society the basics main notes for chapter 1
Describe some of the ethical issues involved in conducting sociological research.
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Describe ways in which sociology researchers are able to limit distortion caused by personal values.
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How do individual biases affect the analysis and integration of collected data?
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What is distinctive about the sociological perspective?
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What is meant by the "operationalization of a variable"?
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describe the advantages of scientific approaches to studying society.
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what situations is one more likely to be aware of the sociological perspective?
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what are the benefits of using the sociological perspective?
1. it can help us assess the truth of common sense 2. helps us assess both opportunities and constraints in our lives 3. Empowers us to be active participants in our society 4. Helps us live in a diverse world
How does the sociological perspective explain why people do what they do?
1. seeing the general in the particular 2. seeing the strange in the familiar 3. seeing individuality within a social context
Hers is a series of numbers: 1, 2, 2, 3, 7. What is the mean?
3
Which of the following is true?
About 40% of Canada's wealth is controlled by the wealthiest 5% of the population.
As a sociologist, you wish to study population trends in the low-income countries. What region of the global village should you focus upon?
Africa
Define androcentricity, gender blindness, and gynocentricity
Androcentricity: focus on the male perspective Gender blindness: failing to consider gender in the research. Gynocentricity: focus on the female perspective
When did sociology become established as an academic discipline in Canada?
At the beginning of the 20th century
The term "sociology" was coined by
Auguste Comte
Two of sociology's founders were:
Auguste Comte and Karl Marx.
Define and compare the three relationships among variables: cause and effect, correlation and spurious correlation.
Cause and effect: a relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another Correlation: a relationship in which two or more variables change together Spurious correlation:
Describe the contributions of Comte and Spencer in the development of sociology.
Comte introduced several ideas such as positivism, the idea of understanding based on science. Spencer argued that in order for society to function, it needs the social structures to function together like the human body. For example structural-functional approach.
You are asked to report on suicide rates in France in the 1800s. Which author's writings should you consult?
Emilie Durkheim
describe the advantages and limitations of the 4 research methods.
Experiment: Provides great opportunity to specify cause and effect relationships. It's also very easy to replicate. However it's setting (lab) has an artificial quality and carries the risk of becoming very biased. Survey: Sampling, using questionnaires, allows surveys of large populations. Interviews provide in-depth responses. The problem is that questionnaires must be carefully prepared and may yield a low return rate. Interviews are expensive and time consuming Participant Observation: Allows study of "natural" behaviour. Usually inexpensive. It is very time consuming, hard to replicate and the researcher has to balance roles of participant and observer Existing Sources: Saves time and expense of data collection. Makes historical research possible. Still, the researcher has no control over possible biases in the data and the data may only partially fit current research needs.
Compare the four methods of data collection
Experiment: it specifies relationships between variables and generates quantitative data. Survey: allows gathering information about issues that can't be directly observed, such as attitudes and values. Very useful for descriptive and explanatory research and generates quantitative and qualitative data for use. Participant Observation: its for exploratory and descriptive study of people in a natural setting. Generates qualitative data Existing Sources: for exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory research whenever suitable data are available
As a discipline, sociology first took root in
France, Germany, and England
Which of the following is TRUE regarding the importance of a global perspective?
Global understanding is critical, because economic conditions in Canada are related to the economic conditions elsewhere.
Which question summarizes the focus of the symbolic-interaction approach?
How do people experience society?
Describe the difference between independent and dependent variables using examples, and be prepared to select the variables from a hypothesis.
Independent variable: it is the factor/condition that the researcher manipulates in order to determine its effect on another behaviour or condition Dependent variable: it's the variable that is measured at the end of the experiment and is presumed to vary as a result of manipulations of the independent variable
What were the three basic societal changes that sparked the sociological perspective?
Industrial technology, explosive growth of cities, new political change.
From a sociological perspective, which of the following is true regarding the decision about whom to marry?
