Sociology Unit 3
What were the problems with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002? (4 reasons)
-The schools the act targeted failed anyway -Students didn't transfer or even have the availability to transfer because there wasn't enough room in the schools for them to transfer and they were happy with their neighborhood school -Students weren't reaching out to the tutoring available -Harsh sanctions led to cheating scandals and attendance falsification
When economist Adriana Lleras-Muney studied the effect on health of additional time spent in school, she found that people with more schooling were less likely to die over a ten-year period. What was her specific finding?
An additional year of school meant a 3.6 percent reduction in ten-year mortality
What has research found to the effect of letting families use vouchers to choose their children's schools? Is there a difference between these children and those whose families were not given a choice of schools?
Attending a parent chosen school had no effect on children's achievement scores
Kafkaesque banking scandal
Bank was illegally bundling old loans that had already gone bad and marketing them as new loans
From which other trade did the surgical profession evolve?
Barbering
The sexual revolution timeline
Birth control Youth movement of 1960's where kid's didn't want to get married so young Women's movement challenged the double standard By 1970's, media portrayals of male breadwinner families were split between hostility and nostalgia
What are the predicted effects of the Cairo plan?
Birth rate will decline naturally, and women will be more educated on their reproductive lives and end up wanting smaller families
What is the relationship between race and gender when it comes to life expectancy in the United States?
Both race and gender matter quite a bit
Organizational de-coupling/ fantasy documents
Bureaucracies tend to make new rules they don't intend to follow, just so that they can look good or give the appearance that they're following rules.
In a sociological context, how is a person's individual identity determined?
By affiliation with multiple groups
What are three possible alternatives to global warming regulation
Carbon Tax Cap-and Trade legislation Business as usual
What does Morgan think is most likely the main explanation for the difference between catholic school kids and public school kids?
Catholic school students have parents who care more about education
Which country has surpassed the US in Carbon emissions?
China
What percentage of Carbon world carbon emissions is China responsible for? What percentage is the US responsible for?
China- 24% US- 16%
What were some of the solutions of noticed environmental degradation?
Clean Air Act Clean Water Act The Future of Global Warming Regulation (Kyoto protocol)
What does social change almost always cause?
Conflict
What is the correlation between the percentage of free and reduced lunch receivers and PISA test scores?
Countries/ schools with lower free and reduced lunch receivers have higher PISA test scores. The US sits about right in the middle with their PISA scores at 500
Which item explains why medicine is considered not only a career but a profession?
Doctors are accountable for their peers
What are social impacts of environmental degradation on critical resources?
Draining of aquifers, erosion of topsoil, global deforestation
What does social change result from?
Drift (unplanned events with unplanned consequences) and planned actions (of powerful or governmental groups, typically)
In the United States, how did the rise of employer-provided health insurance come about?
During a time when raises were limited by law, it was another way to compensate employees
What means of social protest is used by Electronic Disturbance Theater?
EDT organizes virtual sit-ins that target websites for temporary disruption
In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan examines the problems that tend to hold African American Families back from socioeconomic success. What was his main diagnosis?
Excessively female-dominated family structures (matriarchy) diminished the role of the father
The rate of divorce in the U.S. began rising in the 1960s and is still climbing today.
False. It started climbing in the 1800s
Availability and affordability of medical care are major predictors of life expectancy and quality of life.
False. There is only a weak correlation.
What are three solutions to population explosion?
Family planning (doesn't work if people don't want it or can't afford it) Discourage large families (results in overcrowding or orphanages) Development and Equality (Cairo plan)
What's the example Dr. Lopez used in class of a social movement/ labor movement reform that we take for granted?
Fire exits/ safe ways to evacuate buildings as a result of the triangle shirtwaist factory incident of 1911
Why are many African Americans especially interested in the prospect of using genetic testing to determine a person's family history and ancestral place of origin?
For historical reasons, African Americans have poorly documented family trees
What is the biggest environmental challenge we face?
Global warming
Malthusian Trap
Growing population EXCEEDS food production. Expect NATURAL CHECK by famine, disease, death Malthus: population can never escape subsistence level poverty. We can't have big population increases because we'll have big income increases and people will have more kids then there won't be enough resources for the kids and they'll go hungry. So the population will decrease and go back down to normal until another increase happens and it does it all over again. It's a continuous cycle
In the 9 states that participated in Cap-and-Trade/ The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, what was the result?
Half of reductions in CO2 from the RGGI region result from the RGGI
Bureaucracy
Hierarchy of offices whose activities are bound by written rules
Is the US child poverty rate higher or lower than the total poverty rate? Do countries with higher child poverty rates or lower child poverty rates in comparison to total poverty rates have better test scores?
