Commit Sociology Flashcards
Why Sociology?
ability to view our own society as an outsider rather than only from perspective of personal experiences + cultural biases
involves critical thinking + questioning what otherwise may simply be taken for granted or assumed to be “natural.“
Why Sociology?
empowering tool: allows us to look beyond limited understanding of behaviour to see world + ppl in new way + through broader lens
•look around you with a set of eyes when you are looking at something for the first time
•See all the small ways in which things are done differently
•Small problems in understanding is meant to bring empowering insight
Content Analysis
Introduction: Frames research report
Research Question: What are you investigating
Operationalization – How will you observe/measure your variables
Data Collection – Gathering all your observations
Content Analysis
Data Coding – Sorting observations into categories
Data Analysis – Discussion of patterns to provide answer Comparative Discussion – substantive or process based comparison
Conclusion: Frames research report
Sociology
study of social patterns/variations
fostered by a curiosity about the social world
•Diverse discipline
•Difficult to synthesize
Tackles myths: Naturalization
something that comes with the timeless, universal, a-historical view of how things are, thus lending itself to seeing things as “natural”
•knowing beyond taken for granted, historicity/relativity of these ideas
Tackles myths: Unbounded Individualism
idea that everyone in the world is free to make any + all choices they want + thus their lives simply outcome of these choices. Agency + structure, how social location enables + constrains types of opportunities we have + strongly influences choices we made
structure of the social
Tackles myths: Language
constitutive nature of language, describe world, affects how we see + make sense of world – constitutive role
Tackles myths:
Common sense knowledge
Rich, complex + key to every day living, also partial, incomplete + sometimes fully mistaken
Relativism
beginning
relative to where, what, when, to who
Under what conditions is it the same/different
power, institutions, social groups + other factors play a role
•not that one is better than another
Power
Ability of ppl/groups to achieve goals despite opposition from others
Power: Micro
Bullying
power not permanent attribute that people have/don’t – Power is always context based
Power: Macro
politics, courts, mass media (shaping public opinion)
Sometimes use of power often invisible – strongest forms of power often unseen and go into taken-for-granted nature of things
Power
not always top down, but can be bottom up – less powerful groups may organize + resist
organization + resistance are themselves bases of power
•Some individuals able to carry power over different contexts
•Need to use methods to see effects of invisible power
Sociology
diverse discipline for increasingly complex world
to describe, explain, understand + affect the processes:
Industrialization
Urbanization
Secularization
Rationalization
Globalization
tool to study social change + to contribute to social change.