It demonstrates that our social world guides our actions and life choices.
Which of the following is NOT a criticism of the social-conflict approach?
It overemphasizes how shared values unify members of a society.
Who has had an important influence upon the development of the social-conflict perspective?
Karl Marx
Compare and contrast the works of Marx, Durkheim, Merton, and Weber.
Karl Marx: he believe in social inequality is inherited in capitalist society and that conflict with the higher and lower classes was an eventuality Durkheim: he proved that social forces are at work, even in such intensely personal actions like suicide. Merton: he expanded the understanding of social function by pointing out that any social structure probably has many functions, some more obvious than others. He also noted that not all effects of social structure is good. Weber: he emphasized understanding a particular setting from the point of view of the people in that society.
describe the laent and manifest functions
Latent functions: the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern Manifest functions: the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern
What is the term for nations characterized by a standard of living about average for the world as a whole?
Low-income
Compare macro-level orientations and micro-level orientations of theoretical analysis.
Macro-level orientations: a brand focus on social structures that shape society as a whole Micro-level orientations: a close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations.
Identify their theoretical perspective ( Marx, Durkheim, Merton, and Weber) and the key factors that each believes shape social behavior.
Marx: Durkheim: Merton: Weber:
Which sociologist greatly influenced the development of the symbolic-interaction approach?
Max Weber
The sociological pioneer who was a supporter of suffrage for women and petitioned the government of Canada to include women in the definition of "person" was:
Nellie McClung.
______ is a way of understanding the world based on science.
Postivism
Define and compare reliability and validity, mean, median and mode.
Reliability: consistency in measurement Validity: actually measuring exactly what you intend to measure Mean: Median: denoting or relating to a value or quantity lying at the midpoint of a frequency distribution of observed values or quantities Mode:
______ is a logical system that bases knowledge on direct, systematic observation.
Science
Define science and empirical evidence and positivism
Science evidence: serves to either support or counter a scientific theory or hypothesis Empirical evidence: source of knowledge acquired by means of observation or experimentation Positivism: the path to understanding the world based on science.
Which term best describes relatively stable patterns of social behaviour?
Social Structure
What is the term for a social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society?
Social dysfunctions
What are two major components of the structural-functional approach?
Social structure, social functions
Define sociology and compare it to psychology.
Sociology is the study of group behaviour while Psychology is more of the study of the individual mind/behaviour.
Describe the assumptions of the three major sociological theories: structural functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interaction.
Structural functionalism: views society as a complex system, whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. All parts have a function. Social conflict: views society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social changes Symbolic interaction: views society as the product of everyday interaction of individuals
The ______ approaches view societies in broad terms.
Structural-functional and social-conflict
The theoretical approach in sociology that assumes society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability is the:
Structural-functional approach.
Select the framework that assumes society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they interact with one another.
Symbolic-interaction approach
What conclusion does an analysis of Global Map 1-2 reveal?
The position of a society in the larger world affects the position of its residents.
Define theory and paradigm, and describe the importance of theory in sociology.
Theory: a statement of how and why facts are related Paradigm: a set of fundamental assumptions that guides thinking. theory is very much important to sociology because when done correctly, sociological theory can be use to explain social behaviour in the real world.
How many major theoretical approaches are there in sociology?
Three
Which of the following describes the major goal of pioneers of sociology such as Comte and Durkheim, and is shared by modern sociologist as well?
To understand how society actually operates.
What is a variable?
a concept whose value changes from case to case
Sports are a way to establish new relationships. Making new relationships is:
a latent function of sports
Which sociological method provides for in-depth responses but may produce a low return rate?
a survey
If the results of Durkheim's study of suicide holds true for people in Canada today, the typical person committing suicide would be:
a wealthy and unmarried Protestant male.
Higher education causes greater earnings over a lifetime. In this example, "higher education" is:
an independent variable.