Higher Countries with lower child poverty rates in comparison to total child poverty rates have higher test scores
What are the main trends of the global green revolution that occurred in the second half of the twentieth century?
Improvements in agricultural techniques and technologies The introduction of high-yield crops in developing nations
What is the difference between how contagion theory and emergent norm theory explain collective action?
In contagion theory, people take their cues from people nearby. In emergent norm theory, everyone takes their cues from a few key individuals.
What is the difference between convergence and contagion theory?
In convergence theory, people gather together because they think alike. In contagion theory, people think alike because they gather together.
Why is environmental degradation an institutional problem, rather than an individualized problem?
In order for us to actually change the problem, we would have to make a huge change in our society's infrastructure. It's not something we can really do as individuals.
What happened as a result of the wave of post-war prosperity
Incomes at the bottom 80% rose much faster and made it possible for the male to have one job and support the family
What caused a decline in mortality?
Industrial revolution (sanitation, clean water, public health, improved food supply, etc.)
What is environmental degradation caused by?
Industrialization, consumption, and population growth
What are the limitations to the demographic transition theory?
Industrialized nations are below replacement Malthusian trap continues to characterize less developed nations
Kafkaesque insurance scandal
Insurance companies were found guilty of creating whole departments dedicated to finding legal excuses to drop coverage on policyholders who got sick
What are some of the main provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as "Obamacare"?
Insurance for low-income Americans is subsidized. All Americans are required to purchase insurance. Young adults can stay on their parents' plan through age 26. Risk adjustment based on preexisting conditions is eliminated. Medicaid eligibility has been expanded.
Which patient rights were secured by federal legislation in the 1980s and 1990s?
Insurance must cover women's hospitalization for 48 hours after childbirth (or 96 hours after a C-section). Emergency rooms must treat patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Is the Malthusian trap true?
It has proven to be true for most of population's history, but industrial civilization has seemed to escape it for now
Which conclusion does sociologist Thomas Gieryn draw from his examination of the practice of science?
It is not always easy to decide what "science" is telling us
What moral does Dalton Conley draw from his experience with the Yes Men, who, for satirical purposes, publicly described Conley as a consultant on corporate crime to presidential candidate George W. Bush?
It is possible to be swept up in a social movement involuntarily
Why is Kafkaesque bureaucracy resilient?
It responds to powerful market/ political incentives
Why doesn't Demographic Transition limit growth in developing nations?
It takes time because of cultural lag, and with dependent development and demographic transition, poor countries aren't helped or are made poorer, so high population growth continues despite high mortality rate
What was the double standard in the battle of the sexes in the 1950's
It was considered normal for men to play the field before settling down, but women got a really bad reputation if they did the same thing
Was pre-marital sex more or less common back in the 1950's compared to today?
It was just as common
Is the charter school movement legitimate or just another fad? What should they focus more of their attention on?
Just another fad. They should focus more of their attention of social stratification and the relationship between poverty and educational challenges.
In emergent-norm theory, what are the people called who emerge as leaders—the ones other people take their cues from?
Keynoters
Why did the fatalities produced by Chicago's 1995 heat wave occur mainly among the elderly, the poor, and African Americans?
Members of these groups were socially isolated
What happened as a result of the dissatisfactions of men in the breadwinner family?
Men were victimized for having to provide for their wives and children. This was exemplified in culture and especially sitcoms
The percentage of Americans with college degrees has risen dramatically since 1910. The functionalist explanation would be that this increase is a response to changes in the economy. What are some problems with this explanation?
Most job-related skills are acquired at the workplace, not in the classroom. The increase in average education level goes well beyond what the economy demands. Much of what college students learn is not career-related.
Could we reduce inequality by encouraging more poor people to get and stay married?
NO. Policies trying to implement these ideals have been a complete failure
Mock Bureaucracy
Neither party feels rule-following to be in its interest.
What is the difficulty with both the convergence and the contagion theory of communal action?
Neither theory explains why the occurrence of communal action is inconsistent
Which U.S. city was initially the focus of concern about the disease later known as HIV/AIDS?
New York
Is bottled water superior to tap water?
No
Is the decline of marriage an important reason for growing economic inequality?
Not really— most inequality growth is due to the very high end pulling away from the stagnating middle. But, single parent families are more likely to be poor
One possible explanation for the evolutionary survival of homosexuality is antagonistic pleiotropy. What would that mean, as applied to homosexuality?
