Sociology 101

Identify the key tenets of the Chicago School in American sociology

-Human behavior and personality are shaped by social and physical environments. -The self emerges from a process of interacting with other-selves. -Society is conceptualized as a "generalized other."

Identify the reasons why the question "Why go to college?" is an example of using the sociological imagination.

-It draws connections between an individual's decision to go to college and larger social forces. -It questions a taken-for-granted practice for many Americans.

In this video, Julia Adams describes the difference between a pure historian and a historical sociologist like herself. What kind of difference does it come down to?

A sociological historian is not only interested in what happened in a particular case, but also in what that case has in common with other cases, from other times and places.

__________ anthropology used to be considered different from sociology because anthropologists studied _________ and sociologists studied ________. These differences have eroded, but sociology remains distinct based on its use of a wide variety of _________

Cultural, Them, Us, Methods

Identify each study as either an example of positivism or interpretive sociology.

Positivism: -A study comparing divorce rates over time to identify the relationship between economic context and divorce. -A study that collects and compares data on both successful and unsuccessful social movements to understand what factors are associated with success. -A study comparing aggregate test scores of schools to understand how school funding affects achievement. interpretive sociology: A study of how working-class young adults interpret their experiences in the labor market.

What is a key difference between psychology and sociology?

Psychology is individual focused while sociology is group focused.

Political science overlaps with several other disciplines. It can almost be considered a subsector of _________ that focuses on ______ as an aspect of social relations. In recent years, it has increasingly shared with _________ a use of the ____________model of human behavior.

Sociology, Power, Economics, Rational actor

Functionalism example

Students who work the hardest and have the most potential for the labor market are most likely to graduate from college.

A certain high school student is wearing "cool" clothing and is considered "cool." Identify the statements about this situation that support the theory of symbolic interactionism.

Supporting statements: -Coolness is a construction rather than an objective fact. -The coolness of the student and the clothing are connected in a causal cycle. Not supporting statements: -Neither the student nor the clothing is actually cool. -The student is considered cool because of the cool clothes. -The student would be considered cool even without cool clothes.

The theorists who identified with positive-functionalist tradition

Talcott Parsons, Émile Durkheim, August Comte

Émile Durkheim

This sociologist analyzed modern society and its division of labor. He described anomie as a modern condition that people suffer because of rapid social change.

W.E.B. Du Bois

This sociologist developed the notion of the double consciousness, which describes how African Americans constantly maintain two social scripts. The first is the script that any American might have, and the second takes into consideration the external opinions of a racially prejudiced onlooker.

Georg Simmel

This sociologist introduced a sociology of pure numbers, looking at differences between groups of two or three people, small groups, and large groups.

Max weber

This sociologist's concept of Verstehen promoted an understanding of subjectivity, looking at social behavior from the perspective of those engaging in it.

Identify the areas of study traceable to the pioneering work of Georg Simmel.

Traceable information to simmel: -the study of microinteractions -network theory -formal sociology non traceable: social physics

Identify the features that define a social institution and the features that do not.

Defining Feature(s) It is self-sustaining over time. It plays a role in society that is broadly recognized by others. Several interactive but independent positions within the structure work together. Not defining features: It is easy to change its identity when necessary.

Conflict theory example

Wealthy students will be more likely to graduate because they have access to resources that can help them succeed.

Symbolic interactionism example

Young people who best adapt to their new student identity and the expectations that come along with it will be most likely to graduate.

According to _________ social physics, otherwise known as ________ would allow scientists to develop scientific _________ to explain ________.

auguste comte, positivism, laws, human behavior

Marx believed that factory ________ would lead to a conflict between a small number of ________ and a large __________ which would eventually lead to a new ___________ society.

capitalism, capitalists, number of workers, communist

Primary branches of anthropology

cultural anthropology and physical anthropology

Identify the important concepts in the writings and work of W. E. B. Du Bois. These include both original concepts from Du Bois and other sociologists' concepts he used in his work.

double consciousness, the talented tenth, anomie

Identify the examples of colleges protecting their status as credentialing institutions.

examples: -institutional identity practices such as traditions, symbols, and alumni networks -college and university ranking systems Not examples: -marketing campaigns meant to prevent students from purchasing a degree at an illegitimate institution -suing unaccredited institutions for providing degrees without approval

matching interpretive sociology and positivism sociology

interpretivism: -This approach was first articulated by Max Weber. -This approach is concerned with explaining how people understand their world. Positivist: -Social theory is used to generate a hypothesis, which is tested through rigorous methods. -This approach is sometimes called "normal science."

An extension of the nineteenth-century theory called _________, functionalism seeks to understand a social __________________ by discerning the role it plays in enabling society to continue on its present course. For instance, social _______ is understood to play a role in assigning jobs to the most ________ persons.

organicism, phenomenon or institution, inequity, qualified

What is the central message of postmodernism?

rejection of the idea of a single, shared understanding of history and society

identify the scholarly contributions that Jane Addams made to the chicago house.

scholarly contributions: -Addams developed the methodology of community studies. -Addams tested many Chicago School ideas through her applied research. not scholarly contributions: -Addams worked as a social worker to provide services that sociologists had suggested. -Addams coined the term "looking-glass self," which describes how the self develops from an interactive social process.

Identify each statement as either supporting or contradicting Collins's theory of credentialism.

supports: - The job requirements of bartenders have not changed over the past 45 years despite their average years of education having risen. -The job requirements of dental hygienists have become less complex over time even though a slightly higher percentage of dental hygienists hold college degrees now than in the past.

According to C. Wright Mills, what is the function of the sociological imagination?

to connect our personal experience with the larger forces of history

What does it mean to "make the familiar strange"?

to realize that what seems natural is in fact relative to social practice.

The traditional division between anthropology and sociology is regarded by many scholars as outdated.

true

identify the goals of conflict theory:

understanding how conflict is essential for social change -understanding the role of conflict at all scales of investigation—from the family to the nation

n 1961 a force of Cuban exiles, trained and equipped by the United States, attempted an invasion of Communist Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Which question about this failed operation would some historians consider problematic?

what would have happened if president kennedy had not approved of the invasion?