Chapters 1 & 2 Sociology

Types of Questionnaires

-closed ended: quantitative, yes/no, answers limited -open-ended: qualitative, answer in anyway, no limitations

Hebert Spencer

-compared society with the human body in that all parts are needed for the function as a whole -Social Darwinism, believed that if society was left alone it could correct it's own problems; it tends naturally toward health and ability

Microsociology

-concentrates on interactions between individuals and how that constructs larger patterns, processes, and institutions of society

Robert Merton

-considered founding father of modern sociology -he came up with concepts of manifest and latent functions

JaneAdams

-created a sociology placing ethics at the center of its analysis of society and social life-major variable in social theory

Harriet Martineau

-critiqued democracy as flawed and hypocritical for condoning slavery and denying full citizenship for women -first woman sociologist

Hawthorne Effect

-data in which results are skewed to the point of reflecting only the effect of being studied

Iron Cage

-describes the increased rationalization inherent in social life it "traps" individuals in systems based on theological efficiency and control

Field Notes

-detailed, written account of observations made

Covert

-dishonest and deceiving -participation observations

Karl Marx

-encouraged social change and access for all people

Sample Random

-everyone has an equal chance of being selected

Symbolic Interactionism

-face to face interaction, resulting in a meaningful reality -symbols with meaning attached -examples: stop signs

Max Weber

-focused on rationalization, understanding and explaining social action

Bourgesoisie

-higher class -capitalists -owned means of production

C. Wright Mills' Sociological Imagination

-his concepts involve being able to look beyond the individual to see the cultural and historical context -it brings to light how larger social forces influence individual lives

Rationalization

-how much modern society has become obsessed with efficiency -(maximum results/minimum effort)

Manifest

-intended/obvious functions of a social structure (education)

Interviews and Questionnaires

-interview: direct contact of interview and respondent -questionnaire: questions set already, no carry on conversation

Comparative Historical Research

-involves comparing different regions or time periods

Leading Questions

-leading or directing someone to answer in a particular way

Proletariat

-lower/working class -used means of production -they rose up and violently over threw the bourgeoisie -used socialism: everyone was equal... it worked well until communists made it into something it should have never been

Research Ethics

-moral issues in research, researchers some time question their responsibilities (sex offenders, trafficking, etc.)

Overt

-open and honest -participation observations

Probability Sampling

-random people being selected

Issues in Sociological Research

-reactivity- the way that people respond to being studied

Organic

-results in division of labor, interdependence, trade/bargain

Mechanical

-results in people engaging in similar behaviors which results in shared views and values (hunter and gathering societies)

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

-review ethics or each research proposal

Structural Functionalism

-social structures working together to function (interrelated parts) -marcosociological theory

Class Conscience

-social, political, economic relationship between workers and owners in a capitalist society

Conflict Theory

-society is an area of conflict and change motivated by struggle over resources and power

Weberian Theory

-sociological perspective, deriving from the work of Max Weber, focused on understanding and explaining social action

Ethnography

-studying people where they are/ natural environment

Target Population

-studying small group within a big one, samples from within samples

Informed Consent

-subjects are aware of details or the study including risks and benefits of participation

Applied Sociology

-to understand, intervene, or enhance human social life -typically addressing a social problem or issue

Latent

-unintended/less obvious consequences of a social structure -example: sex, drugs, cheating, etc.

Emile Durkheim

-used empirical study mechanical v. organic solidarity, study of suicide, anomie, religion as social solidarity, sacred and protane, collective conscience -father of sociology -major proponent of functionalism

Existing Sources

-using material created for a different reason, then using them as data

Content Analysis

-using only visual or written material you can find (media)

Scientific Method

1. select a topic and define a problem 2. review literature 3. formulate a hypothesis 4. choose research method 5. collect data 6. analyze data 7. share results

Macrosociology

-approaches society looking at large-scale social structure to determine how it affects the lives of smaller groups and individuals

Double-Barreled Questions

-asking two questions in one

Bureaucracy

-believed to be the most efficient way to set up an organization administration

Interview and Questionnaire Advantages and Disadvantages

-advantages: collect data easily and quickly, cheap not a lot of bias -disadvantages: can be untruthful, interviews are timely, not as efficient, many questionnaires use double barreled questions and can't do follow up questions

Social Inequality

-bourgeoise v. proleteriats -the unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society

Survival of the Fittest

-Charles Darwin suggested that organisms best adjusted to their environment are most successful in survival and reproduction -Spencer initiated "Social Darwinism" he was a supporter of Darwin's theory and believed it was applicable to human society

Anomie

-a condition of instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values from a lack of belonging, feel disconnected from society

Comparative Historical Research Advantages and Disadvantage

-advantages: can study different time periods, cultures, work with info that was not obtainable first hand -disadvantages: studying things that were never meant to be research, may have been interpreted differently

Ethnography Advantages and Disadvantages

-advantages: get close/into difficult to study groups -disadvantages: replicability, representativeness, different observations, learning of only one group, may be bias

Experiments

formal tests of specific variables and effects, performed in a controlled setting where all aspects of the situation can be controlled setting, there is a differing independent variable