One gene both promotes overall fertility and leads to some percentage of offspring being homosexual
What is significant about the US's GHG emissions per person in tons?
Our GHG emissions per person in tons is way higher than any other countries at 17.5 tons
What word describes the postmodern activity of taking a little bit of one's identity from one culture and a little from another, to form something like a collage?
Pastiche
What is today's popular household situations?
People stay single longer, divorce and single parent families are more frequent, deferred childbearing, gay and lesbian couples with families
What are the characteristics of reformative, revolutionary, redemptive, and alternative social movements?
Reformative- targets all society, narrow agenda Revolutionary- targets all society, broad agenda Redemptive- limited target population, broad agenda Alternative- limited target population, narrow agenda
What is the definition of the political process model, the resource- mobilization theory model, and the classical model; all model of social movements?
Resource- Mobilization Theory Model- Social movements take advantage of available resources to address pressing grievances. The Political Process Model- Social movements are efforts to gain passage of legislation or to support candidates for public office Classical Model- Social movements arise when strain in a social structure reaches a critical level
What are likely impacts of global warming?
Rising sea level, extreme change in rainfall patterns, extreme weather, species extinction,
What is the most important non-school factor that leads to child variation in school achievement?
SES- Socioeconomic status
What does the dominant view claim is wrong with the education system?
Schools are over-regulated, they resemble monopolies with no incentive to improve, bad teachers are protected by unions, the standards are too low, and children are locked into a school system based on their home's location
In a sociological context, what principle does the phrase Matthew effect refer to?
Scientists tend to bestow praise and honor on those colleagues who have been praised and honored in the past.
What are the descriptions of the selection theory, the drift explanation, and the social determinants theory?
Selection theory: Health and SES are spuriously correlated due to a common causal factor, such as genetics, driving both. Drift explanation: Health causally affects SES. Social determinants theory: SES casually affects health
How did the National Science Foundation influence research in hurricanes following Hurricane Katrina in 2005?
The NSF funded small grants on the causes and effects of hurricanes
Which development gave birth to modern societies, where a person's identity is based on overlapping group affiliations rather than the concentric ones of premodern societies?
The growth of urban population centers (helped people to associate with other people of different backgrounds)
What, according to sociologist Phillip Jackson, is the "hidden curriculum" taught in schools?
The non-academic and less overt forms of socialization
Hans Roszing video
The poor will join the wealthy and it will lift them out of their poverty. But there are technical and social/ political challenges to all of this.
New projections by the UN suggest that the world's population may surpass 10 billion by 2100. What does this mean?
The rate of population growth will start to slow down because it will get too big
The Hmong people are an ethnic group native to the mountainous regions of mainland Southeast Asia. What is traditional Hmong understanding of epileptic seizures?
The soul briefly leaves the body and visits the spirit world
Define demography and name its 3 subcategories
The study of human population dynamics • fertility • mortality • migration
What is the basis of one's uniqueness as an individual in a modern or postmodern context?
The sum total of all one's group affiliations
What is the definition of cultural capital?
The symbolic and interactional resources that people use to their advantage
Why has the Tea Party movement in American politics sometimes been described as an "Astroturf" phenomenon?
The tea party is thought by some to have the false appearance of the grassroots movement
What would happen if poor nations followed American's style of living
The world's energy demands would quadruple
Why are there generally more old women than old men in a given population?
There is a longer life expectancy for female children and adults than males
Right after WWII, what happened to the divorce rates? What did this reflect?
There was a big spike in divorce rates, and this reflected the disfunctionality of the breadwinner ideal
Why was population growth very slow up until about 1800, when the population started multiplying?
There was a decline in mortality
In 1977, a change in Social Security policy produced a natural experiment: people born just after January 1, 1917, received reduced benefits compared to people born just a few days earlier. What did the experiment reveal?
There was a negative correlation between greater benefits and longevity. (for older people, small jobs was a source of longevity)
In which ways do doctors wield power in today's health-care system?
They decide what counts as a medical disorder. They have broad authority to write prescriptions. They are self-regulating.
What can schools do to reduce the effects of poverty on achievement?
They need to give poor students more school resources than affluent students
What was Russia's major organizational error in 1983?
They put one man in charge of monitoring threats coming from other countries. He almost bombed the US after a false reading in his system and he would've started WW3
Why is "not ritualized" part of the definition of a social movement?
To exclude group behavior that is purposeful but not aimed at social change
What was the initial motivation of the Manhattan Project?
To keep pace with the German atomic weapons research
The spend-now/save-later approach that has worked well for improving the lives of children in low-income families also works well with homeless, mentally ill, and substance-abusing adults.
