Intro To Sociology

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What is Sociology?

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Science or discipline that studies societies, social groups, and relationships between people

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Humanistic Perspective

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Betterment of human welfare: self realization, cultivated personality, improving human social condition

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Scientific Perspective

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Concerned with acquiring objective empirical knowledge: "what is" rather than "what should be"

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Sociological Imagination

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C. Wright Mills: quality of mind to understand society and ourselves, expresses both an understanding that personal troubles can and often do reflect broader social issues and problems and also faith in the capacity of human beings to alter the course of human history

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Science of Sociology

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Assumes there is "order" in the universe, we also have the ability to change/decide unlike abiotic things

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August Comte

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First coined the term for socius and logos, focusing on society of a collective group rather than sum of individual actions, every science follows same regular pattern

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Theological Stage

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scientists look toward the supernatural realm of ideas for explanations of what they have observed

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Metaphysical Stage

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scientists begin to look to the real world of an explanation of what they have observed

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Positive Stage (Definitive Stage of All Knowledge)

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scientists search for general ideas or laws: social statics, social dynamics, people might be able to control their destiny

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Harriet Martineau

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Observed English social patterns at the same time Comte was laying a foundation for sociology

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Karl Marx

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theoretical giant of community thought

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Herbert Spencer

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idea that society follows a natural evolutionary progression

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Emile Durkheim

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statistical study of suicide

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Max Weber

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series of studies in which he sought to explain the origins of capitalism

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Lester Ward and William Sumner

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American sociology experienced a loss of interest in the larger problems of social order and social change

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George Mead

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attention was focused on the University of Chicago

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Robert Park and Ernest Burgess

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concentrating on the city and social problems with crime, drug addiction, prostitution, juvenile delinquency

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Talcot Parsons

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famed functionalist, advocated grand theory

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Grand Theory

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building of a theory of society based on aspects of the real world and the organization of these concepts to from a conception of society as a stable system of interrelated parts

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Robert Merton

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proposed building middle range theories from a limited number of assumptions from which hypotheses are derived, distinguished between manifest and latent consequences of existing elements in social structure

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Deductive theory

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proceeds from general ideas, knowledge, or understanding of the social world from which specific hypotheses are logically deduced and tested

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Inductive theory

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proceeds from concrete observations from which general conclusions are inferred through a process of reasoning

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interpretive approach

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includes the perspectives of symbolic interaction, dramaturgy, and ethnomethodology, process by whereby human beings attach meaning to their lives, Mead and Blumer

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Dramaturgical approach

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Erving Goffman: conceives social interaction as a series of human dramas (episodes), we are actors seeking (1) to manipulate our audience (2) protect or hide our true selves (3) amplify the rules of conduct that circumscribe our daily encounters

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Conflict paradigm

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views society as being characterized by conflict and inequality, who benefits and who suffers?

race, sex, social class, and age

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Functionalism

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Emile Durkheim and Herbert Spencer, logical starting point a society conceived as a social system of interrelated parts, analogous to a living organism, functions of larger system

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Research methods

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strategy and plan for carrying out research

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Quantitative methods

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make use of statistical and other mathematical techniques of quantification or measurement in their efforts

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Qualitative methods

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relying on personal observation and description of social life in order to explain behavior

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Verstehen

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Max Weber: understanding as a means of characterizing and interpreting or explaining through applying reason to external or internal context, origin of Western capitalism

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Survey method

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subjects are asked about their opinions, beliefs, or behaviors, such as how they have behaved in the past or how they intend to behave in the future

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independent variable

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variable that influences another variable

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Dependent variable

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influenced by other variable

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Correlational relationship

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exists when a change in one variable coincides with, but doesn't cause a change in another

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Causal relationship

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a change in one variable causes or forces a change in the other

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Representative sample

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one that accurately reflects the population from which it is drawn

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Random sample

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one where every member of the population has the same chance of being chosen for the study ex: throwing names into a hat

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Systematic sampling

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type of sample in which the nth unit in a list is selected for inclusion in the sample

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Stratified sampling

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uses the differences that already exist in a population

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control group

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a similar population upon which the action has not been performed

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Unobtrusive observation

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observation from a distance

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Participant observation

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observation by a researcher who is (or appears to be) a member of the group or a participant in the activity he/she is studying

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Secondary analysis

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refers to the analysis of existing sources of information

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content analysis

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techniques employed to describe the contents of the materials

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Stages of Research

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Defining the problem, identifying/reviewing literature, formulating a hypothesis, selecting and implementing a research design, conclusion

