Intro To Sociology: Chapters 1-5, Soc 1101:w02

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sociology

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the study of human society and social behavior

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Society

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A group of people who share their lives in aggregated and patterned ways that distinguish them from other groups

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Sociologists look at how society affects individuals, as well as how individuals influence society T or F

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true

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Our sense of self derives in part from our membership in society (who said?)

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Howard Becker

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microsociology

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the level of analysis that studies face-to-face and small-group interactions in order to understand how those interactions affect the larger patterns and institutions of society

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macrosociology

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the level of analysis that studies large-scale social structures in order to determine how they affect the lives of groups and individuals

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Glass Escalator

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According to the research of Christine Williams, men in female-dominated positions tend to experience this effect

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Glass Ceiling

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According to the research of Christine Williams, women in male-dominated positions tend to experience this effect

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Qualitative Research

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research that works with nonnumerical data and often tries to understand how people make sense of their social world

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Quantitative Research

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research that translates the social world into numbers and often tries to find cause and effect relationships

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sociological imagination

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A quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our particular situation in life and what is happening at a societal level. Term coined by C. Wright Mills

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C. Wright Mills

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Class conflict, came up with "social imagination."

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Culture Shock

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a condition of disorientation affecting someone who is suddenly exposed to an unfamiliar culture or way of life or set of attitudes

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Sociological Perspective

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understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context

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Beginner's Mind

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Approaching the world without any preconceptions in order to see things in a new way. Created by Bernard McGrane

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Global Perspective

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The study of the larger world and our society's place in it

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Global Village

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Marshall McLuhan's term about radio and television were creating new kinds of social bonds, bringing people together as if they all belonged to the same small tribe.

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Why did Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont travel to the United States in 1831?

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They wanted to learn about democracy in the United States so that French citizens could learn from America's strengths and weaknesses.

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The central feature of postmodern society may be

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mass media and popular culture

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What are Sociological Theories?

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Theories in sociology are propositions that explain the social world and help to make predictions about future events.

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theory

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An abstract proposition that both explains the social world and makes predictions about future events

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Auguste Comte
1798-1857

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French philosopher remembered as the founder of positivism. Saw human history as 3 stages: theological, metaphysical and scientific. Founded "sociology."

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Harriet Martineau
1802-1876

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A social activist who traveled the United States and wrote about social changes.
Translated Comte's work into English.
Largely discounted because she was a woman.

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Herbert Spencer
1820-1903

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major contribution to sociology was an evolutionary perspective on social order and social change.
Social Darwinism - the belief that those human beings, best adapted to their environment survive and prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die out.

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Emile Durkheim
1858-1917

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Compared of the suicide rates of several countries revealed an underlying social factor: people are more likely to commit suicide if their ties to others in their communities are weak. his identification of the key role of social integration in in social life remains central to sociology today. He suggested that mechanical solidarity created the social bonds that held agrarian societies together.

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organic solidarity

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According to Durkheim, people in a modern car factory, where each worker is responsible for building a different part of the car, would experience this

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Karl Marx
1818-1883

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Society split between the bourgeoisie (middle class) and the proletariat (modern working class) -The proletariat would conquer to bourgeoisie in a violent revolution -The proletariat would grow in size and class-conciousness -The proletariat would be aided by a portion of the bourgeoisie who had gone over to the proletariat

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3 major theoretical paradigms

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-Structural Functionalism
-Social Conflict
-Symbolic Interactionism

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Structural Functionalism

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sees society as structure made out of pieces that function for the good of society

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Social Conflict

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the struggle between segments of society over valued resources

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Symbolic Interactionism

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-approach that focuses on the interactions among people based on mutually understood symbols
-a paradigm that sees meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created

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the means of production

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Anything that can be used to create more wealth, such as money and property

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Keeping children busy for 8 hours a day and out of trouble would be an example of a __________ function of education

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latent

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Teaching students to read and write would be an example of a __________ function of education

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manifest

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Conflict Theory

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What is a paradigm that emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change

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Manifest Functions

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the intended beneficial consequences of people's actions

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Latent Functions

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the unintended beneficial consequences of people's actions

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Social Dysfunction

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any social pattern that may disrupt operation of society

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Feminist Theory

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Looks at gender inequalities in society and the way that gender structures the social world, and considers remedies to these inequalities.