True
How much energy does the US use per capita in comparison to Europe?
Twice as much
Is the fact that single mothers tend to be poor a universal thing or more of a US thing?
US thing. In Nordic countries, they have policies that really help lift single parents out of poverty
What is the cultural incoherence of marriage today?
We have these ideals of lifelong marriages but we want divorce to be easy
What will happen if we exceed our carbon budget?
We will not be able to control the environmental downward spiral that ensues
Match up all four squares of each form of bureaucracy Are formal rules routinely followed? Do formal rules align with the public purposes and goals of the organization?
Weberian bureaucracy- yes and yes Gouldner punishment-centered and mock bureaucracy- no and yes Kafkaesque bureaucracy- yes and no Contested bureaucracy- no and no
How do studies of New Zealand's Maori and Japan's Burakumin undermine the thesis that some races have innately lower IQs than others?
With both groups, low IQ are demonstrably due entirely to sociological factors.
How do schools end up sorting students of different backgrounds?
Within a school, students are sorted into different academic tracks
Why was the male breadwinner not a long withstanding ideal?
Women's economic dependence on their husbands far outlived his emotional dependence on his wife
What is the world's average annual growth rate? What is the US's?
World-1.5% US- .3%
What are the default options of easy oil? What are the alternative energy sources?
coal, tar-sands, gas wind, solar, nuclear
What word describes the overuse of college degrees and other certifications to signal social status or job qualifications?
credentialism
What is the difference between dynamic psychiatry and diagnostic psychiatry?
dynamic psychiatry focuses on psychological causes, while diagnostic psychiatry focuses on symptoms
What is stereotype threat?
fear of confirming negative stereotypes of one's own group
What is the SAT designed to predict?
freshman year college GPA
What is the origin of the word homeopathic?
it comes from the Greek words meaning same and poison
Which child did Conley and Glauber (2006) find to be at greatest risk of being held back a grade in the course of his or her schooling?
middle child, boy
What is the term for the rate at which people suffer from illness?
morbidity
Punishment-centered Bureaucracy
one party wishes to see that the rules are followed, while the other party wishes to avoid following them
Because the term miscegenation is politically and historically charged, social scientists typically use other terms to refer to interracial marriage. One term is exogamy. What is another term?
outmarriage
What is the basic premise of the Housing First program?
provide housing to homeless individuals without requiring that they be in psychiatric or substance-abuse treatment
To what does Sachs attribute India's success in fighting famine—what has been called the Green Revolution?
public and private assistance from the UN and other nations
What is the leading explanation for why children in larger families have lower academic achievement than children in smaller ones?
the resource dilution model (more children means less time and less resources available)
What is the standard term for the practice in schools of dividing students into different groups, and assigning them different classes, based on ability or future plans?
tracking
Which is the leading killer worldwide?
waterborne illness
Representative Bureaucracy
workers and managers both find it in their interests to follow the rules
Effects of Clean Water Act
• % of US waters safe for swimming/fishing rose from 1/3 to 2/3 • Dramatically reduced rate of wetland destruction • # of Americans served by modern wastewater treatment rose from 8 million to 175 million
Demographic transition theory— what happens to the birth rate in relation to the mortality rate? Is this true of industrialized nations and why?
• BIRTH RATE declines to match mortality rate, leading to a NEW stability. • true of industrialized nations WHY? • preference for smaller families - more children survive; fewer needed
What are the challenges that bureaucracies will have to face and handle effectively in the 21st century?
• Energy and Climate Change • Other resource shortages, especially water • Economic instability, inequality, and global poverty • War - over resources, over religious and ethnic differences
What were the main components of Weber's idea of bureaucracy? (6)
• Hierarchy of offices • Clearly defined scope of authority • Business conducted according to written rules • Decisions are recorded in writing • Officials hired according to formal criteria of qualification • Officials are salaried and have no personal interest in the disposition of cases
All populations naturally expand, but what are the natural and cultural influences that keeps them in check?
• NATURAL checks - food supply - War / disease • CULTURAL influences on fertility: - Marriage timing - birth control technology - Religious beliefs
Is the current US birth rate below or above replacement? What can prevent population decline?
• The current U.S. birth rate is below replacement (2.1 per woman) • Only IMMIGRATION prevents population decline
What are the capitalist causes of environmental degradation (4 reasons)
- Competition with other firms = powerful drive to lower costs - Bureaucratic organization = systematic examination of all costs - Externalization of costs wherever possible - Prices do not usually reflect environmental costs
Which questions would be part of the sociology of science?