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Ethical Problems

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What harm, privacy, right to be informed of study, application of results, deception in conducting research

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Socialization

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process through which we learn or are trained to be members of society, take part in new social situations, participate in social groupings

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primary socialization

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the initial socialization that a child receives through which he or she becomes a member of society

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secondary socialization

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subsequent experience of socialization into new sectors of society by an already socialized person

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Family

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union that is sanctioned bye the state and often by a religious institution such as a church

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School

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duh

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Peer Groups

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provide continuity in lifestyles

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Mass Media

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instrumental in making communications with large numbers of people possible, mass media provides continuity as far as knowledge or public information about the people

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Resocialization

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refers to the process of discarding behavioral practices and adopting new ones as a part of a transition in life

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total institution

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a place of residence to where persons are confined for a period of time and cut off from the rest of society

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Sigmund Freud

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pleasure principle, biological drivers, id ego, superego, without socialization violence ensues

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Charles Horton Cooley

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economist turned social psychologist, "looking glass self" (1) we imagine how we appear to others (2) we wonder whether others see us in the same way we see ourselves (3) we develop a conception of ourselves that is based on the judgments of others

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George Herbert Mead

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american philosopher and social psychologist, best known for his evolutionary social theory of the genesis of the mind and self, a single act can be understood as a segment of larger social structure, "me", "generalized others" and "I", outcome of socialization is the ability to anticipate the reactions of others and adjust behavior

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Erving Goffman

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product of a series of encounters, role distance: describes the gap that exists between who we are and who we portray ourselves to be

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Jean Piaget

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cognitive development: describes the changes that occur over time in the ways children think, understand, evaluate, sensorimotor stage: infants are unable to differentiate themselves from their environment

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Preoperational stage

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Jean Piaget; the child begins to use language and other symbols, to attach meaning to world, distinguish between fantasy and reality

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Concrete operational stage

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Jean Piaget; children make great strides in their use of logic to understand the world and how it operates

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Formal operational stage

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Jean Piaget: child develops the capacity for thinking in highly abstract terms of metaphors and hypotheses which may or may not be based in reality

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Erik Erikson

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delineated eight stages of psychosocial development nurturing-->autonomy, doubt and shame from handling situations-->sense of initiative and self confidence, guilt on success-->family to school where child develops conception of being industrious or inferior-->establish clear and firm sense of one's self, confused of identity-->meets or fails challenge (intimacy or isolation and loneliness-->contribution to well being of others-->break sense of isolation and self-absorption and the thought of one's impending death produces despair

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Lawrence Kohlberg

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inspired by Piaget, six stages of moral reasoning, based human model on male experiences, moral development, process

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Carol Gilligan

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Kohlberg male experience...developed female perspective, find best solution for everyone involved, no essential difference between the inner workings of boys and girls

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culture

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blueprint according to which the members of a society or a group go about their daily lives

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Material culture

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things people attach meaning to and use

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Nonmaterial culture

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abstract terms that human use to create purposes of defining/describing/explaining

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symbol

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represents something to which a certain meaning or value is attached by the person or persons

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Norms

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rules or expectations that govern or to which people orient their behavior

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Values

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represent not only the things that give meaning, but also the ideas that make such things so important

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Folkways

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usual customs and conventions of everyday life

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Mores

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norms of such moral and ethical significance to the members of a society or community that their violation is regarded as a serious matter worthy of strong criticism, anger, punishment, or institutionalization

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Cultural universals

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basic elements essential to individual and collective survival that are found to exist in all cultures

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Cultural variability

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connotes the variety of things human beings have devised to meet their needs

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Ethnocentrism

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refers not only to the attitude that one's own cultural or ethnic values are the only good and true values, but also to the tendency to judge others cultures by ones own standards

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Cultural relativism

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refers to social scientists' efforts to be objective in their observations either by not imposing their own meaning on the events being observed, or by focusing solely on the reason why the element exists

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subcultures

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not wholly separate from the larger culture, represent unique cultures and cultural organizations unto themselves

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countercultures

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values, beliefs, and ways of life do not conform to the norm

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society

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human association to the presence of a connecting link between human beings, a pattern of social relationships

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sociocultural evolution

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tendency for society to become more complex overtime

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Believed that all of human history and society can be traced to the basic material circumstance of men and women in a productive relationship with nature, division of labor

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Karl Marx

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Class

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suggests not only a group of people who have in common certain relationship to the means of production, but also an organization f society based on class relations that link the economic relations of production to al other relations of society (Karl Marx)

