Soc-S100 Midterm & Final

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Sociology

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the study of human social life, groups & societies, stressing the contexts and structures that influence human behavior and our actions in relation to these contexts and structures.

Overlaps: political science, econ, history, psychology.

Is not: philosophy (soc. is empirical), biology (cant explain interactions), and religion/theology

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Social Structure

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things that exist outside of our control, but exert a force on our lives, enabling and constraining our actions in the world.
makes it easier for us to do some things, harder to do other things

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Human agency

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the actions of individuals and groups in society and the choices we make.

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Structuration

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the 2 way process by which we shape our social world through our individual actions and by which we are shaped by social structure.

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Sociological imagination

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the ability to look past individual actions to understand the relationship between both agency and social structure.

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social stratification

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a system of ranking individuals in terms of their access to things that are valued by society. this is a social structure

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social inequality

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a form of stratification that rank groups unequally and give unfair rewards to groups based on their social class/race/gender/sexual orientation

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meritocracy

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a form of stratification that ranks people based on their individual merits.

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prejudice

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holding preconceived ideas about a person or group. ideas can be positive or negative.

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discrimination

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behavior that denies the members of a group resources or rewards available to others. involves power- to deny or reward resources, you need to be in a position of power.

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racism

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discrimination against the members of a racial group by a powerful other (with hold resources). special form of discrimination based on race

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institutional racism

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patterns of discrimination based on race that have been structured into existing social institutions.

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functionalist

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focuses more on social structure than agency because they believe that structures are there for a largely positive purpose. ignores conflict like institutional racism. emphasis on stability.

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manifest function

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(this is under functionalist category) more overt, obvious function of a social structure.

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latent function

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(this is under functionalist category)
hidden, less intentional function of s.s.

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conflict

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stress s.s. more than agency. they believe that structures reflect groups dominating others for power. focuses on conflicts/change, but Ignores stability, ignores cooperative aspects of society

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symbolic interactionist

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stresses agency, Society is the result of people doing things together, Structures emerge from interaction. focus on interactions, ignores structure.

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blumer's 3 premises

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(under symbolic interactionalist)
1. ppl. act towards things based on meaning of things. so ppl act based on meaning.
2. meanings come from interaction
3. meanings cause us to interperate

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capital

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something acquired, accumulates and is valuable in some situation.

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economic capital

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money and material resources that:
acquired, accumulates, valuable

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cultural capital

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the ability to appreciate and engage in certain lifestyles and element of those lifestyles. Cultural capital is acquired, meaning we gain it as we live, and it accumulates, meaning we keep acquiring different kinds of cultural capital, like the ability to appreciate and engage in BOTH opera and monster trucks, or BOTH proper English and Slang, and it is of value in different situations.

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human capital

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specific skills, knowledge and expertise associated with a kind of cultural capital

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social capital

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Social networks and relations of trust

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social space

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a space in which regions are divided up according to forms of capital

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social movements

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large numbers of people who organize to promote or resist social change.

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social change

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change in social structures over time

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resource mobilization

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movements are successful to the extent that they can acquire and effectively use key resources

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political process model

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movements are successful to the extent that broader social conditions such as the political climate are supportive of the movement.

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relative deprivation

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the discontent that ppl feel when they compare their situation to similar others who are better off. frustration of rising expectations compels action. (conflict view, focus on discontent)

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recruitment through networks

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ppl are recruited to movements through preexisting networks with current movement members. (sym. interactionalist view, focus on social network)

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frame allignment

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the interactive process in which movement leaders frame their mov't in a way that reaches potential followers and motivates them to join.

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mass society

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ppl join social mov't because of personal inadequacies and isolation, they are irrational and prone to hysteria

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sex

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biological criteria for classifying ppl as male or female.

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sex categorization

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the identification of ppl as male or female in everyday life based on biological criteria we then categorize ppl as male or female.

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gender

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cultural beliefs about appropriate behaviors for a sex category. this is a social structure, not biological.

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accountability

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the assessment (pos. or neg.) of a person's gender performance by others based on normative conceptions & attitudes about what is appropriate. based on and follows from gender as a structure.

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doing gender

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engaging in behavior at the risk of gender assessment -either pos. or neg.
we are always doing gender, always being assessed, always being held accountable

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doing race

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engaging in behavior at the risk of race assessment (pos. or neg)

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doing class

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engaging in behavior at the risk of class assessment (pos or neg)

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the problem with no name

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the desire by women to have something more in life than just a home and a family.