-How the public responds to claims by scientists -How scientists engaged in scientific research make their decisions -How scientific fraud is uncovered
Why are Americans generally more accepting of GMO foods than most Europeans?
Americans are more religious on average and thus more disposed to believe that human beings have a God-given right to alter nature.
Why are US PISA test scores so mediocre against international competition?
Among rich countries of the world, the US is unique in its level of concentrated child poverty
Which fraction of Americans take prescription antidepressant medication?
1 in 10
What two things does the dominant view say will fix the education and their reasonings for each?
Accountability- higher standards, merit pay and funding incentives for good teachers and good schools Choice- students should be able to choose where they want to go to school and schools should compete in a market for student attendance
What theories have been proposed for why Americans, more than citizens of other nations, are what Tocqueville called "a land of joiners"—that is, people with a tendency to come together in voluntary associations?
1) the first settlers in America started a tradition of public meetings 2) Joining is a way to increase one's political and social power 3) Joining is a way for immigrants to keep hold of their cultural roots
What fraction of children in the United States live in blended families?
1/3
What percentage of charter schools do better than traditional public schools? What percentage do worse?
17% do better 36% do worse
What are social impacts of environmental degradation on health?
Airborne particulates causing diseases and disorders Industrial chemicals in the environment (legal, but potentially dangerous, and can take a lifetime to manifest as health problems, for example, lead)
How were social movements viewed by sociologists in the 1950's, 60's-70's, and 80's-90's?
1950's- irrational and chaotic 1960-70's- organized attempts by excluded groups to achieve political goals 1980-90's- Movement success explained by political opportunities, organizational resources, and effective issue framing
What was the average household size in the U.S. in 2011?
2.60 people
What percentage of U.S. residents 16 and older lack the math skills needed to be a functioning member of society?
22% or 1/5
What percentage of our oxygen does the Amazon rainforest account for?
30%
How many deaths in the US are predicted as a result of antibiotic resistance by the year 2050?
317,000
For every dollar of wealth, or net worth, held by the average white family in the U.S., how much wealth does the average African American family own?
5 cents
What percentage of outside-of-school factors account for variability in achievement? What does this mean for the charter schools and their diagnosis of the problem being teachers
60% Their diagnosis was wrong— school problems are typically directly related to outside factors and a student's home life.
In the US, as a result of the denial of global warming, what percentage of citizens actually believe global warming is a serious problem?
65% and falling
What percentage of tropical forests are predicted to be annihilated by 2030?
90%
What temperature do we need to keep our atmosphere at or below?
A +2 increase degrees Celsius
Which social movement helped to popularize the hippie look?
The Vietnam-era anti-war movement
Why does certified organic food tend to come from megafarms and other large, corporate food producers rather than small-scale operations that serve a local clientele?
Small farmers tend to have a harder time affording USDA certification
What two things need the effective organization of a bureaucracies's attention?
Social and technical problems, as well as the means to implement solutions to these problems once they are found
People are eating blueberries to lower their diabetes risk, people are driving electric cars to fight global warming, and people are expressing their concerns about the environment by voting for green-party political candidates. These are all examples of what?
Social change driven by information flowing from experts to the general public.
How can social institutions be viewed as in relation to social movements?
Social institutions can be viewed as the legacies of past waves of social movements and the deposits they left behind on the shore
Why did the frequency of extended family in one household decline?
Social security and private pensions meant economic dependence for seniors
How did social psychologist Sherman James use the legend of John Henry to propose an explanation for the high incidence of hypertension (high blood pressure) among black Americans at all socioeconomic levels?
The elevated blood pressure is caused by the stress of constantly dealing with unfair treatment
In which context were the scientific techniques used by African Ancestry first developed?
The exhuming of bodies from ancient African burial grounds
Does having more economic inequality lead to a higher marriage rate?
Yes
What was Australia's goal in its treatment of Aboriginal children between 1910 and 1970?
assimilating them fully into white society
Which category of applicants to a selective college has the greatest advantage, compared to other applicants with similar high school grades and SAT scores?
athletes
According to surveys, which quality in doctors do patients rate as most important?
bedside manner
In an HMO, a doctor is paid based on the number of people assigned to him or her, rather than on the number of patient visits. What is the term for the per-person fee the provider earns?
capitation
Why did the divorce rate increase after WWII?
Stress on the participants to provide economic/ emotional support and expecting too much from one another. Changing role of women when they started rejecting the intolerable relationships and they had the freedom to get out of it. Sexual permissiveness provided for more sex outside of marriage
