exam 1 Flashcards
➢ What is sociology? What do sociologists focus their attention on?
the study of the development, structure and functioning of human society
patterns and behaviors of culture, organizations, inceptions etc
➢ What is the sociological imagination? What does the sociological perspective have to offer when looking at social life or even more simply human life?
imagination is what we look at what is happening through the eyes of an outsider
this gives us empathy
➢ Why is empathy important in the study of sociology?
so you get a better sociological perspective
➢ What insights does the sociological imagination give us regarding why people commit suicide?
- population affects rates
- higher rates come with less populated areas
- socail isolation
- lack of help
- economy impacts
egoistic
weak social ties and/or social isolation can lead to suicide
Durkheim’s types of suicide
fatalistic
anomic
egoistic
altruisic
fatalistic
people take their lives when they see no way to escape
anomic
when ties to one’s community are too strong
industrial rev.
changes in manufacturing, a agriculture, transportation, and mining that changed everything.
auguste comte
father of sociology
invented the word
want to study people to help predict behavior
karl marx
founding father of conflict theory
Durkheim
interested in how division of labor affected solidarity
industialization changed the division of labor
Weber
motivation in what causes us to act on something
traditional, value rational, instrumental affection.
Traditional
a goal is pursued bc it was pursed in the past
affectional
a goal is pursed in response to an emotion such as revenge.
value rational
a desired goal is pursed with a deep and abiding awareness
instrumental rational
valued goal is pursed by the most efficient means
Structural functionalist theory
- all phenomena are seen to serve a function
what are the functions of structural functionalist theory
manifest - planned function, positive desired outcome
latent - unintended, but positive function
dysfunctional - disrupted negative outcomes to social order may be manifest or latent.
Conflict theory
- the driving question who benefits at whose expense
- focuses on class race gender sexual orientation
marco or micro
symbolic theory
- how do people understand and give meaning to their social world?
- can be concert or abstract
- give meaning to something, can be different from person to person, allow us to act.
➢ What are the steps of the scientific research method?
- pick topic/research question
- review literature
- choosing a research designs
- identify variables
- collecting and analyzing data
- conclusion
➢ What is a variable?
o Compare and contrast independent variables, dependent variables, and control variables.
variable is
Independent - explains or predicts the dependent variable
dependent - behavior to be explained or predicted
control - constant
➢ What is a hypothesis
educated guess with trail prediction
Correlation
Two variables that go hand in hand
they are not causation
what is a sample
a selection from a larger population that is statistically representative of the population
random selection of a population helps to decrease bias
generalizability
findings from a study can be generalized and extended out passed the study.
Quantitative VS qualitative
Quantitative – Data measured by some sort of number. Numbers can be manipulated by percentages, averages, correlations, complex equations, and more.
Surveys – generally close ended
Qualitative – Data that starts with people’s lived experiences as told by the subjects.
Open ended interviews
Often observation studies
Different types of research methods
Experiments
Surveys: Interviews or Questionnaires
Observations
Secondary Sources
Case Studies & Ethnographies
Experiments
Conducted to study possible causal relationships. (cause and effect)
Traditionally include:
An Experimental Group
A Control Group
Surveys
Interviews Advantages Probe to get full explanations; Rich data; Qualitative Disadvantages Easier to bias; Time consuming; Expensive; Limited Questionnaires Advantages Cheap; Less likely for bias Disadvantages Easy to throw away; Limited Information
observational studies
- Nonparticipant vs. Participant
- Overt vs Covert
- Challenges faced by researchers of participant observation
1 Access- Gaining access to a group.
2 Comprehension of observations -
– Observer must fully understand what they are observing. having on the environment.
3 Remaining detached -
3 – Researcher must remain to some degree detached.
4 Reflexivity – Hawthorne Effect
4 – Reflexivity – Impact the researcher’s presence is having on the environment.
Hawthorne effect
subjects worker harder because they felt that they were being watch.
Case Study
Limited to one or small number of participants in study.
Will educate about a specific person, group or situation.
Often read more like a story than a “typical” research report.
Ethnographic
Study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation.
Will employ a variety of methods including interviews, observations, and use of existing sources to gather data.
Example: Annette Lareau’s Unequal Childhoods
What is Culture?
relating to the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a society.
Non-material culture
intangible creation that include beliefs, values, norms and symbols
norms - relating to the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a society.
folkways - unwritten rules. ex manners
mores - serious mandates, code of conduct, not assaulting.
laws or government - controlled rules.
Taboo - norms that are so deadly engrained in us that breaking seems unthinkable. “INCEST”
Material cultural?
all physical objects that people have invented or borrowed from other cultural.
Universal culture VS peculiar cultures
U - are those things that all cultures have in common such as trees or plants
P - includes specific practices that distinguish culture from another.
What are sanctions
Jail time other punishments from not following culture rules.
What are symbols
a meaning given to an object or idea, representation of something. Some universal mean the same ex american flag.
linguistic relativity (Whorff hypothesis)
structure of a langage influences the modes and thoughts which we speak and behavior characteristic of the culture that is spoken
cultural diffusion and selective borrowing
the process that generates change in the borrowing society
spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another. The mixing of world cultures
selective borrowing - people in one culture do not borrow ideas or inventions indiscriminately from another culture.
What is culture shock
culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one’s own
cultrual capital
referes to a person non material resources.
including educational creditables
counterculture
refers to subcultures that challenge contradict or outright reject those of a mainstream culture of which they are a part
cultural anchor
A cultural anchor is any kind of influence that entrenches itself so deeply that it prevents the culture from evolving.
subculture
groups that share certain parts of main stream culture but have distant values norms beliefs symbols and language that sets them a part
Cultural relativism
- a foreign culture should not be judge by the standards of a home culture
- a behavior or way of think should be examined in its cultural context
ethnocentrism
a point of view when you uses your culture to judge the worth of another cultures ways.