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Problem of order, believed that one could conceive man in a state of nature, no restrains on aspirations, meaninglessness

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Emile Durkheim

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China, India, Greece, Rome, Middle East, verstehen, Protestant ethic producing spirit of modern form in industrial capitalism, immediate comprehension or sequence of motivation within the social context

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Max Weber

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Social structure

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the way people's relations in society are arranged to form a network

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Status

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position in society or in a group

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Ascribed status

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automatically conferred on a person with no effort made or no choice involved on their part such as race or sex, example: being American Indian, a son, or a widower

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Achieved status

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assumed through one's own doings or efforts, example: "A" student

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Master status

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most important status that a person holds, affects almost every aspect of the person's life, person possesses traits associated with this status

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Status set

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all the statuses that a person occupies

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Role

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refers to what a person does by virtue of occupying a particular status or position

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Role strain

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situation where different and conflicting expectations exist with regard to a particular status, example: professor socializing with students outside of class...must distance from them to continue holding role

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Role conflict

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person occupies multiple status that contradict one another, example single mother volunteering but also caring for children

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Group

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assembly of people or things

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association

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type of relationship formed on the basis of an accommodation of interests or on the basis of an agreement

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communal relationship

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formed on the basis of subjective feeling of the parties "that they belong together" whether the feeling is personal or linked with tradition

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aggregate

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consists of a number of people who happen to be in the same place at the same time

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social category

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consists of a number of people with certain characteristics in common

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social group

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consists of a collection of people interacting with one another in an orderly fashion, (1) members are mutually aware of one another (2) members are mutually responsive to one another

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primary group

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interaction is direct, the common bonds are close and intimate

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secondary groups

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interaction is anonymous, bonds are impersonal, duration of time of the group is short and the relationships involve few emotional ties

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Gemeinschaft

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Ferdinand Tonnies, those small communities characterized by tradition and united by the belief in common ancestry or by geographic proximity in relationships largely of the primary group sort

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Gesellschaft

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Ferdinand Tonnies, refers to contractual relationships of a voluntary nature of limited duration and quality, based on rational self-interest, and formed for the explicit purpose of achieving a particular goal

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Dyad

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George Simmel, members departure destroys the group, two people

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Triad

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George Simmel, addition of a third person someitmes serving as a mediator or nonpartisan party

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interaction process analysis

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a technique of observing and immediately classifying in predetermiend ways the ongoing activity in small gruops

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sociometry

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J. L. Moreno: a technique focused on establishing the direction of the interaction in small groups

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Interaction Process

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(1) differentiation between characteristics and role structures (2) front stage and backstage behavior (public/private) (3) principles of exchange (currency/goods) (4) competition

(5) cooperation (6) compromise (7) conflict

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In groups

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where we belong

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reference groups

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social groups that provide the standards in terms of which we evaluate ourselves, college student worried about family react to her grades, using family as reference group

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Group confomity

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individuals compliance with group goals, in spite of the fact group goals may cause conflict

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Groupthink

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group members begin to think similarly

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Two different types of leaders

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instrumental (task oriented) expressive (social-emotional leaders)

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organization

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represents a specific type of social relationship or arrangement between a persons that is either closed to outsiders or that limits their admission

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Formal organization

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type of group or structural pattern within which behavior is carried out in society (1) formality (2) hierarchy of ranked positions (3) large size (4) complex division of labor (5) continuity beyond its membership

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Bureaucracy

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rationally designed organizational model whose goal it is to perform complex tasks as efficiently as possible

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Characteristic institution

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kin, clan, sib --> bureaucracy

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Bureaucracy Characteristics

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(1) paid officials (2) officials with certain rights and privileges (3) regular salary increases (4) officials who qualify to enter the organization by having education or vocational training (5) rights/responsibilities/obligations rigidly + formally defined (6) responsible for meeting the obligations and for keeping funds/files

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Parkinson's Law

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states that in any bureaucratic organization "work expands to fill the time available for its completion" (C. Northcote Parkinson)

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Peter Principle

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states that " in any hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence"

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Iron Law of Oligarchy

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Michels: bureaucracy "is connected with everything else that gives our culture its uniqueness"

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deviance

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departure from a norm

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stigma

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the mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant apart from other members of society

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primary deviance

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term used to refer to behavior violating a norm

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secondary deviance

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refers to the behavior that result from social response to such deviance

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Biological Explanation of Deviance

