Field of Sociology

Question 1

Functionalist Perspective

Answer 1

When analyzing an aspect of society, considers how it contributes to the bigger structure as a whole and stabilizes it. For an aspect of social life to last, it must contribute to society in some way. [Macro]

Question 2

Conflict Perspective

Answer 2

Views social world as best understood as tension or conflict between different groups over power and resources. [Marxism, Feminisim, Queer Theory]. Macro level

Question 3

Feminist Perspective

Answer 3

Sees inequity in gender as central to all behavior and organization. Macro level view

Question 4

Interactionist Perspective

Answer 4

Generalize about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole [Micro —-> Macro]. Communication through symbols.

Question 5

Functionalist Example

Answer 5

Public punishments reinforce the social order.

Question 6

Conflict Example

Answer 6

Laws reinforce the positions of those in power.

Question 7

Interactionist Example

Answer 7

People respect laws or disobey them based on their own past experiences.

Question 8

Scientific Method

Answer 8

1. Define the problem
2. Review the Literature
3. Formulate a testable hypothesis
4. Select a Research Design, then collect and Analyze the Data
5. Develop the conclusion
6. Prepare a report with an Executive Summary.
7. Ideas for Further Research

Question 9

Research designs used to generate data

Answer 9

1. Surveys
2. Ethnography
3. Experiments
4. Existing Sources

Question 10

Ethnography

Answer 10

Study of an entire social setting through extended systematic fieldwork. Done through observation or participation. Also includes collecting historical info and in-person interviews.

Question 11

Hawthorne Effect

Answer 11

Unintended influence that observers of experiments can have on their subjects. Avoided when using secondary analysis.

Question 12

Value Neutrality

Answer 12

The researcher must not let their values affect the interpretation of data.

Question 13

Sociological Imagination

Answer 13

An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society…both today and in the past.

Able to view one’s own society as an outsider would, rather than just personal experiences and cultural biases.

Question 14

Sociological Theory

Answer 14

A set of statements that attempt to explain various sociological problems, actions, or behaviors.

Question 15

Anomie

Answer 15

The loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective.

Often occurs during a time of profound change, when people have lost their sense of purpose or direction.

Question 16

Cultural Universals

Answer 16

Certain common practices and beliefs developed by ALL societies that are actually adaptations to meet human needs.

Examples: athletic sports, cooking, dancing, marriage, personal names, religious rituals, sexual restrictions, trade

Question 17

Cultural Relativism

Answer 17

Viewing people’s behavior from the perspective of their culture, instead of your own. Value neutrality when examining other cultures. Different social contexts give rise to different social norms, thus tend to fit within that cultures framework, though they may seem strange within our own frameworks.

Question 18

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Answer 18

People can conceptualize the world only through language, thus, language precedes thought.

Question 19

Norms

Answer 19

Established standards of behavior in a society.

Can be formal (laws, rules of games) or informal (ways of dressing). Formal norms are sanctioned (punished).

Can also be classified by relative importance: Mores and Folkways

Question 20

Mores

Answer 20

Norms that are deemed essential for welfare of society, because they often embody the most cherished principles of the people.

Example: Mores against murder, treason, child abuse.

Question 21

Folkways

Answer 21

Norms governing everyday behavior.

Question 22

Sanctions

Answer 22

Penalties AND rewards for conduct concerning a social norm.

Question 23

Values

Answer 23

Collective conceptions of what is considered good or bad.

Question 24

Law

Answer 24

“Government social control”. Formal norms enforced by the state through sanctions.

Question 25

Culture

Answer 25

Totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. Includes ideas, values, and artifacts.

Question 26

Culture war

Answer 26

Polarization of society over controversial cultural elements.

Question 27

Argot

Answer 27

Specialized language that a subculture uses to distinguish it from the rest of society at large.

Question 28

Counterculture

Answer 28

When a subculture conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture.

Question 29

Diffusion

Answer 29

The process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society. Technology increases speed of diffusion.

Occurs through things like exploration, military conquest, missionary work, mass media, tourism, internet, food

Question 30

Material culture

Answer 30

Physical or technological aspects of p it daily lives. (Food, houses, factories)

Question 31

Nonmaterial Culture

Answer 31

Ways of using material objects, customs, beliefs, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication.

Question 32

Socialization

Answer 32

Process through which people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of a particular culture, occurring through human interaction. Spans entire life course.

Question 33

The Self

Answer 33

Our conception of who we are. A distinct identity that sets us apart from others, and emerges as we interact with others. Not static, but continually changes throughout our lives.

Interactionist approach useful here (Cooley and Meade)

Question 34

Cognitive Theory of Development

Answer 34

(Piaget). 4 stages in the development of children’s thought processes:
1. Sensorimotor- use senses
2. Pre-operational- words and symbols
3. Concrete operational- logical think
4. Formal operational-abstract thinking

Question 35

Dramaturgical approach

Answer 35

Perspective (Goffman) where people resemble performers in action. Involves Impression Management, or altering the presentation of the self depending on the circumstances.

Question 36

Looking-Glass Self

Answer 36

Emphasizes that the self is the product of our social interactions. (Charles Horton Cooley)

Question 37

3 Phases of Developing Self-Identity (Cooley)

Answer 37

1. Imagine how we present ourselves to others
2. Imagine how others evaluate us (smart, attractive)
3. Develop some feelings about ourselves (respect, shame) as a result of these impressions.

Since the self results in an individual’s perceptions how what others think of him, we can develop self-identities based on INCORRECT perceptions of how others see us.

Question 38

Stages of the Self (Meade)

Answer 38

1. Preparatory- child imitates actions of others.
2. Play- child pretends to be other people (Role-Taking)
3. Game- considers roles and responsibilities of other people simultaneously. (Generalized Other)

Question 39

Generalized Other

Answer 39

When an individual acts, he takes into account the viewpoint of an entire group of people (expectations of society)

Question 40

Anticipatory Socialization

Answer 40

When a person rehearses for future positions, occupations, or relationships.

Example: when high school students look into what colleges they want to attend.

Question 41

Resocialization

Answer 41

Discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as a part of transition in one’s life.

Example: reform schools, therapy groups, prison, religious conversion camps.

Question 42

Total institution

Answer 42

An institution that regulates all aspects of a persons life under a single authority. People often lose their individuality in such institutions.

Examples: prisons, military, mental hospitals, convents.

Question 43

Verstehen (Insight)

Answer 43

Learn the subjective meanings that people attach to their own behaviors when analyzing them.

Question 44

Ideal Type

Answer 44

Created by Max Weber; Used for evaluating specific cases

Question 45

Double Consciousness

Answer 45

refers to the division of one’s identity into two or more social realities.

W.E.B DeBois

Question 46

Theory of Self (Mead)

Answer 46

a child initially can only imagine the world from their own perspective, but gradually grows to understand the perspectives of others.