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Queer Theory

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-Proposes that categories of sexual identity are social constructs
-Seeks to illuminate heterosexist bias in society

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Class Consciounsess

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According to Marx, the recognition of social inequality on the part of the oppressed that would lead to revolutionary action

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W. E. B. Du Bois and Jane Addams were pioneers of ________ sociology, which connected research to social activism and public policy

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applied

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A symbolic interactionist analysis of education might focus on

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the meanings that a teacher attaches to the various behaviors of students

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the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

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The idea that language structures thought, and that ways of looking at the world are embedded in language

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Postmodernist Theory

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-Suggests that social reality is diverse, pluralistic, and constantly changing.
-Critical of "grand narratives"

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social order

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The formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity to values and norms and thus increase social cohesion

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cultural imperialism

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The imposition of one culture's beliefs, practices, and artifacts on another culture through mass media and consumer products

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dramaturgy

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The theoretical offshoot of Symbolic Interactionism that uses the metaphor of the theater to understand how individuals present themselves to others

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The ideal of objectivity

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An unattainable but theoretically conceivable condition of unbias

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Spurious Correlations

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a relationship that seems to appear between two variables, but is actually caused by something that external, or intervening variable.

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ethnography

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a detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork
-make it difficult to study groups that are often overlooked by other methods.

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Field Notes

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Notes that describe what has been observed, heard, or otherwise experienced in a participant observation study. These notes usually are written after the observational session

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participant observation

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a research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities

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The Hawthorne Effect

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a phenomenon whereby research subjects alter their behavior when they learn they are being observed

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Likert Scale

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scale that uses numbers (5 strongly agree, 4 agree...)

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Survey research is

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one of the best methods for gathering a vast amount of original data on a large population.

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representative sample

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A sample taken so that the findings can be generalized to the whole population

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Open-ended question

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a question that does not require a specific response and allows the individual to elaborate freely on a subject

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Closed-ended question

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a question designed to elicit a small range of specific answers supplied by the interviewer- "yes" or "no"

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Material Culture

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the concrete, tangible objects of a culture

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Symbolic Culture

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word, gesture, music, language

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Folkways

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norms that are not strictly enforced

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Ethnocentrism

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belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group

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polysemy

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Having many possible meanings or interpretations.

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cultural diffusion.

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the spread of cultural elements from one society to another
-The spread of McDonald's restaurants throughout Asia is an example of

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Social Control

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attempts by society to regulate people's thoughts and behavior

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Group

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A collection of people who share some attributes, identify with one another, and interact with each other

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Crowd

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a temporary gathering of people in a public place; members might interact but do not identify with each other and will not remain in contact

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Aggregate

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A collection of people who share a common location but do not share lasting relationships

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Primary Groups

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the people who are most close to our sense of self

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Secondary Groups

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larger and less intimate than primary groups; temporary relationships often organized around a specific goal

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social network

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the web of direct and indirect ties connecting an individual to other people who may also affect the individual

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Social Ties

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connections between individuals

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anomie

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"normlessness' terms used to describe the alienation and loss of purpose that result from weaker social bonds and an increased pace of change.

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Virtual Communities

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social groups whose interactions are mediated through information technologies, particularly the internet

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reference group

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a group that provides a standard of comparison against which we evaluate ourselves

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group cohesion

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the sense of solidarity or loyalty that individuals feel toward a group in which they belong

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groupthink

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in very cohesive groups, the tendency to enforce a high degree of conformity among members, creating a demand for unanimous agreement

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Prescription

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behaviors approved of by a particular social group

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Proscriptions

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behaviors of a particular social group wants its members to avoid

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Compliance

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the mildest type of conformity, undertaken to gain rewards or avoid punishment

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Internalization

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the strongest type of conformity, occurring when an individual adopts the beliefs or actions of a group and makes them their own

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Asch Experiment

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last student unknowingly given the choice to conform to the wrong answer or not conform to give the correct answer

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Milgram Experiment

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shock experiment. idea that socialized people are to obey and carry out orders , especially when they no longer consider themselves responsible for their actions.

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Stanford Prison Experiment

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Examined the power of authority; showed how situational dynamics, rather than individual personal attributes, can determine behavior

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Social Loafing

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the phenomenon in which as more individuals are added to a task each individual contributes a little less

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Social Identity Theory

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a theory of group formation and maintenence that stresses the need of individual members to feel a sense of belonging

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Bureacracy

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a type of secondary group designed to perform tasks efficiently, characterized by specialization, technical competence, hierarchy, rules and regulations, and formal written communication

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McDonaldization

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George Ritzer's term describing the spread of bureaucratic rationalization and the accompanying increase in efficiency and dehumanization