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Cesare Lombroso, body measurements to criminal behavior, William Sheldon, body measurements to mental disorder/crime

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Psychological Explanation of Deviance

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superego that lacks the strength to overcome the id

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Sociological Explanation of Deviance

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special consideration and social structure has caused grief, and thus they act out, Robert Merton

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Kinship

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introduction of symbolic meaning or value to actual or imagined blood ties, Max Weber

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Endogamy

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marriage within specific groups

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Exogamy

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marriage outside certain specific groups

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polygyn

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refers to a man having several wives at once

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polyandry

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refers to the practice of a woman having several husbands at once

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group marriage

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marriage between two or more men and two or more women

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Patrilocality

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when newlyweds reside within husbands extended family

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matrilocality

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occurs when they reside with the wife's extended family

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neolocality

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live in new residence as married partners

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Division of labor

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the manner in which work is divided among individuals and groups specialized in particular economic activities

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Primary sector

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sector of economy, involved in the extraction of raw materials and natural resources

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Secondary sector

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sector of economy, involved in turning the raw materials acquired through primary into manufactured goods

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Tertiary sector

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sector of economy, involved in providing services in such areas as health, education, welfare, and entertainment

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Traditional authority

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authority based on long-held and sacred customs

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Rational-legal authority

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authority based on the framework of a body of laws that have been duly enacted

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Charismatic authority

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authority based on extraordinary, uncanny, and supernatural powers or abilities that have been associated with a particular person

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Authoritarian

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form of government in which rulers tolerate little if any opposition to their autority

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Totalitarian

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government in which there are in principle no recognizable limits to authority that rulers are willing to acknowledge

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Democratic

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authority ultimatley lies with the people

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"A highly organized group of only a few people who make decision on behalf of or for the many, the power elite consists of military leaders, politicians, and business leaders"

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C. Wright Mills on The Power Elite

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Noticed upper class controls american politics, tried to assess whether the ruling class established was actually true

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G. William Domhoff's Governing Class

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Agreed with Mills that there is an unequal distribution of power, rejects that power holders are unified group

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David Riesman Pluralist Vision

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Religion

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Code of ethics, personality, historical condition, theodicy (religious explanation for what seems to be the senseless distribution of good and bad fortune

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Sacred

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sphere of ideas, activities, persons, objects, abilities, and experiences that have been deemed holy and divine

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Profane

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refers to the visceral sphere of objects, persons, and behaviors capable of being understood and of being altered

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Emile Durkheim-Religion

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collective experience of religious society not only serves as the foundation for ideas about life's ultimate meaning, but also for the ceremonies that seek to express the meaning

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Weber-Religion

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concerned about relationships between thought and action, religion emphasized personal responsibility for one's own salvation

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cult

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consists of a small group of followers surrounding a charismatic religious leader

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sect

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does not depend on the kind of personal inspiration offered by a charismatic leader for its continuity

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church

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claims universal membership over those born into it, and they only leave through expulsion

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Social stratification

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represents the structured inequality characterized by groups of people with differential access to the rewards of society because of their relative position in the social hierarchy

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social hierarchy

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stratification of ranked status in which people function

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social mobility

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refers to the ability of a given individual or group to move through the social strata

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Davis and Moore-Functionalist View of Social Stratification

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argue that some stratification is necessary, stressful roles should hold higher status in order for function to take place

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Marx, Weber, and Modern Conflict Theory

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Marx attributed inequalities of wealth, etc. to class structures present, wanted elimination of class structure

Weber, status situation consisted of every aspect of a person's situation in life that is caused by a positive or negative social assessment of status

Ralf Dahrendorf focused on struggle among groups as unions and employers

Randall Collins continues to focus on the way different groups seek to maintain their social position by acquiring education credentials that

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Mass hysteria

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represents a collective emotional response to tension and anxiety in a group

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Craze

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situation of collective behavior in which people become obsessed with wanting something

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Fad

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represents the type of short-term obsession with a behavior that is unexpected and widely copied

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Fashion

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more widely held beliefs, styles, and attitudes toward dress, hair styles, music

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Rumor

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piece of unconfirmed public information that may or may not be accurate

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Contagion theory

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developed by Gustave LeBon, contends that crowds exert a distinct milieu that powerfully influences its members

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Convergenc etheory

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posits that the individuals, not the crowd, possess particular motivations, Rodney King

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Emergent-Norm Theory

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developed by Ralph Turner and Lewis Killian, argues that crowds do not necessarily begin with individuals sharing the same interests and motives