strange in another context. Is the sense of disorientation you experience upon entering a new environment.

What are the weaknesses of the everyday actor when it comes to everyday life?

The everyday actor makes assumptions and glosses over many things the social analyst strives to understand systematically.

A graduate student in a sociology department is taking a course on the sociology of the economy. In this class, she learns that, even though she always thought of her family as middle class, her parents' income compared to that of the rest of the country actually qualifies them as upper class. What just happened?

The student moved from being an everyday actor to being a social analyst.

What is Science?

The systematic study of structure and behavior of physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

Paradigms are also known as?

Theoretical Umbrellas which are meant to provide a broad explanation for the way things work.

What is a hypothesis?

Theoretical statement to explain the relation between two phenomena.

Abstract propositions that both explain the social world and make predictions about future events are known as

Theories

The sociological perspective deals with:

Thinking sociologically

Q: Thomas has a degree in engineering, just as his father and grandfather do. His grandfather was able to get a job straight out of college and stay with the same company until he retired. But after trying for over a year, Thomas was only able to find contracted, hourly engineering work. He has decided to pursue a graduate degree with the hopes of finding full-time employment when he graduates. Using a sociological imagination, how might we better understand this change?

Thomas is part of a different economy and workforce than his grandfather so his experiences are different.

What is the meaning of a value-free sociology?

To be free of personal biases and beliefs.

The sociological imagination gives us a way to look at the world beyond our own personal experience

True

True or False: Macro sociological theory is the study of grand social behavior such as social order, social change and social inequality.

True

Mcgrane believed that

We can see things in a new way

Most of the time people use psychological rather than sociological arguments to explain why the world is the way it is and why things happen to us. Why?

We have insufficiently developed our sociological imagination.

Sociological Perspective

a way of taking sociological approach or thinking sociologically about the world.

Sociology can be defined as the systematic and scientific study of human society and social behavior. Given this definition, what level(s) of social structure listed below best describe(s) what sociologists might examine?

almost any level—from interactions between two people to large-scale institutions

Microsociology:

an article by Pam Fishman, "interaction": the work women do" 1978 How is the power and domination in male-female relationships created and maintained in everyday interactions? Her microsociological analysis of heterosexual couples, everyday conservations at home was able to see how macro level phenomena like gender and power are manifested in everyday interactions

Macrosociology:

an example from Christine williams work glass ceiling limit to womens advancement in male-dominated fields. glass escalator- no limit to men's advancement in female-dominated occupations.

What were Marx's Beliefs?

believed that capitalism was creating social inequality between the bourgeoisie, who owned the means of production (money, factories, natural resources, and land), and the proletariat, who were the workers.

Marx believed that there was a class struggle between

people who owned the means of production and people who worked for a wage

Which school of social theory argues that everything is relative, fragmented, temporary, contingent, and ephemeral?

postmodernism

Theories:

propositions that explain the social world and help to make predictions about future events. They are also referred to as approaches, schools of thought, paradigms, or perspectives. How things are and how they should be.

Sociological Imagination:

Coined to C. Wright Mills. He says "to understand social life, we must understand the intersection between biography and history quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our particular situation in life and what is happening at a social level. This is the intersection of biography and society (social structure and historical context.

What is conflict theory based on?

Competition for scarce resources and the source of social change

What did Marx contribute significantly to?

Conflict Theory

Which theory states that society exists with patterns of inequality and dominance?

Conflict Theory

According to the theoretical position developed by Karl Marx, what is the engine of social change?

Conflict between social groups

What are the different social sciences

Economics, political science, history, anthropology, communications studies, geography, and psychology.

Social isolation and Suicide were major contributions by which theorist?

Emilie Durkheim

Q: Ashley just got her driver's license permit. Today is the first day she has ever driven a car. Without questioning why, Ashley begins driving on the right side of the road. In sociological terms,Ashley can best be described as a/an:

Everyday Actor

Interviews involve:

Face to face interaction

Auguste Comte coined the term survival of the fittest, and his philosophy is often referred to as "social darwinism"

False

Herbert Spencer coined the term sociology and developed positivism as a theory

False

Experiments are:

Formal tests done in a controlled setting.

An open-ended question is one that:

Has a variety of responses.

What did Weber believe?

He believed that contemporary life was filled with disenchantment, the result of the dehumanizing features of modern societies.

What did Mead suggest?

He suggested that the meanings that we give to objects in our society are social processes—people interact, and meanings come from these interactions.

What was Weber concerned about?

He was concerned with the process of rationalization, applying economic logic to all human activity.

Although everyday cultural practices—such as greeting a friend, giving flowers, or using the thumbs-up sign—seem like natural ways of acting, why does an awareness of how they vary across cultures demonstrate a healthy sociological imagination?

It reminds us that everyday interactions are connected to larger social structures.

Surveys are used to gather information about:

Large groups of people.

Macro

Larger scale

Feminist Theory: New theoretical

Looks at both gender inequalities in society and the way that gender structures the social world and considers remedies to these inequalities

Who spoke of rationalization and disenchantment?

Max Weber

Symbolic interactionism argues that people act toward things on the basis of their meaning. According to this perspective, how does meaning arise?

Meaning is negotiated through interaction with others.

What does symbolic interactionism state?

Meanings are created and interpreted through interaction

Symbolic Interactionism: Modern School of thought

Meanings are created and interpreted through interaction. Sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but rather are created through interaction

Sociologists can use different levels of analysis to explore social relationships:

Microsociology: examines small-group interactions to see how they impact larger institutions in society e.g page 16, (Pam Fishman) zoom lens Macrosociology: examines large-scale social structures to determine how they impact groups and individuals e.g page 18 (Christine Wiliams) wide angle lens

Micro

Minute

Quantitative research deals with

Numerical Data

If we cannot see the whole of society, what can we see?

People Interacting

According to Peter Berger, in Invitation to Sociology, what sort of people should NOT study sociology?

People who dislike shocking discoveries.

If a sociologist argues that we have seen the "dissolution of master narratives or metanarratives," what is his theoretical perspective?

Postmodernism

Which school of social theory argues that everything is relative, fragmented, temporary, contingent, and ephemeral?

Postmodernism

Queer Theory: New Theoretical

Proposes that categories of sexual identity are social constructs and that no sexual category is fundamentally either deviant or normal

According to Marx, what does he say inequality leads to?

class conflict

Émile Durkheim studied:

correlation between social isolation and suicide

Sociologists are ___________________

interested in all aspects of society.

What is society?

is a group of people who shape their lives in patterned ways that distinguish their group from other groups

Postmodernist Theory: New Theoretical

pSuggests that social reality is diverse, pluralistic, and constantly changing

If you are a researcher interested in knowing how many people in your city live below the poverty line, you might get census data to find that information. Then, you could count the number of people that meet your criteria. What kind of research are you doing?

quantitative

Bernard McGrane

says that to explore the social world, it is important that we clear our minds of stereotypes, expectations, and opinions so that we are more receptive to our experiences. "Doing nothing"

Structural functionalism states that

society is an orderly and unified system

How is society viewed? Structural Functionalism

sociology looks at structures in our society to better understand social relationships which are (family, education, politics, the economy).

Auguste Comete:

states that sociology needed to be treated like any other scientific discipline. He laid the groundwork for future sociologists and helped build the discipline.