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social mobility

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movements of individuals or groups between different social positions. can be upwards or downwards "downwardly mobile"

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contest mobility

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Movement to a higher social position based in success in baseline opportunities provided to all, (a kind of contest in which successful people are rewarded and move on to new contests in which they can prove themselves—the ideal in our education system)

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sponsored mobility

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Movement to a higher social position based on opportunities provided by powerful others. (the upwardly mobile person has doors opened to them by a “sponsor”—social networks are especially important for sponsored mobility)

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Power

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the ability of people or groups to realize their will over the will of others- can be legit or illegitimate

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Coercion

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power that people do not accept as legitimate

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Authority

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power that is accepted as legitimate (sociologists think you should questions power, not authority)

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Charismatic authority

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power that is legit on basis of leader's exceptional personal quality or the demonstration of extraordinary insight and accomplishment that inspires loyalty and obedience from followers

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Rational-legal Authority

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power that is legitimized by law or written rules and regulations in organizations

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Traditional authority

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power that is legitimized on the basis of long-lasting customs, handed down from generation to generation

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Total Institutions

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a place where people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period of time while the institution regulates and controls all activities

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4 traits of total institutions

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1. all aspects of life are conducted in same place and are under control of institutions
2. activities within the institution are conducted in the company of others in the same circumstances
3. institution creates rules and schedules activities without consulting the participants
4. all the aspects of life within institutions are designed to fulfill the purpose of organization

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Degradation ceremonies

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an attempt to remake the person by stripping away the individual's current identity and replacing it with a new one

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Identity kit

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the tools we use to present our identities to ourselves and others

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Primary Adjustments

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cooperative behavior in response to the demands of the institution

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Secondary adjustments

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practices that don't directly challenge the institution but allow inmates to obtain forbidden satisfaction and provide the inmate with a sense that he/she is still his/her own person (contained, not disruptive to overall operation of the institution)

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Identity

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a person's location in social life and their sense of self, of "who they are"

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Miscegenation

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biological reproduction by partners of different racial categories

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One Drop Rule

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holds that in US, a person with a trace of African ancestry is considered "black" unless they can claim an alternative non-white ancestry, such as Native American, Asian, etc.

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Political Pluralism

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power in political systems is widely dispersed throughout many competing interest groups

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Special Interest Groups

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political coalitions made up of individuals or groups that share a specific interest that they wish to protect or advance

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Power Elite

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power is concentrated in the hands of a single small cohesive group holding numerous high-level positions

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Assimilation

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the process by which minorities shed their differences and blend in with the dominant group

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Anglo-Conformity

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immigrants lose most of their ethnic identity and learn to act and think like the majority (anglo) group

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Melting Pot assimilation

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racial and ethnic groups come to the US and lose their distinctiveness and "melt" into a single US category

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Pluralism/Multiculturalism

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minority groups maintain much of their cultural identity, and are appreciated for their distinctiveness and welcomed into society

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Social Identity

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a sense of self that is built up over time as a person participates in social life and identifies with a community of others with whom there is a feeling of similarity and common purpose; broad community

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Personal Identity

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a sense of separateness established over time as the person pursues his/her own goals that differ from those of the community: establish separateness

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Situated Identity

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the sense of self tied to roles we play in specific, immediate social situation; can contradict social and personal IDs

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Stigma

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a negative label that greatly changes a person's self-concept and social identity

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Migration

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the movement of persons from one locality to another

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Immigration

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the movement of persons into a non-native country

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Emmigration

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the movement of persons out of their native country

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Double Consciousness

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the tension and confusion people feel when they move between different and competing social spaces

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Deviance

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nonconformity to norms that are accepted by the majority of society

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Labeling Theory

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things (and people) are deviant because they're defined as deviant by others

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Differential Association

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deviance is learned within primary groups (i.e. family, peers), people are socialized into deviance and learn to be deviant

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Anomie

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the strain put on an individual's behavior when accepted values conflict with means for achieving them- this strain prompts deviant behavior

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Conformist

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accepts both generally held values and the conventional means of realizing them, whether or not they meet with success

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Innovator

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accepts socially approved values, but use illegitimate or illegal means to follow them

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Ritualist

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conforms to socially accepted means for achievement, but has lost sight of the value to be achieved

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Retreatist

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rejects both the sociall approved value, as well as the means to achieve it

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Rebel

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rejects both the socially approved value and the means to achieve it, but also replaces these values and means to achieve them with new ones as a way to reconstruct the social system

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Mean

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the statistical average

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Median

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the middle of any set of figures or scores

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Mode

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the figure or score that occurs most frequently in a set of figures or scores

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Range

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the difference between the largest and smallest figure or score

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Theory

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a set of ideas about how the world works

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Hypothesis

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a statement of an expected relationship between things (i.e. gender and sociology test scores) according to predictions from a theory, that can be tested with data

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Quantitative Research

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research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form

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Qualitative Research

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research that relies on what is seen in naturalistic settings more than on statistical data

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Analytic Deduction

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reasoning from theory and hypothesis towards empirical observations

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Analytic Induction

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reasoning from empirical observations towards the creation of theories

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Research Process

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A cycle:
-->Initial Ideas--> Theories--> Hypothesis--> Observations--> Initial Ideas