You have been accused of ""androcentricity" in your research. You may be guilty of:
approaching your research from a male perspective.
Critical sociologists
argue that all research is political
Describe how social behaviour was viewed before and after the Industrial Revolution.
before the industrial revolution, people were spending a lot of their time focusing on their jobs in order to survive, with only the priests and monks having time to study the world around them. After the industrial revolution, now a many more people find themselves with a lot more free time to think about society and their place in it due to the work now taking far less time to do.
A mental construct that represents some part of the world in a somewhat simplified form is a/an:
concept.
What is the research method involving analysis of data originally collected by others?
existing sources
Investigations of cause-and-effect relationships under highly controlled conditions are usually called:
experiments.
When the variable of sex is not even considered in sociological research, which of the following problems emerges?
gender blindness
A ______ is really an educated guess about how variables are linked.
hypothesis
List the three criteria necessary for establishing a causal (cause and effect) relationship.
hypothesis, independent variable and dependent variable.
According to ______, it is important to share in people's world of meaning in order to appreciate why they act as they do.
interpretive sociology
Unrecognized and unintended consequences of the social structure are called:
latent functions.
Suicide rates for people in Canada show that:
males have the highest suicide rates.
Canada's system of higher education serves to provide young people with skills and information needed to perform jobs. This is an example of a(n):
manifest function.
The recognized and intended consequences of a social pattern are referred to as:
manifest functions.
You are asked to determine the value of a variable in a specific case. What task have you been assigned?
measurement
The value that occurs midway in a series of numbers (or the middle case) is the ______.
median
A state of personal neutrality in conducting research is referred to as:
objectivity.
Specifying exactly what is to be measured in assigning a value to a variable is called:
operationalizing a variable
Suppose a study of sex and marital happiness in Canada is conducted and only males are interviewed. Drawing conclusions about both men and women based on this research would illustrate:
overgeneralization
You wish to conduct exploratory and descriptive studies of people in a natural setting, using qualitative data. Your budgeted resources are meager. What method should you use?
participant observation
The social-conflict approach draws attention to:
patterns of social inequality.
You have achieved the quality of consistency in measurement for your study. Your study now has:
reliability.
When Peter Berger characterized the sociological perspective as "seeing the general in the particular," he meant that sociology help us:
see general patterns in the behaviour of particular people.
Air pollution is an undesirable product of the Canadian reliance on automobiles. This is an example of a(n):
social dysfunction.
Which of the following did Durkheim believe to be a key factor in explaining why some categories of people had higher rates of suicide than others?
social integration
The sociological term for the state of being set apart as an "outsider" is referred to as:
social marginality.
The framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change is the:
social-conflict approach.
A high school student is assigned to the vocational tract because, according to the guidance counselor, it would best fit his abilities. The fact that this is likely to perpetuate his low-income status would be emphasized by:
social-conflict theorists.
Which discipline defines itself as "the systematic study of human society"?
sociology
Describe how sociology is similar and different from the natural sciences.
sociology: natural science:
A research method in which subjects respond to a series of items in a questionnaire or interview is a/an:
survey.
The ______ approach is a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals.
symbolic-interaction
Theories are:
tested and refined through research.
The sociological perspective was developed in the areas where:
the greatest changes were taking place.
psychology
the scientific study of the human mind, behaviour and mental processes
sociology
the study of society and human social interaction.
A statement of how and why specific facts are related is a(n):
theory.
A statement of how and why specific facts are related is called a/an:
theory.
The text describes the main point of using the structural-functional approach as:
understanding "what makes society tick."
What is the term for the quality of measuring precisely what one intends to measure?
validity
What is the term for a concept that has a value that changes from case to case?
variable
If one adopts the sociological perspective, he or she:
will challenge commonly held beliefs.
When we say that using a sociological perspective amounts to "seeing the strange in the familiar," we mean that sociologists:
work to avoid the idea that we live our lives only in terms of what we decide.
