SOC 101 Ch. 4
ethnomethodology
An approach that examines the methods people use to make sense of their daily activities and emphasizes the ways in which we collectively create social structure in our everyday activities
-A bureaucracy that hinders the flow of info -poor communication pattern with/in the organization
Disasters and accidents that take place within complex and hierarchical organizations can commonly be attributed to what ?
Talcott Parsons
A leading American sociologist who pioneered the functionalist perspective in the mid-twentieth century
conversation analysis
A sociologist who analyzes patterns in face to face conversations that produce the smooth back-and-forth turn taking such as exchanges using ___
face to face micro-level interaction
According to Georg Simmel, what creates society ?
-full time reporters -stringers located in remote areas -The associated press
According to sociologist Gaye Tuchman, what would the "news set" include ?
equilibrium
The concept of ___is at the center of functional analysis
efficiency
The dimension of Mcdonaldization where ppl seek the best possible method for completing a task
social institutions
The major arenas for social life where durable routines and patterns of behavior take place
codes of conduct and job description
What are some ex. of formal rules in an organizational structure ?
achieved and ascribed statuses
What are some examples of statuses ?
-employment is often fleeting and temporary -they must look out for themselves -flexibility and change is inevitable
What characterizes what a growing number of employees in the U.S. believe about the work place ?
-the flow of info w/in the organization -the decision making process w/in the organization -communication patterns w/in the organization
What does Organizational structures directly shape ?
human action can reaffirm, modify, or radically change existing social structures
What is the impact of human action on social structures ?
-returning to school to learn new skills -seeking opportunities by moving to a new area -fighting plant closing and layoffs
What were some typical responses by U.S. workers to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the wake of globalization at the beginning of the 21st C. ?
human action and how ppl use it
Whatever potential a new technology has ___, are the keys to understanding its social significance
role
When we attend a college course and expect that professor will teach us the material outlined in the syllabus, we are holding the professor to a(n)...
achieved status
a status that individuals attain through their own efforts
ascribed status
President of U.S., mother, and wife are ex. of ?
both men and women
feminist theorists have pointed out that rigid gender roles constrain behavior from ?
-it has ended a period of stable, long term employment for many Americans in the post WWII period -it has meant the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs
how has migration of jobs overseas as part of globalization's has affected the structure of work for U.S. employees ?
action
the ability to operate independent of social constraints is called the capacity for ___
rational action
the type of action motivated by calculations of efficiency
functionalist perspective
views society as a set of interdependent institutions that each serve a specific purpose in order to maintain a social order
youtube and individual blogs
what are some ex. of citizen journalism?
conduct interviews, edit content, and shoot videos
what do many news outlets require reporters to do ?
recurring patterns of behavior
what does social structure refer to ?
-Today's news reporters have had to develop new practices that emphasize speed and flexibility -There is tremendous pressure on today's news reporters to do more w/ less
what impact has new technology had on traditional news reporters ?
researchers at a grocery store take items out of other people's shopping carts to study their reaction
what is an ex. of a breaching experiment ?
-social institutions within society are connected -changes in one social institutions will affect other social institutions within society
what is true about the relationship b/t different social institutions within society
understanding what motivates our actions
what was Max Weber interested in ?